Following up on previous OnTheWight articles on Parental engagement and the Meeting for parents following the Ofsted report, Parent Council member Dave Miller offers feedback and welcomes further parental input, in his own words. Ed
Following the last Cowes Enterprise College (CEC) Parent Forum meeting on 25 February (Draft Minutes), parents should have received weekly newsletters as part of the improved communication, and an invitation to attend a meeting by the new Interim Executive Principal, Mrs Hardman, alongside a positive letter.
The next Parent Council meeting is on Wednesday and agenda items requested include updates on the Improvement Plans and new building, and consideration of parental feedback. It is understood the first Ofsted monitoring visit occurred on the 20 March, and was anticipated to be one officer and mainly a desktop exercise with no lesson observations.
New Building handover ‘Autumn 2013’?
Following the BBC News article and subsequent College Statement, many parents may be frustrated by the lack of information, especially following the positive progress statement in the last Parent Council minutes. Unfortunately the anticipated communication never emerged. Parents may also recall the statement read out by the (then) council Chief Executive “We will be able to provide a proposed completion date only when we are satisfied with the remedial programme proposed by the main contractor.”, and have expected the programme to be complete, even if the works were not.
Dates discovered in council docs
Interestingly, a statement deeply-embedded in council paperwork reports – “The new building for Cowes Enterprise College has been subject to significant delays. The Council is working with the contractor and the college to achieve completion and handover in Autumn 2013.” (Council Cabinet papers,12/02/13, Paper C, Appendix A2 – page 2 (C-13)).
Sadly the handover is the first stage along the path of it being used to educate children.
Actual opening date?
Given the previous official statements on having a six-week staff familiarisation following handover, and a non-term-time move, this could lead to a February half-term move in 2014. Questions over contingency plans therefore seem in order.
Have your say – Input sought
Future Parent Council meeting dates are 17/04/13, 05/06/13 & 08/07/13 (members only). Draft Parent Council minutes should be published on the website, within a couple of weeks, for parents to read. An open (informal) Parent Forum meeting is also anticipated shortly.
Input to the Parent Council can be provided via the clerk, elected year-representatives, or parent governors (contact details on the Parent Council section of the CEC website), and I am happy to receive any input at WightPGR@live.co.uk. (No personal matters please.)
Dave Miller (CEC Parent Council member & co-opted Educational representative on Scrutiny Panel)
Image: © Google Streeview
