Parent/Carer Forum Meeting Notes

Monday 1st July at 5pm

Staff: Mr Hornsey and Mrs Woodcock

Parents/Carers: Reception Bumblebees x2, Y1 Hedgehogs x1, Y1 Squirrels x1, Y3 Robins x1, Y4 Skylarks x2, Y5 Elms x1, Y6 Cedars x1, Y6 Maples x1

• Shared aims of parent/carer forum
• Shared school context

LOA Requests

• Follow-up from previous meeting
• Shared that LOA should be at least 2 week’s prior
• No definition of exceptional circumstances but school view it from the perspective of the child – is there an alternative?
• Concerns last time that response was impersonal but shared that it has to be a standard letter for consistency and fairness
• Right to request a meeting to discuss and look at circumstances but holidays will always be unauthorised
• Religious observance – Day is given over to an activity which can’t be moved to a different day due to religious event and not a party to celebrate on a different day.
• Shared updated statutory guidance for attendance and implications for parents – letter to be issued at the end of term
• Concerns from parents about emergencies and not being able to give notice
• Discussion about process in terms of how notifications are shared and the timelines involved
• Concerns that the system is unfair and doesn’t take account of family circumstances particularly when families are abroad
• Could conversations be had at a higher level to address this?
• Discussion around music/dance exams and whether these would be authorised. Time should only be taken for the exam rather than a whole day or session.
• Clarification around difference between sickness absence and leave of absence

Social media – photographs

• Different opinions on filming/photography and different events at school e.g. Sports Day v performances where certain performances are filmed therefore no photography is needed.
• Outdoor events, Sports’ days – before or after disclaimer – there is still an uneasy factor – will be amended slightly next year.
• Greswold Primary Poor Parking – on Instagram and Facebook
• Shared concerns about posts showing registration plates and also families (some with faces blurred and others without)
• Empathise with the motive behind it but not the way it’s been done – safeguarding issues
• Parents confirmed that the parking was inconsiderate/illegal – parking on zig zags, double yellows
• Shared what we’ve tried to do to alleviate parking issues e.g. increasing Walking Bus spaces, Park and Stride venues
• Concerns that they may contain pictures of families who are not associated with the poor parking
• Concerns that some parents don’t use social media so wouldn’t know that they are on there
• Question about whether the page holder has been directly contacted to take the posts down or to edit them to blur registration plates and faces or whether it could be reported and asked to be taken down as targeting individuals.
• Possible school referral to legal team to seek advice
• Concerns around safeguarding of pupils
• Parents aware that it seems to be a small number of parents who repeatedly park illegally
• Suggestion to refer to parking authority
• Park and stride venues The Hub and St Helens Church
• Feeling that when Mr Hornsey is outside the situation is better
• Suggestion that site managers could wear high viz to deter
• Question if we’ve ever had reports that children’s pictures/videos are on social media? Answer - no
• Photographing/filming events – is it better to just enjoy rather than filming?
• No phones allows parents to focus on their child/ren

What is Bullying?

• Term being used regularly by parent community
• Large school but with a large staff presence at lunchtime including continuity with Play Leaders + pupil play leaders. Admittedly, can’t follow children round on individual basis.
• Lots of structures in place to support children
• Covid has had an impact on social skills and children may try to form relationships in ways that may not make sense to us as adults
• Definition of bullying from Anti-Bullying Policy - Ongoing issue, deliberate, imbalance of power.

• Concern that daughter said, “I think I’m being bullied.” Parent worried by this and raised at parent teacher meeting but parent not sure what to do next.
• Explained that parents can seek assistance from SLT or back to class teacher, especially if things did get better but have deteriorated again.
• Question about whether there was any advice for parents about how to notice the signs of bullying or how to address it with children
• Shared the Anti-bullying policy including information about the above question
• Shared that it doesn’t need to be named bullying to be taken seriously: we want all pupils to feel safe and happy coming to school
• Parent feedback of example where staff supported with friendship groups and the fact it has had a positive impact
• Shared about different approaches from staff
• Shared about the pastoral team approach
• Parent shared that the door is always open approach has worked well in their setting
• Feedback that there is a lot of support and advice in the policy which would support parents about how to tackle friendship/unkindness issues and that parts could be pulled out that would be useful to parents and shared
• Would it be good to have a parent FAQ section on the website to direct parents to relevant parts of the website? E.g. what to do if you felt your child was being treated unkindly by others

Educational Visits – deferred to following meeting

AOB

• Sports' Day – Reception & KS1 – would have been helpful to know how it runs beforehand, perhaps on the invite letter.  Amazing experience – children loved it!
• House Points – concerns about inconsistency – different between older and younger pupil
• Shared that SLT are aware and that has been addressed with staff
• Shared that HPs can be given for different things
• Feedback that there are lots of things that they can’t do at lunchtimes – feels too structur
• Explained lunchtime arrangements both when the field is in use and also when it isn’t. Plans to slightly amend arrangements to improve this.
• Discussion around transition and the importance of getting it right to ensure that pupils feel comfortable going into their new classes 
• Confirmation that classes are not being mixed for this academic year
• Transition booklets available and being put on the website for families to access during the holiday
• Question about when would be best to speak to class teacher about medical needs
• Question about whether it would be good to share two definite topics that will be discussed prior to meeting so that parents could come if it were of interest to them

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