From Chasing Parents Down the Road to Full Engagement: What One School Learned About Perseverance

In the early years of Mouse Club, a teacher shared a story that perfectly captured what it really took to build meaningful relationships with families. Her words have stayed with us — not just because they were honest, but because they reflect a journey that so many schools are on.

“It hasn’t always been like this in this school; it has progressed over the years. Parental engagement has always been a massive focus. We have someone employed within the school to work with families — that’s her whole job. Going back a few years, we’d run a ‘stay and play’ or ‘come to school with your child’ event, and no one would turn up. We’d be chasing parents down the road to get them to come back in for just five minutes! But once they realised what it was about, they started planning time off work. Now they’re more involved — but it’s taken years to get to this point.”

This story is a powerful reminder: genuine family engagement doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, trust, and a whole lot of perseverance.

We know from our work with other schools that consistency is what makes it work.

It’s not just about sending out invitations — it’s about listening, adapting, and showing up for families over time.

“How do we get parents to engage?” is one of our most frequently asked questions. People are busy and want a quick fix - Five Top Tips etc. But it’s the slow, relationship-building that makes the difference.”

This is precisely why Mouse Club is designed the way it is. We don’t just offer one-off events or tick-box activities. We support schools to:

• Create early, welcoming opportunities to connect with families
• Build ongoing trust through stay-and-play sessions, one-to-one meetings, and transitional tools
• Understand what families need — and what works best for them
  
• Give staff the training and support to approach this work with confidence and empathy.

And most importantly, we don't do the work for you. If we did, parents and families would build their early relationships with us instead of with you. This could leave you starting over when we are no longer involved.

Whether you’re just starting to think about parental engagement or you’ve been building it over years, stories like this remind us that change is possible — and it’s happening.

It might start with chasing parents down the road.

But with consistency, it can become something much more powerful.