Cross Lane Primary School

The Calderdale Adult Learning Team have been running Family Learning sessions at Cross Lane Primary since 2015 and year on year its popularity has increased with sessions become fully booked within days of sending information out to parents.

Family Learning sessions have supported us in increasing opportunities for parents/carers to come into school and enjoy working alongside their children on fun activities.

We are always looking at ways to further improve the sessions and this academic year Family Learning have worked alongside school to plan and provide enrichment opportunities that will further support our curriculum offer at Cross Lane.

Working with the Family Learning team, we have planned for each year group to work on a creative project which relates to one of their year group units of learning/themes or links to aclass reading book. This focus will not only enhance their learning but will also help the children retain and recall what they have learnt during their lessons. The family member working with their child will also have a greater understanding of what their child has been learning about in school so they can further support them at home.

The Family Learning team recognise the importance of transition for our children and a couple of years ago introduced some new sessions for our Year 6 pupils which involved designing a logo for their Leavers' hoodie - this was a great way for the children to mark the end to their primary years but it also gave them the opportunity to work together and talk about their potential worries and challenges, which could be addressed before their move. 

For the last two years, the team have also led sessions for our new Reception children and their parents. These sessions run before the children start school so that all new members of the school community can forge new relationships ahead of time. 

The Family Learning sessions are an invaluable resource that we are extremely lucky to be able to access at Cross Lane and they are highly valued by our parents/carers - as echoed in the following comments:

"I don’t always get the time to sit with my children at home to do fun projects but working with them on the K’NEX Challenge session with Family Learning was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I’ve spent with them in a while". (mother of 3 children)

"What a lovely end to my daughter's time at Cross Lane - making an autograph book with her was so lovely. Thank you". (parent of Year 6 child)