In the summer term, you were invited to complete the annual survey of parents / carers. There were 88 returned surveys, meaning over half of families have replied – thank you. We do listen to your views: the Chair of Governors and I have gone through all the data and comments and agreed appropriate action.
99 children (just under half) were represented in the survey by 88 respondents, and (generally speaking) the younger the child, the more likely their parent returned a survey. The survey asked for views about school dinners; these will be discussed by governors and passed to council caterers (an equal amount were positive and negative). Of the general comments, more people praised the school than the counter – thank you. The general comments will be highlighted to teachers, office staff and governors – we’ll respond positively where we can. One or two comments were very specific to a child or class – I’ll try to discuss those with parents, but I can only do so if you noted your name. If you didn’t, sadly, we can’t try to remedy a problem.
I’m delighted to report that once more, 100% of parents / carers who responded agreed with the statement My child is happy to come to school. This confirms yet again that Moortown Primary is a happy place to learn.
Over 90% of you also agree with the following statements:
- My child learns a lot in lessons.
- The school helps my child to do as well as he / she can.
- Teaching at Moortown Primary is good.
- Teaching at this school helps my child to develop skills in communication, reading, writing and maths.
- I am happy with my child’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
- Behaviour is good at Moortown Primary.
- Behaviour is good in lessons.
- My child feels safe at school.
- I am happy that my views will be listened to.
We’re very pleased with such overwhelmingly positive results. We’re equally interested in the three statements which received a less positive response (figures may not total 100% due to rounding):
I know how well my child is doing at school: 88% agreed with this statement, whilst 13% were unsure (nobody disagreed). The fairly high percentage of responses which were ‘unsure’ is possibly to do with not having received the annual report to parents which came out after the survey – I hope the report indicated clearly enough your child’s attainment, progress and attitude, summed up in the table at the end of the report. Teachers give me attainment data for every child at the end of every term, so if you’d like more frequent updates, we can let you know each term – come to see me or your child’s teacher (and, of course, come to parents’ evening).
Adults in school explain to me how to support my child at home: 78% agreed, 16% were unsure, 2% disagreed. In response:
- I have reminded all teachers that they should ensure our Homework Guide with helpful tips and a Reading Activities booklet are attached to Homework Books
- I have reminded teachers to regularly add ideas to support your child to Class News sections on our website and to the Newsletter
- We will continue to hold Learning Workshops this year (look out for a general one about key skills and a specific one about iPads)
- Mrs Maver has already trialled an Open Morning where you can visit the classroom when you drop your child off – this proved popular and all classes will have one this half-term
- We will have more Open Afternoons where you can look at a selection of children’s work
- Have you visited our Learn More pages? Here, you’ll find ways to support you child’s learning and descriptions of the different levels your child may be working at with some skills and activities that will support the next steps, and you can download reading activities and handwriting guides
- Finally, it may sound simple, but the best ways to support your child’s learning at home is to concentrate on the basics, and make it fun: daily reading, spellings practice, counting (in 1s, 10s, 5s – forwards and backwards), number bonds (pairs of numbers that add up to 10), times tables (from Year 2) – and, most importantly, lots of opportunities for speaking and listening
The school deals with all types of bullying very well: 78% agreed, 18% were unsure, 1% disagreed. The high percentage of ‘unsure’ responses can be explained by one or two parents’ extra comments, such as, ‘I ticked unsure because my child has never encountered any bullying at Moortown.’ I urge the one respondent who disagreed with the statement to discuss his / her concerns with me – we have zero tolerance to bullying.
Three was the highest number of respondents who disagreed with any one statement, which was I am happy that my views will be listened to. Again, I urge these three parents to come and speak to me or, if still unhappy, to address their views to the Chair of Governors. I can assure you all we will listen to your views (but we do need to know who you are for us to do so).
Thank you, once again, for taking the time to complete the survey.