Some parents upset by syllabus use

Press, 2 September 1986, Page 3

Some parents upset by syllabus use

By

ASHLEY CAMPBELL,

education reporter

Some parents of Cashmere Primary School pupils are upset that the school committee has applied to be a trial school for the new health syllabus next year. One of the parents, Mrs Margaret Fookes, said the committee had ignored a petition asking that it wait another year before applying. Mrs Fookes said that the petition was signed by more than 50 per cent of eligible parents. The petition said there were many unresolved questions about the health syllabus. "We consider it in the interest of our children to take the extra time so that these questions may be resolved,” it said. Many parents who signed wanted to see copies of the teaching units before the school adopted the syllabus, Mrs Fookes said. When the school committee applied for designation late last month, copies of the teaching units were not available.

Other parents wanted to know the results of previous trials before the school was designated. Several schools trialled the syllabus last year.

Mrs Fookes said results from these trials should be published before any

other schools adopted the syllabus. The chairman of the school committee, Mr John Woodward, said the petition was signed by only about 40 per cent of parents, not 50 per cent. Some people who lived in the area but were not parents had signed it, he said. The school committee was not satisifed “that the people who signed the petition were really meaning to say what the petition said.” Mr Woodward said the parents had been kept well informed while the decision was being made, and this would continue. The new health syllabus offers some flexibility in what schools teach. While all its units have to be covered, schools can adapt activities to local circumstances. The content of the Cashmere Primary School syllabus had not been decided yet, Mr Woodward said. The committee had sent a circular to parents, which said that when teachers and the committee had approved the course content it would be discussed with parents. The committee had decided by a vote of eight to one to apply for designation, Mr Woodward said. Schools wishing to trial the syllabus next year must apply by October.