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does NYONE thinkthey haev enough communication form school?

91 replies

FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 16:53

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Boco · 04/12/2007 18:42

Cod can i just hijack a tiny bit please? Do you as a gov ever had to deal with the issue of parents parking on those zig zag lines outside school? What do other schools do to stop it. I've got to work something out tomorrow with art club and the school council and am clueless.

NappiesLaGloriainexcelsis · 04/12/2007 18:42

lol at boco and cod

FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 18:46

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Boco · 04/12/2007 18:48

It's in a narrow village street, and on a bend, and it's a nightmare in the morning with people stopping on zig zags and on bend and bit lethal. Lots of near misses. And as penance for the birthday table thing, she's asked me to produce something to stop it happening - in 45 mins, with school council and art club. I'm a little clueless. And scared of that many children at once!

nutcracker · 04/12/2007 18:49

Can I ask on here, if anyone else with several children at the same school, gets duplicate letters about absolutly everything ???

Why can they not just give to the eldest ?

FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 18:50

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FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 18:50

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saggarmakersbottomknocker · 04/12/2007 18:51

lolol @ osmosis.

Glad you included yourslves in the 'work harder' Issy - lots of parents think that communication is just the school's job.

Niecie · 04/12/2007 18:52

OhLittlefish - Thats my point - I do ask them and they can't give an answer most of the time. How does 'fine' help? It is always the main comment after parents evening that the parents don't really know any more after they have seen the teacher than they had already gleaned from homework, reading at home and interogating DC.

But that isn't what Cod's OP was about. Sounds like her school has got most lines of communication covered.

nutcracker · 04/12/2007 18:53

Oh really Cod, hmm not sure ours would do that, they don't even have a school website.

Niecie · 04/12/2007 18:54

It's alright OHLittlefish - wasn't abrupt, just to the point.

Niecie · 04/12/2007 18:54

It's alright OHLittlefish - wasn't abrupt, just to the point.

LadyMuck · 04/12/2007 18:54

FWIW cod, I tend to find that when people complain about lack of communication, it is information about what/how their child is doing. Knowing the overall curriculum is useful, but actually most parents would prefer to know where their child fits into the class in terms of ability and attainment, rather than having this question dismissed as being "irrelevant". Also more information about the range of work in a class and how differentiated work operates throughout the school. Parents get a range of macro and micro messages about what is important in their child's education.

I think that is is also important that communications are read by someone thinking about the parents' perception as well, and also what the most appropriate method of communication would be. This year has been the first time that our dcs have done class tests. Each parent got a slip home in their bookbag giving the %ages attained in English and Maths, together with the class average (the mean). What wasn't explained was which "average" was used, and we had 2 boys who got 99% in each thereby raising the average significantly:- out of 16 boys in the class, 13 came "below" average. Not surprisingly the teacher was inundated by concerned parents (including of course the parents of one of the 99% boys who complained that the tests were clearly not testing enough!).

TwoRustyDoves · 04/12/2007 18:55

Do you have a Connected Learning Community (either as your school website or separately?) CLCs are one of the governments latest things, guaranteed to impress Ofsted and they can be used to improve communication with parents & other schools.

You can give parents a login name & they can see information, download files, look at children's work & you could even have a forum to discuss burning issues (probably wisest not to let it self-moderate though!)

We use Uniservity - I'd give you a link to our website, but (a) it might be a bit of a giveaway and (b) you wouldn't be able to access all the good stuff anyway,as it's only for members. It's one of these though.

HarkTheHassledAngelsSing · 04/12/2007 18:56

One thing our school is just instigating (I am a parent gov) is Link Govs for each class - and you stick with your bunch of kids throughout their career at the school. Our thinking is that if parents have a named gov associated with each class then it will encourage communication from parents and children.

I think you're right though - some of these pesky parents are just never satisfied and you can feed them information and opportunities to "feel part of the school community" until you're blue in the face, and they will still feel there isn't enough communication.

FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 18:56

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FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 18:57

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LadyMuck · 04/12/2007 18:57

And duplicatd letters happen here too, though bizarrely the children seem to get them on different days.

FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 18:58

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HarkTheHassledAngelsSing · 04/12/2007 19:01

We're due an OFSTED - puts the fear of God into me. Yes, we have linked to classes-Govs and then linked to specific things-Govs - I am "Inclusion" which is now SEN, G&T, Looked AFter Children and Ethnic Minorities.

Niecie · 04/12/2007 19:01

Boco - we had big problems with people parking all over at our school so they have introduced a school buses (very american) but it has significantly reduced traffic and zig zag parking.

FluffyMummy123 · 04/12/2007 19:03

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bagpuss · 04/12/2007 19:04

When we complain about lack of communication it is more to do with the amount of time that we get to make a decision/length of notice about a meeting or event that really annoys. For e.g. ds1's teacher had a residential trip booked in the summer to take place in December (cross about that but that's a whole other thread) but we got a small slip of paper on 31st Oct saying there was a meeting on 1st Nov at 3.30 pm which would tell us all about it. dh was cross as a) they knew about the trip ages ago and b) he works but wanted to go along and couldn't get away. It isn't so much the lack of communication as the tardiness of it IYSWIM.

needmorecoffee · 04/12/2007 19:07

No. DD's school changed phone numbers and I didn't get a letter. But the old number just rings and rings with no indication.
Apart from that there's a message book (cos none of the kids can speak) and a recordable communication news thingy.

TwoRustyDoves · 04/12/2007 19:12

Sounds like you may already have something similar - the CLC is a development of the Learning Platform, which every school is going to have to have 'by 2008'. I think the idea is a learning platform is for the kids to have access to 'personal online webspace, where they can store course work and their achievements', the CLC bit takes it wider to involve parents other schools & other members of the community. Uniservity is one of the Government approved providers - I think there's about 10 - but we had our website with them before the whole Learning Platform thing came along.

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