FAMILY ENGAGEMENT IN LEARNING

"Different not More' my mantra and approach

At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive engagement of parents

My consultancy is dedicated to aiding schools and communities in enhancing children's learning by fostering effective engagement between families and their children's educational journey.

The term "Family Engagement" often finds itself at the bottom of the school's priority list, the last item on the to-do list, despite a substantial evidence base supporting its positive influence on student learning outcomes, teacher efficacy, satisfaction, and retention. Parents also reap benefits from active engagement in their children's learning, experiencing increased confidence, improved parenting abilities, enhanced capacity to assist with learning at home, and more effective communication with schools and teachers (Epstein et al., 2002; Gardner et al., 2020; Jackson and Davis, 2000).

With over fifty years of experience in education as a teacher and school leader across various educational settings, I transitioned exclusively to consultancy and practical support in 2015. Throughout my career, I have garnered a client base of over fifty schools, working closely with schools and leaders in Australia, Edinburgh and Canada.

My approach to business has been primarily driven by word of mouth, relying on recommendations from principals, teachers, and parents, as I have never engaged in advertising. My fees are always reasonable, taking into account the size and budget constraints of the schools I collaborate with, often involving smaller institutions with limited resources.

I attribute the success of my consultancy to its steady growth (locally and internationally) and its positive impact on schools and families. Feedback consistently highlights that my supportive and practical approach contributes significantly to growth and improvement in the educational landscape.

Embedding partnerships with families into school cultures (“the way with do things around here”) is the ultimate goal and achieving this is what I often describe as a “slow burn” which takes time but above all else requires an intentional strategy.

Throughout my career, I've specialized in process design and facilitation, frequently providing professional development for schools and organizations. Recognizing the challenge of addressing mindsets, whether collective or individual, is crucial for meaningful change. Many schools struggle with fixed mindsets, leading me to advocate for the leadership approach of "Engage the heart before the mind." This principle emphasizes establishing an emotional connection or motivation before presenting information, as people are more receptive when emotionally invested. It is singly the reason that I have adopted a “hands on practical” approach. In essence, I assist schools in implementing practical strategies that can be consistently applied to engage families in their children's learning. These strategies and tools have evolved over an extended period and are grounded in the best practices supported by evidence.

What schools say

• With the guidance and support of Tony over several years, our school has implemented guided learning walks and community conversations with parents that has increased parent engagement in learning. Not only has Tony’s personable approach inspired our teaching staff to consider authentic ways to engage parents in learning, but he has also been an ongoing support in assisting us in helping open the doors to our families in an authentic way - 'not doing more but just differently'. As a Principal I have found Tony’s natural ability to personalize and tailor the support he offers to be highly beneficial and inspiring. He has a gift for "keeping it simple", focusing on quality key elements that maximize feedback and engagement. Feedback from parents who have participated in our learning walks and community conversations has been extremely positive, as has that of staff who have benefited from his professional guidance.-Matthew Sweeney Principal St. Mary's Primary School
• Dalton Consultancy has been instrumental in boosting our school enrolments. Tony's strategic approach and community engagement implementation practices have successfully connected with new and existing families. We highly recommend Tony's services for achieving remarkable results in school community engagement and enrolment strategies. Nick Murrell Principal St Patrick's Primary School, Koroit.
• Over the last twelve months, Tony has been working closely with our school advisory council. Initially our focus was on increasing enrolments. However, through Tony’s facilitation it fast became clear that enrolments are merely a symptom of how the local community perceives our school - and of how well we communicate all the wonderfulness that our school can deliver to prospective families in our area. After Tony got us to that point, our focus has been on developing a communication strategy centered around our school's unique qualities. Tony has been particularly adept at facilitating that conversation and allowing us to discover our path towards our school’s particular communication strategy. He comes equipped with a wealth of experience, a trove of data - and a strong understanding of how many other schools have built up an effective communication strategy that results in a growing and sustainable enrolments trajectory. I feel that as a council, we could have floundered about endlessly without Tony gently guiding us and prompting us to consider case studies of what has (and what hasn’t!) worked before. Tony's skill and acumen as a facilitator have been fundamental to our decision process - and to the trajectory of our school over the years to come. We are extremely grateful for his passion and expertise. Ben Brockhurst Our Holy Redeemer Primary School (School Advisory Council