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Home, School & Community
Abbey Manor College believes that the success of its students is an ongoing partnership between home and school. Research suggests that when schools, families, and community groups work closely together, this leads to multiple benefits for students:
- greater improvements in literacy and maths skills
- better attendance and attainment overall
- higher aspirations for the future, and more.
As part of this we, as a college, are committed to delivering a range of programmes to help parents/carers better support their child’s engagement in learning, academic progress, and wellbeing.
Parents Coffee Mornings
Parents and Carers are warmly invited to join us twice a month at the John Evelyn Campus for an informal coffee morning, providing a welcoming and relaxed opportunity to connect with staff and other families.
These sessions offer practical support, valuable information, and an opportunity to meet other parents and carers in a relaxed environment. Guidance is available on a range of topics designed to support both students and parents, including Year 12 transition planning, tips for catering on a budget, and a clear overview of the school’s behaviour policy.
Our Parent and Carer Coffee Mornings continue to be a warm and welcoming space for families to connect, learn, and engage with the college community.
Email our team here for a full list of dates and to confirm your place.
Workshops & Information Sessions
We regularly host highly successful and informative sessions for families.
Here are some examples for previous sessions:
Building Healthy Relationships - gaining insight into how young people can build respect, confidence, and resilience.
Drug Awareness - important guidance on current risks, early signs to look out for, and how best to support young people in making safe choices.
Practical cooking on a budget - where families learn simple, healthy, and cost‑effective recipes that can be easily recreated
Our Leadership team deliver hands-on tutorials of our homework platform, helping parents better understand how to support learning at home.
Local Services & Support Networks
We host regular Staying Safe in the Community sessions, led by officers from the Metropolitan Police. These important workshops will focus on helping young people navigate their local environment safely and confidently.
In addition, we provide signposting and access to a wide range of local services and support networks available across Lewisham, helping families feel informed, supported, and confident in navigating their child’s educational journey.
Lewisham Family Hubs offer targeted help for families with secondary-aged children and teenagers (ages 12–18). Through the hubs you can:
- Speak with Family Navigators for confidential support and signposting.
- Get tips and guidance around parental concerns such as school life, transitions between key stages, behaviour, friendships and wellbeing.
- Find regular sessions, workshops and activities specifically for parents/carers of teens and their children.
Lewisham Youth Service runs year-round after-school clubs, holiday programmes and informal education aimed at young people aged 8–19 years (and up to 25 for those with additional needs). These can be great for secondary students to build confidence, develop life skills, engage in positive activities, and access informal support with issues like school challenges, relationships or wellbeing.
For parents, this service is also useful because it provides:
- a safe space for young people outside of school,
- opportunities to help your teen engage with their peers and trusted youth workers,
- information about local programmes and activities.
Extra Support Available
The College recognises that there are occasions when parents and carers may too need additional support.
- If you need some confidential advice or support, please contact the College Counsellor
- If you have concerns about the safety of a young person, please see here or contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead
- If you need support with special educational needs and/or a disability, please contact our Special Education Needs Coordinator
Extra Support
Family Lives – provides support for parents on any family issue.
Offers free Parentline 24 hours a day, seven days a week - plus you can WhatsApp them on 07441 444125 for support with parenting and family life worries.
Excellent advice for parents is available from the NSPCC here.
There is a useful leaflets section for parents and carers and children and young people: NSPCC leaflets and resources (0800 11 11)
Support for Special Education Needs / Disability
Lewisham Parent Guide-SEND
