Minutes - 10th December 2008

Minutes of Parents' Forum
10th December 2008

The latest Parent Forum took place in the Library last night.

1. Mr Catton welcomed a small but select group with some festive mince pies. Mr Catton began by introducing our school Chaplain Revd.

2. Ron Watkinson. Ron was invited to the meeting to explain his role in the school and the contribution he is able to make to the life of the school. Mr Catton explained that OLS is unusual in the state sector in that we have a school chaplain, a common feature in the private sector.

Ron gave the meeting some information about his personal background and how that put his work into context. Ron explained he is in school 5 days a week, two full days and three half days. Ron does quite a lot of one-to-one work with students, supports colleagues in classrooms, and contributes to the school assembly programme. Ron also acts a ‘listener’ both to students and staff, and has done some advocacy work. Ron explained he was not trying to convert anyone but that he wanted to encourage young people to ‘think for themselves’. Ron noted that many institutions now have chaplains, and that students are encouraged to think about matters of faith from their own perspective.

Mr Catton added comments about how Ron’s role helps to contribute to wider issues of social cohesion and the wider school community. In this sense Ron’s role is a good investment for the wider local community.

3. Mr Catton then referred to the minutes from the previous meeting. Points arising;

• The HYPA project is moving forward and a meeting is planned for the new year to discuss the logistics of this.
• Mr Catton reported back on the observation of teachers that took place in November. The picture was mixed but overall went well. We have a higher than average percentage of ‘outstanding’ lessons, but lag behind national average on ‘good’. There remain some ‘unsatisfactory’ lessons but work is planned to continue to reduce the number of lessons in this category.
• Homework on the website has been temporarily removed as we move towards a new system.
• It was noted that some students still smoked on the school site, but the school continues to work to challenge this.

4. Parents were then updated on the outcome of our recent inspection of Citizenship. This confirmed our own Self-Evaluation which was that we were not currently meeting the statutory requirements. However the report noted some positives and the Inspector has since returned to offer SLT a workshop on how to move forward in this area. The school has clear plans to address the issues and these will develop in the months ahead, aiming to meet the requirements by Sept 09, and continue further development in the three years beyond.

• Mr Catton then updated parents on the situation regarding the new Headteacher, and we have attracted over 20 candidates. Interviews are scheduled for January. This will be a three day process. Mr Catton explained that he has no involvement in the selection process itself, as is usual in schools.
• Mrs Lindgren took the opportunity to ask if any parent was interested in being a school Governor as there are currently three vacancies. The role of governors was discussed.
• Mr Catton spoke about two publications, the booklet about our care and well-being, and the letter about school uniform issues.

5. Parent issues:

• A brief discussion ensued about aspects of school uniform. This included hoodies, bags, lockers and some practicalities around these issues. A comment was made about introducing a school bag large enough to accommodate all the items that students need to carry.
• A comment was made about the recent 6th Form Evening – very positive and teachers did a good job explaining the merits of their subjects. Mr Catton added a comment about how smart our 6th Form students looked at the moment.
• A concern was raised about Business Studies and student progress in the subject. This seemed highlighted by recent mock results. A parent noted that there was a study evening this week but for girls only. Mr Catton agreed to look into this.
• A concern was made about a long-term absence in Languages. However, we do have a long term replacement, and we have had positive comments about this teacher. This led to a brief discussion about other unforeseen illnesses amongst the staff. Mr Catton was however able to offer the good news that this term no permanent staff are leaving us – this is the first time this has happened for a very long time and is an indicator that the staffing situation is improving overall, despite short term difficulties.
• Praise was offered for a Year 7 tutor who intervened early in a situation which was quickly resolved.
• A query was raised about the school e-mail service. Mr Hartley said he would check with the web company regarding any verification letters that still need to go out to parents. Some parents had received recent e-mails but others appear not to have received these.
• One parent explained that she had been in school for two days last week as part of her job. Although apprehensive she told the meeting how calm and welcoming the school was and how impressed she had been with the students around the site.
• A point was made about a recent PE activity which had returned late. Unfortunately, the staff had not taken a mobile phone with them to allow students to call parents.

The next meeting will be on January 21st, in the Library, at 6:30 pm.