Greetings viewers,

E-mail from an unconvinced parent.
Webmaster got an e-mail from a parent who is obviously happy with the school. Good for her. She asked me to remove her child from a photo which I put up in Dec.
Her point was that she didn't mind the child being in the newspaper as this photo was, but didn't want the child on a website that was against the school.
I was quite happy to do that as this site is not supposed to make any parents unhappy, although the instruction 'immediately' made it sound a bit like a command.
Also I feel it is fair to use any photos already in the public domain.
I also considered publishing the e-mail, because it raised some interesting points, but decided this parent probably wouldn't want that (please tell me otherwise)
I am a kind, tolerant person, so any request will be well considered.
I hear lots of horror stories about the school which I don't mention at all, to protect the parents and children concerned, unless they indicate they want publicity.
Back to the e-mail ; the parent points out there have been some good events run by HFSA
in the last few months, and parents are invited to PTA meetings.
Interesting these events are not publicised on the official school website!
Fund raising is an interesting issue and I feel that there usually a few parents who do any school's fundraising with gusto, but these are usually  'the school can do no wrong'  type of parents. The rest of us are realists; no blind unreserved trust which has been requested previously by the school. No parent should be so foolish. Conversely no one is  advocating 'anti- school' mentality. In order for your child to do well and be supported, you should attempt good communications and every party should earn trust. Indeed I'm sure most of the staff are very well intentioned and approachable.
However this e-mailing parent has no comprehension of what these 'ostracised' parents are going through.
Once you have an issue with the school the metaphorical and sometimes physical door is slammed in your face.
In some cases there then follows an attempt to remove your child from the school.
In other cases your complaints will at best be ignored , delayed in investigation, or even be turned on you. WHY?  Well I think,like other establishments, the school feels unable to acknowledge any weakness or mistake. Whatever its real agenda is it is unable to handle valid criticism.
Any parent who has been through anything like the above is sadly unlikely to feel like accessing either the HFSA or the PTA.
If anyone wants to know the PTA meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday in every month, but e-mailer doesn't say what time, and the school fete is on July 4th.

"THIS SCHOOL IS A HOSPITAL"   (as well as being a school)
Yes Harlow Fields is a hospital according to internet.  I have downloaded a hard copy of this.
Look on NHS sites. It even asks patients for comments, but hasn't had any yet.
So what does this hospital do?   Is it PALS -patient advice and liason services?
Apparently not - they are elsewhere. Is it administration? Is it an NHS teaching facility?
Or is it that Physios and OTs are based there?  Why did ofsted not mention this or were they not told?
It is shocking that the school has failed to tell us of this official change of status.

Information Alert!! Calling all parents of pupils over14 years.
Did you know that there has been a transfer of funding and responsibility for 16-19 education from the Learning and Skills Council to Local Authorites. 
This is vital knowledge for you, because from the year your child is 14 and they have a Transition statement Essex will to a greater or lesser extent be trying to place your child  in the cheapest option establishment to suit their financial pockets, whereas the LSC were not that discriminating.

Special Educational Needs will apparently come under the microscope in 2009 with OFSTED looking to see if the whole system needs reforming.
A separate  review by the government will examine parents' confidence  in the system and why schools and local councils are not giving them information they should legally receive.
So watch this space.!!!

One of the big successes of this website is the INTERACTIVE MESSAGING BOARD, which is helping ostracised parents communicate and learn from one another.
So remember we are not against the school as such, just trying to keep our heads down, and get our children educated as they deserve. We do support much of what the school does in more ways than most people will ever know, but we also have to deal with  INJUSTICE.