Parent Liaison Teacher The school has a nominated Parent Liaison Teacher who has responsibility for encouraging and developing parental participation in all aspect of school life. Initial contact is made with new parents through informal visits to the school, followed by a home visit by the Parent Liaison Teacher. This takes place in the Summer Term before pupils transfer, so that parents will have a familiar face to relate to in the first few weeks of a new term in a new school.
Discipline We want our pupils to acquire and respond to the knowledge that there are social duties as well as social rights. We do not allow physical punishment in school. We do, however, reward and encourage all aspects of appropriate and acceptable behaviour. Some of our pupils present quite severe behavioural problems, therefore, we are always pleased to discuss with parents ways of dealing with particular difficulties.
Help and guidance from the educational psychologist is also available where necessary, and if requested.
Parent Mornings Every month there is a Parent Meeting organised by the Parent Liaison Teacher. The meetings usually take place on a Thursday morning from 10.00 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and all parents are welcome to attend. As well as being a social occasion, a wide variety of topics are also discussed, with visiting speakers from a range of Societies or Services being invited to attend.
Parents Newsletter A newsletter giving school news about pupils, staff, school events etc. is produced on a regular basis, and is sent out automatically to all parents and friends of school.
Social Functions Parents are invited to attend a variety of seasonal school events, usually staged for a combination of the following reasons:
To display school work
To celebrate festivals
To raise funds
To involve parents in school activities.
Telephone Parents are encouraged to contact school by telephone when necessary, either to pass messages, or to make enquiries. Visits can be made at any time, but if you wish to discuss something with a specific member of staff it would be helpful to telephone first to ensure the member of staff is available.
Reporting Progress Home/School Notebooks: Where appropriate and where requested, a home/school notebook system can be provided to enable easier communication between parents and school staff.
The Review System The progress of each pupil is reviewed at least annually with additional interim reviews wherever necessary. At the Review meeting, all those concerned with the pupil (teachers, physiotherapist, Careers Officer etc) discuss the pupil’s progress over the year with the parents, and agree the educational targets for the following year.
Parents have copies of the school report before the meeting and the agreed targets are sent as an Individual Education Plan, following the meeting.
This is perhaps one of the most important times in the school year, and parents are strongly requested to attend.
Records of Achievement All students leave Mary Elliot School with a record that clearly illustrates their achievements throughout their senior school life. This record takes the form of a portfolio containing a selection of photographs, written work (where appropriate), artwork, certificates and any other documentation of achievement gathered throughout the senior years.
As far as possible, the material contained within the portfolio is chosen by the pupils themselves. At Mary Elliot, pupils are allocated to individual members of staff who are then responsible for counselling pupils and reviewing the individual portfolios at regular intervals, culminating in the final Record of Achievement which the pupils take with them when they leave. |