Nurse: the school has a school nurse. But they don’t have her in school all the time, if they need her they’ll give her a ring. They often phone her and ask her to give advice/speeches to parents about head lice.If Beaufort Park were a private school then everything would have to be paid for by the parents of the pupils. However, the school is statutory, and therefore, is funded by the DFEE. Although the school is funded by the DFEE, parents still have to pay for some of the things at the school. For example some parents have to pay for their child’s dinner. If the parents receive benefits, then they do not have to pay for the school dinners, instead they receive free school dinners, but parents who are working and can afford to do so, must pay for their child’s school dinner.
All of the parents at Beaufort Park must pay for their child’s uniform, but if they are having financial difficulties the school will try to help out. The school also sells uniforms, which have the school’s logo on, including an outdoor jacket. Parents can choose whether they buy the uniform from the school or from a retail shop. As the school sells the uniform, it will sell them for more then they buy it for, and the profit will go to the school.
The law forbids charges in these organisations for most activities which take place in school time, and if the school governors wish to charge for some of the services they offer, they must have a charging policy. However, it is okay for head teachers to ask for voluntary contributions from parents in order to fund activities taking place, if the cost cannot be met by the school’s budget. If a parent fails to make a contribution, their child will not be excluded from the activity. Beaufort Park School does ask parents for contributions towards theatre visits, school trips and some after school clubs, such as cooking club.
Beaufort Park has a charging and remissions policy. It is the policy of the school to ask parents/guardians for voluntary contributions to cover the cost of educational visits. The school will give a refund to children who are absent from the trips. The school gives the pupils free fruit at break, and the children receive free milk and biscuits. Also the school does provide some free out of school trips for its pupils. All of the equipment at the school is also free. Plus the school has a breakfast club, which is free, and many of the after school clubs are free. The children also go swimming once a week and this is a free service.
The juniors at Beaufort Park School have a trip for a week holiday, and for this trip they are asked to pay for their travel and accommodation. If parents cant afford to pay the full amount, the school will help out. The children don’t need to pay for sports equipment, as they use the school’s equipment. The school doesn’t have any one-to-one music lessons for the children, but there is an after school recorders group, and the children don’t have to pay for the lessons.
Although the information is handled very well I think that there could be a few slight improvements. Firstly, the school doesn’t have a website, and I think it would be very useful if they did. That way anybody e.g. parents can gain access to information about the school whenever needed. Also the school can advertise any after school clubs that they have and regular news about the school that can be easily accessed. Overall, parents would know more about what was going on in the school. Therefore, access to information about the school would be easier to gain.
Although the school has a prospectus, it only has English writing, and many of the children who attend the school, are of different ethnic groups, and this could be a problem, as some of the parents may not be able to read/speak English. Therefore, the school needs to cater a prospectus for people who speak different languages, in order to improve access for parents who cannot speak English.
Another problem is that the school prospectus doesn’t clearly state the procedures for the admission of pupils, it just states their committal to equality of access to all, and if they want any other information they have to see the head teacher. This could cause problems, because it isn’t a very fair procedure, as if the head does not like the ‘look of the pupil’, he could refuse them a place. However, if the procedure involved writing a letter to the school, it would be a fairer procedure, as it would be harder to discriminate against people. Plus it could be harder for some people to arrange an appointment to see the head, as they may find it easier to just fill in a form. Therefore, this problem could be improved by having an admissions form to fill in first.
Also children with siblings are given a higher priority, and this could be a barrier to access to those who don’t have siblings who attend the school. Therefore, this needs to be made fairer, in order to improve access to those who do not have siblings. As well as this, the application form for admissions is in English, and if somebody cannot speak English they wont know how to fill in the form. So to improve access the school needs to cater application forms in several different languages, as well as English.
Moreover, the school doesn’t seem to be advertised very well. People only come to know about the school by word of mouth, if somebody passes it or through the Liverpool City Council. Therefore, I think that this is a barrier to access, because not many people know of the school, especially people who aren’t from the area. I think the school needs to put more thought into how the school is advertised. The school could advertise itself by having a website and by distributing posters and leaflets about the school. This would improve access. Also the staff at the office can only speak English, and lots of children who attend the school are of different ethnic groups, therefore if one of the parents cant speak English they wont be able to communicate with the staff. So the school could improve access from this point of view by having a member of staff who can speak several different languages.