Engaging families and communities across the various education sectors requires effective and meaningful ways of working in partnership. This Discussion Paper prepared for the Manukau Education Conference 2007 outlines in brief some findings about family and community influences on children’s achievement, secondly identifies some key principles for working in partnership with families/communities and thirdly, summarises features of some partnership programmes which engage families/communities in different ways in education in the Manukau area.

The purpose of this report is to assess and assign economic values to the outcomes of the Manukau Family Literacy Programme (MFLP) and provide a valuation based upon the Summative Evaluation of the programme by Benseman and Sutton (2005)plus updated participant information provided by the City of Manukau Education Trust (COMET).

This document is about the implementation of intergenerational family learning in Manukau. The Manukau Family Literacy Programmes are an initiative from the City of Manukau Education Trust and community stakeholders to engage adult learners from ‘non-traditional’ learner groups in education, at the same time building family engagement in children’s learning, for stronger literacy outcomes in our city.

Intergenerational family learning can support the wellbeing of families and communities. The evidence exists that it can transform the lives of individuals, and can contribute to the social, economic and cultural vitality of families and whanau.

This Ministry of Education publication was prepared by Dr John Benseman of the University of Auckland.