Parents and Schools - a Two-Way Partnership

At Carnoustie, 25 October 2003

Report by Steve McColl

 At Carnoustie, 25 October 2003

Report by Steve McColl
Scottish Schools Ethos Network and Anti-Bullying Network in association with Angus Council

Susan and I made the 1˝ hour drive from Edinburgh to Carnoustie with our art teacher friend who was a last minute replacement for our daughter (she was having a severely bad hair day).  

‘Positive ethos and anti-bullying measures’

Following coffee and chat the day was brought to life by the amusing and animated David Cameron, head of education for East Lothian Council. David explored by looking at ‘Permissions’ – what is it that allows us to be cruel to one another?
He questioned the rationale behind the saying ‘he wouldn’t hurt a fly’ – does that mean it’s normally OK to hurt a fly? If it is, what about a mouse, a cat, a dog..? Do we perhaps legitimise cruelty, with phrases such as ‘boys will be boys’ or ‘he hit me first’? Dehumanisation is part of the process of bullying; bullies will select a particular trait in their victim and match it with a derogatory label.
David rather shamefully recounted a tale from his early teaching career where a vicious 5th former had been terrorising younger pupils for months; staff had tried talking to him, talking to his parents and punishing him, but all without results – he remained a frightening bully. At the time the only guidance to staff on dealing with bullying problems was to ‘act swiftly and firmly’. David, accompanied by a colleague to provide false witness, took the boy into a quiet room and harangued him until the bully was so frightened that he became their victim. There were no further bullying incidents from the boy, but at what cost? David and his colleague had just given him probably the most memorable lesson of his life; that the biggest, most frightening person wins the day. So what should he have done?
David suggested that we don’t get ‘hung up’ on responses to bullying – we must start earlier to create an ethos that not only doesn’t tolerate bullying, but one in which bullying is unlikely to germinate and be nurtured.

David stressed the importance of what happens in the classroom – how a school regards its pupils is critical in determining how they regard each other. Everyone must set a good example in all their actions. In the lyrics of Aretha Franklin, (sing it out)
R E S P E C T find out what that means to me – (and what that means in practice).

A prerequisite to respect has to be consistency. Teachers and schools have to be and be seen to be consistent in their policies, procedures, behaviours and responses – the real danger is that one bad teacher can destroy a school’s good ethos.

Policies are no good unless they are applied. Can you recognise your school in its policies or are they just tokenistic? Do staff and pupils show an awareness of the school’s policies? If they don’t, then the policies are not working.

He finished with the question ‘What permissions do you give?’

It’s up to us all to challenge unfair or discriminatory behaviour and by doing so, to create a positive ethos and a culture of respect.
 

Discussion Groups

The 140 delegates then broke out into small groups and discussed their own experiences of the physical environment of schools, reflecting on the impact this has on ethos.
 

Seminar Sessions

Next delegates trundled off into their seminars, focused on either Primary or Secondary. In the secondary session staff from Brechin and Carnoustie High Schools informed us of their successful programs for creating a positive school ethos.

William French, an Edinburgh primary headteacher, but on secondment to City of Edinburgh Education Department, described his work to foster greater links between parents and schools and improve ethos within a High School and its cluster of feeder Primaries. A number of initiatives had brought parental involvement to record heights; crčche facilities were made available on parents’ evenings, free transport was laid on between the feeder primaries and High School on High School parents’ nights and a High School sweatshirt was given to every new pupil.
 

Positive School Ethos and Partnership with Parents

After a filling lunch, Archie McGlynn, ex-HM Chief Inspector of Schools in Scotland, gave us his perspective drawn from past experience in the UK and more recent work in Hong Kong where some mothers are prepared to undergo caesarean section to get their child into the most advantageous school year!
 

Discussion and Questions

There was more discussion in our smaller groups before a lively question and answer session with the experts.
 

Conclusions

It was a very interesting and thought provoking conference, although at times it felt a little hurried. We felt that most of the afternoon could have been given over to group discussion and the question and answer session.


 

25 Oct 2003