School 'contract'

• Tell the school first if concerns arise before discussing on social networking sites
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You'd be amazed how many parents use their little WhatsApp groups to bitch and moan about the school and teachers before the school officially hears anything about specific complaints and concerns.
 
This is mostly aimed at the section of parents who fail at common sense or think the rules don't apply to them, the typical example being taking kids out of school for holidays when its cheaper. Schools are often trying to pick up the pieces of broken homes. The kids do a LOT better when parents are actively engaged.
 
Hades said:
I would be fine signing that. But what would happen if the parent refused?
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Presumably you'd have to look at another school.

Although it's highly likely you'd find the same contract at the next school. Which then leaves your only choice to homeschool your child.

Frankly there's nothing in that contract that is unexpected or unreasonable, so why wouldn't any 'reasonable' parent sign it.
 
Just seems like a piece of paper they get you and your kid to sign so that you have been made aware of what the school expects from the teacher/kid/parent and they can refer to it should there be any argument or question over the schooling of their child.

Seems a bit much but not unreasonable.

Edit: Same sort of thing as when your company brings in some new health and safety policy or whatever. You have to sign it to make sure you have been made aware but you can't choose not to.
 
For me its because, these are not things that need to be in a contract. Its called being a normal parent, a normal child, and a normal school/teacher.
It is also implying that we need to sign a contact to ensure we do these things, suggesting that without them they would not happen.

It also sets a precedent that my child has to be bound by the terms of a contract which they have no choice but to sign or be refused formal education. Lets leave such draconian measures for the world of work eh! Kids need to be kids.

I have no problem with a code of conduct, that can be supplied and adhered to, but a calling it a contract and expecting it to be signed by a minor (and parents!) is not something I am comfortable with.
 
omnomnom said:
Evidently it's needed as you've just some something they've asked you not to. Have you discussed this with them at all?
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Firstly, I don't class this forum as social media and I doubt many people would either. Secondly, there's nothing identifying the school so no bad press to come back on them, which is the real reason for the entry. I will be speaking about this tonight with them.

Don't get me wrong, the school is a good school, we've been mostly happy with it overall, our child is excelling. She's been free reading since she was 5, handwriting is great for her age, spellings, maths etc all very good. On the 2 occassions we've had concerns we've spoken directly to the head and the matter was resolved within a few days.

VincentHanna said:
Then the school will know that parent is more likely to cause trouble in future...
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Doubtful seeing as my wife and I are heavily involved in the friends of the school group that we've helped we've raised over £3k since we've been there, I also did the photos for free for their leavers prom. The new head came in Sept 2016 and there was uproar at her, some parents even took their kids to another school but I was quite vocal in supporting the change, give her chance to find her feet.


I understand this contract/agreement and the reasoning behind it but it just feels wrong. Whether it reminds me of those passive aggressive people that leave notes for others instead of talking to them or whether it feels like one of those things brought in because of a few parents that are ****'s, and there are a few of them there.
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
For me its because, these are not things that need to be in a contract. Its called being a normal parent, a normal child, and a normal school/teacher.
It is also implying that we need to sign a contact to ensure we do these things, suggesting that without them they would not happen.

It also sets a precedent that my child has to be bound by the terms of a contract which they have no choice but to sign or be refused formal education. Lets leave such draconian measures for the world of work eh! Kids need to be kids.

I have no problem with a code of conduct, that can be supplied and adhered to, but a calling it a contract and expecting it to be signed by a minor (and parents!) is not something I am comfortable with.
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You are a good person though :) Schools are full of dross kids with dross "parents" or carers, somebodies uncle, distant relative etc.
 
AHarvey said:
Our daughter is like me, has no belief at all and openly says that she doesn't believe in god at home, however, she's fully aware that people do believe and we accept that some people do and we don't argue with that.
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Good news :)

I was the same at that age, even at that young age i used to listen and learn intently in Science lessons and then when it came to RE and the teacher started talking about an old bloke fitting 2 of every animal on earth on a boat i had lots of questions :p
 
VincentHanna said:
You'd be amazed how many parents use their little WhatsApp groups to bitch and moan about the school and teachers before the school officially hears anything about specific complaints and concerns.
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That's outrageous, don't they know that the official first step in escalating a complaint to any publicly funded body is to be pictured looking moody in the Daily Mail?
 
Not a father myself but I'd be hard pressed to sign that.

Pointed it out to a colleague in the work (who is a father) and he was fairly disgusted by it :D

He feels its the school's responsibility to teach, not for your child to learn. Children will always learn, say a swear word once and they'll know it perfectly, so it's the teachers responsibility to deliver the curriculum in an interesting enough manner that it outweighs all the other stuff that's being thrown at them.

The most ironic part I found is that they have: "Plan a creative curriculum and enrichment activities to inspire a love of learning and the development of children as confident and well-rounded individuals"

However, despite still being called "teachers" they don't mention the word "teach" nor do they have a single point for "delivering" the curriculum. Seems like the onus is on the child to learn rather than the teacher to teach...

Also, can a child actually sign a contract...? https://www.gillhams.com/site/library/legal_articles/minors_and_contractual_agreements.html - I'm not sure I understand a "growth mindset" so not sure what chance a child has.

I feel this "contact" would have been much better delivered as list of suggested talking points.

I.e. "Below is a list of talking points that we'd encourage you to have with your child explaining the responsibilities and roles you play as a parent, your child as a pupil and what you can expect of our teachers"

Then remove the growth mindset nonsense and put the responsibility of teaching on the teacher rather than learning on the child.
 
Semple said:
Presumably you'd have to look at another school.

Although it's highly likely you'd find the same contract at the next school. Which then leaves your only choice to homeschool your child.

Frankly there's nothing in that contract that is unexpected or unreasonable, so why wouldn't any 'reasonable' parent sign it.
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Yes quite possibly. It would be an interesting situation if a parent refuses to sign any contract with any school. The local authority has a legal duty to offer a school place but the parent doesnt have a legal duty to sign the contract.
 
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