Parent Council 19th Oct 2023
Parent Council Drop-in session Thursday 19th October 2023
- Reflections on first half term 2023-24 – What is going well? What can we improve on
- Parent views – What is important to you? What do you want to know?
- School priorities for 2023 -2024 - No Outsiders/Everyone's Included
- AOB
What is working well?
Year 6 is going really well, my daughter loves coming to school, she really enjoys having the responsibilities and we can see the independence growing. Everything we would want for her in Year 6.
My daughter in Year 3 talked a lot about the activities done during the first week back on the 'relationships focus'...'This is me', 'This is us' - she was really enthused to talk about it.
There has been a sense from my son that he realises he is going to have to work really hard in Year 5.
Our children are so so happy. The number of times our son has come home and said 'I feel more at home than I ever have done before'. He has had a lot of school moves and was really anxious about starting another new school. He is so happy, enjoying his work and feels very settled. The way both our children have settled is really great. Thank you.
The range of opportunities you have in terms of extra curricula is astonishing
We talked about the possibility of Kayak Club being reintroduced and that this is something which is being explored for Years 4 and 5 next summer. We are also looking at Years 2 and 3 having the opportunity to go on the lake to develop water confidence and possibly have an introduction to sailing. We are currently in conversations with Dabchicks, Mersea Island Tales Trust, Mersea Watersports and The Boating Lake. It is our mission to ensure all our children are water confident and are still playing 'catch up' from Covid times when many did not have lessons or go near a pool. We have taken every step to help with swimming costs. Years 5 & 6 are currently part way through a ten week course and then will be assessed. Swimming will then open up to lower year groups as children meet the required standard.
What can we improve?
A discussion about how our club arrangements for the forthcoming term are shared with parents was initiated. Parents at Parent Council were happy with the club arrangements, said that emails shared were accurate and timely and said they did not perceive that there was a problem. We explained that the clubs are set up by the office and the 5pm release time is the time that the office start to load each club and this process can take up to half an hour (by 5.30 all the clubs should be loaded). Parents felt that 5pm was a fair time.
A suggestion was made to remind parents about reading emails, accessing the website and possibly sign posting regularly on the newsletter.
A questions was asked regarding the situation regarding Wraparound Club? What does the demand look like? Is Wraparound viable? A survey has previously gone out and the demand was very low. We would like to offer this service again, if there is adequate demand, we hope to start this again in January.
Other questions asked during the meeting were:
Netball Club - How’s it going? What does the progression look like, from week to week?
Can there be more clubs for Year 3?
Is there a possibility of girls football running again?
Is it possible for there to be Tag Rugby for Year 3? School could consider putting out a clubs survey to find out what the demand is for different clubs.
Could there be a Chess Club?
We talked about school priorities and the amount of investment there has been in keeping straight year groups - this is largely dependent going forwards on funds available and cannot be guaranteed.
Trips etc - Payment schedules are helpful and it was felt that ample notice is given.
Homework emails are helpful – this is not consistent. This is not an instruction that has come from SLT but we know that some teachers find it helpful to remind their cohort of parents.
Parents evening – The later parents evening (in autumn 2) is helpful and the online booking system works well.
Parents were asked for their thoughts on the current report format and made the following points: The colour system is good. There is some confusion between the ‘s’ and the ‘w’ etc and takes a number of years to fully understand it. There was a general consensus of opinion that it is always good to read a general comment to hear about the whole child, as well as the academic focus.
Parents were asked for their ideas on increasing parental engagement and made the following points:
Could the coffee and croissant mornings be offered to all parents?
Could there be some direct feedback on the parents newsletter directly from those attending our Parent Drop In session?
Thank you to those who attended - your feedback is very much appreciated and considered in our decision making.