ESPCF is involved in two groups which are working directly on issues relating to schools. Read on to find out a bit more about what each one is doing.
School parent carer charter
A working group has been meeting since November 2022 with the task of creating a charter to provide standards of communication and clear accountability between schools and parent carers. The group’s aim is to create a document that is ‘clear and succinct, based on key values such as: courtesy, humility, non-judgmental; recognising mistakes; good relationships’.
The group includes teachers, SENCOs, parents, and an ESPCF parent carer representative, and is led by the Principal Educational Psychologist at East Sussex County Council.
As part of its work the group looked at examples from other areas and has now created a draft using some of the ideas from another charter and adapting them for East Sussex.
ESPCF’s parent carer representative told us:
I have enjoyed being part of this focus group and feel it will really help us as parent carers to get clarity as to roles and responsibilities of teachers and parents within our children’s educational settings.
The group is now seeking further feedback on the draft charter, so please let us know if you would like to be involved in reviewing the content.
School transition working group
This is a relatively new working party considering how to improve the transition process for young people as they move from primary to secondary school. ESPCF members will have read about it in our email bulletin at the end of May. We asked for feedback from parent carers on the transition process and for anyone who might be interested in becoming a rep for this group to get in touch. We’re very grateful for all the feedback which was submitted and we’re delighted now to have a parent carer representative in place to represent the parent carer viewpoint.
The group’s most recent activity has been to create a pupil survey to capture the views and experiences of young people themselves.
The ESPCF parent care representative commented:
It was great to offer them perspective, so that this isn’t just a tick-box exercise and instead forms a document that is effective for all those vulnerable children entering Year 7.
We will keep you updated on the progress and outcomes of this group and please do get in touch if you would like to share your views.