Date |
Topic |
Host |
Host online |
Monday 10 September 2007 |
Should school uniforms be compulsory?
How far should schools go to police/enforce their uniform policies? This subject is very topical with a review of school uniforms currently taking place. |
Leanne McCurdy |
2.00–3.00pm & 7.30–9.30pm |
| Tuesday 11 September 2007 |
Is discipline in your school effective?
Student code of conduct (now called Student behaviour policy) — parents views on suspension and expulsion. What do they expect? For example, do you believe students should be suspended for minor offences (e.g. uniform infringements)? Is discipline consistent? What are future/better ways of dealing with student misconduct? |
Gail McHardy |
10.30–12noon & 8.00–9.30pm |
| Wednesday 12 September 2007 |
Parent participation — is the day of the parent club over?
One of our priorities this year was to begin developing a 21st century parent club model. This is included on day one of our annual conference. Our thoughts are that there will not just be one model but a range of models to suit difference circumstances. We could also include how do you participate at your child's school? How else would you like to be involved? What prevents you participating? Encouraging parent participation is one component of our service agreement with the Education Department. |
Elaine Crowle |
2.00–3.00pm & 8.00–10.00pm |
| Thursday 13 September 2007 |
Literacy and Numeracy standards — are our schools up to scratch?
Are parents happy with the level of literacy and numeracy skills with which our kids leave primary school? Is it reasonable that parents are paying to have their children tutored out of school to bring them up to scratch? Is the quality of teaching acceptable? How much difference will a $700 voucher help? It equates to about 12 hours of individual tuition. |
Margaret Pledger |
2.00–3.30pm & 8.30–10.00pm |
| Friday 14 September 2007 |
How do you rate the new reports?
Does the new report give you an accurate assessment of your child's abilities? Do school reports provide enough information about your child's progress? There has been a lot of angst from parents who don't believe the new reports capture their child's abilities. Other parents have been very happy.
We thought that we could also incorporate Parent-teacher interviews — how effective do parents find them, what do they like about them, what don't they like. |
Sharron Healy |
7.30–10.30pm |
| Saturday 15 September 2007 |
Is the local public school still the best option for your child?
Government (both state and federal) are pushing 'choice' or are they just opting out of their responsibility to provide universal, compulsory, secular education. More select entry government schools were promised in the last state budget. The debate about whether children learn better in co-ed or single sex schools is re-emerging.
|
Margaret Pledger |
2.00–3.30pm & 8.30–10.00pm |
| Sunday 16 September 2007 |
Are we paying too much for free education?
Extra charges, excursions, camps and ‘voluntary’ contributions are making it hard for some families to manage their budgets. Should public education be completely free? Should we pay more from our own pockets to give our children additional opportunities? But how much is too much? Should the extra charges vary according to each family’s circumstances? Should some families be totally exempt from any extra charges? Should the Government pay for the ‘extras’ that most of us now see as being the basic ingredients of a quality education. |
Gail McHardy
Elaine Crowle
|
10:30–12noon
8.00-9.30pm |
