Moving to Belfast -advice on schools?

laurel7172

I really, really wish it was that easy to get a child a statement on trivial grounds. If so, it would be easy to get a statement on genuine grounds, but I assure you it isn't.

leftieM

laurel7172 wrote: »

I really, really wish it was that easy to get a child a statement on trivial grounds. If so, it would be easy to get a statement on genuine grounds, but I assure you it isn't.

Absolutely. There are hurdles to jump at every level.

jjd

IrishRose12 wrote: »

I agree with you on your points. I know of 2 schools who have over 20 classroom assistants and over half of them are for "behaviour problems" whereas the school I work in, there is 5 classroom assistants all but one whom work with children who have medical problems. Children get assistants for behaviour problems too easy these days IMO, when all they need is a firm good talking to, or punished, as in stood out or not allowed to participate in certain things if they do something wrong. However these days parents think that their children walk on water and they don't deserve to be punished for giving back cheek to the teacher, or they are allowed to hit and kick children in school.
There are far too many rules in schools thee days that staff have to adhere to, and it's beyond a joke! You can't do this or you can't say that incase it hurts the child's feelings or it will embarrass them. I'm sorry but it didn't do any of the rest of any harm, and if we were embarrassed we knew not to do it again!
It's all about Child Protection these days and keeping parents happy. What about the protection of Staff, and letting them do their job instead of bowing to certain children's bad behaviour. I then feel sorry for the other children in the class ho suffer because of these badly behaved children
It's time the people behind the desk making up all these rules went and got an actual job, maybe try and practice what they preach and see how it works. Maybe that way we would be able to go back to 10-15 years ago where children were given lines, stood out etc and they learnt from their bad behaviour.
But then again, maybe if some parents actually doe their jobs and look after and take an interest in their children instead of using the school as a babysitting service it would cut out half the problems.

Maybe then, instead of schools getting assistants for badly behaved children who allegedly have ADHD etc that children who actually NEED help and an assistant would have a chance of getting somewhere and not get lost

I find Child Protection quite an important issue within schools, and it's not an area that should be neglected.

School is also compulsory thus I am unsure how parents can use it as free babysitting...

It's not easy to get a statement, and it's not easy to go through years of assessments, hundreds of appointments to get a statement either.

You state you work in a school however the above statements would concern me if you were educating my children.

jjd

To answer the original question..
Have a look at the etni website. You will find inspection reports although some are not recent they should give you an idea of how the school is performing.
http://www.etini.gov.uk/index/inspection-reports/inspection-reports-primary.htm

IrishRose12

jjd wrote: »

I find Child Protection quite an important issue within schools, and it's not an area that should be neglected.

School is also compulsory thus I am unsure how parents can use it as free babysitting...

It's not easy to get a statement, and it's not easy to go through years of assessments, hundreds of appointments to get a statement either.

You state you work in a school however the above statements would concern me if you were educating my children.

I do work in a school yes. And I also find Child protection VERY important. However when it comes to the point where you are not allowed to raise your voice to a child, for example if they were putting themselves or other children in danger, then yes, child protection rules are going over the top. Or when a 4 year old falls, cuts his knee and is crying for his mum, and your not allowed to sit them on your knee or comfort them in any way other than say there there you'll be OK if there isn't another witness beside you. What really annoys me is when a child at 3,4 or 5 years old who has had a toilet accident, we are not allowed to clean that child esp if it's a bad one, and the child has to do it themselves, and then we have to wait with that child while the parent is phoned to come up and either clean them and change them, or take them home. Again there are all these rules in place for the children, however IMO there has to be give and take. Also there is no-where in all of these rules that say anything about when members of staff are kicked, punched, scrabbed, hit, spat at etc.

When I say a babysitting service, I mean, there are many parents these days who send their children to school, without homeworks done, letters returned, are constantly late sending the children into school or picking them up, Sometimes you're lucky to get them into school at all, and no matter how many times the school and Board contact them they don't care, and some expect the school to provide everything out of thin air. I once had a parent tell me that because her child is on the Free School Dinners she didn't have to pay for a school trip and her milk! Another asked why her child didn't get a book at the book fair we had, and when told she didn't send any money in for her to get a book, she said well she gets free dinners so she doesn't have to pay!
Then when the children are on holiday parents are complaining about the length of the holidays or complain about Staff training days. Well I'm sorry but Staff deserve and are entitled to a break also, and at the end of the day its the parents job to look after their children!
Parents expect teachers to do their job and more. When I went to school my parents encouraged me to earn at home, took an interest in my homework, displayed my work etc. Nowadays there aren't many parents who even would ask their child how their day went! We have children starting school now who don't know their colours, can't tell you the names of animals or have no idea what a Nursery Rhyme is:eek:
I've seen the days where I have myself paid for a child's dinner as their parent hasn't sent in a lunch for them and no dinner money, and I've paid more milk money for children in my class than I care to admit. The way I see it is a child shouldn't have to come 2nd to their parents cigarettes or night out yet they won't pay for their child to get a small carton of milk for a term! Same as the dinners, I have spare items in my drawer incase a child has no break or lunch with them. I buy a bag of fruit each Monday for those children who don't have any, and pay the £2.20 dinner ticket when a 5 year old is crying as their mummy didn't give them money for the millionth time.

As for the statementing, I know well how long and how hard it is for a child to be assessed and statemented. As I said I worked with 2 statemented children, and at the minute we have a child on the waiting list to be assessed. What I see more and more of is that children who really need help with learning, are not capable of certain things etc or we have genuine concerns about have to wait up to 4 years for help. My worry is that children who genuinely need help are not getting it and children who need a bit of discipline are getting more help because of their behaviour. I know of some parents who insist on their child being assessed and diagnosed just to get DLA for them!!

My own children are not angels, I'll be the first to admit it, however if my children were to mis-behave in class or in the playground, I would never go to the school and complain about them getting shouted at! If they got shouted at there is a reason they did, no-one gets shouted at for nothing no matter how much your child says they didn't.

As I said, 10-15 years ago, it didn't do any of the rest of us any harm getting shouted at, being punished for things we did etc. When I went to school we had no classroom assistants and there were no children statemented, there was very little bad behaviour and you most certainly did not give back cheek to a member of staff. Respect and manners in a lot of communities has been lost somewhere along the line and the children in the next generation are going to suffer for it unfortunately

Schools can only teach so much and they can only do so much, but parents and families have a much bigger part to play in that teaching, and if they don't get it at home, then schools are fighting a losing battle.

steveymp

IrishRose12 wrote: »

Yes it is defensive. Because the majority of people who send their children to a Catholic school want them to know about their religion.
I'm also very offended at the fact that it is classed as Brain-washing our children, simply for bringing them up in the Faith we ourselves have been brought up in.

I'm also very offended that it is said that Catholic schools brain-wash the children. As a Catholic, a mother and as a member of staff in a Catholic school who actually knows what is taught in the schools we DO NOT in any circumstances brain wash ANY children.
And just because parents from other faiths send their children to State schools doesn't mean they are not educating their children about their own faith in their own homes. Or children who go to state schools because their parents say they want them to choose their own way later in life, yet they are brought to church every week or once or twice a month etc.

You say FORCED religion studies??? It is no more forced than Maths, English, Science, PE etc that all children have to sit through in school. Before anyone comments or says that Religion is forced on the children, maybe they should look into what is actually taught before commenting?

I do not brainwash my children, they are brought up to respect their church, their faith and most of all their community. They are taken to mass by myself every Sunday, I have no complaints as of yet, if they ever do tell me they do not want to go then that's their choice, I will not force them to go, the same as my parents raised me. They have friends from other religious backgrounds and they are taught to respect them and their families and their beliefs also. So yes my post before was very defensive, as from a few posts on this thread regarding Catholic Schools they are all being tarred with false thoughts and I feel the need to defend them.

You do seem to want a fight and I don't want to sideline the OP's thread. You have an opinion, I have an opinion, that's the beauty of life in a democratic country

I do not believe in religion in any shape or form, I raise my children on morals and karma A quick browse of world conflict and you will understand why I hate religion. I have never belittled a Catholic education, in fact I have stated it is superior here in our wee country, I have an in depth knowledge of it from my sister who works in a Catholic school.

All religion is brainwashing not just Catholic so I'm not picking on you, but in your next response maybe you could explain Evolution for me :rotfl:

saverbuyer

steveymp wrote: »

You do seem to want a fight and I don't want to sideline the OP's thread. You have an opinion, I have an opinion, that's the beauty of life in a democratic country

I do not believe in religion in any shape or form, I raise my children on morals and karma A quick browse of world conflict and you will understand why I hate religion. I have never belittled a Catholic education, in fact I have stated it is superior here in our wee country, I have an in depth knowledge of it from my sister who works in a Catholic school.

All religion is brainwashing not just Catholic so I'm not picking on you, but in your next response maybe you could explain Evolution for me :rotfl:

Don't mean to be pedantic but Catholic actually "believe" in evolution. They believe it's a natural process within the whole "God created the universe".

You can support evidence based science and still be religious. They aren't exclusive.

steveymp

saverbuyer wrote: »

Don't mean to be pedantic but Catholic actually "believe" in evolution. They believe it's a natural process within the whole "God created the universe".

You can support evidence based science and still be religious. They aren't exclusive.

:rotfl:So religious teaching tells us we evolved from a sea creature, through to an ape onward to being homo erectus. Maybe I'll start going to mass after all then.

Oh… who is Adam and Eve then ?

saverbuyer

steveymp wrote: »

:rotfl:So religious teaching tells us we evolved from a sea creature, through to an ape onward to being homo erectus. Maybe I'll start going to mass after all then.

Oh… who is Adam and Eve then ?

You do know what figurative language is?

The Catholic church supports science and scientific discovery.

steveymp

saverbuyer wrote: »

You do know what figurative language is?

The Catholic church supports science and scientific discovery.

You do know what Evolution is ?

According to you the church "believes" in it :rotfl: