Previous Parents Forum Minutes

Parents Forum met on April 21st and was well attended. The evening began with a celebration of Paddington Academy’s recent achievements. Parents were delighted to learn that we had recently been awarded Gold standard for Cultural Diversity and we would like to thank those parents who gave up their time to come and meet with the assessor.

On top of this we were named second most improved academy in the country and we have the second highest student progress in all London schools. In addition to this we came 5th in the TOP TEN schools in the country - this is our biggest achievement so far since opening five years ago.

We were also excited to announce that Cherie Blair will be visiting us on the 5th April. Invitations to this event were offered to parents at the forum. Watch out for photographs and reviews.

Saeed introduced the idea of a change to school uniform with the addition of a standard school jumper. Saeed had a sample of the proposed jumper and parents were able to judge for themselves the quality and value of this. Parents in general felt the jumper needed to be thinner (as it is already quite warm inside the building), or that there needed to be two thicknesses offered. There was general agreement that it should not be made a compulsory part of the uniform. Further investigation with the supplier is currently being undertaken.

There was some concern expressed regarding the safety of children during their journeys to and from school. This followed a parent at the forum explaining that his son had been approached on his way home from school. Parents asked what they can expect from us in these situations. It was agreed that PC Paul Turpin will attend the next Parents Forum to facilitate a discussion around this topic.

In addition Mrs Billins Vice Principal has devised a questionnaire which will be given to parents at the next parents morning/ evening. The comments from this will then be evaluated and formed into a plan for discussion at the next meeting. Some excellent suggestions were also put forward, particularly regarding Year 7 students. The idea that we could ‘buddy up’ incoming year 7’s who lived close to each other so that they would have someone to walk to and from school with. This suggestion has been passed to Mrs Billins who has overall responsibility for student wellbeing. Suggestions were also made as to the possibility of more community policemen patrolling both before and after school – this is something we will be discussing with PC Turpin.

Gina Lansley then informed the group that she will begin Parenting Classes after the Easter break. She explained what form these will take and that they will run once a week for six weeks. There was some debate as to the best time to hold these. It appeared that ideally they would be held once in the morning and then again in the evening for working parents. The first of these will be on Monday 16th May at 11am. I look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible. Gina was also very excited about an imminent visit to a local school on April 7th with some of our parents. The purpose of this is to see the schools ‘International Evening’. This is an event we have been keen to hold at the academy for some time and we are hoping thatseeing an International evening in progress will help us plan and prepare for our own. Look out for further updates in the next newsletter.

We are also in the process of forming an updated ‘you said...we did’ board based on comments and suggestion raised at Parent Forum meetings. Please look out for this in the near future

Finally, we said a sad farewell to Saeed who leaves us to take up his new post as Deputy Head. We all wish Saeed the best of luck and acknowledge his help, guidance and dedication towards raising parental engagement at Paddington Academy.

As always, if you would like to be part of the Parents Forum, or if you would like to attend parenting classes please do not hesitate to contact me on 020 7479 3945 or email gina.lansley@paddington-academy.org Next meeting 9th May 2011 at 6.30pm

Parents Forum met on March 21st and was well attended. The evening began with a celebration of Paddington Academy’s recent achievements. Parents were delighted to learn that we had recently been awarded Gold standard for Cultural Diversity and we would like to thank those parents who gave up their time to come and meet with the assessor. On top of this we were named second most improved academy in the country and we have the second highest student progress in all London schools. In addition to this we came 5th in the TOP TEN schools in the country - this is our biggest achievement so far since opening five years ago. We were also excited to announce that Cherie Blair will be visiting us on the 5th April. Invitations to this event were offered to parents at the forum. Watch out for photographs and reviews in the next newsletter. Saeed introduced the idea of a change to school uniform with the addition of a standard school jumper. Saeed had a sample of the proposed jumper and parents were able to judge for themselves the quality and value of this. Parents in general felt the jumper needed to be thinner (as it is already quite warm inside the building), or that there needed to be two thicknesses offered. There was general agreement that it should not be made a compulsory part of the uniform. Further investigation with the supplier is currently being undertaken. There was some concern expressed regarding the safety of children during their journeys to and from school. This followed a parent at the forum explaining that his son had been approached on his way home from school. Parents asked what they can expect from us in these situations. It was agreed that PC Paul Turpin will attend the next Parents Forum to facilitate a discussion around this topic. In addition Mrs Billins Vice Principal has devised a questionnaire which will be given to parents at the next parents morning/evening. The comments from this will then be evaluated and formed into a plan for discussion at the next meeting. Some excellent suggestions were also put forward, particularly regarding Year 7 students. The idea that we could ‘buddy up’ incoming year 7’s who lived close to each other so that they would have someone to walk to and from school with. This suggestion has been passed to Mrs Billins who has overall responsibility for student wellbeing. Suggestions were also made as to the possibility of more community policemen patrolling both before and after school – this is something we will be discussing with PC Turpin.

Monday 17th January saw the 3rd Parents Forum of the academic year take place. The forum had two major items on the agenda. A text message reminder had been sent which was aimed at encouraging fathers and father figures to attend the forum as this valued and important group is currently under-represented.

The first agenda item was to re-visit the Every Child Matters (ECM) Parental Survey in order to obtain current views from parents. The ECM is a government agenda which seeks to ensure 5 key standards are achieved for all students. The survey questions whether parents feel Paddington Academy helps their child meet those standards. An additional part of the survey asked parents to name three things they liked at Paddington Academy, three things they thought we could improve on and one thing they felt needed to be changed. The feedback is currently being analysed and we will report on this soon. The second agenda item was aimed at fathers and father figures within the family.

Gina Lansley gave a presentation which looked at the importance of fathers and father figures, giving consideration to the influence they can have on their child’s emotional growth and development, as well as on their academic achievement. Gina spoke about the research which had been undertaken in this area and asked for ideas from the audience as to how we can help and support fathers to develop and strengthen their relationships with their children. The following things were suggested:-

Thank you to all the parents presents at the forum showing continued support; your effort is very much appreciated. We would like the opinions of others who could not make it to the forum.

Please call or email with your ideas or suggestions, or if you would be interested in taking part in one of the activities listed or helping to assist with the organization of an activity please contact Gina Lansley 020 7479 3945 gina.lansley@paddington-academy.org

Parents Forum: 22^nd November 2010

Parents` Forum Update The Parents Forum met for the 2nd time this Academic year on 22nd November. The evening was well attended and we were pleased to see a number of new faces. We had a packed agenda which kicked off with a thought provoking presentation from Sara Meftah. Sara is currently in year 10 and is part of the ‘Arrival’ programme. (A number of our students are selected each year to be a part of the Arrival Education programme, a national programme to raise achievement and attainment and to extend leadership skills.) Sara delivered an extremely well put together and (at times) challenging presentation on parenting from a teenager’s perspective. After her presentation, Sara expertly dealt with some quite tough questions from the audience. Sara was quietly supported in this by Emily Payne from the Arrival’s team. Parents can go on to the website to see all of Sara’s presentation.

Next on the agenda was a lively question and answer session led by Ms Juliet Adjei, Head of Year 8. Juliet wanted to discover how communication could be strengthened between Head of Year and family and how we could further support parents. Some very good ideas were discussed and these included a Social Forum for sharing experiences as well as discussing problems. In addition a monthly parent’s social evening was proposed as a way for parents and their children to bond. Another suggestion was a Head of Year surgery held on a regular basis. Two important surveys have been put on the home page of the Paddington Academy website. Parents are encouraged to complete this survey online.

The Gifted and Talented (G&T) provision was next on the agenda with a highly informative presentation from Ellie Miles the teacher in charge of G&T . Ellie explained how the process of identification worked and how those students received appropriate support as well as having the opportunity to experience trips to universities. Ellie produced a very useful guide which was handed out to parents. This guide will also be available on the website.

To round the evening off Gina Lansley gave a brief presentation on Parenting Classes. A number of topics were shown and parents asked to nominate their ‘top ten’ of subjects they felt would be useful to be included in parenting classes. The discussion which followed was very interesting and in order to get a more representative view Gina has put a survey on the home page of the website for parents to complete. The results can then be analysed and hopefully Parenting Classes can be tailored around topics parents have identified as being important to them.

Paddington Academy Parents Forum is going from strength to strength and we look forward to welcoming even more parents to the next forum on January 17th at 6.30.

If there are items you would like to see included on the agenda for this please email  gina.lansley@paddington-academy.org

The parent’s forum met on Monday 4th October. It was one of the best attended forums and we were pleased to see so many new faces. There were several items on the agenda and the meeting began with a short presentation from Melody Odusanya from the Harrow Road Neighbourhood Partnership (HRNP).

Melody was promoting the Community Action Meeting which took place at Paddington Academy on Thursday 21st October from 6.30 – 8.30. Gina Lansley spoke of her role as Parental Support Advisor (PSA) and explained what the role entails. Parents were asked for feedback as to what they felt would be useful for parents as a body, and how best Gina could fulfil her role. This discussion will continue over time.

The meeting then moved on to look at the range of extra curricular activities offered to students at the academy which are listed on page 8 of this newsletter. The bulk of the meeting was used with parents logging onto the academy web site and conducting an evaluation of it through parents’ eyes. A number of observations were made and these have all been noted to be discussed at the next Senior Leaders Meeting. Following this meeting, we would expect changes to be made to adapt the website to an even more user friendly resource.

On the 4th of May the Paddington Parents Forum met and were treated to a presentation from representatives of the Westminster Triple P programme. Triple P is a Parenting programme which promotes good communication and strong relationships between parents and children. Triple P aims to empower parents and enable them to raise responsible teenagers who are competent and confident. The programme runs over 8 weeks and is held in school. Members of the parents Forum who attended this introduction were generally positive about it and keen to take part in the entire programme. There was a lively debate about parenting issues and participants went away with much to ponder on. Individual conversations held afterwards demonstrated parents felt they had benefited from the shared experience of the group session. We are aiming to begin this programme in September and would ask interested parents to contact either Gina Lansley or Saeed Hussain; anyone of them will be able to provide you with further information. The next Parents Forum is on June 22nd at 6.30 pm and will be open to all parents. The main topic for this particular Parents Forum will be Homework, followed by a discussion about how the academy can help parents support their children with homework. We look forward to seeing you on 22nd June. Report by G. Lansley Parent Support Advisor

Parents and 6 teachers attended the half-termly Parent Forum at Paddington Academy on Tuesday 9th March. The following items were discussed:

• Margaret Murnane went through the academy’s Healthy Eating policy and asked for feedback on the Paddington Academy Travel plan. Margaret also spoke about the PA Healthy Schools Task Group and offered the audience the opportunity to join this group. Please note: Parents/carers who are interested in volunteering to join the Task Group should contact Margaret directly at the academy.
• Melody Odunsaya from the Harrow Road Neighbourhood Partnership gave a presentation on her work with the Tell It Like It Is group, a partnership that came about as a drive to raise awareness of schools and achievement in terms of Black students, but subsequently the group felt these issues affected all young people. Mel explained the role of local parents being trained and acting as mentors, going into support local schools and local parents – Mr Hussain felt that this was something that perhaps the Paddington Parent Association (PPA) could direct parents to (through the PPA parents’ phone line service) as they may wish to get involved with this.
• Sarah Thompson delivered an informative and interesting presentation on bullying following the training she has had from KIDSCAPE. Information leaflets were made available to parents at the end of the meeting and Maureen Gordon, one of our school counsellors spoke briefly about the role of school counsellors in relation to bullying. We had an interesting discussion following this. One of the questions asked was about how a bullied child can feel safe in reporting bullying.
• Sarah Thompson spoke about the numerous ways for students to report bullying, through the peer mentoring scheme or to the Head of Year or Student Support Mentor.
• Ms Tomlinson explained the additional measures recently put in place at the academy to help students feel safer i.e. glass panels in lavatory doors, high staff presence at all times, high staff awareness of what to look out for and processes and procedures for dealing with this.

Parents Forum: 19^th January 2010

Parent Forum Paddington Academy held its termly Parent Forum on Tuesday 19th January. The following items were discussed: Ms Lansley gave feedback from the Parent Evenings/ Parent Mornings at the end of the Autumn term and asked parents if there were other issues to be aware of next time we do parent/teacher meetings.

There was a general discussion about learning at the academy and what parents found helpful in terms of supporting their children’s learning and what they would like more help with. This led to a discussion about what parents/carers felt the academy was doing successfully to support their children’s learning and what could be further developed. Mr Hussain fed back on issues discussed at the first PPA meeting and went through the mission statement that had been agreed by parents about what the PPA wants to do to support children at the academy.

The Paddington Parent Association (PPA) now has its own email address: paddingtonparentsassociation@googlemail.com Parents wishing to speak to other parents about concerns or issues about their children’s learning can now do so via this email address. Members of the PPA will pick up messages from parents and respond to them on behalf of the academy. Googlemail gives parents the option to write in 16 different languages so parents are encouraged to write in another language if this is helpful.

The PPA can also be contacted by phone by calling 07872 543415. This mobile phone is owned by members of the PPA who will respond to any messages left for the PPA and liaise with the academy to support or help the parent who has made contact. All issues raised with the PPA will be followed up through our ‘you said....we did’ notice board, in the academy newsletter and on the academy website.

The next Parents` Forum will be held on 9th March 2010 at 6.30 pm.

Parents Forum: 17^th November 2009

The academy held its second parents forum on Tuesday 17th November and had a great turn out of 160 parents. The format for this event was slightly different to previous meetings as the agenda had been put together in consultation with parents.

At the meeting parents were asked for feedback on our reporting system so that we can improve parents’ understanding of how their children are progressing.

We also discussed uniform issues in response to parents questions about jumpers and coats. Mr Hussain talked about how the academy is actively encouraging parents/carers to get more involved in the life of the academy and suggested that parents used the academy website’s parent zone to contact him directly if they had questions or queries.

The final item on the agenda was the Paddington Parents Association, a new parent body that will be set up shortly. 12 parents/ carers have already volunteered to take part in this but we are happy to hear from anyone interested in joining this new initiative.

We are keen to get representatives from every ethnicity. For more information please email Mr Hussain directly at saeed.hussain@paddington-academy.org.