The Parent Forum

In July we were pleased to hold our first parent forum in some time. 12 representatives across years 3 to 6 attended the workshop where we discussed what Crofton does well and where there might be areas for focus. 

As we moved into the new academic year, on September 27th the forum met once again to look in more detail at some of the topic themes that emerged over the course of the first evening. This time parents and carers were joined by Mrs Sargent, Mrs Quayle and Mrs Walters (lead administrator for both schools). 

We discussed actions on the four main themes:

Communication and impact on parents 

Comments in the report from the initial forum had been taken into account and the school had actioned a number of improvements: 

• Holding back emails that could be added to the newsletter to reduce volumes
• Using the newsletter to signpost key info on the website (in an effort to hold information in one place) 
• Explaining, where possible, the rationale for process and procedures 

The school outlined that where the forum had requested more information, that quite often it was on the website but outlined that if parents and carers were not aware of this, that actions to draw attention to this would be needed to bridge the gap.

Inclusion

Two further forums are in place to discuss Inclusion, these are EDI and SEND.

The website shows more information but these forums will share additional information around the process and contacts.

Signposting to the FAQs on the website so that parents & carers didn’t have to navigate documents for this. 

Glossaries or less specific SEND terminology to help parents & carers who were new to the journey; or to explain terms where they are used.  

Trips 

Crofton specifically tries to keep costs low so that more than one trip per year can be put on for the children. To keep costs low, the Trust policy is to not use coaches as it is very expensive.

A Trips FAQs document to be published for parents to clarify processes and rationales around donations, payment methods and an overview of trips.

Facilities 

Crofton Junior School will be renovating some of the toilets with work needed to be done during the holidays, as work could not be carried out when the children were on site due to safety. 

Cleaning of toilets are carried out before and after school.  

Processes for children to report any facilities concerns to be reminded.

A review of water fountains and litter to take place.

Catering 

Portion sizes for children by catering staff had to adhere to government guidelines.   School are always encouraging children to use the salad bar as an addition to the meals. Staff are in place to check that children have the meal they have chosen at register time.

Allergen menu is arranged by Olive Catering for children with allergies and that strict safety procedures was an issue to ensure that every child has a meal that caters for their allergy.

Any changes to menus happen because of supply issues. Forum agreed that changes this term had been communicated. 

Cutlery reported as not being clean may be due to normal dishwasher residue, and that often the cutlery might be wet if it’s been washed during service.

The parent/carer forum will be meeting again in November to focus on Communication and put together a whole school questionnaire to get a school wide input. 

The SEND Forum will be held in the Autumn Term.

The EDI Forum will be held in the Spring Term.