School 'contract'

[danielanthony]

It's not legally binding and its to point out the basics to parents who are able to breed, but incapable of much else.

My daughter goes to a non-CoE school and they have something similar.

 

[Rroff]

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

Obviously only seeing one side here and don't know what else they do or what the school has in mind, etc. but the child part definitely could have been better delivered as part of an induction pack and plan that covered the first few weeks so as to actually teach them about these concepts and why they are important.

The rest might be a touch odd but as above a good bit of it is aimed at those parents who "are able to breed, but incapable of much else".

 

[stopper]

It's just a template isn't it. The child part is simply there for them to get involved. It doesn't hold any weight whatsoever and is just a commitment from both sides.

Are you sure?
"Ensure regular attendance unless my child is ill, and avoid unnecessary absence"
Just try and argue this one in court when they send you a fine after you signed it.

I wouldn't sign it as they are already obliged to offer your child an education without this contract.

 

[randomshenans]

Thanks for your constructive and useful addition to the thread.
Care to elaborate on the comment?

Didn't realise you were the one who got the contract? Not had your coffee this morning?

School is trying to get buy in from all parties as to what they expect from parents and students, it's not legally binding, no one will end up in court, it's not enforceable in any way. It is simply the school trying to highlight these things and getting everyone to take notice of them.

Is that clear enough for you sunshine?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Didn't realise you were the one who got the contract? Not had your coffee this morning?

School is trying to get buy in from all parties as to what they expect from parents and students, it's not legally binding, no one will end up in court, it's not enforceable in any way. It is simply the school trying to highlight these things and getting everyone to take notice of them.

Is that clear enough for you sunshine?

I don't drink coffee I am afraid.

However, you comment was aimed at the posters in the thread in general (or at least it would be sensible to assume this given the wording), to which I had contributed. Rather than add a constructive comment, you posted what was clearly designed to bait people by belittling their opinions without any justification. This served no purpose other than to illicit a response.

Thank you for subsequently enriching the thread with a properly laid out comment with some substance in response to my query.


Now, to my reply

Do you not think that this would have been better delivered as a code of conduct, with a signature return slip saying that it has been read and acknowledged?

 

[randomshenans]

Thank you for subsequently enriching the thread with a properly laid out comment with some substance in response to my query.

xxx

 

[randomshenans]

Do you not think that this would have been better delivered as a code of conduct, with a signature return slip saying that it has been read and acknowledged?

TBF this would have been sufficient I 100% agree. I had something like this for my kids school here, but it was done as this sort of thing rather than "contract"

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

We've parents evening tomorrow for our 6-year-old. It's a CofE village school, we're not religious but understand the religious aspect comes as a part of the package.

For someone not versed in what I imagine is a Church of England (?) school, I'm struggling with the second part of that sentence. Other than that, you seem to be talking about a non legally binding agreement which has no basis or enforcement through law and seems to be aimed more at a 'let's try and do good things' approach than anything else.

Seems reasonable if slightly pointless to me.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Isn't this a bit making a mountain out of a molehill? It's a list of reasonable things a parent should do, you aren't going to be taken to court if you don't fulfil all points.

 

[omnomnom]

Are you sure?
"Ensure regular attendance unless my child is ill, and avoid unnecessary absence"
Just try and argue this one in court when they send you a fine after you signed it.

I wouldn't sign it as they are already obliged to offer your child an education without this contract.

All schools fine if they are taken out without permission lol. This isn't any different.

 

[FortuitousFluke]

Are you sure?
"Ensure regular attendance unless my child is ill, and avoid unnecessary absence"
Just try and argue this one in court when they send you a fine after you signed it.

I wouldn't sign it as they are already obliged to offer your child an education without this contract.

I believe at least one person has had moderate success by arguing the definition of "regular". Besides the actual fine is levied by the local authority and is covered by the Education Act. If you do get fined it won't be because of this contract, it will be because of LA policy and an existing statute in law.

 

[Orionaut]

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.

A place has been offered, It is the parents who have refused to accept the T&C's attached to that place.

(See also, School uniforms, Haircuts, etc)

 

[MikeTheNative]

All schools fine if they are taken out without permission lol. This isn't any different.

It's at the head's discretion but as you said they are all allowed to fine over unauthorised absence.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

stopper is a freeman of the land type so, you know.

 

[omnomnom]

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.

Demonstrate a sense of reverence during Collective Worship or in St Chad’s Church


St Chad's church of England primary school by any chance?

I class forums as social media personally, sure it isn't Facebook and the like but its very similar. Its not like this is private.

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[Pudney]

Are you sure?
"Ensure regular attendance unless my child is ill, and avoid unnecessary absence"
Just try and argue this one in court when they send you a fine after you signed it.

I wouldn't sign it as they are already obliged to offer your child an education without this contract.

Given there's an actual law regarding school attendance I don't think this "contract" has any relevance if a parent gets taken to court

 

[dowie]

After a quick scan I'm not too impressed with these two:

Listen to, and respect, the view of the staff at the school, behaving in a courteous way at all times
Tell the school first if concerns arise before discussing on social networking sites

While you can be courteous and listen to the views of staff I don't think you need to respect them all. Likewise if you have concerns and wish to discuss them on social media, in a WhatsApp or Facebook group etc.. with other parents before approaching the school then I don't see the issue with that.

What happens if you don't sign? Presumably your child is already enrolled so meh... politely tell them "no thanks".

 

[Deleted member 66701]

I swear if teachers just stopped coming up with a load of waffle like the contract OP has shown us, perhaps our kids would actually learn something..

I don't think teachers come up with that (maybe a head teachers, but rarely do they do any teaching).

 

[Trifid]

The only aspect I find a bit objectionable is some of the bits in the child section like:

"Understand that it is okay to make mistakes as long as we learn from them next time"

That is the kind of thing that should be introduced and supported to them by the teacher not read and signed on a piece of paper which as mentioned above will be somewhat meaningless at that age. That kind of thing should be part of their introductory plan and reinforced through lessons and the approach of the teachers, etc. (even stuff like posters on the wall which maybe the children could be part of creating, etc.).

Sadly a lot of the rest has to be said as there are many people who have never been brought up properly it seems

EDIT: The more I read down the list of bullet points for the child the more I think someone has lost the plot... some aspects are fair enough but should be part of the introductory package and reinforced through lessons (not something a kid reads and signs before starting) i.e. treating others with respect and being guided by school values but others seem to ignore (worryingly) that every child is a bit different in terms of how they learn, attention span, specific needs i.e. some will be more introverted and others outgoing, some will struggle with varying degrees of things like Autism and need to learn to be inquisitive, etc. while others might be self-starters with a natural thirst for learning. Some of the other aspects like school uniform and correct equipment will initially be largely a parent's responsibility and something that they should learn to take responsibility for as they get older (assuming this is mostly <12 yearolds).

Did they really put Learn on its own as an entry in the list? like a command? and what <10 year old has any real concept of something like "Work hard to develop a Growth Mind-Set".

Almost everything in that list is something the school should be educating through the ages of approx. 6 to 11 or so via introduction in the classroom and worked into their lessons and the support they get including things like making posters on those subjects to put up, etc.

I hovered over that and the independant point and thought they don't actually mean it. Schools don't want children to be independent nor do they want children making mistakes to learn off them. These characteristics will be punished by the teachers if they deem they don't like them.