At Priesthorpe School, changes to the pastoral tutoring system, and a subsequent change in school start and finish times have been implemented without any consultation with parents, carers or teachers. These radical changes have been forced upon Priesthorpe School and will take effect in September 2013 unless we act now.
Teachers were not consulted on this matter, but were called to a meeting where they were told what those changes were to be. On or around the same day, letters were sent home to parents and carers, who were also told what changes are to take place. Again, no consultation has taken place at all and given the huges implications of these changes, this is unacceptable.
We understand that the new Head Teacher, Martin Blacoe, wishes to take the school from its current OFSTED ranking of 'Good' - a ranking achieved under the headship of Mr Hall - to 'Excellent'. However, we feel that the sweeping changes that he has made should not be implemented without full and proper consultation with parents and especially with teachers.
As parents, we feel that the welfare and happiness of both pupils and teachers is far more important than the rush to create the appearance excellence in time for the next OFSTEAD evaluation.
The main changes that have been implemented are:
1. That current pastoral tutor groups be disbanded in favour of smaller 'coaching' groups, which will in many cases be headed-up by unqualified, non-teaching staff. Your son or daughter's 'coach' may end up being a member of the administration or auxiliary staff rather than a qualified teacher. The coaching system has never been properly or fully evaluated anywhere and the fact remains that this system has actually failed in other schools. We feel that regardless of Mr Blacoe's claims of the success of this system at his last school, it does not necessarily follow that coaching would work at Priesthorpe.
2. An earlier start for pupils. Mid-winter mornings are already hazardous for many children who have to walk to school in semi-darkness. This problem will be further exacerbated by an even earlier start. In addition to this, teachers’ working hours will be extended, but their salary will not be increased.
3. Different finishing times on each day of the week. For working parents - whose working hours have been devised to fit in with school finishing times, or for pupils who walk down to Farfield and other Primary Schools to collect siblings, the staggered hours are not only confusing, they are potentially very problematical.
While alterations for the sake of improvement are always welcomed, these drastic changes have been hurriedly implemented with no respect for the opinion of either parents or teachers. As such we ask that a full and proper consultation including parents, carers and teachers be undertaken before any of these changes are implemented and that case-studies of the successes and failures of the coaching system are fully examined before being considered for implementation at Priesthorpe.
