Questions were answered regarding the process raised by parents of yr6 children who were attending the presentation

Transcription

1 CHULMLEIGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE (CCC) PARENT FORUM MINUTES Prepared by: Location: Beki Clarke Student Support Manager CCC Room: Presentation in Heywood Hall then Dartridge Hall Date: 3 rd December 2015 Present: Margaret Davies (MD) - Chair Michael Johnson (MJ) - Executive Headteacher Neil Payne (NP) - Assistant Headteacher Circulation: Adrian Wade and Directors, CCC Optime newsletter & CCC Website ITEM NOTES ACTIONS Heywood Hall Introduction and welcome from MD as some parents from primary schools attending Internet Safety Presentation. Discussions were held regarding parents views of the transition process from year 6 to 7. One parent of yr7 child was present at the meeting. He said that he could not fault the transition process and that he had moved his family specifically into CCC catchment area to ensure his daughter would get a place. NP explained the setting process and how the data had been used to assess which sets students were put in in year 7. He further explained that the setting was not finite and that there were still movements within the groups to ensure that all children were in the appropriate classes. Questions were answered regarding the process raised by parents of yr6 children who were attending the presentation MEJ informed the meeting that yr6 students had recently been interviewed by a report from the Journal who had been unable to find anything negative from the children. Internet Safety Presentation Lorna Talbot, Head of IT and Business Studies gave a presentation to parents on which websites were considered safe and which websites parents should be wary of when their children are on line ie. Those that had on-line chat rooms even though they looked like innocent game sites. The presentation slides are to be made available to all parents through. the College website ffor those who were unable to attend as an interactive document Forum&pid=128 - Internet Safety Presentation Pdf Formatted: Font color: Text 2 The Meeting moved from Heywood Hall to Dartridge Hall to 1

2 conduct the main business of the meeting. Approval of Minutes Extra Curricular Activities The minutes from the previous meeting were approved. Students from years 10 and 11 had been invited to the meeting to speak with parents regarding the opportunities that are available outside of the classroom ie. After school and lunchtime activities and trips etc. An overview of the activities available to students was circulated. Please see appendix 1 Parents divided into small groups and the children circulated these, answering questions posed to them. Overview of Previous year s Enrichments It was concluded that the 10 ceiling for charges for trips was a good choice and made trips available to all. The choices of trips available was good with 2 overseas trips running in the coming academic year: Ski Trip to Italy April 2016 French Exchange to Bergerac May 2016 Discussions were held regarding the choice of Enrichment Activities during the summer Enrichment days. Overall it was felt that the variety of choices was very good and that there was something available for all choices. The meeting was informed that the most popular activity had been the CSI day in which the Science, Drama, English and IT Departments worked in conjunction to produce an amazing piece of theatre and turned the school into an investigation network of a murder. Children who had not signed up for the CSI day were asking to swap from their groups onto this activity. Helen Wall, Head of Science is putting something together so the activity can be run again this summer. Linda Morris, CAT Business Manager, has been investigating the cost against the efficiencies to be made of introducing a facility for parents to pay for trips etc. over the internet. It is hoped that a new system will be introduced in the not too distant future. Timescales will be fed back at the next parent forum meeting in January. Timescales for internet payments for parents 2

3 AOB The issue of the timing of parents evenings for some of the year groups (particularly year 8) was raised again. MEJ explained that there are only a certain number of directed hours that teachers could be asked to stay and do parents evenings and that these were spread out across the academic year. Some parents felt that the parents evenings should be held at the beginning of the year to alert them to any problems their child might be experiencing early on. MEJ and NP explained that the Half Termly reports were used to highlight any problems and that parents could contact the school and speak to teachers about any concerns they have regarding their child s half termly report. Parents conceded that the effort grades were a useful benchmark but that is was not the same as having a face-to-face meeting. The current parent meeting structure was explained to those present and MEJ informed the meeting that there had already been a yr11 GCSE Revision and yr7 target setting information evenings and a yr12 presentation evening in the first term of the academic year. In January there will be a Yr9 Options evening for parents. It was agreed that SLT would consider having a general form tutor evening in the Autumn Term and regular subject evenings later in the academic year. MEJ also pointed out to the meeting that, even if subject meetings were held, it is not always possible to get an appointment with every teacher your child has because the evenings are very busy. MEJ to report back on SLT decision about future timings of meetings at the January Meeting. Parents asked if it would be possible to bring back trips to London etc as had happened in previous years. MEJ explained that there had not been a reduction in the number of trips offered. There are cost issues with some students not being able to afford trips. He explained that there are bursaries and assisted places but children tended to self select as they often realised that their parents would not be able to afford some of the trips. One trip to London where money was offered to those who could not afford to go did not want financial assistance and some that were too scared to go. Education cannot be dependent upon the ability of the parents affording to pay in a state school. Questions were asked about the costs of the ski trip. NS explained that payments are staggered over a year. Every effort is taken to keep the cost of the trip down by finding the cheapest location and the cheapest form of transport ie going by coach to Andorra instead of flying to the Alps. Concerns were raised by some parents that when the accelerated reading scheme came to an end in year 10 that some students just stopped reading. There were also concerns that there was not enough extension available 3

4 should a child go beyond the level they should be at. MEJ agreed that the accelerated reading scheme had been the best thing that Chulmleigh had ever done to address the literacy of students at the college. MEJ to investigate issues with yr10 and 11 Reading Literacy is going to be a huge contributor to the results at GCSE in the future. Children are disadvantaged if they do not read and it will have a knock on effect on the rest of their lives. The English department are uncompromising about their expectations. Those need to read the most need the discipline to undertake reading. Reading classes have been organised for lunchtimes and children voluntarily attend on a regular basis. There being no further business the meeting closed. Dates of future Parent Forum Meetings (2015/16) 13 th January 9 th March 28 th April 21 st June *Unless it's a simple correction, differences over the notes at the next Parent Forum will be held to the end of the meeting under AOB. 4

5 APPENDIX A After School Extra-Curricular Activities after School 3.45pm pm Monday Tuesday SEN Sports Club Phatfish at the Pavilion, Leigh Road, Chulmleigh, 7pm 8.30pm - 1 per session (first session free) Netball Practice/Fixtures Rugby/Football Fixtures Wednesday Rugby/Football Fixtures Thursday Study Support/Homework Club - Meet in Dartridge Hall at 3.40pm for refreshments then:- KS3 - BC2 KS4 - C1 Lunchtime Extra-Curricular Activities at Lunchtime on Mondays from 1.20pm to 2.20pm Year 10 rugby Year 9/8 Netball and Rugby Year 7 Football Singing Club and String Ensemble Learning Library for quiet reading, homework, Accelerated Reader book quizzes Code Club 5

6 Extra-Curricular Activities at Lunchtime on Tuesdays from 1.30pm to 2.00pm Year 10/11 Netball Girls Football - all years Year 7 Rugby Art Club TC5U Drumming Club PC2 Learning Library for quiet reading, homework and Accelerated Reader book quiz DisCUssion with Connect Extra-Curricular Activities at Lunchtime on Wednesdays from 1.30pm to 2.00pm Badminton Cross Country and Hockey - all years Year 8 Football Orchestra Learning Library for quiet reading, homework, Accelerated Reader book quiz Drama Club, Heywood Hall, 1.20pm pm - all years, all aspects of Drama and Lighting Design Extra-Curricular Activities at Lunchtime on Thursdays from 1.30pm to 2.00pm 6

7 Year 10 Rugby Year 9 Football Year 9/8 Rugby Y7 Netball Learning Library for quiet reading, homework, Accelerated Reader book quiz "Jammin" Improvisation Ensemble Coding Club Extra-Curricular Activities at Lunchtime on Fridays from 1.30pm to 2.00pm Badminton and Table Tennis Year 11/10 Football Year 7 Rugby Film Club Journalist Club (Week 2 only) Brass Rehearsals Music catch up and solos Pokemon Club Learning Library for quiet reading, homework, Accelerated Reader book quiz 7