Has the school bag mail been eaten by the school bag yet again?
Ok, so it's up to you!
Tell me how we can improve the flow of information. What's your experience? How have other schools done it?
Also, why not visit the GGS Parent Council website at:
http://ggs-parent-council.110mb.com/
7 comments:
This is the second time I have had to type this, somehow it got lost when I hit Preview, and I could not go back to it, so I am saving it in word first.
I am a parent of a child starting S1 next term
Some comments about the website etc
1. The link to this forum is not available by going to school, parents, parents forum or anywhere else in the parents section
2. I only found the icon for this forum when I realised the ggschool page was larger than appeared on my screen.
3. The parents council and parents forum sections could benefit from further info but the Parents Council presentations at the Parents Evening for new entrants was excellent. However I could not find a parents council rep to whom to hand back my willingness to help form, will do so next term.
4. How about getting a webshop. Check out www.buy.at/hallaboard. Participating companies would then pay commission to the school. Details of the organisers are on that site or you can contact me
5. A tale about that. My children currently attend a primary school in Staffordshire. One day I was walking to school behind 3 fellow members of the PTA and saw they were wearing identical jeans. I asked them whether they were doing so deliberately, and they said no, it was just that they were all devotees of Next’s on line shop. I asked them whether they used the link from the school webshop to get commission for the school and none had! Moral: Many folk visit it once and then forget about it, but if like me you have used it a few times you tend always to check out the buy at website first before buying anything on line. People need reminding and reminding in the school newsletter does not seem to work.
6. Their existing school is 40 this year and they are celebrating it by several events. So is GGS 40 – are there some opportunities here?
7. Are Parent Council members willing to be contacted by e-mail. If so can their addresses be published on the web or otherwise
Giles,
Thanks for using the Parent's Forum. You are absolutely right; the link to this forum currently only appears on the School Home Page. I will have a word with the school's web master and have him also add a link within the Parent's section.
I must admit I like the idea of the webshop. I had a quick look at www.buy.at/hallaboard and it looks very impressive. I have not had much experience in this area but will pass on the suggestion to the school and the Fund Raising Group of the Parent Council.
As it stands both the chairpersons of the Fund Raising Group and the Communications Group openly advertise their email addresses on the GGS Parent Council Newsletter. Details are: Fund Raising Group - Heather Tucker - tarrad.heargan@btopenworld.com and Communications Group - Andy Liggat - clan-liggat@liggat2007.orangehome.co.uk
If you have experience of the webshop concept, please get in touch.
May I suggest that the Parents Council publishes details of its activities on the web for ease of reference. It does not have to be anything more elaborate than the newsletter that is put out on paper.
At present clicking on the Parents Council tab takes you to www.grantowngrammar.highland.sch.uk/org.6_parents/3.html. I would suggest that the Parents Council page becomes on a domain other than a Highland Council domain. This is because, should you get involved in any sponsorship by any commercial organisation it may not be able to have details of this on a Highland Council provided website as this may imply recommendation of that organisation by Highland Council. Many other ISPs will provide a web page for free.
Perhaps a volunteer for this activity, or the name of anyone who works in IT and could be asked, can be requested at the AGM.
Giles, thanks for the comments. I will see about getting the Parent's Council Newsletters displayed on the school web as a start and raise the second issue at the AGM.
I didn’t realised until yesterday’s AGM that your communications committee was about communications between the School and Parents as well as between the Parents Council and Parents.
So maybe the remit of your committee could be explained in a little detail (I also did not glean this from the last newsletter but maybe that’s my fault!).
In fact, desirable communications methods may differ if something is being sent by the PC as opposed to the school – I’d like to see e-mailed communications from the PC. I think school did take e-mail addresses on school registration forms. Initially school would probably have to e-mail parents to ask them to let school know if they have any objections to the PC using such addresses.
One thing. I learned yesterday there’s a jewellery making club at school. Emma says she’s never heard of it. Could there be a list of school clubs (including after school clubs just for GGS students) on the GGS website?
Indeed! Whilst we in the PC clearly need to let parents know what we are up to on their behalf, the main aim of the Communications Group is to improve the flow of information from and to school and parents.
In particular, I feel that the flow of information has historically been pretty much one way - school to parents. This Blog is perhaps the first step in trying to redress that balance.
I will pass on your suggestions re the school website and a list of extra-curricular clubs and activities. As you will no doubt have noticed, the school website still contains much out of date info and tends to get updated in fits and starts. This is because it currently relies on teacher’s limited spare capacity to keep it updated. For this reason, I am seeking to create our own Parent Council website which will be independent of the school and hopefully easier to maintain and keep current with PC issues.
Breaking news! Our Parent Council now has its very own Website. It has taken me a while to get my head round the technical stuff and I have kept the format fairly simple but it is a start. Newsletters and minutes from the various sub-groups are available. The site is accessable via the school site - Parents tab then Parent Council tab. Or else go direct to www.ggs-parent-council.700megs.com
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