QUESTION AND ANSWERS ON GENERAL TOPICS
“Should I help prepare my children outside school for their primary school Key Stage One and Two SATs?”
SATs exist primarily for the government to measure schools and not for the benefit of individual children. Results give a broad indication of your child’s ability, but performance rarely affects the child’s future, so leave it to the school, ensuring at Key Stage 2 that any set homework is being completed. Holidays exist for taking a break, not cramming towards tests that benefit the school!
“Our fourteen year old son suffers from ME (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis). The school wishes him to repeat a year, but we would like him to attempt some GCSEs earlier, to achieve success. What is your view?”
Many dismiss this medical condition, but it is very real, and can drastically disrupt young people’s lives and education. Whilst the condition is complex and treatment may be controversial, I consider it best to let nature take its course and not put your son under further pressure. Follow the school’s advice. For further information, see ME.
"We have complaint about my son's school but are having enormous difficulty in getting any solution to the problem. What can we do?"
Complaints about the internal management of a school are sometimes very difficult to resolve. Many schools are good at dealing with complaints. Others are frankly impossible. Ask for the complaints procedure - the school is obliged to provide this and follow it to the letter, trying not to antagonise the school. You should finish up with the headteacher or governors if the matter is not resolved earlier, but the latter will tend to support the school. The Local Authority will only get involved subsequently if it is a Community School, but my experience of any intervention is not very positive. For a Foundation School, your next step is the DCFS and once again you are in for a frustrating experience. You may feel I am being very negative, I am. There is an assumption in government that schools are right and headteachers should be given more acountability, but I HAVE seen some gross miscarriages. On the other hand, I have come across some very mischievous and disruptive parents from whom schools have a right to be protected. A new piece of legislation gives the Ombudsman powers to investigate complaints about internal school matters in pilot areas. I believe this will prove unworkable because of the complexity of the issues and the amount of resources they will soak up.