Wow, thanks!
The council won't tell us the most effective way to appeal.
I know I may be over thinking it all, but there are two/three main problems we have with the school they are in.
- it is not a church school, but they are insistent on pursuing a CoS agenda at every opportunity. Despite the head tell me that he would "do anything" to cut the numbers of children being withdrawn from assembly, they are regularly referred to as services, with a CoS minister running them, and with religious songs and prayers. The minister goes into classes weekly.
Next year, eldest will be in a class with the biggest fan of the minister as her teacher. She has openly said (in a parent council meeting no less) that she had no interest in making any efforts to include children/families that did not agree with her. The school policy on RME is absolutely fine, with lots of mention of inclusion of all and no faiths etc. The school handbook slightly less so, but what actually seems to be happening is quite different.
Despite proclaiming "an exceptionally positive ethos", I have yet to see even the slightest hint of it. I have seen the principle teacher screaming at a child to stop crying, and honestly do not believe that any teacher, never mind one who keeps telling us how long she has been teaching for should ever lose control like that. My youngest (in P1) (despite being described in this week's report card as able) comes home with work covered in red pen, with underlinings and negative comments all over it. I shudder to think what it must be like for the less able children. A student teacher there was even told recently never to say please to the children, because you should never give them the opportunity to say no!
Girls coat pegs are labelled pink, and boys blue. The little ones come out (or don't, more to the point!) wearing labels on a Friday which declare that they have been "good all week".
The eldest, despite being youngest in her class, is quite bright, and was told by her teacher (who up till then I had had thought quite highly of) that if she was finding the work too easy, she should ask for harder work than the rest of the class. Tell me what 10 year old would do that!
I know that there is "more than one way to skin a cat" or whatever the phrase was, but there just seems to be so much that is fundamentally different to our basic beliefs that I feel the damage being done to them is deeper than just the fact that I don't think they make as much academic progress than we'd like to see.
Report cards out this week told us absolutely nothing, except what the curriculum had (theoretically) covered and that they were all working hard, and were lovely children.
OMG, what a rant. Sorry.
We're right in the middle of Angus, and would be reluctant to be shipping them too far, just on a quality of life basis. Though not ruling anything out just yet.
Worried slightly that DH started muttering about Dundee High last night, and that is SO not why we moved here! .