This research study explored primary school principals’ perceptions and practices of parental involvement and partnership with particular reference to their experience of the Partnership Schools Ireland (PSI) initiative. Specifically, it explores the motivations, practices, challenges and benefits associated with the partnership programme as experienced by primary school principals. The study aimed to expand the knowledge and understanding of research-based models of partnership in school communities. The rationale for the study was a response to impending legislation, the Student Parent Charter Bill (Oireachtas, 2021) which will increase the requirement for schools to strengthen stakeholder voice and improve the experiences of students and their parents (Department of Education and Skills, 2019b). Given the interchangeable and often ‘messy web’ (Goodall and Montgomery, 2014) of terminology relating to the subject, the literature review followed Jabareen’s (2009) process of selecting relevant empirical data, then categorising, identifying and naming key theories and concepts. This enabled the development of research questions and an overall conceptual framework for the study. Based on the literature review, parental involvement (PI) and partnership emerged as two distinct areas. PI is conceptualised as an accepted norm in education typified by school-led practices such as attending meetings, volunteering and fundraising. Partnership is associated with structured programmes and project-based activity designed to deliver shared goals in school communities. Parental engagement is the continuous connection that schools create with parents with a focus on the importance of home-based interactions to support learning. The study followed a qualitative research design using data gathered from semi-structured interviews with seven primary school principals who had participated in the PSI initiative. The interviews were coded following a thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke, 2012) using Nvivo software which provided five overall themes. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems theory was employed as a lens through which to view the topic. The findings revealed benefits of the PSI programme, including integration with school self-evaluation and inclusion of parent and student voice in decision-making processes. This research shows that effective partnerships require an inclusive approach to school leadership based on strong communication and facilitation skills. Challenges to the operation of a successful partnership programme included workload and sustaining momentum for the initiative. Further research is warranted to capture the perspectives of parents, children and community representatives regarding family-school partnership programmes.