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

Agree with teaching basic life skills, sex education early, and teaching about sexism and respect for the other sex.

We don't need all this technical terminology/jargon, kids banging on about medial phonemes and positive learning environments. It's not bad in itself but it's unnecessary and I think it's often used in place of actual content.

Remove religion entirely from the school context, except as lessons about religion as a phenomenon. No faith schools, no worship, no dogma, no teachers ever being allowed to tell a child religious belief as if it were fact.

No homework at all in primary. Small children should be able to relax and play once they get home.

A culture of teachers being willing to listen and learn. If they can't spell or punctuate, they should be told and helped. If they are wrong about something they should apologise and make a correction - thereby setting a good example to children that you can admit a mistake and get past it.

Options in games/PE that aren't all about teams and competition, so that those kids for whom that's a nightmare don't get put off exercise. Pop video style dance, walks, climbing, yoga etc.

I want my child to wake up in the morning saying 'Can I go to school today, Mummy? I love school.'

I want my child to enjoy his/her interactions with the teachers and with other children.

I want my child to enjoy the activities provided at school, to find them fun and stimulating.

Anything that is making children miserable, that is stopping them from loving school and begging to go there, is wrong.

Careers help and encouragement from an early age. Children need to see all the possible woking opportunities. Sending small groups of children into hospitals to talk to staff of all kinds for example. I had no idea what jobs were even available when i was at school. The careers help consisted of a man saying "well what do you want to do then ?"

Good behaviour/good disciplin as (our country is going to pot with bad behaviour!)
A happy school with good pastoral care.
Good well trained enthusiastic and professional teachers
Plenty of Sport and exercise.

My wish list would be:
-Smaller classes
-Start school the term that they will turn 5(DS is a very shy summer born and will be starting a few weeks after turning 4)
-No state faith schools - the only excellent pimaries in our area are all faith schools
-An emphasis on learning in an outdoor as well as indoor environment
-Teachers who aren't overloaded with paperwork and have the freedom to adapt lessons to the needs of individual children in the classes
-Less of a postcode lottery at secondary school level - where I grew up we had excellent grammar schools, where I live now there are none at all
If I could just have one thing though, it would be smaller classes.

Smaller classes
More learning at school (currently I feel my son's reading ability is down to the practise that we do at home, very very rarely is he heard at school, not that I don't want to do it at home, but feel he is not reading enough actually in school).
Well trained teachers (ds finally has a teacher who has grasped his personality and I really feel knows him inside out, his last few have been wishy washy to say the least).
Freedom for teachers to abandon set plans and say things like "look its lovely outside today, lets go and look at the plants, trees, go for a walk etc".
Bullying to be dealt with efficiently.

So much of what has already been said matters to me too. Plus teachers with commonsense plays a big part and having the ability to encourage and enforce the correct behaviour. I could go on so much but do not have the time.

Teaching assistants in every classroom in primary school to aid the teacher particuarly with those children that need the extra support.

No creationism to be taught in state-funded schools.

Transparacy for PFI funded schools. How much are we paying in the years to come?

For faith school's entrance requirements, location set above attending the school's nursery.

Free school meals in primary school.

Compulsory second language taught at primary school

I have only experience of primaries at present. Overall I would like:

1. There to be only secular state schools. I hate the divides of religious education and believe they are a long term disaster. As interim measure all faith schools to admit local children only on same criteria as non religious schools. If religious criteria used only to be allowed to use certificate of baptism and no other stuff like attendance at church etc.

2. I would like all secondary schools to be mixed but make provision for single sex classes for maths and science within them. I think this caters for the reluctance of girls to put themselves forward but doesnt allow for weird ghettos (particularly worried about single sex religious schooling which can be very damaging)

3. I would like max of 25 pupils in primary school classes and preferably 20. I would like teaching assistants in all classes with more provision for classes with kids with special needs.

4. Im lucky in our primary school so I guess Ive less wants here.Our primary school does do a lot of the things asked for in previous posts.

I have only experience of primaries at present. Overall I would like:

1. There to be only secular state schools. I hate the divides of religious education and believe they are a long term disaster. As interim measure all faith schools to admit local children only on same criteria as non religious schools. If religious criteria used only to be allowed to use certificate of baptism and no other stuff like attendance at church etc.

2. I would like all secondary schools to be mixed but make provision for single sex classes for maths and science within them. I think this caters for the reluctance of girls to put themselves forward but doesnt allow for weird ghettos (particularly worried about single sex religious schooling which can be very damaging)

3. I would like max of 25 pupils in primary school classes and preferably 20. I would like teaching assistants in all classes with more provision for classes with kids with special needs.

4. Im lucky in our primary school so I guess Ive less wants here.Our primary school does do a lot of the things asked for in previous posts.

Oh yes also in England parents should be able to decide that their child waits another year to start school if they arent ready - such as the system in Scotland. There are loads of kids who would be helped by this and if they can do it in Scotland........

This is being fed back to the TUC, so that means primarily teachers. My plea is simple:

just teach, will you? Stop trying to be social workers or entertainers or social engineers. You are there to impart knowledge and skills so get on and do it. The latest news is that we are slipping down the global educational league tables so what you have been doing for the last 10 years is failing. Stop asking the kids how they feel about global warming or other such wooly nonsense and start ensuring that they learn.

Thank you.

I want my child to learn how to think for herself. I want her to be able to sort out facts from opinions, form her own opinions from the facts available, and to be able to recognise when something is merely an opinion, to recognise when a view is slanted to fit someone else's belief/opinion.

No creationism. In fact, faith schools should not be state funded at all.

Languages and grammar taught in primary.

Music art and drama to have as high a priority as sport in all schools.

In no particular order:

• Good proactive pastoral care. Teachers who genuinely care about the children's welfare. A strong anti-bullying approach.

• At older ages, academic streaming (but with flexibility to be moved between streams easily). Smaller classes for the less able.

• Priority must be teaching the basics (reading, writing, maths) until they are in decent shape.

• Sensible discipline (in cooperation with parents) where needed.

• A wide range of sports/physical activity options (not just the traditional team sports).

• Completely secular education and admissions.

TAs in every classroom as part of Govt school budget, not individual school's budget. This would give TAs a bit more job security and they won't be worried that hours will be cut every time local birth rate fluctuates. TAs are vital, even in small classes, because of the variation in ability and needs of the children. They are eyes and ears for teachers as well as an extra pair of hands, and have time to really get to know the children so are invaluable in their pastoral care as well as supporting their education.

No sex education in primary school - they're not ready for it and not interested.

What is wrong with teaching RE? After all, we are supposed to be a Christian country...Stop discrimination against children and families who actually have a faith.

Student teachers - please don't inflict them on schools until the end of their courses when they have more idea of what they're doing. I know they have to practise somewhere, but going into schools to teach in the first term of their course is ridiculous. My DCs groan whenever they know they've got one, and they've all been totally useless so far.

Less paperwork for teachers and Heads - they have a hard enough job as it is without all the other rubbish.

Take bullying allegations seriously and do something about it straightaway, then follow up to make sure there's no recurrence or backlash.

Secondary - offer wider range of languages (e.g. Italian, Mandarin, Eastern European etc) from Yr7 so children not stuck with French, German, Spanish. Also, teach about the culture, not just grammar.

(Personal hobby horse here) - I'm fed up with homework (even at primary) needing the internet. Yes, we have it, but it means giving up parent's time to supervise use of computer, and wasting my printer ink on reams of stuff they probably won't need again. What's wrong with books? We should be teaching children to have a healthy scepticism of what's published on the web, whereas books are at least checked for content. All power to the library!!

Clubs - lunchtime rather than after school, and varied to encourage hobbies. Not just sports clubs, but crafts or other interests. (Maybe this is how we could provide different language experiences?)

Obviously I agree with other posts that the most important thing is for the DCs to be happy going to school, so it can't hurt to try to put friends together in classes/groups/sets etc where possible...

Think that's it for now!!

Great! Here goes:

1. Parents/children need a genuine choice. Go to the school you want to go to, feel is best for your child. It is possible - look at other countries (i.e. Netherlands).

1. Do focus on academic as well as vocational subjects.

Some people are academically inclined. Some will do much better at vocational subjects. Forcing students to all conform to the one-size-fits-all academic standard will mean children loosing out.

1. Do get rid of over-testing. Establishing where children are at, keeping track: great! Testing for politicians' sake: bad! Trust teachers to do their job. Give children a break - studying for tests is not necessarily the most effective learning.

-Zero tolerance to bullying

-I want my kids to learn to think, not just regurgitate

-school should teach kids to engage with the wider world, and to get along with other people.

Freedom to defer a year for summer birthdays DS1 was 4yrs and 1 week when he started.

Smaller class sizes.

I find it mind boggling that some schools (inner city academies near me for example) struggle to get 30% of kids through 5 GCSE's A-C.

Better pathways for kids to develop vocational skills - university is not the right route for all kids so we need better quality alternatives.

I too would like summer-born babies to have the option of deferring for a year

I would also like children to have more one-to-one time with a teacher of TA - especially for reading

The reintroduction of apprenticeships and technicla colleges. The numbers of apprenticeships were decimated by the unions in the 1970s and the tradition has never recovered.

technical...

CARRIE !!

How on earth are you meant to represent these views? There are some things here that are not just unrealistic, but barking - someone suggested access to the classroom for parents at all times. As if. And I for one don't want random mothers cluttering up my child's classroom at any given moment.

There clearly seems a divide between those parents who want a longer school day, wraparound care etc, and those who clearly feel that they themselves could do everything better.

There are also those who clearly have a particular issue.

What started off as an interesting thread has now really got on my nerves as people post increasingly self-centred and ridiculous wish lists instead of for a moment considering the bigger picture.

(And breathe.)

My ideal:

No faith schools.

School to offer a rounded education not tied to a limited, closed curriculum. Schools and teachers judged by a wide range of criteria, not just the blunt instrument of results.

Stop blaming teachers for everything.

Give pupils a solid grounding in the basics: everyone should leave school literate and numerate at the very least. Also ideally speaking a bit of at least one other language.

Beyond that I'd like a culture of specialising - a state education which offers something for everyone but not to be confused with giving everyone the same. A school system which caters equally for the academic and the non-academic and is not afraid to make that non-PC distinction.

As a former teacher I support the many posts here saying tests kill good teaching. If you kill good teaching, you kill education. Pretty obvious, really.

I want schools that inspire children to learn and enjoy life!

I also want schools that use a 'buddy' system, where older pupils are partnered with the youngest as their 'buddy', with training and responsibility to look out for them, support them, help them settle, etc. IMO this is a great way of teaching older children to be caring and responsible, as well as avoiding some potential bullying situations from developing in the first place.