Parent Forum - 3rd November
Review of minutes from last meeting
A parent asked what MAGT meant. This is More Able or Gifted and Talented children.
Christmas Fair
Kristina Cocks asked for thoughts and ideas about the Christmas Fair.
Responses were;
- Have clearly marked pathways- entrance exit, one way.
- Change the area- bottom hall only- use the classrooms and covered outside space. This will make it easier for parents with buggies.
- Rent a space elsewhere.
- Have a ticketing system.
- Hold it over 2-3 days to minimise crowds and rush.
- Hire marquees/tarpaulin.
- Use canteen areas.
- Face painting/kids activities to be in lower halls.
We are currently having a rethink about the way in which our Christmas event runs and will be sending out information ASAP.
Defibrillators
Nicky wanted to share her thoughts on getting a defibrillator for school. She explained that on average 12 children a week suffer a cardiac arrest and these are NOT always children with cardiac related illness or any diagnosed illness at all. Early use of a defibrillator can help increase survival rates up to 20% and 80% of cardiac arrests occur outside of a hospital setting.
She also told us about the use of the GoodSAM app (https://www.goodsamapp.org/). An app that can be used in an emergency to notify trained responders to see if they can get to the emergency faster than an ambulance.
We have been in contact with health care advisors for the school and are awaiting their response.
AOB
Parents are concerned about lunchtime arrangements. They feel children aren’t clearly communicating their lunch preferences and so are not getting the food that they would like.
We are currently trialling coloured wristbands and discussing menu options more thoroughly with children in year 1 and Reception classes. Due to feedback from the previous forum, Midday staff had further training during our recent INSET day.
They are concerned about handwashing- reception/year 1 children are struggling to turn on the taps and access the soap.
Caretakers have descaled the taps, this does build up regularly as they are used so often. We have also reminded our cleaning company to ensure that the soap dispensers are filled. These are all push activated and child friendly.
Parents would like there to be more clubs/extra-curricular activities. Kristina said that there are new clubs starting for crafts and drama/performing through Pzazz. Parents would like clubs for cooking and foreign languages. Shazia Alli suggested a speech training class run by an outside agency.
This year’s club list is being added to the school website. Pzazz clubs in crafts and performing arts will be starting in January. The speech class is currently being reviewed by the school drama team.
Parents also would like to see more healthy competition for example a spelling bee, a math competition and a talent show.
We will be hosting our bi-annual multi-cultural evening where children will be given the opportunity to share their talents. We will also be taking part in the first East London Spelling Bee. Every year Seven Kings host a Maths and Science competition. Last year five year 6 children took part. They came 1st in the Maths and 3rd in the Science section. The MAGT team are looking at ways in which we can celebrate achievements and include different challenges in classrooms.
Clarification on the cost of trips was mentioned. Questions were raised such as; how much does a coach cost and how does the school work out the cost for each child.
Coaches are expensive and are set by the companies providing the coach. We mostly use Redbridge’s coaches. No discounts are given. There is no funding given towards coaches from the government. Trip costs are worked out based on the overall cost for the year group and split between each child. If a child’s place is not paid for it comes out of our school budget. Payment is voluntary and any contribution you give helps us cover the costs. We believe these trips really enhance the children’s learning experience.