How to get your school community on board with your policies

Get tips on bridging the gap between your school and your community, so you can get buy-in from everyone involved and gain advocates for your policies.

Last reviewed on 14 March 2023
School types: All · School phases: All
Ref: 46270
Contents
  1. Communicate clearly
  2. Clear up misconceptions
  3. Nip any protests in the bud
  4. Harness parents’ and pupils’ appetite to voice their opinions
  5. Build positive parental engagement

Our thanks to Sam Strickland, principal of the Duston School, for his help with this article.

With the rise of student protests backed by parents, use the tips in this article to help your community understand your decision-making, and reduce the likelihood that pupils will protest.

Communicate clearly

Reduce pushback by making sure everyone’s on the same page, and clear on why you’re putting a policy in place.

You don’t need to go into detail, but if you’ve updated a policy after a safeguarding incident, be honest with your community about why you’ve implemented the change.

Communicate new policies with:

Governors

Do this in a governing board meeting.

Depending on the policy, you may need the governing board’s approval anyway. Use this time to secure the backing of your governors, just in case there’s pushback from other members of your community.

If you’re part of a