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Don Ledingham

Tuesday 19 September 2006

In one of my earlier posts where I was exploring the private school model I described how private schools are able to place conditions of entry on pupils and parents choosing to send their child to that school. I reckon this is one of the most powerful advantages which private schools have over public service schools (I prefer this term to state schools).

In my experience as a teacher, headteacher and now member of the directorate, parents in our schools are exceptionally keen to support their child. However, I wonder if there might be any mileage/benefit in meeting with parents/guardians/carers and their child prior to the child entering the school. In what would would be very private admission meeting the parents and the school representative could outline their expectations, intentions and concerns. An outcome of this meeting would be a much clearer understanding of how the parents can support their child's education and the school, whilst the school would be able to explain what it would do to support their child over the next four to six years.

I don't think there would be many parents who would object to such a meeting taking place - however, some parents might be intimidated by the apparent formality of the meeting so alternative strategies and venues might have to be explored.

But what would happen where parents refuse to participate in such a meeting - an extreme response might be "It's your job to educate my kid, we live in the catchment area, so get on with it". Now I would have to say that such a response would set my alarm bells ringing. Just what we would do in such circumstances is open to conjecture but I suppose I might have role to play as Head of Education. However, I think we would have to approach such a response in a very understanding and supportive manner - "schools have changed" would have to be our underlying message.

The bottom line is that it would add value to the admission process - by establishing an unamibiguous understanding of how the partnership between school, child and parents would operate. It might also enable the school to put suitable support mechanisms in place for parents who have particular concerns about their child or how they might communicate with the school.

Just a thought?

Comments

Conditions for entry

Brian

Friday 22 September 2006

There is still a long way to go to ensure that the transition of pupils from Primary to Secondary is seamless. The addition of an opportunity for the parent / guardian to meet with the Headteacher or member of the senior management team would be a worthy addition to the process and would help assuage any fears of all the parties involved.

Conditions for entry

Brian

Friday 22 September 2006

There is still a long way to go to ensure that the transition of pupils from Primary to Secondary is seamless. The addition of an opportunity for the parent / guardian to meet with the Headteacher or member of the senior management team would be a worthy addition to the process and would help assuage any fears of all the parties involved.

Conditions

Don

Wednesday 20 September 2006

Thanks for this comment. This is what I was driving at - perhaps clumsily - that we don't want any form of selection in our schools. However, I would suggest that we do want to help all parents to value the education provided by their local school and their own significant part in the education process of their child.

Schools and entry discussions

Maureen

Wednesday 20 September 2006

I think that many schools do talk with new parents about just these areas before children are enrolled in school and with good success. I think that it may not be as useful because the school representatives do not feel that a 'strength' could/can be put in this message. I do agree that this would be very helpful in setting the tone and the expectations. It is also useful to consider not just how families can support their child and the school but how the school can support them and their families i.e. what can we expect from you and what can you expect from us? These conversations do more than a school handbook could ever do?
I also do not think that it would be considered 'covert school selection'.

Conditions for entry

John Ferrier

Wednesday 20 September 2006

My understanding - a non-professional one, and one grounded in failure to pay enough attention - was that new policy in England was intended precisely to prevent this.

Is there a way to harvest the advantages of such a process without opening the school/authority to the charge of covert selection?

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