ParentZone @ NBHS
We all want to encourage and support our children’s education.
North Berwick High School’s Parent Council is a new way to do that. Whilst it is still early days, much has been achieved. For example in September 2011 we proposed and led the organisation of the Career’s Fair at which over 700 people attended. And by listening to parents, we have discussed your concerns and as a consequence the school homework policy will be updated Autumn 2011.
So if you want:
· to become more involved with your children’s education and learning
· to be a more active in school life
· another channel to express your views and wishes
then this group is set up specifically to help you do that.
As parents/carers we are automatically members of the school’s Parent Forum. As well as having our views represented through the Parent Council we also have a say in ensuring it works on behalf of all parents/carers.
Our Parent Council is designed to be inclusive, so our meetings are free for all to attend and there is normally only one meeting per term which last two hours. With this input you can make a real difference to the quality of your son or daughter’s experiences whilst at North Berwick High School You are also welcome to join any of our sub groups that deal with issues such as homework, eco schools, and healthy eating. Again, you do not have to be a “parent councillor” to take part.
We have been operating with these new arrangements since August 2007. And we are very keen to find new ways to engage parents and carers as there are many different ways in which, as parents, we can provide that support. So we need your ideas and support to make it happen.
Our starting point is that you don’t necessarily have to attend boring meetings (in fact they rarely are!) to participate in school life or to give your supporting parental role a lift.
Here are some examples:
Careers Fair – dozens of national and internation companies took stands at the NBHS careers fair in September and discussed career opportunities with the 700+ pupils and people who attended
Support for extra-curricular activities – if you have a skill or the energy and time to be involved, the school very much welcomes this
Homework – a group investigated ways of improving the way we can support our children. It revealed that parents had differing views and understandings of homework issues, which the school is now responding to.
Communication – the Parent Council has supported development of the new school website; we wish to go much further and improve the dialogue with parents and carers using new technology – if you have ideas then let us know.
Talks – Successful events have been organised by the Parent Council e.g. on Drugs & Alcohol, Learning to Drive. These will be repeated in the new session but we are interested to know what else would interest parents and carers.
There will be a number of vacancies on the PC in the next session, so do get in touch!
If want to have an informal chat, any of your Parent Councillors will be happy to speak to you.
Or if you have a suggestion, idea or concern contact us by email at parentcouncil@northberwickhigh.elcschool.org.uk
