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CIS accreditation and parents: What every school leader needs to know.

  • Writer: Euan
    Euan
  • Apr 30
  • 10 min read

Smiling children holding flags of Japan, UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Canada. They're outdoors with trees and a building in the background.


This week, as part of our 'Framework Focus' we're delving into the various curriculum and inspection frameworks and accreditation guidelines. In each of our posts this week, we share with you the extent to which the organisations mention and discuss, in their literature, the role of parents and carers. And if considerable... we ask teachers and leaders to reflect on the extent to which they are following and adhering consistently and sustainably to the frameworks under which they operate.


The mid-week focus... The Council of International Schools (CIS) framework and standards. We consulted six distinct documents and webpages published by The Council of International Schools prior to writing this piece. Such was the clarity and emphasis from CIS on their expectations of schools regarding parents, the guidance stood out without the need for extensive interpretation or inference. &Parents celebrates the extent to which CIS demonstrates its commitment to parents as true partners in learning and school life.





CIS International Accreditation Framework.


The CIS International Accreditation Framework is a comprehensive evaluation model (eight domains with dozens of standards) that places strong emphasis on engaging parents, carers, and legal guardians as key stakeholders. In fact, one entire domain is dedicated to Community and Home Partnerships, underlining the importance of the school’s relationship with families. (CIS should be applauded for the apparent emphasis on parents' role in schools, and the expectation of schools regarding this.) Throughout the accreditation standards, there are multiple references to parents and guardians, setting clear expectations for schools to actively involve and communicate with them. Key points include:


  • Dedicated domain on parent partnerships: Domain H: Community and home partnerships explicitly focuses on how the school works with parents, guardians, and carers. The framework poses direct questions such as “How are parents, guardians, carers, and other agencies engaged as partners in student well-being and learning?” and examines whether communication with parents is “informative, inclusive, timely, appropriate, and well understood”. Schools are expected to ensure that parents and caregivers are true partners in supporting student learning and welfare. This domain also asks if parents feel comfortable communicating with the school and what could improve their involvement, indicating an expectation for open, two-way communication.


  • Standards for communication and feedback: Within this domain, Standard H1 (a core standard) requires “effective communications [to] foster a productive home-school partnership and a positive learning community.” In practice, this means schools must communicate regularly and systematically with parents/guardians about all important aspects of the school – its purpose, direction, operations, and each child’s education. Moreover, schools should actively seek parent views and feedback on the education provided to their children and use these insights for improvement. The accreditation criteria give parents opportunities to be involved in school life in meaningful ways, and they encourage schools to consider parent feedback in decision-making. New parents must be properly inducted into the school community (orientation processes) so they understand the school’s practices and ethos. In summary, strong communication channels (in languages and formats parents understand) and mechanisms for parent feedback are mandatory. As always, &Parents emphasises that genuine partnership with parents comes from authentic inclusion of parent voice and a commitment to acting on parental views.


  • Expectations for parent involvement: The framework goes beyond communication, setting expectations for genuine parent engagement. Schools are expected to involve parents in supporting student learning at home and at school. For example, one standard in the Teaching and Learning domain calls for engaging parents to help reinforce their child’s learning – the school “engages with parents on how best to support language development of their children, including in their mother tongue(s)”. There is an expectation that school staff are trained to work with parents in this regard. Likewise, the school’s guiding statements and mission must be not only disseminated but also “well understood by the students, the faculty, and the parents”, demonstrating that parents should be aware of and aligned with the school’s core values and goals. Across various domains (from governance to student support), there are criteria ensuring that parents are informed, consulted, or involved, whether it’s in reviewing guiding statements, understanding assessment results, or contributing to school improvement plans. In essence, the accreditation standards embed parents and guardians into the continuous improvement cycle of the school.


  • Home-school partnership and culture: Building a positive school culture with shared responsibility is another theme. Schools are prompted to create a “collaborative culture based on a shared vision, shared responsibility and a sense of belonging” that includes parents​. They should provide learning opportunities for parents. This could be sessions about the school’s educational programmes and approaches so that parents can better support their children’s learning at home​. This demonstrates CIS’s view that educating students is a partnership between school and home. The accreditation evaluators will no doubt look for evidence such as inclusive parent workshops, active parent associations that are representative of the school community, volunteer involvement, and surveys that show parents are not only informed but also actively contributing to school life.


The CIS International Accreditation Framework requires schools to actively engage parents, carers, and legal guardians through clear communication, inclusion in the school community, feedback mechanisms, and collaborative involvement in student learning and wellbeing. There are specific standards and indicators ensuring that schools build strong partnerships with families, from having parents understand the school’s mission to involving them in supporting academics and safeguarding. Schools seeking CIS accreditation must demonstrate and ongoing commitment that they value parents as essential partners in the education process.


Pause for reflection: Is your school’s current partnership with parents strong enough to be evaluated as a key driver of student success?



CIS Communications and Guidance on Parent Engagement


While CIS has phased out the International Certification programme focused on global citizenship, and embedded these values elsewhere, its public-facing communications and guidance still show a strong emphasis on the role of parents and carers in international schooling. Across its official website, blog posts, and support materials for schools, CIS promotes parental involvement as central to creating high-quality, inclusive school environments.


  • Public messaging on partnership: CIS consistently refers to parents and families as partners in education. Their website and membership pages include references to the importance of a “shared commitment” between home and school in ensuring student wellbeing, safety, and success. This reinforces the same principle found in the Accreditation Framework – that effective international schools do not operate in isolation from their parent community.


  • Supporting schools to work with parents: While specific guidance tools are available only to member schools, publicly accessible materials reference parent voice, inclusive communication, and clear onboarding for new families as baseline expectations. CIS encourages schools to build trust-based relationships with parents from the start of enrolment and to maintain regular dialogue throughout a student’s time at the school. Materials suggest that listening to parent perspectives, especially across culturally diverse communities, helps schools shape more responsive, equitable policies.


  • Emphasis on cultural competency and inclusion: One consistent theme in CIS’s blog and school spotlight articles is how international schools can foster cultural understanding and belonging. In many cases, the parent body is seen not only as a support group but also a source of cultural knowledge. Schools are encouraged to draw on parent perspectives in celebrating identity, language, and heritage, especially when educating for global citizenship and international-mindedness.


  • Parent-facing language on safeguarding: In the child protection area, CIS has published materials aimed at parents, outlining the school's commitment to keeping children safe. These include clear, accessible definitions of abuse and guidance on how parents can recognise, report, or raise concerns. Even without the standalone certification, CIS’s resources reflect a community-based safeguarding culture.


  • Insights shared through blogs and case studies: CIS’s Perspectives blog often includes reflections from school leaders about parental involvement. Schools are showcased for creating meaningful structures like parent advisory councils, parent-staff forums, and multilingual communications strategies. While not part of a formal certification programme, these case studies serve as informal guidance on how schools can improve practice around family engagement.


Pause for reflection: How does your school’s public messaging and day-to-day practice reflect parents as active, included and informed partners?




Child protection and safeguarding in CIS: The role of parents and carers.


While CIS no longer offers standalone programmes such as the School Evaluation for Child Protection programme, safeguarding and child protection have been fully embedded into its International Accreditation Framework. This is supported by practical tools, training, and community-wide initiatives. In this integrated model, parents and carers are expected to be active participants in creating and maintaining a safe school culture.


  • Parents as safeguarding stakeholders: CIS explicitly promotes a whole-school approach to safeguarding that involves all members of the school community, including parents and carers. This is reflected in accreditation standards that require child protection policies to be clearly communicated, understood, and consistently applied. Schools must ensure that parents are not only aware of these policies, but also know how to respond if they have concerns. This might include making safeguarding policies publicly accessible, explaining key protocols during admissions or orientation, and providing named safeguarding contacts.


  • Embedding child protection into accreditation: The CIS International Accreditation Framework includes safeguarding as a cross-cutting theme. Schools are expected to build a culture of trust and transparency around child protection. For parents and carers, this means:


    • Receiving regular, clear updates on safeguarding policies

    • Being informed of procedures for reporting concerns

    • Understanding their own responsibilities when interacting with children on campus (e.g., as volunteers or event participants)

    • Being given opportunities to raise concerns and feedback on the school’s approach to wellbeing and safety


  • Practical tools to include parents: CIS offers its member schools access to the International Safeguarding Toolkit, which includes strategies for evaluating how well policies are understood by different community groups. Schools are encouraged to test whether parents can explain what to do if they suspect harm, and whether families feel confident approaching the school about child safety. This elevates parents from passive recipients of information to informed partners in protection.


  • Training and awareness Initiatives: Workshops run by CIS often highlight the importance of educating parents about safeguarding, particularly around issues such as online safety, abuse prevention, and mental health. These are not just optional extras. According to CIS, involving parents in this dialogue strengthens the effectiveness of the school’s child protection work. When parents understand the school’s duty of care and their own role within it, they help reinforce safe practices at home and build greater alignment between family and school expectations.


  • Cultural sensitivity and communication: Many CIS schools operate in multilingual, multicultural contexts. CIS recognises that safeguarding messaging must be adapted accordingly. It supports schools in developing culturally and linguistically accessible materials for parents, helping families understand what behaviour is considered safe or unsafe, how to speak to children about safeguarding, and how to engage with the school when concerns arise.


Pause for reflection: How confident are you that every parent in your school community understands your safeguarding approach, and knows exactly what to do if something doesn’t feel right? How do you know this?





Summary of the CIS framework and standards in relation to parents and carers.


Across all current CIS frameworks, communications, and support materials, one message is clear: parents and carers are not peripheral, they are central to a school’s success. CIS sets out detailed and practical expectations for how international schools should engage with parents as active, informed, and valued partners.


The International Accreditation Framework embeds this throughout its eight domains, most explicitly in Domain H: Community and Home Partnerships. Schools are required to communicate effectively and systematically with parents, involve them in learning, school life, and improvement planning, and build relationships based on mutual respect and shared purpose. The standards call for authentic two-way communication, genuine parent voice, and inclusive practices that reflect the diversity of the school community. The emphasis on parent engagement is not superficial, it’s a thread running through governance, teaching, wellbeing, and culture.


In its broader communications and guidance, CIS reinforces these principles. Public resources, blogs, and case studies highlight how schools can and should engage parents in practical ways: through multilingual communications, clear onboarding, culturally responsive partnerships, and visible inclusion in school dialogue. Parental perspectives are presented not just as helpful, but as essential to a school’s ongoing relevance and responsiveness.


Child protection and safeguarding have also been integrated into the CIS accreditation model. Schools must communicate policies to families clearly, check for understanding, and provide accessible reporting pathways. Parents are seen as co-protectors of student safety who are informed, trained, and supported. Workshops, toolkits, and guidance now help schools build a safeguarding culture where families are proactive contributors, not passive observers. In safeguarding, as in learning, CIS expects schools to make the partnership with parents real, consistent, and meaningful.


Ultimately, CIS’s standards and messaging demand more than superficial parent engagement. They call for sustained, strategic, and well-structured relationships with parents and carers – relationships that strengthen student outcomes, school culture, and community trust. For schools operating under CIS frameworks, the question is no longer if you involve parents, but how well, how consistently, and how meaningfully you’re doing it.





Invitation to reflect.


At &Parents, we invite you to pause and reflect honestly: how deeply are you living the standards regarding parents your frameworks demand? Are parents real partners in your school, or are they engaged particularly when it comes to the Parent View survey going out? Sustainability means going beyond compliance. It means building engagement into the everyday culture of your school.


This isn’t about self-criticism. It’s about strengthening what already exists. Reflection gives you the chance to notice what’s working, face where gaps remain, and take ownership of the next steps.


Act on your reflection. Map where you meet expectations and where you don't. Share it openly with your team. Set one small, specific action that moves parent partnership from paper into daily practice. Compliance is the minimum. True parent-school collaboration is the goal.


Changes to your school's practice can cement enhanced student academic and holistic outcomes, increase student and staff retention, and overall school improvement.


At &Parents, we help schools move beyond words. Through consultancy, workshops, coaching and audits, we work with you to embed strong, sustainable parent partnerships into everyday practice. If you're ready to turn reflection into action, we’re ready to support you.




** Note: &Parents has no affiliation to The Council of International Schools (CIS) and this piece is completely independent of any organisation. This article has not been commissioned by the CIS or any other organisation. All rights to CIS standards, and documents belong to the Council of International Schools.





Sources (expandable list)


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