Others, while seeing the need for better contact, do not know how to move forward beyond basic parents' evenings, focussing on the individual child's progress. Each school has to work out a communication system appropriate for and peculiar to itself. However, that does not mean each must be left to its own devices. At a very practical level, simply sharing ideas which have been tried and tested in schools already, or have been suggested by those involved in the process, is as good a first stage as any of 'trying to do better'. Approaches can then be modified to fit a particular situation or to spark off ideas of alternatives.
All schools can benefit from consideration of evidence of good practice.
It was with the aims of describing means of communication found beneficial and of highlighting the dynamic, evolving nature of the process of trying to improve, that this research project was undertaken. Evidence was gathered to identify issues worth raising and ideas worth sharing so as to help schools evaluate their own efforts from the viewpoints of both staff and parents. The three schools studied were chosen for their positive attention to communication with parents. It is clear that with a wider sample of schools equally valid alternatives might emerge, each tailored to the particular needs of a community. Good practice' in communication has to be judged, at least in part, by the participants.