DO not miss the consultation on relaxing the requirement to hold annual parents’ meetings.
The recommendations are that we do not have to hold these meetings if we have a post-Office for Standards in Education or “other” meeting; or if fewer than five families respond to our invitation to attend. In some small rural primaries in this county, five families would constitute a quorum.
The real catch-22 clause says parents may resolve that annual meetings are unnecessary - at an annual meeting attended by 20 per cent of eligible parents. If enough of you turn up this year, you need never come again.
My school’s post-OFSTED meeting attracted less than 10 per cent of parents but they did enter into the spirit of the occasion, working in groups on ranking 24 suggested factors that make a good school.
They put happy children, high standards of teaching and good discipline first. Last came school uniform, links with the wider community and finally, the governing body. They did not even discuss it. No wonder parents do not come to annual meetings.
www.governornet.co.ukconsultations
