Marple Hall School NUHOPE regime

[Dave]

I fear complaining formally as it would upset school and may damage my future relations with them. I'm sure that there will be times when I need their support with my children and so I don't want to fall out with them.

Whilst that point of view is entirely understandable, I think it's dangerously defeatist.  If enough parents are unhappy with NUHOPE, they should have the confidence to say so.  And as I've said before, a good way to tackle this issue would be via the parent governors, which might leave individual parents less exposed. 

[Loobylou]

I share your concerns and have had similar experiences to yourself when I have been intouch with school regarding nuhope. Most of the parents I know don't like nuhope because it upsets their children and does nothing to encourage good behaviour or hard work. When I have spoken with school, (individually and at meetings), school has sought to deal with issues and complaints around nuhope on an informal basis. If issues aren't resolved then the school refer the matter to a more senior staff member but still deal with it informally. From what I've seen I think this is to avoid complaints which would have to be logged.

Since the school is so strict I have become much more lenient at home, to try to bring some balance. This is a big shame because it means that home and school are not working in partnership. School have taken over much of the discipline in my childrens' lives whereas previously it was more shared.

I would be delighted if nuhope was binned but I fear complaining formally as it would upset school and may damage my future relations with them. I'm sure that there will be times when I need their support with my children and so I don't want to fall out with them. Also in many areas the school is excellent.   

[I am the Walrus]

Well, at least this is a discussion. I did mention previously that there is a facebook page on the matter which hasn't attracted much comment so it is difficult to get people together to make a forcible point.
I visited school last week to discuss nuhope and another parent was there to discuss the same thing. My children try to discuss it with school too but we seem to get the same answers in that their "data" suggests it is working, though perhaps some discretion ought to be exercised by teachers when dealing with incredibly minor "offences"

It is very worrying to read Loubyloo's post which suggests that we are not the only parents experiencing difficulties with our children being put off school and questioning the fairness of this regime . . .

Slightly alarmingly, we have now received a letter which suggests our son may be "underacheiving" and may need help to "eradicate under-performance". I say alarmingly because we don't have a son at the school and have never been made aware of any of our children potentially under-acheiving!!!

In my mind, if children are being turned off, there is no doubt that for some; NUHOPE is failing and Marple Hall is failing.

We are close to making a formal written complaint but not even sure who to address it to as the school seems to be layered like a corporation with LOTS of "Head of", "deputy Head of", "Assistant Head to" "Middle Leaders" I'm sure there must still be some teachers . . .

As I said at the start of this, I am all for discipline and learning and decent behaviour but I also think children need to be happy in their environment and need to have mutual respect for anything productive to take place.

I'm thinking that we are not so way out of line with our thoughts on NUHOPE and would like to hear from anyone who would be interested in helping to present their thoughts to the school as a group, so that they may take some notice because at the moment the ploicy appears to be "divide and conquer" . . .

Whilst typing this there has been another post about the new Head being opposed to NUHOPE. That has been suggested to me too, but you just try and get through the layers of staff to reach him!!! As a group of signatories to a letter, it may be possible??

[Dave]

....and that was indeed the guy who got the job! So Simone was right about that, at least! 

[Howard]

Hmm - could have been me, or maybe it was Simone?  Either way, it looks like it was wishful thinking! 

I think you will find it was Simone who referred to it, although it was conjecture rather than a hard fact:

Favourite candidate at the time of writing is an in post Deputy Head who by many accounts is and always has been quietly opposed to Huhope. Intriguing eh ?     

[Dave]

Hmm - could have been me, or maybe it was Simone?  Either way, it looks like it was wishful thinking! 

[Bowden Guy]

I'm sure I remember someone posting on here, with absolute confidence, that Nuhope would be binned as soon as the previous Headteacher left the school and the new Head took over.......?

[simonesaffron]

Surely your role as a parent is to work with the school and ensure your child does his or her homework on time, rather than allowing him to put it off and do this nuhope instead! I can't see what's wrong about giving kids homework and expecting it to be handed in on time. That was certainly the expectation when I was at school and I remember my mother checking my homework diary and that I'd done all my homework. Now as a parent myself I can't see what's wrong with that.

It is very gracious of you Miss C to advise Looby on her parenting skills, I am sure that she appreciates the guidance. Perhaps MHS should start putting the parents in Nohope for not checking their kids homework et al.   

I may be wrong but I sense that you fully support Nohope. Perhaps you are a bit closer to it than others. Perhaps you would like to share your view on it with us.   

[Dave]

My children are just 11 and 13 and already they are flouting the authority of the school.

A very telling - and worrying - observation, but it's not really surprising.  Children have a very strong sense of fairness - how many times do we hear them say (with feeling), 'It's NOT FAIR!'  In any context, not just in schools, authority needs to command the respect and consent of those over whom it is exercised.  Even if they don't like being disciplined for something, there should be an acceptance that the discipline is being exercised reasonably, and that the punishment is fair and proportionate to the offence.  

If children learn to lose respect for authority while they are in school, there is a danger that this lack of respect may continue into adult life, with who knows what consequences!  

[Miss C]

Surely your role as a parent is to work with the school and ensure your child does his or her homework on time, rather than allowing him to put it off and do this nuhope instead! I can't see what's wrong about giving kids homework and expecting it to be handed in on time. That was certainly the expectation when I was at school and I remember my mother checking my homework diary and that I'd done all my homework. Now as a parent myself I can't see what's wrong with that.

[Loobylou]

I have two children at MHS, both are achieving well and have good reports. Yet both get regular nuhopes and one has been in isolation twice. When nuhope was introduced and the first children were given detention (Sept 13), there were tears. Well behaved children who had never previously been in detention were now in trouble and it upset them a lot. Now, 18 months later, these same children say, "I'm not going to bother with my homework, I'll just do a nuhope instead", or "I didn't go to nuhope as I had a friend round. I'll just do an hour tomorrow". With regard to isolation I was told by my child, "It's quite good fun, better than class, you get to go on the computers."
I'm not too pleased with this blase attitude but I am pleased that my children are not too demoralised by the strict regieme, although they don't like it.  I feel the punishments are loosing effectiveness. My children are just 11 and 13 and already they are flouting the authority of the school.

[Dave]

if people want it reviewed then they need to start speaking out in sufficient numbers and to the right people or it will just continue.

A key point: and the 'right people', IMO, are the current parent governors, who, if they can be persuaded that NUHOPE is a thoroughly bad idea, or if they can show that a significant % of parents are against it, are best placed to do something about it.

It is very worrying as MHS is really the only school in Marple for our children.

Another key point.  I seem to recall it being reported on this forum that the last head said to one parent who protested about NUHOPE, 'well if you don't like it, you can send your child to another school'.  Let's hope the current regime doesn't take such a disgraceful attitude. 

[simonesaffron]

I have no interest in advertising my C.V but I also have some experience on the chalk face and even if I didn't have then I have plenty of experience as both a student and a parent.

In my view Henrietta is on the money here. Regime's (the clue is in the word) like this belong in Jane Eyre's time or in a prison or in the army. That is if they belong at all.

This 'Nohope' has been imported from America and I admit to having a Jaundiced view about most 'cultural' American imports.

In the long run the continuance of it will only serve to have a negative effect upon all aspects of the school as Students and Teachers will come to lose that vital Teacher/Student respect ingredient which is hard to identify in particular but is vital in general to the running of a happy; good, achieving  school.

As I see it at MHS the problem with Nohope is twofold.

1/ The Governing body is dominated by Local Councillors, last time I looked there were three of them ( 3 on one GB !) and all they are interested in is a good Ofsted Report and good exam results. if Nohope achieves this then they will support it to the exclusion of everything else.

2/ Although there are many parents against it they rarely complain either to the Council or directly to the school. They do complain on this website but neither the Council nor the School read it. So if people want it reviewed then they need to start speaking out in sufficient numbers and to the right people or it will just continue. It is very worrying as MHS is really the only school in Marple for our children. I personally do not have any children at the school but if I did and there was no other school of choice - which there isn't, then I think that I would make a large and loud objection about Nohope.  It seems that it is now serving to make the school experience for our children either an unhappy or a rebellious one.                     

[Dave]

I'm have been a bit reluctant to express too strong an opinion, as our children went through MHS before NUHOPE was ever thought of, so we have had no direct experience of it, but I do tend to agree with Henrietta.  I'm sure NUHOPE has been adopted with the best of intentions, but my worry would be that removing any discretion from staff in the way they apply punishments could actually undermine their authority and professional status.  Also, it might eventually breed in pupils a kind of sullen 'compliance mentality', in which frequent punishment is accepted as a fact of life; as 'I am' writes, 'Many students have given up trying to avoid the nuhopes because they are so prevalent; they just regard the detentions as a daily after-school club'.  That can't be right. 

[My login is Henrietta]

I taught in grammar, secondary modern and comprehensive schools and a boarding school in my 25 years at the chalk face. I wasn't a trendy, let's-be-the-"kids"-friend type of teacher and expected good classroom discipline but I was reading the afore-going with my mouth hanging open. What century do these people think they are in? They'll be having Mr Brocklehurst chastising girls for having curly hair next!

Reggie Hill must be spinning in his grave!