All this social mobility, selectivity blah blah blah: what can parents do to make state schools BETTER?

26 replies

WilfSell · 15/12/2009 13:23

We have chosen the local state secondary for our son. He is (naturellement ) very bright and accomplished. I know he will get by, and by god yes he may even get to do a double GCSE in IT and a D&T one too for good mickey mouse measure. Because, hey: he likes doing that stuff and is looking forward to it. But I damn well know he will come out with Maths, English lit and lang, 3 sciences, a language and a couple of airy fairy humanities with no discernable purpose except, um, to teach him about the world he lives in and, ahem, to learn to think, debate and argue.

So for those of us who chose it; or the many, many more who don't have a real choice, what things can people do to support and develop their local schools?

Governors? Is that about it? Offer to run additional stuff? Be very pushy about exam options? How do other parents get involved in improving schools?

OP posts:

LadyGlenChristmasPresent · 15/12/2009 13:30

Offer to run additional stuff most definitely. I have offered to run a lunchtime club in my DD's school, something I already do at the local primary school. They were surprised, but delighted to accept and I am starting after Christmas.
Governing body is also a good place to start. I am on the governing body of the primary school and I do feel it is a very useful thing to do.
Also, DD's school has set up an Effective Partnership with Parents group to help the school communicate better with parents. It is early days yet, but it has already been responsible for a few very useful things like a weekly parent newsletter sent by email and various information events. I would really recommend interested parents to approach their school about setting one up.

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