Parents’ Forum 6 February 2013

Tonight’s agenda. Welcome and Introductions The concept of Parents’ Forums Protocols Updates on agenda items from 22 October Issues for discussion Next steps Date of the next forum

What is a Parents’ Forum? A group of parents and carers who meet once a term to discuss school-related issues. A Parent’s Forum provides a valuable way to listen to the ideas and concerns of families and seek their views, helping to make sure the needs of children and their families are met. Meetings led by school staff and governors, usually by the Headteacher and the Chair of Governors. A genuine opportunity for open discussion according to a pre-published agenda.

Why hold a Parents’ Forum? Regular, open communication and consultation with parents and carers are important elements in informing school improvement. This is another mechanism through which parents and carers can feed into the life and development of our school.

Sharing information. Parents and carers are encouraged to share information from Parents’ Forums with parents and carers of other children. It’s (still) our intention to provide feedback in the school newsletter and via the school website.

Protocols for The Parents’ Forum. Agenda items should be tabled before the forum The agenda for each meeting will be published in the school’s newsletter. Parents & carers will be asked to register their interest in attending the next forum via Please note that all issues, whether you raise them yourself or on behalf of other parents/carers, should be general issues, not related to a specific child, teacher or incident. If you have specific concerns about your child your first point of contact should always be their form teacher/ head of year or the subject leader/head of department.

Issues for discussion. 1. Updates on discussion topics at the last forum Ofsted Homework 2. Parents’/Carers’ Consultation Evenings: SWOT analysis of the current system What parents/carers would like to see: – Who? – When? – How long? 3. Reports: SWOT analysis of the current provision What information do parents/carers want to see?

Updates: Ofsted This is a satisfactory school. It is not yet good because its leaders have not ensured that enough teaching is good across the school to support consistently good achievement, particularly in writing.

Updates: Ofsted We are continuing to build on the targets set by Ofsted last April. Teaching and Learning is a continuous focus. Lesson Observations are taking place. Teachers have formed ‘pairs’ for observations. We have a new marking policy and ‘new resolutions’ for attitudes to and behaviour for learning. We have a new Head of English. Headteachers in the town are discussing handwriting!

Updates: Homework Your observations/concernsProgress to date Lack of consistency in levels and frequency of homework We have been hit by long term absences and the impact of having to rely so heavily on supply staff. Where possible, Heads of Subject have been setting and marking homework. We are looking as a staff at the type, nature and frequency of homework across the school. Enrichment homework should be kept to a ‘mini project’ which can be managed alongside regular homework. There was mixed feedback to the Africa Day homework, which produced some excellent independent work. Do we keep the HW for the next cross curricular day?

Your observations/concerns:Progress to date: Regularity of homework more beneficial than ‘enrichment’ over longer periods. This was the system reintroduced in April 2012 BUT we are mindful that we need to look at the consistency and quality of work set. The preference moving forward is for work set to be linked to work being undertaken in class. Quality of homework set could be better – ensure child understands objective of HW piece. Can extension pieces be given to child where ‘stretch’ would benefit? This will be a feature of homework as we move forward. Stretching the more able is a focus picked up by Ofsted in Updates: Homework

Your observations/concernsProgress to date Homework feedback – needs to be more constructive e.g. To achieve a x grade you could do a,b.c. New marking policy in place. Pupils have copies of this in their planners. Would like to know more about Homework Club… somewhere quiet to study or somewhere where assistance is given? It is both! Teaching Assistants are on hand and will support the completion of homework. If this is not possible, they will encourage the pupil to approach the member of staff concerned or will do so themselves. Year 5 – No visibility of spelling set. The new Key Stage 2 SATs include GAPS. Spellings and grammar are a focus each week. Recommended reading lists: Can these be placed on the website or given as hand-outs to children? There are pre-published lists available on line. We will look towards reading lists especially since 2013 – 14 is Leighton – Linslade’s Year of Reading. Lack of project work – how will they be prepared for GCSE? Enrichment work set once per term is intended to support this BUT the government seem to be about to change the format of GCSEs!!

Updates: Homework Your observations/concernsProgress to date Concerns re: reading logs – an important message from the school is not getting through. We have had questions regarding the checking of reading logs and also the relevance of reading logs for some children where book reviews are more appropriate. Summer holiday work – to slow the drop in performance? It’s a possibility BUT needs to be balanced against families saying this eats into family time. How many children will do this gradually? How many will leave it to the last minute? Parental concerns that HWK eats into family time – especially at week ends (this is family time). Go back to 3Rs and tables This is highly likely to be our focus in Key Stage 2 as of April Homework should be relevant to what is being taught in class. Schemes of work are about to be reviewed and the expectation is that HW is linked to learning in class. Handwriting practice? This is something being looked at across LC2 Use of the Learning Platform – access by parents. This is an area where we need to re-visit staff expertise and then work with parents & carers.

Parents’/Carers’ Consultation Evenings (Not including subject information evenings) TimingFocusFormat NovemberPastoral Consultation-Parents and carers have a five minute appointment with their child’s form tutor. -The aim of this evening is to provide an overview of the start to the year and to follow up on the Autumn Term Assessment as required. -Staff are based in the Hall and the Dining Room. MarchSubject Specific Consultation -Two evenings for which parents can book five minute appointments with subject tutors. -Staff are based in the hall and the dining

What is possible?? Evenings for parental consultation have a different structure and purpose from other evening meetings. They cannot be limited to a maximum of 60 minutes. They should be few in number during the school year. They must be included in any agreed pattern of meetings. If, in any week, there is a parents’ evening, in that week there should be no more than one further evening call on teachers, whether for parental consultations or otherwise. Parents’ consultation evenings should be taken into account when calculating whether there will be more than one evening meeting per week averaged out over a term.

SWOT analysis of the current provision StrengthsWeaknesses OpportunitiesThreats

Consultation Evening – Wish List!

Reports Assessment grades are issued in the Autumn (currently November) and the Spring (currently the beginning of March). A letter is issued to report practice SATs and ‘real’ SATs results to Year 6 families. A full written report is issued in July.

What is possible Teachers should not be expected to write more than one report on each pupil in each academic year. Reports include written documents and proformas with tick boxes. Unless the reports are computer-generated. The targets for the maximum number of words should be: – whole reports: 400 words – individual subjects: 40 words

SWOT analysis of the current provision StrengthsWeaknesses OpportunitiesThreats

Reports – Wish List!

What can parents and carers do to support the school? Ensure pupils attend regularly. Encourage pupils to take a pride in their work – second best is not an option! Encourage punctuality – to school and to lessons. Supporting reading, writing and numeracy at home. Maintain a balance by telling us when we get it right ( as well as when we could do better!).

Tonight’s agenda Welcome and Introductions The concept of Parents’ Forums Protocols Updates on agenda items from 22 October Issues for discussion Next steps Date of the next forum: 21 May 2013 at 7.30p.m. Thank you for coming this evening!

Immediate Priorities Teaching and Learning CPDPMQA Leading to Increased outcomes for all But without losing track of what makes us special! Staff morale & well-being ALLWILLNEEDTOBEEVIDENCEDALLWILLNEEDTOBEEVIDENCED