CONFERENCE REMINDER

Remember, remember SPTC's annual conference at 10.00 a.m. on Saturday 12 th November at Edinburgh University 's Holyrood Campus (Moray House) when Peter Peacock, Minister for Education , will talk about and answer questions on his proposals for Parent Forums .

Registration forms were sent out in September and can be downloaded from our website www.sptc.info Places will be limited so please sign up as soon as possible.

SPTC's AGM

Following the Conference, we will hold our AGM when we will report on the year's events and present our audited accounts. This year, because of changes to insurance regulations we will have to make some changes to our bye laws. These are detailed on the enclosed sheet, which also allows you to appoint a proxy.

CHANGE OF CONTACT DETAILS

In our item on child safety we highlight the need to keep the school informed of any changes in contact details. We too need to know of any such changes or, indeed, of a change of contact person as a result of your AGM. This is particularly important at this time of year as in November we will send out membership renewal, which includes public liability cover. Each year we spend a lot of time chasing up lapsed members only to be told that the contact person is no longer at the school – or has even gone to Australia ! Please help us keep in touch. You can let us know of changes by phoning, emailing or by post.

SWEARING IN SCHOOLS - CORRECTION

Recent headlines implied that SPTC supported swearing in schools. We would like to take this opportunity to explain the truth behind the headline.

We were asked to comment on a pilot scheme that aimed to tackle youngsters' swearing by highlighting their use of swear words and then giving them a chance to correct their behaviour. Our reaction was that this was a pilot that was worth supporting. We have subsequently learnt – and it is our fault that we did not find this out before commenting – that the school in question is a special school and deals with particularly difficult youngsters.

We certainly do not advocate pupils swearing in school and even the pilot - that we did support - was attempting to modify children's behaviour, albeit by using a different approach.

PARENT FORUMS, PARENT COUNCILS – WHAT WILL THEY DO FOR ME?

(based on Scottish Executive information)

As the new Parental Involvement Bill is launched, parents are right to ask “What's in it for me? Will a different type of board or council really make a difference?”

What parents want: Ever since they were first asked, parents have made clear what they want. They have never wanted to run schools, but have always wanted the chance to express their views, to raise issues that are important to them, to be taken seriously, to get a proper response to their requests and questions and to understand better what goes on at school. In a nutshell, that is what the Bill and the new system of Parent Forums and Councils offers.

Accessibility - the opportunity to get more involved: The new Parent Councils will be parent-friendly, shaped and appointed by parents locally in each school (the parent forum) and take account of local differences. So, in a very small primary school the Council could comprise all the parents; in a west coast secondary where some parents live a ferry-ride away, the Council could accommodate some members via an internet or video link; in a big urban secondary the Council could be based on a series of sub-committees at year group level.

The new Councils can be set up and meet in ways which take account of different working patterns in different areas and reflect the fact that parents' "spare" time is always precious and limited.

Focus on parents' own issues, and priorities:

Having established a new Parent Council, the next step will be to focus on issues which really matter to the parent. Top of the list in one school might be an outbreak of head lice, in another, it could be whether to continue to enter S3 pupils for Standard Grade, then there are the pros and cons of school uniform, parking at the school gates, the state of the toilets and so on. In all cases it will be parents rather than anyone else who will set the Council's agenda.

Right to information: The new Councils will have a right to information so, as at present, parents will have a right to know about school funding and how funds are spent. If a Parent Council does some fundraising of its own, parents will have a good idea of where the spending gaps are and how they might best use any monies raised.

Being taken seriously: The rights of the new Parent Councils are set out in the Bill. The school and the local authority must listen to what parents say and give a proper response. Sometimes information may be enough, sometimes it may mean a change in policy and sometimes it may be a careful explanation as to why the parents' requests cannot be granted. In all cases parents can expect to influence decisions, to be listened to and be taken seriously.

Getting to know the school: Parents who currently get involved in the school quickly find one of the big benefits is that they have a much better understanding of how the school works and what the teachers do. With the opportunity for more parents to get involved through Parent Forums and the flexible Parent Councils, more parents will experience these benefits.

The real challenges: Of course nothing works smoothly all the time. Individual parents will still have problems that will have to taken directly to the school – indeed the Bill strengthens their right to do just that. Not all the parents in a school will think the same about every issue, so different groups of parents may want conflicting things or disagree with a school policy. The new Parent Councils, like so much else, will depend on people working together in a spirit of goodwill, on parents taking advantage of the new opportunities to get more involved in the school and with the teachers.

To Summarise:- Parent Councils are an opportunity, rather than a guarantee. They are there for parents to make work, in whatever way they want, to help make their views clear on decisions and matters which worry or concern them. The main benefits are:

• the structure and size of the new Councils will be totally parent-friendly

• they will focus on the issues which are of most concern and most important to parents

• as statutory bodies they will have a voice that cannot be ignored.

In short, they should deliver what parents have long said they wanted.

KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE

The recent tragic case of Rory Blackhall has made everyone very aware of child safety, particularly on the journey to and from school. There were calls for schools to alert parents when a child did not arrive. Many cited the “truancy call” system as the way to go, but this is designed to tell parents when children are playing truant; it has limited value as a safety-alert system. For example it does not kick in until the school has established who is absent without a known reason. It uses an automated calling system (the school office does not have the capacity to make such calls) and if the parents are out or have mobile phones switched off, they do not get the message until later.

Another problem is that alert messages can be left on the wrong phone as parents sometimes forget to tell the school changes in contact details e.g. home or mobile phone numbers. It is very important to keep schools up-to-date and it might be a good idea to keep a note of the information you have given the school pinned up somewhere as a reminder to let them know of any changes.

However, another important action is to safety-proof your child . Most people tell children not to talk to strangers, but it is equally important to give children positive actions that they can take to look after themselves. We have come up with the following check list. You may want to discuss these and come up with your own list for parents and children at your school.

• Stay with your friends especially in the evening. This is equally good advice whether the child is eight, eighteen or on a gap year overseas.

• If your child feels threatened by a situation/person, tell them to go into a shop/ approach people working publicly e.g. dustmen/police or parents with other children/or go to a house. Children must not be afraid of all adults .

• Stay in a public place . Only walk on well-populated streets, even if it makes the journey longer. Don't take short cuts. Discuss with your children any areas that you feel are potentially dangerous and make these “no-go” areas.

• Discuss possible scenarios with your child but in a positive way; i.e. what would you do if…..

• Most parents have a “ worry-time ”, particularly for teenagers. This is the gap between when you expect them home and when you start phoning the hospitals. Make sure that they understand this; that you are not trying to limit what they do but that you do need to know where they are. Youngsters are usually quite tolerant of their parents' panics, are mortified/embarrassed at the thought that you've phoned the hospital, so can be quite co-operative!

• Make sure you know who their friends are (surnames and home phone numbers, not just nicknames!) but emphasise why you need to know and that you are not checking up on them.

• Whilst most youngsters have mobile phones, these do not always work, so make sure they know how to use pay phones , have the necessary money (currently 30 pence) and money for a bus.

• And finally, don't panic . This problem has always existed. Most adults can remember getting safety warnings from their parents and the risks are not significantly worse today than they were in the past.

Questions and Answers

What is the latest advice on school discos and disclosure checks? We run two discos and depend on school staff and parent volunteers. If we have to get the volunteer parents checked, the events could not take place as it would be a logistical nightmare.

If you pre-plan discos and there are certain individuals who are expected to turn up and help, these people are deemed to be in a “childcare” role and should be police checked i f they are doing this for the first time since April 11 th 2005 . If they did it before 11 th April, they do not need to be checked as their “childcare” role would be “continuing” and there is no requirement to check someone who is in a continuing childcare role.

However, if you work on an event-by-event basis and simply ask for volunteers each time so that you do not KNOW (even though you might be able to guess) who will help out, then these volunteers DO NOT NEED TO BE CHECKED. Their role is deemed to be “ad hoc” and there is no need to check people who are in an ad hoc childcare position.

If your events are family events such that you EXPECT parents to at tend, no one needs to be police checked, even if some children turn up without parents.

Our headteacher has told us that we need to change our constitution every two years. Is that right?

No. Your constitution is simply a written description of your organisation and if it is still an accurate description of your PTA, then there is no need to change it. You only change it if and when you make changes to your organisation. The constitution covers such matters as name, membership and the details of any committee set up to run the organisation. If there need to be changes, these have to be done formally, according to your constitution. We have two leaflets offering advice on constitutions which can be downloaded from our website www.sptc.info or which we are happy to post out on request.

Our headteacher says we have to spend ALL our money every year, not hold any back. Is this right?

No. Your headteacher is probably thinking of the problem of carrying over school funds provided by the local authority. But your money is your own, so you're not tied by local authority rules. You should always keep enough money back to cover your initial expenses for future events plus some for emergencies.

RECYCLING UPDATE

In the past we have told you about AlphaStream, a company that buys old printer/ fax cartridges and mobile phones. This is good for the environment and also offers a way for the PTA to earn money. However, the company details have now changed to EnviroStream. Address : Unit 35, Gleaming Wood Drive , Chatham , Kent ME5 8RZ .

Tel : 08451 307280 email : info@envirostream.co.uk