What matters most to you about schools? Views needed for a conference on Saturday Nov 27th.

[carriemumsnet]

We've been invited to take part in a TUC conference aimed at everyone involved in schools ? parents, teachers, headteachers, governors, unions and local authorities. We're there to give the parents' perspective on what matters most to parents about schools.

It would be great to represent as many views/parents as possible so do please add your thoughts here before Saturday and we'll try to pass on as many of them as possible.

Thanks

MNHQ

with regard to your point teddybare i would scrap conventional school uniform at secondary school. sad but true that girls school uniform has been sexualised by the porn industry and it has no bearing anyway on what girls would wear in the work place.

let boys and girls wear similar to what most primary schools wear. black, plain trousers, a nominated colour round neck sweater and polo shirts.

get rid of girls wearing little skirts and shirts and ties.

dress boys and girls in a simple, cheap, non sexualised or gendered uniform.

I want my children to be given the same tools to succed as the kids in private - so that means a good grounding in the classics, plenty of public debate and speaking, rigorous chronological history, introduction to the canon of literature and music, a good understanding of scientific principles.

I also want them to learn how to live day to day life - cooking, cleaning, mending, paying bills, reading timetables, spotting media bias, a good knowledge of our political system and so on.

I also want them to spend plenty of time outdoors, messing about with plants and animals (being raised for food, not as pets) and exploring nature.

All of this needs to be in an environment free from bullying, discrimination and excessive testing.

So, not much then :)

kind caring but firm teachers

approachable teachers that don't dismiss concerns or who give no explanations for their decisions re childrens' education. just a simple explanation would be enough.

good pastoral care, building self esteem and confidence

flexibility in approach to support sen at bottom and top of the achievement scales. (not very child has to read every sodding book in the reading scheme for example or that there are more books/ resources to support those who need it

to believe that not all parents exagerate and some may actually know what they are talking about when they say dc can do this that or the other or is having problems with .... whatever.

more outdoor activities and creative teaching, more cross curricular learning supported by enriching school grounds, having gardening areas, outdoor climbing equipment, wooded areas (even if it is only a group of 5 or 6 trees) sensory gardens, seating areas, summer shade, covered areas for outdoor learning.

plenty of training for teachers t o keep them up to date and inspire them.

smaller class sizes, or extra full time tas in ks1 classes

Zero tolerance to bullying.

Less concern about academic achievement and more about turning out well rounded citizens of the world.

There isn't a parents' persepctive though. It's just a wildly differing mish-mash of personal views.

I would like education to be relevant to real life and to today/the future's society. So when taught history (for example) I would like children to come away understanding why they were taught it, how it effects events today etc.It should be the same with all subjects - in particular maths. I still don't know why I had to learn parallelegrams and sets.

I agree with most - smaller class sizes. I think this alone could make a HUGE difference. Even if it was a case of splitting children up for some lessons and bringing them back together for others.

I do not want my local primary, the one that is the nearest to where we live and where all the children near our home will be going, to teach that one religion is better than another. In other words, all state-funded education should be secular. On the other hand, it is very important that children are taught about different religions, where they all started from and why they are causing so many problems in the world today.

Senior management to support both teachers and children - ensuring there is no violence in classes, modelling a culture of respect for all, and ensuring that where there are special needs that the kids get the support they need. And that bullying whenever it pops up is tackled head-on rather than any blaming of victims.

Ability of management/admin/teachers to communicate decision well to both pupils and parents.

Once that's all in place, teachers should be able to teach to their potential and I'll be fairly content...

Remember that children belong to families and that you need structures and procedures in place that take into account things like:

1. Impossibility of primary school parents dropping off kids in a ten minute window when they may have children at different schools (why not have a half hour dropping off window, anyway?)

1. Challenges of children from families with more than 2-3 children; children moving mid-phase; children who miss school a lot due to ill health.

1. The fact that the majority of parents now work, at least part-time, and 3-4pm is actually mid-afternoon for a lot of people, not the end of the day, so visiting school at such times often means taking half a day's leave.

I'll have the first four lines of cookiemonster's post.
I'd also like to see a zero tolerance of the sarcasm and bullying behaviour of some teachers towards pupils.
No lunchbox Nazis, don't tell me what I can feed my child and then put jam roly poly or Angel freaking Delight on the menu.
More teacher/parent communication, I'd like to be kept informed of what my child is doing, not just at one parent's evening a year.

1. I want my child to feel safe. Otherwise he can't work.
2. I want my child to understand that everyone is on the same side.
3. I want my child to spend time with enthusiastic teachers, not teachers worn out and bound up with red tape.
4. I want my child to learn the spirit, as well as the letter, of education.
5. I want there to be tangents and for them to be followed.
6. I want to be able to talk to someone when my child or myself have concerns.
7. I want my child to be proud of going to the school he chooses and for the school to show that they appreciate my child.

Facilities....yeah OK but that's the last thing on my list.

Loads of good ideas above.

I'd add - my primary goals are for my kids to learn:

• basic social skills, with other nice children - making friends, meeeting others from different backgrounds/gender/age etc
• basic study skills - how to sit and listen and concentrate, how to follow instructions, etc, how to set out work neatly, to the best of their ability, how to learn stuff off by heart, how to pass exams, how to write essays, etc etc
• essential reading, writing and 'rithmatic skills to a good level, incl spelling, punctuation, times tables etc - functional literacy and numeracy underpinning everything else
• as many other subjects as they can fit in eg languages, art, music, science, history etc
• something I think not mentioned above, but as important or really rather more important to me than the rest - a strong sense of values, to learn respect for self and others and our planet, the difference between right and wrong, to have a spiritual 'centre' (I send my child to a faith school precisely because this is so important to me, and am v happy with this aspect of it, to those who criticised faith schools, above).

For school to be a place where children can experience much and come out with a sense of what they can achieve and what a wonderful, exciting world we live in and what potential they have - and to know that to reach that potential takes work, but to know how to apply themselves effectively to reach their goals.

A big ask? I don't think so.

Small class sizes and small schools. No vast buildings. I want a creative curriculum with no tests.
I want parents too be able to take part in ther childs day. I want flexiility as to the age at which a child begins ull time school...4 is too young.

BOOK marked for later

I want young people to have access to good quality, individual, impartial careers guidance delivered by independent specialist qualified professionals.

I want a top quality careers education programme - not just a five minute slot in PSHRE. How else are we going to raise aspirations, encourage social mobility, challenge career stereotypes, etc etc?

Careers education also needs to start early - before gender stereotypes get ingrained and young women switch off from studying STEM subjects.

My Wishlist:

Physical exercise every day. Competitive team sports at primary school.

Modern foreign language (by native speaker or graduate in subject) from nursery/P1.

Musical instrument tuition from age 7/8.

No indecent uniforms.

Gender equality.

Small class sizes.

Discipline.

Healthy food that actually is healthy (no hot dogs).

Change the structure to have a 3 tier system of ages 3-7/8, 7/8- 13, 14-18.

Aim for 10-30% of pupils going to uni.

More state boarding schools.

8am-6am wrap around care in all schools. Have the normal school day end at 4pm not 3pm.

More single-sex schools.

More provision for gifted children (eg one academically selective school in each big city/region).

In maths, more emphasis on arithmetic esp. mental arithmetic.

In English, more emphasis on grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Less emphasis on science and more on more useful subjects like law and politics.

More breadth at post-16.

More trips/out of school learning.

Compulsory education from age 2.

Bigger school libraries.

To have better qualified teachers. Teaching shouldn't be a fallback career for people who get low marks in their degree. Allow experts in their field to be teachers even without a teaching qualification.

Make it easier for schools to exclude violent pupils.

Have free school meals for all to reduce stigma on poor pupils.

At least termly feedback from teachers.

For parents to be able to email their child's teacher.

To give parents/pupils more say over the school's curriculum eg which languages they offer, time spent on different subjects, topic choices within history/geography etc.

Make the entire state system secular.

Encourage more men into primary/nursery teaching and women into leadership roles even if it means positive discrimination/quotas.

When a local authority is failing, remove its control of schools and allow them to be self-governing.

Lots of Music & Sport.
Give all the opportunity to excel, including the top 20% of the class.
Help children become proud of their achievements and to become confident, creative people.
Keep the county music services alive and open to all whatever their financial situation.

Speaking of gender issues, I really REALLY think it is time that the massive gender issues in schools were dealt with properly.

In primary:

please deal with the reality that girls STILL don't put their hands up.

please stop teachers giving credits, certificates and 'stars' to girls for their good behaviour or social commitments and to boys for their achievements

please deal with the lack of male role models

please deal with the KS1 curriculum and learning methods which alienate small, jumpy boys

please find ways of addressing the polarisation of boys and girls in the classroom (stop lining them up as 'boys and girls', putting them in competitions that are 'boys vs girls' etc); and facilitate boys and girls who want to be different

In secondary:

Please deal with the playground hierarchies of older boys and girls who 'rule the roost' and help entrench gender relations in the younger kids

please do what someone else suggested and ENFORCE a gender neutral uniform

please - where necessary - teach boys and girls separately to (in this case) play to their strengths

please provide more emotional literacy for boys and assertiveness training for girls

And in general: please get rid of SATS, the national curriculum.

Please raise taxes so we can have smaller class sizes.

Please lengthen the school day, using said raised taxes to fund after school sport, music, art and performance available for ALL kids at all ages. Rather than relying on teachers' goodwill, make it part of the generic offering.

Yup, it all costs money.

I want smaller classes and the government and 'experts' to stop telling us that size doesn't matter. As a teacher and a parent size does matter and if I were to pay for education I would be paying for a smaller class.

I don't want all DCs treated the same. I want vocational and practical subjects to be given importance-to let those who are good with their hands learn read skills, e.g. woodwork skills rather than designing with no experience in the same way that food technology could become cookery. Children to choose their route at 13/14 yrs.

More flexibility on age e.g.August birthdays to have the choice of the year below.

Zero tolerance for those who can't behave in class. Extra support in the classroom for those struggling with the work or behaviour. The money and resources to deal with those who can't behave-especially in the infant school where it could be nipped in the bud.

More freedom for Head teachers to do what they know works- and allowed to get on without constant government interference.

Less paperwork-that no one reads!

Lots more sport and outdoor activities.

More treatment of the DC as an individual. The teacher allowed to teach to the class rather than having them jump through hoops before they are ready e.g. the pressure to teach percentages before they understand place value.

Give teachers space and the power to teach to the needs of the children in their group.

Minimise testing and curriculum to be basic literacy and numeracy.

Allow teachers to discipline children and teach appropriate behaviour - no hitting, punching, biting or answering back.

Involve parents in the school contract to accept responsibility for their childs appropriate behaviour in the company of others and to buy into the discipline procedures and reinforce them as appropriate.

Empower schools to manage more of their own budget including staff budget and to incentivise/ reward staff.

Get rid of some of the ridiculous health and safety and CRB checks that stop so many school activities. Allowing parents back in the class room to hear (other) children read, teach cooking, music, art, sports, talk about their occupations etc. Allow parents to be extra supervising adults to bring down the cost of off site activities and get the kids out exploring their communities, libraries, sports centres, museums and art galleries. Not instead of the teacher but complementing the teacher - this appeared to happen so well in the 70's/ 80's but schools appear almost unable to allow this now.

Have a system of discipling teachers who do not do their jobs - you don't need tests and metrics we all know who they are. Why do they get paid off and then turn up at another county school only to be paid off again and end at another? They are surely employees and should have the same warning system as any company employee.

Allow use of school resource to the community out of school hours. Holiday clubs for kids using the school sports hall/ playground - why have such an expensive resource locked up and unused for 25% of the year.

Happy children achieve, that has to be the number one priority for all schools to keep the children safe, zero tolerance on bullying, walk the walk not just signing a piece of paper.

-In early years, no classes bigger than 20;

-Separation of church and state - all public schools to be secular. Or, as an interim step, limit the numbers of church schools. We have little choice where we live! Church school (3) or home ed. (RE is good; indoctrination is bad. Churches should be self-funding, the tax payer should not be sponsoring their access to fresh raw material. It is perfectly possible to have strong, positive and protective morals and ethics in a secular environment);

-Creative arts and PE to have far more curriculum time, and funding for professional development in these areas, too. The arts can boost the happiness and self-esteem for everyone in the schools, not just the children!!;

• Access to green space for all children (the outdoor classroom is a powerful tool);

• All schools to have a positive, fair system for recognition of the good. Every child has their strengths, work to indentify them from day 1!; and

• ALL school staff to have a minimum standard of English language skills. I cannot believe how many grammar, punctuation and spelling errors arrive home in the newsletters these days. It's maddening and disheartening. Teacher training in the UK is awful in places (and I also think may account for some teachers' lack of experience/patience/understanding of pupils' needs).

Rant over
(for now, heh heh..that'll do for a kick-off.)

I agree with Pointydog at 15.27 today.

Most of all I would like smaller classes at primary and secondary level.

I am a teacher and a parent and this is what I believe would have the most significant impact on the progress of my children and the students I teach.

I would also like to see the end of grammar and single sex schools.

Whereas I would like to see more grammar and single sex schools! Judging by huge competition round my way to get into single-sex grammars, I'm not the only one.

Clearly 'parents' have more than 1 point of view!