Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames

St. Paul’s C. of E. Primary School

Head Teacher: Mrs Kathryn Hemming

Website www.stpaulsp.kingston.sch.uk

27th June 2017

Dear Parents and Carers,

“Working in partnership to promote a love of learning”

Head Teacher Coffee Mornings

We want to work more closely with parents and carers to build on the findings of our Ofsted report, to look at the next steps and to celebrate all of the wonderful work taking place at St. Paul’s, where children display excellent behaviour and positive attitudes to learning, where the curriculum is diverse, challenging and fun, and where there is a strong and positive relationship between staff and parents.

I would like to thank the parents who attended our coffee morning for their time and for their contributions to the discussion. Please read through the minutes of the conversation below.

Attending: Mrs Hemming (chair), Mrs Green (Y5), Mrs Davies (Y4), Mrs Herring (Y3), Mrs Grossman (Y2), Mr Jones (Y1), Ms Smith (minutes)

Communication – There was a large discussion around the best way for the school to communicate with parents so that all information is received when needed in a useful and consistent format.

It was suggested that email is the best way to contact parents to inform them of upcoming events and to give information. Not everyone agreed, suggesting that texts should be sent regarding certain information, such as the cancellation of clubs. It was agreed that any last minute information would be sent via text.

It was proposed that the school should send ‘test’ texts and emails to all parents of the school asking the parent to respond with their child’s name in order to ensure the school have the correct phone numbers and email addresses for all parties. Mrs Hemming was open to the idea, although there is cost implication for text messages and there is an expectation that parents will inform the school office if their details change.

In regards to the way school collects information from the parents, data collection sheets are sent home in order to check details. It was asked how long these details take to update, which is generally a couple of weeks. These will be sent out again in September.

It was voiced that the notebooks at the gate are useful and give staff time to investigate any queries, usually feeding back to parents at pick up. Some parents were unaware that this was possible and said they would like to try it.

The concept of WhatsApp groups received a mixed response and so will be given more thought.

Homework – The concept of the children choosing their homework with all tasks based in homework books was discussed positively. Although, questions were raised surrounding timings, which Mrs Hemming was to feedback to teachers.

Some parents were unsure as to whether or not their child should spend 30 minutes on the activity and do as much as they could, or complete the whole activity which should take 30 minutes. It was subsequently discussed that the children should spend a focussed 30 minutes on the task and complete as much as possible. If tasks are particularly challenging, leaving a note for the teacher in the homework book was suggested by a parent who had found this way of communication useful for homework.

Some concerns were raised around children having a ‘one week off’ mentality around the two week project based tasks. Mrs Hemming explained that the expectation is that the project two weeks of work with children planning their work for the first week and carrying out the task for the second.

There was a suggestion raised for a homework club. Mrs Hemming explained the issues surrounding staffing and how it could not be a parent led club. Mrs Hemming is therefore investigating peer led lunchtime sessions and will communicate any decisions as and when they are made.

Library Access – Parents have asked if there can be more access for the children to change their school library books and have proposed that parent helpers have rota to come in and help the children to have access to change books.

Uniform – The school uniform policy was positively discussed and it was also mentioned how much smarter the children look coming to school. Parents proposed a reminder of the expected uniform ready for September. Mrs Hemming agreed that the girls are able to wear their summer dresses until the October half-term. The logo on the back of the polo-shirt is reportedly irritating and so contact is to be made with PGL to discuss option.

Parents highlighted that some children are not dressing accordingly to the uniform guidelines; Mrs Hemming will get all staff to be vigilant and follow this up.

Details for the next Headteacher Coffee Morning will be sent out in September.

Kind regards

Mrs Kathryn Hemming

Head Teacher