Our vision

Every child is supported at home to fulfil their potential

Our vision

Every child is supported at home to fulfil their potential

The problem

In the UK, not all children have a fair shot at education.

By age 11, a disadvantaged child is on average nine months behind their peers in English and Maths. But it’s about more than just attainment. This child is more likely in their life to be excluded, to become unemployed, have poor health and even to end up in prison.

The gap between poor children and their peers has grown further since the pandemic. Schools are doing their best to close it but they cannot do it alone.

Only 14% of the gap at age 11 is related to what happens at school.

49% of the gap is related to what happens at home.

Only by supporting all parents and carers can we tackle educational inequality and ensure that every child has the chance to fulfil their potential.

About us

We support all families to have positive learning interactions together. We drive inclusive parental engagement by partnering with schools and through leading the sector to learn what works.

Impact partnerships

We partner with organisations to increase their impact with disadvantaged families.

Through our digital platform, family resources and parental engagement expertise we create bespoke partnerships. These support organisations to create lasting change for the families they work with.

School programme

Working with primary schools, we motivate and empower families across the UK to enjoy learning together at home. Our child-led videos and hands-on family activities replace traditional homework.

Through behavioural insight research and teacher training we ensure that all families are supported effectively.

System leadership

We founded the Parental Engagement Forum and lead the Fair Education Alliance’s work on parental engagement.

The forum brings together organisations to network, share best practice and keep up to date with the latest research about supporting disadvantaged families.

Why we are here

Tom Harbour
CEO

Teaching

As a teacher in a comprehensive school serving an area of high deprivation, my eyes were opened to the inequalities that exist in our society and the role of the education system in propagating these. Every child has potential, but for far too many it is limited by the circumstances.

I witnessed the effects of growing up in poverty on children’s outcomes with my own eyes and was particularly affected when one of my pupils was tragically killed.

Tackling inequality

Inspired by my experiences as a teacher, I completed an MEd exploring the root causes of educational inequality in the UK. I saw the critical role parents have in their child’s life chances and realised that to truly make an impact we need to start young.

Inspired by my sister Jo, a primary Maths specialist, I created a website called Maths with Parents. With support from Teach First, the Fair Education Alliance and others, the project developed and specialised in supporting all families, particularly those facing the biggest barriers. Then, in 2020, the global pandemic changed everything.

Learning with Parents

The pandemic widened the gap in UK education and increased the need and urgency of our work to build a fair education system. At the same time, Covid-19 dramatically increased schools’ focus on the role of parents in education, but best practice was still hard to come by. To rise to this challenge, our ambitious charity was formed in June 2020.

In the next five years we will support one million children and transform the UK education system to work for all families.

We are excited to have you join us on this journey.

Our impact so far

We’re committed to maximising the positive impact our charity has on the young people we work with. You can read our annual impact reports here:

Our 2020 charity impact report

Our 2021 charity impact report

Our 2022 charity impact report

Our team

Tom Harbour

Founder and CEO

Astrid Jenkinson

COO

Peyman Owladi

CTO

Gemma Davis

Programme Director

Florence Lupton

Content Manager

Alice Oliver

Fundraising and Operations Officer

Katie Bond

School Partnership Officer

Amelia Ernest-Jones

School Partnership Manager

Catherine Mearns

School Partnership Manager

Paula Fieldhouse

Content Manager

Sally Fallows

Fundraising Manager

Our trustees

Dame Sally Dicketts

Chair of Trustees

Ben Cole

Trustee

Shanaj Salahuddin

Trustee

Marva Rollins OBE

Trustee

Tarun Abraham

Trustee

Lesley Birch

Trustee

Amanda Shepard

Trustee

Some of the organisations we work with

Proudly supported by

© 2023 Learning with Parents, Newminster House, Bristol, BS1 1LT.
Learning with Parents is a registered charity (CIO), charity number 1189812

Tom Harbour

Founder and CEO

Tom taught for five years in Leicester and in Germany. He has delivered training about parental engagement to school leaders across the UK and to change makers from USA, Africa and Europe, and is a trustee of Teach First. Tom enjoys that his work allows him to meet inspirational parents, teachers and social entrepreneurs working to end educational inequality.

Astrid Jenkinson

COO

Astrid has 15 years’ experience working in the third sector in a range of roles including compliance, fundraising and project management. She developed a passion for supporting learning whilst home-schooling and, since then, has been reading with children in her local primary school. She is excited to be part of the team and learn more about parental engagement.

Peyman Owladi

CTO

Peyman has a history of leadership roles in technology businesses, most recently as CTO of a sustainability startup (Bagboard), and previously in one of the biggest companies in the world (Cisco). Peyman is a Parent Governor at his children’s primary school and is enthusiastic about ramping up parental engagement.

Gemma Davis

Programme Director

Gemma worked as a Primary School Teacher in Bristol for a number of years. Since leaving teaching she has worked in the charity sector first as a Training Manager for a Anti-Slavery charity and more recently working for a education charity where her passion for supporting pupils and families was cemented. She is the Treasure of her children’s School Association who’s sole aim is to raise money for the school and support the community of parents attached to the school both past and present.

Florence Lupton

Content Manager

Florence has been creating the English programme for Learning with Parents. Before joining us, Florence was a primary school teacher for six years, and an English lead at Mayfield Primary School in Cambridge. She also has a Masters in Primary Education from the University of Cambridge, which focused on the use of fiction in the primary classroom.

Alice Oliver

Fundraising and Operations Officer

Alice’s interest in education began at university where she worked as a Student Ambassador for Widening Participation and volunteered as an English and Maths tutor at Bristol Best Tuition. She also spent time teaching English in Brazil as part of her degree programme.

Katie Bond

School Partnership Officer

Katie is a recent graduate from the University of Bristol where she studied anthropology and spent her summers volunteering in children’s sport. Katie is excited to be starting her career in a charity that supports disadvantaged families.

Amelia Ernest-Jones

School Partnership Manager

Amelia’s passion for parental engagement in education started when working as a mentor for children from disadvantaged communities. She then trained as a Primary School teacher on the School Direct teaching programme and taught in an inner-city school in London. Amelia also taught at an international school in Cambodia and before joining the Learning with Parents team was working as a tutor and teacher in Bristol.

Catherine Mearns

School Partnership Manager

Catherine worked as a Primary School teacher for eight years in Cardiff and London before returning to Somerset where she is originally from. She also spent a year teaching abroad in Lesotho, Southern Africa, as part of a charity exchange programme. For the past six years Catherine had a change of career and worked as a Customer Service Manager in a food development company. Catherine’s excited to be back in the education and charity sector!

Paula Fieldhouse

Content Manager

Paula is currently completing a Doctorate in Education, for which she has researched parental involvement in children’s mathematics learning. She is particularly interested in finding ways to build positive attitudes to maths and prevent fear and anxiety about it being passed down through generations. Her interest in this began during her Masters in Education, where she researched girls’ attitudes to mathematics. She was a primary class teacher for more than 10 years and also trained teachers overseas with VSO. She’s a qualified forest school teacher and a school governor.

Sally Fallows

Fundraising Manager

Sally brings a wealth of experience in education and school leadership across Cumbria, Bristol, Cambridge and India, with a special interest in the Arts and quality Early Years practice. Enthusiastic about applying her expertise in fundraising and organisational development, Sally is eager to support Learning with Parents’ growth. Her dedication to promoting social mobility and well-being shines through her passion for connecting people and building successful partnerships.

Dame Sally Dicketts

Chair of Trustees

Sally has been a senior leader in schools and colleges for the last forty years, leading two innovative colleges – Milton Keynes (1996-2003) and Activate Learning (2003-2022). Her key interest is in creating learning organisations where people develop emotionally as well as academically. Sally is a keen advocate for vocational education and became the President of the Association of Colleges in 2020. She has also chaired and been a member of a range of local, regional and national boards.

Ben Cole

Trustee

Ben is an Investment Director at FPE Capital, a specialist software investment firm. He joined the firm from Skillcapital, were he spent four years advising investors and management teams in the Technology, Media and Telco sectors.

Shanaj Salahuddin

Trustee

Shanaj works at the Department for Education on Social Care, Mobility and Disadvantage. Shanaj is also a key member of the Parental Engagement Team at Imperial College London, Chair of PTA at Pimlico Academy and a trustee on a local Westminster charity. Shanaj is a mother of three and is passionate about parental engagement in children’s education. She works with a range of people and organisations with the aim of closing the gap of inequality in the educational system.

Marva Rollins OBE

Trustee

Marva retired from the role of head teacher in August 2019 after almost 25 years of leading two primary schools in inner city boroughs in London. She continues to work closely with schools leaders and middle leaders in defining and executing their strategic and operational roles. Marva is a governor of three schools, two of which meet the needs of pupils with neuro-diverse identities. Marva received an OBE for her contribution to education in January 2017.

Tarun Abraham

Trustee

Tarun is the Managing Director of Peterlynn Ltd, a label printing business based in Northamptonshire. Previously Tarun was a management consultant at Bain & Company, where he completed several pro bono projects in the education sector, and an M&A advisor at Macquarie Bank.

Lesley Birch

Trustee

Lesley Birch has worked in education for over 30 years in primary, middle and secondary schools. Lesley was CEO of Cambridge Primary Education Trust (CPET) for 10 years before it’s merger with Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust to become Meridian Trust, where Lesley is now Deputy CEO. CPET had grown to a partnership of five schools, including a new academy in Trumpington, which was recently rated Good by Ofsted in its first inspection.

Amanda Shepard

Trustee

Amanda has almost 30 years experience in fundraising across the charity sector, and is currently Director of Fundraising and Communications and Interim Chief Executive at The Poppy Factory.

Terms and Conditions

PARTIES

(1) LEARNING WITH PARENTS a registered charity (CIO) in England and Wales with charity number 1189812 whose registered office is Newminster House, Bristol, BS1 1LT (Company);

(2) Your school or setting (School);

WHEREAS

(A) The Company has developed a programme to motivate and empower parents to engage in their child’s learning.

(B) The School wishes to use the Company’s programme to help their children and families.

(D) The Company has agreed to provide and the School has agreed to pay for access to the Company’s website on the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

IT IS HEREBY AGREED AS FOLLOWS

1. Definitions

The definitions and rules of interpretation in this clause apply in this Agreement:

“Initial Price” is the price for the Initial Subscription Term. This is calculated by the “Price Calculation”.
“Initial Subscription Term” means the initial term which shall begin on the date this contract is entered into and end after one calendar year.
“Intellectual Property Rights” means patents, rights to inventions, copyright and related rights, trade marks and service marks, business names and domain names, goodwill and the right to sue for passing off or unfair competition, rights in designs, database rights, rights to use, and protect the confidentiality of, confidential information (including know-how) and all other intellectual property rights, in each case whether registered or unregistered and including all applications and rights to apply for and be granted, renewals or extensions of, and rights to claim priority from, such rights and all similar or equivalent rights or forms of protection which subsist or will subsist now or in the future in any part of the world.
“Learning with Parents Package” means a section of the Company’s website personalised for the School that contains the Videos provided by the Company via the Website or any other website notified to the School by the Company from time to time.
“Ongoing Price” means the price for the applicable Ongoing Subscription Term calculated by the Company. This will be shared with the school at least 30 days prior to the renewal date. It is dependent on the number of classes whose parents or carers are offered access to the Learning with Parents Package, as reported by the School in accordance with clause 4.5 below.
“Ongoing Subscription Term” means the term which shall begin at the end of the previous Subscription Term and last for one year.
“Permitted Users” means the School’s current staff, and parents and carers of pupils currently at the School, in each case as at the applicable time of use.
“Price” means, in respect of the Initial Subscription Term, the Initial Price or the Ongoing Price, in respect of the applicable Ongoing Subscription Term.
“Price Calculation” means the value calculated using the formula agreed upon initial sign-up, or updated upon renewal.
“Subscription Term” means the Initial Subscription Term or the Ongoing Subscription Term, as applicable.
“Videos” means the videos provided within the Learning with Parents Package which consist of short clips of children explaining school techniques and are supported by related activities that parents can complete with their child.
“Website” means mathswithparents.com, learningwithparents.com, learningwithparents.org, englishwithparents.com or any subdomain of those domains, as appropriate.

2. Learning with Parents Package

In consideration of the School paying the applicable Price to the Company (in accordance with clause 5 below) the Company grants the School a nonexclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access, and to allow the Permitted Users to access, the Learning with Parents Package during the Subscription Term.

3. Company’s Obligations

Subject to payment by the School of the Price (in accordance with clause 5 below), and compliance by the School with its obligations under clause 4 below, the Company agrees to:

3.1 provide the Learning with Parents Package to the School and use reasonable endeavours to ensure it can be accessed by the Permitted Users at all reasonable times.

3.2 work with the School to support increased parental engagement

4. School’s Obligations

4.1 provide the Company with such information and materials as the Company may reasonably require to supply the Learning with Parents Package and ensure that such information is accurate in all material respects;

4.2 ensure that only the Permitted Users use the Learning with Parents Package and that they do so inaccordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement;

4.3 allow the use of the School’s name and logo on the Company’s website and marketing materials;

4.4 no later than 30 days prior to each Subscription Term, provide an accurate estimate of the number of classes whose parents or carers will be offered access to the Learning with Parents Package.

5. Payment

5.1 The Company shall invoice the School up to 30 days prior to the start of each Subscription Term, or earlier if requested by the School, in respect of the Initial price or Ongoing Price, as applicable.

5.2 The School agrees to pay each invoice submitted by the Company within 30 days of the date of the invoice to the account specified in the invoice.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

6.1 No part of the Website including but not limited to the Learning with Parents Package and Videos may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means to anyone other than the Permitted Users without the prior express written consent of the Company.

6.2 The School acknowledges and agrees that the Company owns all Intellectual Property Rights in the Website, the Learning with Parents Package and the Videos and except as expressly stated herein, this Agreement does not grant the School any rights to or in such Intellectual Property Rights.

6.3 The School shall promptly give notice in writing to the Company in the event that it becomes aware of any infringement of any Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company.

7. Termination

7.1 Without limiting its other rights or remedies each party may terminate this Agreement with immediate effect by giving written notice to the other party if:

7.1.1 the other party commits a material breach of its obligations under this Agreement and (if such breach is remediable) fails to remedy the breach within 30 days after receipt of notice in writing to do so; or

7.1.2 the other party’s financial position deteriorates to such an extent that its capability to adequately fulfil its obligations under the Agreement has been placed in jeopardy.

7.2 Without limiting its other rights or remedies the Company may terminate this Agreement with immediate effect if the School fails to pay any amount due under this Agreement on the due date for payment.

7.3 If the Agreement is terminated pursuant to this clause 7 during a Subscription Term, there will be no refund to the School of the amount of any Price paid by the School in respect of that Subscription Term.

8. Renewal

At the end of each Subscription Term, this Agreement shall automatically renew for one additional year as an Ongoing Subscription Term unless written notice of non-renewal is provided to the Company by the School at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the then-current Subscription Term.

9. Indemnity

The School shall indemnify the Company for any loss suffered by the Company as a result of the School breaching its obligations under this Agreement.

10. Variation

No variation of this Agreement shall be effective unless it is in writing and signed by the parties (or their authorised representatives).

11. Entire Agreement

11.1 This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between the parties and supersedes all previous agreements, arrangements and understandings between them, whether written or oral, relating to its subject matter.

11.2 Each party agrees that it shall have no remedies in respect of any statement, representation, assurance or warranty (whether made innocently or negligently) that is not set out in this Agreement.

11.3 Each party agrees that it shall have no claim for innocent or negligent misrepresentation or negligent misstatement based on any statement in this Agreement.

12. Assignments

Neither party shall assign, transfer, subcontract, or deal in any other manner with any or all of its rights and obligations under this Agreement without the prior written consent of the other party.

13. Counterparts

This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when executed shall constitute a duplicate original, but all the counterparts shall together constitute the one agreement.

14. Third Party Rights

This Agreement does not confer any rights on any person or party other than the parties to this Agreement and where applicable their successors and permitted assigns pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.

15. Governing Law

This Agreement and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.

16. Jurisdiction

Each party irrevocably agrees that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims).

The parties acknowledge that they have read and understand this Agreement and voluntarily accept the duties and obligations set forth herein.