June 2015

The know zone

  • Know your boundaries
    Cherry Ridgway explains how comparable outcomes work for setting GCSE grades and looks ahead to the national reference tests, starting in 2017. More
  • Business class
    Anyone who has found attending parents’ evenings inconvenient will appreciate the new appointment procedures, seating arrangements and musical accompaniments suggested by Sean Hayes. More
  • CPD options
    As pressure grows on budgets, what can schools and colleges do to ensure their CPD opportunities for staff remain as rich and creative as possible? Here we highlight some key steps. More
  • A driving force
    Drive iQ aims to change the way that young people learn to drive in the UK. It is a state-of-the-art, award-winning online software programme that gives every young person a virtual experience of driving in all conditions and on all types of roads to help them acquire genuine experience when learning to drive. More
  • Balanced view
    Val Andrew outlines some basic tenets of sound financial planning to ensure that your school or college is running at maximum efficiency. More
  • The post-levels challenge
    Julie McCulloch explores the rationale for the overhaul of primary assessment and looks at how a new commission will aim to resolve some of the problems raised. More
  • The future of CPD
    Following their Shaping the Future of CPD event held earlier this year, the team at IRIS Connect have released a report unveiling important recommendations on the future of professional development from Sir Tim Brighouse, David Weston from the Teacher Development Trust, Philippa Cordingley from CUREE and many more. More
  • School holidays
    From September, all schools will be able to set their own terms and holidays. Newspapers have suggested that about 60 per cent of heads will use that power to help parents avoid holiday surcharges. What are you thinking of doing? Are you going to change your current set-up or will things remain the same in your school? Are you working with other schools in your local area to coordinate school holidays? Here, ASCL members share their views… More
  • Leaders’ surgery
    ASCL members concerned about leadership issues should call the Hotline on 0116 299 1122 or email hotline@ascl.org.uk More
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Anyone who has found attending parents’ evenings inconvenient will appreciate the new appointment procedures, seating arrangements and musical accompaniments suggested by Sean Hayes.

Business class

A common complaint from people working in other professions is that schools do not operate in the same way as they do.

So in the spirit of cooperation, we have decided to adjust our parents’ evenings to reflect the custom of the business the parent is employed in. We hope that this initiative will enable the parent to receive the same high-quality experience that they give to their customers.

From September, parents who work in doctors’ surgeries will be invited to ring the school from 8am to make appointments; these will be available on a first-come-first-served basis and priority will be given to those parents who really do need to see a teacher that day. 

Please be aware that there are only three telephone lines, so if you don’t get through immediately please keep trying.

Parents who work in the building trade or delivery drivers will be sent an appointment that is within two weeks of parents’ evening. This will be within a four-hour window; we are unable to be more precise about the exact time, so please ensure that you are ready and waiting when the teacher calls.

Supermarket employees will be able to bring a second parent to each appointment for no extra charge.

A very small number of parents are Ofsted inspectors and will be allocated individual appointments at some stage during the year. These will be communicated to you by phone at midday on the day before the appointment.

If you are not in we will endeavour to leave a message but the appointment will go ahead with or without you and you will be recorded as failing to attend if you are not present on time. Not receiving the message will not be an acceptable reason to request a further appointment.

Incessant drumming

All parents should be aware that one child has a father who works in television news. He will be followed around by a percussionist incessantly drumming throughout the evening. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause but authenticity is vital in order for this new initiative to be successful.

Parents who are employed by budget airlines will have appointments emailed to them in the week prior to parents’ evening. You should print off your appointments and bring them with you together with proof of identity.

Further copies will be available on the evening but will incur an administration charge of £30. One chair will be available for each interview: if more than one parent attends, additional chairs will be available for £5 per chair per interview.

Representatives of the parent–teacher association (PTA) will be selling fundraising scratch cards for this year’s project during the evening. You are urged to generously support this important venture.

Please note that parking on the site is strictly restricted to employees. A limited number of places are available for visitors and must be booked in advance via reception. A charge will be payable per hour and, for your security, a private clamping firm monitors the car park 24 hours a day.

We hope that parents will find these changes deliver an improved service and we welcome your feedback. We intend to launch our own app in the next 12 months that will enable you to provide feedback, track your appointments and share them via social media.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education (DfE) said, “We make no apology for expecting schools to pander to the demands of parents; the best schools do this to great effect. We have freed up schools from the bureaucracy surrounding parents’ evenings so that hard-working parents can be given the information they need to make the difficult decisions regarding their children’s education.”

Want the last word?

Last Word always welcomes contributions from members. If you’d like to share your humorous observations of school life, email Permjit Mann at leader@ascl.org.uk ASCL offers a modest honorarium.

Sean Hayes is Headteacher at St John Fisher Catholic High School in Peterborough.

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