This head is spot on

[Thefishewife]

Give this head a prize she has nailed it I abore when people moan about what the school or the government will do to improve children's life chances
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3994048/They-ll-wearing-dunces-hats-Primary-school-GRADES-parents-D-supporting-children-worst-performers-called-head-s-office.html
When the bottom line really is if we're all honest childrens life chances are linked almost exclusively to how Invloved there parents are in there education and how much they value it

You can be poor
Working full time
Of speak no English

But still highly value education

Some parents simply don't give two hoots won't have a book in there home won't turn up to anything and don't support the school with there child's behaviour

Won't get there kids to school on time or even pick them up on time blame then are shocked when there children fail I am not very well educated myself my spelling is awful however I have always taken my sons education seriously and it has bore fruit my lad done very well at GCSE and is now working PT and is in collage doing a level 3 engeerining course

My sons form tutor once told me that some of the parents send there 6th former siblings in Lu of them in on parents evening 🙁 Or even worse that she had serval students who, she never meet the parents ever not in 5 years couldn't tell you what they looked like and would never ring her back if she left a message 😳

It's about time some parents were called out instead of being allowed to blame the school of the govermnet for there lack of invloment

The link between parental involvement and a child doing well is proven and well documented

It would be ideal for class sizes to be that small, but realistically it just isn't going to happen, if anything in the schools my siblings attend class sizes are getting bigger and have additional TAs in to help, a classroom I used at primary school used to have a capacity of 20 children, it's now got 32 in the same size space.

Encouraging parents to take an interest in their children's educations is something that can be done.

Fasten your seat belts, folks - it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Encouraging them, yes, but this isn't that. This is the Head of the school trying to bring parental behaviour under his/her jurisdiction. It's extremely condescending and it gets the relationship backwards - parents are responsible for their own engagement or lack thereof with their children's education, including monitoring the school, not the other way round.

That is horrible.

IpDip - I think being involved in your child's education is so much more than attending every school production. It's a about what happens at home. That's why it's unfair to grade people, anyone with enough time can sit through every shitty production of cats the school puts on, it doesn't mean they're supportive at home.

I may be biased because the ineffectual and shit teacher DD had last year was desperate for there to be a problem at home. She had DH and I divorced (he was on holiday). Had me neglecting DD's needs (I wasn't) and repeatedly told me to read with her (we were, twice a day minimum). Turns out all DD needed was a less shit teacher, which she now has.

*their

If class sizes don't matter, then why do private schools consistently have smaller classes than state schools? Surely it would make sense for a private school to decide to up its class sizes (by say 30%) and drop its fees (by say 20%), thereby increasing the net profit/cash left to reinvest in new buildings etc.

This has puzzled me for some years.

Oh, it's you again

Not clicking on the link.

It's a bonkers idea, but it isn't bonkers to acknowledge that what happens at home/how much respect parents have for education has a direct impact on attitudes to learning and attainment.

Right, so the terminally ill parent is marked down because she cannot go to school plays. Along with the one who is the sole carer, with no access to respite, of a severely autistic child who could not manage even the first 10 minutes of a performance. And the one who has a chronically ill child in hospital.

What about teachers? Can they get the time off to attend their own child's school play in another school? What do the children they are supposed to be teaching do in the meantime?

I'm uneasy about the grading but the principal is sound. Turn up to Parent's Evening, ensure homework is done, read with your DC, respond to letters and phone calls, turn up on time and in uniform (if required). Bloody basics really. Dad worked shifts and Mum full time'-they would use annual leave if needed. When I had a tiny part in the school play at high school a full complement of aunts came to watch. I was taught by example that my efforts at school were valued by my family.

Caboodle: I doubt many people disagree in principle. But those things are part of parenting, not teaching.

I wonder how the school is allowed to collect data on parents without their consent?

lola111: What data?

.

Going from experience YABU, my family had absolutely no intreast at all in my education, never attended parents evening, no did they atttend school event etc...

Yes myself, I knew I wanted a better life for myself and that started with education. I'm university educated to a high level.

Also in my profession I see kids following this mind set also.

OP, I am willing to bet that you have deliberately misspelled words in your post to appear 'illiterate'. It's quite obvious. E.g. at one point saying are linked almost exclusively and then my lad done very well. I doubt someone who uses the first terminology would then go on to use the second one. So, the only conclusion I can reach is that you're deliberately trying to piss off those parents who have to work for a living. And you're being a rude twat for mocking how you think 'uneducated' people write and talk. Loser.

I have really enjoyed watching Dr Stephen Peters on American High School recently. To me he speaks a lot of sense. OP try and see the episodes if you can.

Raising responsible human beings has got to be mainly the parents responsibility with the teachers backing them up with good education and discipline.

MrsTerry dd was in a class of sixteen and made no progress, not because I wasn't a supportive parent but because the teacher was a shit teacher. I moved her to a different school with 28 in the class and she thrived and flew. Small classes and supportive parents aren't enough to ameliorate the effects of a poor teacher IME.

What the hell has picking your kids up on time got to do with anything?

My mother and father both worked, very hard. I remember late pick ups and being upset, but I remember much more how hard they worked and how ambitious they were for us, I have a degree and a very good job and to get both of those thing I hard to work hard, something I learned from both parents but particularly my hard working often late, mother.

OP

As an ex-teacher and a Mum you could pretty much tell which of the children had parents who valued education and those that didn't. Those parents who did might not have been able to make parents' evening but they made appointments to find out about their child's progress or rang to speak to the school to see if they were needed. They tend to be supportive in so many different ways even if they are working or have other children with special needs. Hats off to the Head for tackling the problem. I am sure if parents have issues that stop them from being visibly supportive, she works with them or reflects that in their grade.

As for parents who aren't bothered by their children's tardiness, I find it incredible the number I see dawdling along, chatting to their friends or on their phones whilst their child tags along behind whilst all their peers are already in class. One day their kids will be expected to turn up for work on time and they just won't understand why.

I went to this primary school many moons ago, DM have used the wrong photo (that's the old building which hasnt been used in years) also the HT has had some criticism in the past for questionable methods used in the school anyway.

But grading parents and calling them in to see the Head? Who does the Head think he/she is? I would be (politely) reminding the Head that his/her remit extends to teaching my children, not me

^^This

By all means have a polite conversation with parents to see if they can support more (and we all know parents that do absolutely nothing), if the child needs the help (and most need some).

However, every parents' circumstances differ - single parent? Working? How many other children? Dependent parents? Other children with SEN? 'Difficult' partner?

With so many parents just about keeping all the plates in the air, sometimes that 10 minutes reading a day just can't happen.

So a blanket grading is a ridiculous thing to try and a pretty safe method to alienate the very parents they need to get involved.

Porn bear?

Or is that a different thread?