St Oswald's Parent Forum

What is the Parent Forum?

The Parent Forum is a partnership between parents and the school.  It is a valuable way to share ideas, views, concerns and make suggestions for improvement. It enables more parents to express their opinions and influence decisions

 At St Oswald’s C of E Academy, we are committed to working closely with parents and carers. We value the partnership which exists between school, parents and the community and the part it plays in achieving our mission and school improvement. We want to hear the views of parents and carers, and involve them as much as possible in the life and work of the school.

The aims of the Parent Forum are to:

• Work together to improve the education and opportunities for our children that enable parents to get involved in the life of the school, including supporting learning activities inside and outside of school hours.
• Share information, knowledge and skills.
• Meet in a mutually supportive and respectful environment.
• Further improve communications between parents/carers and staff/governors.
• Provide a clear channel for the collective views of parents to be identified and represented to the governing body and school leadership.
• Supports communication between school and parents — reaching out to all parents/carers of the school and promote a welcoming, inclusive school community.

The specific role of the Parent Council is to be a consultative and advisory forum.

Who can be part of the parent forum?

Any parent/carer of children currently at St Oswald’s CofE Academy is welcomed to join any parent forum meeting.  

The forum will be chaired by the Head of School or Executive Head / governor. On some occasions, other members of the school community will also attend the meetings depending on the agenda items and what the school feels they would like to share with the parents, such as new initiatives.

Why should I be part of the parent forum?

It gives all parents an opportunity to get together on a regular basis with other parents to have your say on what the school is doing well, and suggest ideas of how things could be improved.

How often will the Parent Forum meet?

A number of times a year for approximately 30 minutes.

What will be discussed at the meetings?

Anything related to improving the school and further developing the partnership between the school and parents. There will be a short agenda to be followed. The meetings will be informal and are on opportunity for an open discussion.  Minutes of the meetings will be taken and these will be accessible on the school's website.

It is not the forum to discuss concerns or complaints involving individual children, families or members of staff. 

How can I raise an issue?

Come to the meeting and bring it up during the open discussion. 

Expectations of all within the meetings

• Respect confidentiality and never name individual teachers, pupils, members of staff or other parents
• Respect others suggestions, viewpoints and ideas by letting them finish without interruption

We hope you will come along and contribute. This is open to all parents/carers of a child at St Oswald’s Academy.