PARENT PARTNERSHIP– WEDNESDAY 7 MAY 2014, 7PM – 8.30PM

Parents Present: Donna Bernard-Carlin, Ros Harris, Andrew Dewar, Maggie Paul, Hussein Al-Sarri, NontandoNcube, Nicholas Ncube, Jackie Williams, Paul Clarke, Pam Pahlani, Yanq Wang, Joan Ingram, Mahboud Ari

Senior Leadership Team present; Carol Fearria (Principal), Joanna Green (Vice Principal), Andy Smith (Vice Principal)

Staff present:Rachel Stone, Paul Rogers (Learning Resource Centre Coordinators), Dan Pickup (Head of Green House), Joe Irons (Head of Red House)

Students present:KristianGeorgiev, Hannah Illsley, Summer Christian, MandipahPahlani, Alice Edmonds, Morgan Salt

Outcomes of the meeting:

  1. Welcome and introductions:
Donna Bernard Carlin welcomed the parents, staff and students and opened in prayer. Donna updated the group on the recent appointment of two more Parent Governors: Helen Hudson and RosHarris.Ros was present at the meeting, Helen had sent her apologies, but both new Parent Governors plan to support the Parent Partnership at future meetings.
  1. Developments in the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) - Paul Rogers and Rachel Stone
Rachel and Paul gave a presentation about the developments in the main school and sixth form LRCs this year. Both staff were newly appointed in September and have led on a range of exciting developments for students across the age ranges. The ‘Accelerated Reader’ scheme for years 7 and 8 was explained to parents and there was an overview of the wide variety of clubs on offer to students across the year groups.
In Key Stage 4there has been a very successful project, ‘First story’, which has proved to be very popular with the students. To raise the profile, acclaimed writers come into school to work with young people and those who produce the best pieces of work have had the opportunity to get their work published in an anthology. Sixth form students have been enjoying a reading café which operates like a book group, but everyone reads a different book and then presents asynopsis of the plot. The purpose is to convince others that the book is worth reading and a vote is taken to decide who has put forward the most persuasive argument. Ms Stone said that this has been instrumental in identifying which books to buy for Sixth form students, as they have all been read first and recommended.
The sixth form LRC has been resourced in order to support study and Ms Stone and Mr Rogers havedeveloped sessions to ensure that students know what is available to them and how to use the resources effectively.
The overarching aim of these exciting projects has been to develop a love of reading in all students. Mr Rogers and Ms Stone have also had an input into training for staff,encouraging teachersto think creatively about how they incorporate the use of the LRC into lessons to enhance teaching and learning. The web page for the LRC has been developed and parents were encouraged to have a look at the content. There was a discussion about whether the page should be re-sited, as several ‘clicks’ are needed at present to access the content. Equally parents felt that the term LRC should be replaced with the term Library.Jo Green will liaise with Mitch Guy to discuss making the pages more accessible. It was also suggested that the LRC is scheduled in to the new student induction programme.
  1. House Action Team – sharing achievements and ideas for helping and serving others
Along with a team of students, Mr Pickup and Mr Irons gave a presentation to the group about the work of the Houses in school, explaining that the mission statement ‘Together to learn, to grow, to serve’ underpins all that they do.
Studentattendance is closelymonitored by the Heads of House and an ‘Attendance League’ system is well established, placing students in different leagues – from the Champions League, to Division 4, depending on their percentage attendance. The results of this are displayed prominently around the school and draw great interest from the students. There is a half-termly prize draw for students in the Champions League and also for students who have moved up a division.
The House system also monitors student rewards, which again, is a system underpinned by the schools’ mission statement. Student are awarded House Points for a wide variety of behaviours, from taking a lead in a lesson, to supporting a peer ora member of staff, or taking a role in fund raising for the House charity. Students receive certificates which recognise how many House points they have been awarded, from a House certificate to a Platinum certificate – awarded to the top 5% in the school and presented by the Chair of Governors, Mrs Shewell-Cooper.
The Inter-house competitions were outlined; they cover a variety of areas including maths, science and spelling as well as basketball, art and football. Students take part in competitions throughout the year, culminating in the House Cup presentation at the end of each school year. The fund raising work undertaken by each House was outlined; Red House – Tiny Babies Appeal, Yellow House - Water Aid, Blue House – Rainbows Hospice and Green House – The Arches Project. Students from the House Action Teams presented on the variety of events held during the year, for example, the Blue House ‘Showtime’ concert and Red House’s ‘Red Hot Mic’. The studentstalked about their enjoyment at being involved in leading such events and recognised that they had developed skills and confidence through these experiences. Parents asked Mr Irons and Mr Pickup how the charities are chosen and how often they are changed. Mr Pickup explained that the Head of House, along with the Action Team members, will usually research a few different charities and then seek the views of the students in the House. Support is normally given for a fixed period of time and this is made clear to the charity at the outset.
  1. It was noted that this was the last meeting of the year and parents were thanked for attending the termly meetings and for their contributions over the year. Parents were invited to email Jo Green with ideas for future presentations and encouraged to attend the Parent Prayer and Spiritual Celebration evening on Thursday 5 June 7pm. It was also noted that Year 7 for next year was now full and the school was oversubscribed with a waiting list. Applications for the sixth form had also increased.

  1. The date of the next meeting will be published in the calendar for 2014-15 in July.