INFORMATION SESSION FEEDBACK FORM

Title of session:Parent Council Essentials – the next steps

Venue and date:Bruce House, Abroath; 11th February 2014

Angus House, Forfar; 12th February 2014

What worked well today?

  • Group quite small. Informal. Listening to other experiences
  • Good discussion – learning about other schools in the area. Supportive comments and advice
  • Using scenarios which are “real”
  • Sharing experiences with other Parent Councils
  • Very informative. Useful content
  • Workshop activity on managing an issue PC’s may face. Speaker knowledge
  • Enjoyed the session again
  • Hearing personal views of other parents regarding some of the issues raised. Positive attitude towards PC involvement
  • Everything worked well
  • Group discussions – experiences of other schools
  • Manageable size of group. Informal atmosphere
  • Syndicate groups on various scenarios. Good input on projects some schools had already completed and some ongoing
  • Format. Informal nature of discussions
  • The interaction with others
  • Good presentation. Interesting task on campaigning – great to share ideas with other schools
  • Listening to other schools
  • Shared practice. Ideas
  • Good discussion with other council members
  • Very informative. Enjoyed the informal way it was presented
  • Discussions. Listening to others ideas
  • Generally good
  • Workshop format. Presence of Gillian to give advice, answer questions, etc. Participant involvement. Primarily Eleanor’s excellent ability in running these events.
  • Covered some aspects in detail, eg campaigning/interviewing headteachers
  • As new to the SPTC was nice to hear other peoples opinions and experiences
  • An open discussion allowing the sharing of ideas and processes.
  • Hearing feedback/ideas from other PCs
  • Discussion and sharing information
  • Open discussion
  • Good presentation. Relevant information. Good to hear from other Parent Councils
  • All the information as well as the information from other PTPs
  • Really enjoyed it – got lots of really helpful info and tips
  • Enjoyed the workshop. Lots of info can bring back to PC meeting

What would you change about the workshop?

  • Nothing about this workshop but as an idea for the future – would be good to have HTs and DHTs or principal teachers at these meetings or similar ones as I feel they could learn mmore about PCs and their work
  • Discussive section was informative and interactive – to an extent – better to have more of an activity-based approach here too. A round of intros of participants would’ve helped (briefly)
  • Break in middle or shorter
  • Would have been helpful to spend longer on first task feedback to hear other people’s experiences
  • Seemed did not have time to cover some items in enough depth (but maybe any longer would be difficult!)
  • A little more time. Networking with other parent councils
  • Nothing – excellent as they are
  • Fewer topics to cover
  • Make it longer?
  • More time for questions would be good
  • Make it longer. Possibly ½ day
  • Nothing
  • Nothing
  • Make it longer with a section at general questions/answer things that we could do to improve in our school
  • Make it longer

What will you take forward with your Parent Council?

  • Better knowledge of what is expected from PTA networking
  • Involvement of PC in school inspection and SSR
  • Everything discussed at session! Leaflets!
  • Grounds for Learning website. Questions on school budget in future. “You asked, we did” board? Facebook page? School improvement plan – summary?
  • Interesting to know what exactly is involved with school inspections as we are due one very soon!
  • Involvement in School Improvement Plan and inspections as we are due for one very soon
  • The fact that we do not have a Parent Council – or at least not a functioning one. What to do …
  • The Grounds for Learning website
  • Sharing of school budget information. Information leaflets
  • Everything – have a slot on next agenda to discuss this meeting!
  • Sharing the feedback on areas discussed
  • Reviewing our involvement with school’s improvement plan and budget
  • Share good practice from other groups
  • Lots of good advice. Things to look into.
  • How we can get involved with the budgets and the school policies
  • Using survey monkey. Parent Council involvement in school matters!
  • Look to review school policies over next year
  • PC involvement in policies, etc. With new headteacher just starting hope to rejuvenate the Parent Council involvement
  • Do we want to know about any school policies
  • Look at budget. Possibility of using electronic surveys
  • More information on the role of Parent Councils and how much of a voice they have
  • To be more involved all round as we are such a small school we just accept sometimes
  • Possibly looking at the school budget and spending
  • Café was a fantastic opportunity for new people to attend. Great info on school plan and campaigning
  • That you are there to help and that we should use you
  • All aspects at the meeting and the leaflets for support

What else can SPTC do to help? (For example: other information sessions)

  • More training re how to engage the “moaners” who refuse to reveal themselves and bring their moans even privately to a parent council member
  • Further information sessions would be great. How to get PC members more involved and recruit new members
  • Preparing PC Chairs for HMIE inspections and their role within the process and the follow-up process with the report’s findings
  • Would like to attend a session with shared views on Parent Councils by other Parent Council members – if that makes sense!!
  • More information sessions with Q & A
  • Nothing at the moment
  • Info sessions for staff members on parent councils to explain the basic rules and responsibilities of a Parent Council. Networking with parents and other councils
  • Staring the Councils – early days/first steps
  • I am a pathfinder – other members of my PC may follow at next training events
  • Networking
  • Involving/engaging more and other parents in PC
  • Host a session at Northmuir for Websters cluster
  • The open question and answer idea is a good idea
  • Open Question & Answer session – perhaps primary and secondary schools to have separate sessions. Communications session
  • Good support. Answer questions
  • I would be interested in increasing my knowledge generally as new to this area
  • I’m new to the PC environment so any workshops would be beneficial
  • More workshops
  • Workshops
  • Other sessions – open question and answer
  • More group meetings and workshops
  • How to motivate parents to come along and not necessarily take on any roles
  • More on the budget side