Feedback wanted from Heber parents .

[EastDulwichSE22]

Hello there , my child is a pupil at Heber School which I believe has the potential to be a great school again , but currently I am hitting a brick wall with regards to communication between the school and parents .

There seems to be very limited communication regarding the school as to the progress of my child , the work expected , and my support to maintain/enhance my child's learning .

I find any concerns that I have is dismissed by the teachers and the head which only further continues to worry me .

I appreciate that the staff have a stressful job and do not need inferring parents but they have been downgraded a grade by OFSTED for a reason and I see no evidence of the school remedying this reason.

Other schools issue newsletters /website updates /record books in order to update the parents to what the topic is and what the expectation and outcomes are .

Heber provides no such communication .

I have just been given a work sheet with nothing to indicate what my child is supposed to do , how I am supposed to help or a book to record any learnings .

My child hasn't shown me evidence of learning anything new either .

I wanted to ask if other parents are currently happy with the communication between the school ?

The progress and work their child has been given ?

I naturally want to know that my child is going to leave school able to read and write properly but so far I am not impressed .

Please PM if you do not wish to post publicly .

[EastDulwichSE22]

Just to clarify, it's not my intention to bad mouth the school , rather with the support of more parents we can perhaps get taken more seriously by the staff and work as a team to further enchance our children's learning .

[Pickle]

My children are not at Heber, but speaking from a general perspective - at this early stage in reception I wouldn't expect a huge amount in terms of visible educational progress. For the first term it's really about settling the class in, getting them used to the way a school day operates, teachers and children learning about each other etc.

I don't remember getting proper "homework" at that point, just little books for sharing at home, which is really all they should be doing given some children will only just be 4.

We get a weekly school newsletter, which I think is pretty standard across all schools, and parent/teacher meetings twice a year where progress is discussed.

Hope that helps,

P x

[EastDulwichSE22]

It's not regarding homework .

It's regarding communication between staff and parents regarding progression among other things and it's across the years.

[Pickle]

Do they have a parent meetings at the end of the 1st term? I don't think teachers would communicate info on pupil progression earlier than that, realistically, as it's too early in the year to give much information. I've generally found the first meeting of the year is about how they're settling in to the new year group, and then towards the end of the year it's more about what level they're sitting at educationally.

Hopefully you'll get feedback from other Heber parents.

[EDmummy]

I've just tried to post here twice now with a very long response and have now run out of time trying to post again - in essence I'm pretty sure, from my Heber experience of 10 yeaars, you should be getting the following; weekly ParentMail, letter outlining of subjects to be studied each term, Early Years Foundation progress file (kept in the classroom and free for parents to see at parents evening and adhoc on request), sessions held on how numeracy and literacy is taught and of course, you can also support your child but understanding the curriculum at whatever stage they're at (available from Gov UK website).

If you do not know or do not receive any of these things - perhaps you have not provided the school with an email address or have changed your email address.

Also, it's worth reading the OFSTED report along side the very valid school response.

I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the amount of communication!

[Tanza]

As a Heber parent, I've always found the school are very quick to respond and good at communication. You can email direct to the school office and it will be passed onto the relevant teacher - in my experience I've been emailed back the same day.

Similarly, when I've emailed direct to the Head (expecting an email back in a few days or so)I've been surprised and actually a bit taken aback to be phoned within hours by him.

The school tracks the children's levels so it will be easy for them to to tell you the progress your child has made.

In terms of encouraging your child, I am sure you are already doing this but reading to your child and listening to them read to you - every day - is probably one of the most important things you can do to boost your child's levels.

Depending on how old your child is, you might want to get them going on times tables too. Just doing that kind of practice at home really does help your child at school.

In the long run, it is what you do at home (reading, times tables, cultural, sporting activities etc)that will make biggest difference to your child's school career. Whether you complete a worksheet correctly or not isn't going to make a jot of difference.

[EastDulwichSE22]

Thanks all for your feedback on here and via PM. It's interesting comparing notes as to what we all expect from the school and it seems we all have different expectations.

It's a very mixed bag .

[redjam]

I've got two children at Heber and was very surprised by this post!

As others have mentioned above, I receive a weekly emailed newsletter, plus at the beginning of every school year there is a meeting arranged for parents from each year group to go through what your child will be studying that year and how you can help. There is also a document laying all this out for each year group, which is posted up on their website and distributed via bookbag (or Parentmail if you're signed up to it).

From the latest Parentmail I see they are also arranging maths workshops for the various year groups and a new parent welcome morning. I think there was a new curriculum meeting recently. There are termly individual parent's evenings and I've always found teachers receptive if you ask to make an ad-hoc appointment with them at other times (or you can just grab a chat in the playground at pick-up!). You should be getting weekly homework for your child which also gives an idea of what they're studying, plus a reading book for your child to take home and a blank one for you to write your comments in about their reading.

Honestly, I think the communication with the school is pretty good - like someone said above, I sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by it! Do you think something has gone wrong individually in your case, perhaps? (Bookbag letters not finding their way home, for example?)

[melbourne groover]

There was also the results meeting the other week night with Mr Block and Miss Kyprios to go over all levels results and what they mean. Heber is performing really well results wise, obviously this was explained in detail but that was the upshot....

[keane]

I have 2 children at Heber one in year 6 & one in year 2 & I don't recognise any of the issues the op makes in her/his post. We get weekly newsletters, teachers & the head normally email or phone back on the same day you make an enquiry. Lots of meetings about curriculum & teachers always available for quick word at pick up or drop off & longer if you make an appointment. In my opinion the 'downgrade' by ofsted was a farce - I and lots of other parents have seen the school improve year on year, I think the ofsted had more to do with Gove changing the measuring systems for ofsted to try and get more schools turned into academies. Heber appealed the ofsted report and a new re-inspection is firmly in the pipeline. I would say my experience of the school has been overwhelmingly positive. It's also oy the beginning of the term! You should also have a yellow book to record reading progress & a weekly book change to supplement reading at home.

[crystal7]

Coming to this a bit late but my child was at Heber until a few weeks ago (we have left ED) and your post surprised me. I think one of Heber's strengths is their communication with parents. I think there's a parents evening after half term but I always felt able to catch the teacher after school for a chat if I had any concerns.

[Isla Amin]

Hi - we have just moved to ED from overseas and the kids are at Heber in years 3 and 4. Previously, they had quite different learning strategies to those here in the UK (particularly in maths). I spoke to my daughter's teacher generally about it today and we have an appointment booked to discuss the specifics tomorrow after school. Certainly no sign of dismissiveness at all; quite the opposite in fact. And there's a maths workshop for parents scheduled soon which I'm sure will help me understand better how I can help with homework etc. So far, I have been really impressed with the school - the children have been very welcoming to mine and the teachers have been really receptive to my queries and concerns.

[Curmudgeon]

God, I wish they'd stop communicating tbh ;)...seems like every other day there's more emails and news

And if you are a new reception parent I'd take your time and get used to the ebb and flow of school life, just as your child will. Try to enjoy it

Primary school, and particularly the early years, are about learning to love school and learning to learn