Meet the Parents is a pioneering scheme to strengthen communities by encouraging families to support their local schools.

Our core activity is running events in primary schools where people can ‘meet the parents’ and students from the nearest secondary schools. We arrange for families from local comprehensives to come and talk frankly about their experience at school.  It fills a gap between slick open days and age-old rumours in the playground. As the secondary school roll begins to fall across London and beyond, schools are under pressure to attract new pupils.

We have been operating in North London since 2012. In that time we have won over scores of parents to staying local rather than sending their children to schools outside the area. Each child aids community cohesion and brings a boost to the secondary schools’ budget.

In today’s educational landscape schools can change quickly yet parents’ views can often lag behind. Meet the Parents  is there to ensure they get up-to-date information they can trust in a down-to-earth setting.

We also run events in the pre-school sector to boost the primary roll. Alongside our events we consult on school open days, branding and school appearance and make promotional films for schools through our sister business, http://www.schoolsonscreen.com.

 

 

 

 

““I went with my son to a ‘meet the parents’ event at his primary school when he was in year 6. We were stuck choosing between 2 schools and we came out of the evening with a clear decision that we haven’t regretted. We were able to ask the kids and parents informal questions that gave us a better idea of the school environment and the day-to”

From a Meet the Parents event at Yerbury school, Islington

““Meet the Parents is a fantastic, innovative, and incredibly simple idea and it has massively benefitted our daughter and our whole family. Like many families in our neighbourhood private schools were very much on our radar, especially my husband’s, and by attending Meet the Parents evenings, along with Open Evenings, we were convinced that Parliament Hill was the right choice for our daughter."”

From a Meet the Parents event at Gospel Oak school

““Like all parents looking for secondary schools, we started looking at our options with some excitement and some trepidation. Thanks to the “Meet the Parents” sessions, we have now chosen the school we would like our son to attend. Amazingly, it is the school that was at the top of our “scrap heap” last year.””

Pete, Year 6 Parent

“After attending open evenings and official events, I wasn’t sure what to expect from “Meet the Parents”. Not only were the children all excellent ambassadors for teaching at the schools but they were able to give us some insight into what it feels like to be pupils there.
The parents were also helpful, and were refreshingly open about aspects of their schools which they felt needed to improve."”

From a Meet the Parents event at Brookfield School, Camden

Madeleine Holt

Madeleine Holt is involved in a number of education projects. In 2019 she won the Fred and Anne Jarvis Award for education campaigning from the National Education Union. She is regularly interviewed in the media. She was previously a reporter at the BBC for twenty years, most recently as culture correspondent on Newsnight.

Steve Sklair

Steve is an experienced all-round filmmaker. He was initially a picture editor on Panorama and Arena, then Channel 4. He subsequently moved into filming, producing and directing and became a series producer. Awards include a BAFTA for best single documentary, a FELIX (European Academy Award) Special Mention, and a UNICEF award for furthering the rights of the child.

Sue

Sue is in charge of administration, marketing and tech for Meet the Parents. She is a parent of two daughters, former primary school governor and has a background in bookkeeping and administration.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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If you are a parent, local authority, school improvement partnership or trust, primary school or secondary school who would be interested in working with us, get in touch.

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