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Backchat Newsletter - Issue 79 - May 2004

In this issue

Minister’s Question Time

Peter Peacock, the Minister for Education and Young People, tells us about his proposals to change the way parents are involved in school.

Recently, Peter Peacock spoke to Backchat about his new plans for parents. His policy promises “new freedoms and opportunities”. It aims “to encourage greater involvement for parents in their children’s education – better access to schools, better representation and better information on individual and school performance.”

However, the Minister added that these opportunities will bring responsibilities. “Responsibility for ensuring children turn up on time, ready to learn, behave in school, complete their homework and work with the ethos of the school”.

“I want to see parents working to support their child’s learning more, supporting teachers in improving the child’s progress”. He went on to say, “ I want to see more regular dialogue between teachers and parents about how their children are developing so that they can help ensure children learn in the home as well as at school. Some parents are happy to drop their children off at the school gates and await the finished product. We need to encourage parents to support teachers to help create the well- rounded individuals everyone seeks.”

The Minister agreed that whilst parents often say they want to be more involved many felt discouraged. He said, “Sometimes it is because existing structures involving parents are too rigid and attract only a certain type of parent. Sometimes it’s because the school environment just isn’t welcoming for parents. And sometimes it’s because parents themselves just don’t have the confidence to approach the school”.

The Minister promised change and went on to say, “All of these issues need to be addressed. And they will be. I am well aware of all that parents already do to help their children – and the range of family and other pressures that parents face. Whatever we put in place must work for all parents no matter what their circumstances. Change is on the way and I want you to help us shape the agenda”.
 

SPTC Quizzes the Minister Further:

Q: How do you think parents can make their children behave at school when they themselves are not there?
 
A: I don’t think that parents can make children do anything, whether they are with them or not, and particularly once the child becomes older. What parents can do is encourage and help develop their child’s respect for other people in the school community: other pupils, teachers and other school staff. And children should also be entitled in turn to expect respect for their views and opinions. When parents are told about their children’s difficulties with behaviour at school, they should be prepared to discuss with the school what everyone can do to move things forward, both at home and at school.
 

Q: What are you going to do about all those headteachers who don’t want parents in the school except to raise money or approve their plans?
 
A: I need to convince headteachers and teachers of the value of stronger parental involvement in a child’s learning and set clear expectations for that involvement. It really is time to see parents at the centre of their children’s learning, with headteachers and staff recognising the expectations parents have for the ways they want to be involved. I want to see parents and schools deciding on local, workable arrangements for meeting these expectations. In that way, parents will play a big part in shaping and agreeing when and how they can best approach the school.
 

Q: The top demands from parents are that they have more time with teachers and get early warnings of problems – do you plan to make improvements here?
 

A: I want to see effective communication between schools and parents. It is about parents having information and support, knowing how to seek help or advice, and knowing what to do when they have a question or concern when things go wrong. Parents and schools are best placed to decide the arrangements they want for this.
 

Q: You criticise parents who just drop their children off at school and expect to pick up the finished product at the end of the day.

A: I certainly do not want to add to burdens of parents but taking a real interest in your child’s learning doesn’t have to be a burden. The changes I am setting out must work for all parents, no matter what their circumstances. I am clear I want to strengthen the partnerships between parents and schools. I want to help parents to be better involved – their children benefit, it really improves their chances of success. We know that – and the research backs it up. At the moment, the Executive is working with councils and voluntary organisations to explore how to build bridges to families who in the past might have had good relationships with schools.
 

Q: Do you recognise that the parent’s role and the school’s role are separate and jointly lead to the education of the child? How much overlap should there be?
 

A: I am clear that the parent’s role and the school’s role are complementary. I am also clear that education is about far more than just what children learn at school. When you consider that between the ages of 5 and 16, children spend only 15% of their lives in school you see the crucial role parents play in their children’s education. To talk of overlap and separate roles seems to me to be artificial.
 

Q: Do you still see parents’ committees as being important?
 

A: Yes. The work of PTAs and School Boards has given parents vital input into school life. However, I am aware that the current School Board system is seen by many parents as only for parents with certain interests and skills. We need to examine over time the right way to involve parents. Every school and every community is different and it is important that we allow each parent body to develop flexible arrangements for representation which they feel comfortable with and are confident in. We couldn’t do that without changing the law and we need to see when that may be possible.
 

Q: How can parents get their concerns on to the political agenda? A Commissioner for Children and Young People has just been appointed. Do you see any value in a Commissioner for Parents?
 

A: Not sure about that – we could have a commissioner for everything by that approach.
 

Q: How effective is it to punish parents for the bad behaviour of the child?
 

A: Let’s be clear that a child getting into trouble needs help and support, the opportunity to confront their behaviour and to make positive choices. This will include very clear boundaries and expectations that the child understands. These messages have to come from home and school, and from any other support agency involved. We cannot allow children’s lives to go seriously off-track, so we may have to communicate clearly to the parents what we expect them to contribute to the effort needed to help the child. The current Antisocial Behaviour Bill is looking at introducing parenting orders for parents who have refused to take up the support available. Similarly the current review of children’s hearings poses questions about more influence over parents when that is clearly in the interests of the child – I would be interested in any views on that issue.
 

COMMENT

Let us hope the Minister’s vision of parental involvement works and leads to improvement in the future. The reality of the present situation is summed up in what is a depressingly typical email from a parent. “Not only are they (East Dunbartonshire Council) going to charge us for the privilege of raising money to subsidise their schools but they also want the person taking the let to be police checked”.

Your questions answered

e frequently receive questions from parents via our helpline (0131 226 4378) and on the website and often select a couple of them to include in Backchat.
A list of all questions with their answers are on the website at www.sptc.info in the Infoshop.
If you have a question which is not addressed there, please get in touch with us.

Our PTA has been offered money from a local company but we need charitable status. What do you suggest?

For groups such as yours there are more disadvantages than advantages in having charitable status. (For more details see our leaflet) Being a charity brings its own responsibilities especially in drawing up your accounts. There is a lot of paperwork involved and as you cannot turn charitable status on and off, you would be committing future Committees to maintaining this. However, you could still say “yes please” to this generous company. SPTC is a registered charity and it is usually possible to channel such funds through SPTC using our charitable status. We will then pass the money on to the school concerned.
 

We want to have some carnival floats at our Summer Fayre in August. Does our public liability insurance cover this?

If you are keeping the floats off public roads then, yes, your insurance will cover this. However, if the floats are going on to roads then they come under road traffic legislation and it is the vehicle insurance that comes into effect. All vehicles using public roads must have third-party cover.
 

Are children that help at PTA events covered by our insurance?
Any adult or child that helps at a PTA event is acting on behalf of the PTA and will therefore be covered by your public liability insurance.
 

Who should audit our Parent Association’s accounts?
You should get your accounts audited before your AGM by an independent person, that is someone not on your Committee. They do not have to be a professional auditor just somebody who is competent with figures, for example, you should be able to find a friend who works in a bank or building society.
 

Dates for your diary.

SPTC Conference

On Saturday 13th November we will be holding our Annual Conference in Edinburgh. Judging by last y
ear’s SPTC Member’s survey, the conference topic should be a popular one. The title is “Kids Behaving Badly?” and, as this suggests there will be presentations and plenty of discussion on the subject of discipline and behaviour in school. So, get this date in your diary now and tell other parents and teachers.
 

SPTC Survey on Advertising

Don’t forget - we need your responses in by June 30th.
 

Safety on the Internet

A couple of years ago we helped to launch the SUSI project which provides information for parents on how to guide their children to use the Internet safely. Well, the information packs have been updated and as well as the usual topics such as email and chat rooms, there are also sheets on such things as personal websites and filtering software . They are not aimed at computer experts but are in written in “user-friendly” language. If you would like one of these packs, please contact the office.
 

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Article 186 - published on 04 May 2004

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