Thank you to all of you who responded to this year’s annual survey. It came at a difficult time for many of us (the height of lockdown), so we’re really grateful to all of the 112 parents / carers who took the time to tell us their thoughts.
We made the survey a little shorter this year, and some of the statements we used are a bit different – this was to match new statements that Ofsted use.
We’re proud to say that the feedback continues to be overwhelmingly positive.
100% of parents/carers who expressed an opinion agreed with the following statements:
- The school makes sure its pupils are well behaved.
- My child does well at this school.
- There is a good range of subjects available to my child at this school.
- My child can take part in clubs and activities at this school.
- My child has been bullied and the school dealt with the bullying quickly and effectively.
- My child has SEND, and the school gives them the support they need to succeed.
(The last two statements only applied to a small number, and of that number, 100% agreed.)
All the other statements gained a very positive response, too -97% or more agreed with them:
- My child is happy at Scholes (Elmet) Primary School. (99%)
- My child feels safe at this school.(99%)
- The school supports my child’s wider personal development. (99%)
- The school has high expectations for my child. (98%)
- The school lets me know how my child is doing. (98%)
- The school makes me aware of what my child will learn during the year. (97%)
- When I have raised concerns with the school they have been dealt with properly. (97% of those who had raised concerns, and many said they hadn’t any concerns)
In fact, it’s a bit disappointing that the only statement that was agreed with by less than 97% was ‘I would recommend this school to another parent.’ 95% agreed and that’s really high, too, but we aim high – we want everyone to feel happy about our school. We encourage the six people who said they wouldn’t recommend Scholes (Elmet) Primary to contact us to discuss their feelings a little more.
At the end of the survey, we invited comments. We received 30, almost all of which were entirely positive – thank you. Here’s a few representative comments:
- ‘The teachers are lovely and easy to talk to about any queries we may have. I have recommended the school to a couple of friends.’
- ‘All teachers we have met are brilliant at their jobs and very positive. So lovely to see a presence of the leadership on the school gate each day rather than them hiding away.’
- ‘Brilliant school where my son loves going to learn every day. Very supportive staff and teachers.’
- ‘The support we have received from school has been outstanding. There is always opportunity to talk to staff if needed. It’s a great environment and we are extremely pleased that our children attend this school.’
A few people also singled out our efforts during the school closure:
- ‘Scholes is a brilliant school, continuing to make great efforts to provide amazing learning for its pupils even in these troubling and unprecedented times.’
- ‘I think that the school have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in the best way possible. They couldn’t have been more helpful, and have supported the children and families so well, and we are very grateful. Thank you!’
We’re very grateful for the suggestions for areas to work on, too. Here are a few of the comments:
- Communicating home: ‘The website, online information and communication is excellent. It would be really good if other systems such as parents evening could be digitised also as we usually struggle to get into school to sign up for these.’ – Thanks for this. It’s actually something we’d planned to look into setting up. We’ll aim to trial something later in the 2010-21 school year, but perhaps not the October parent-teacher meetings as these will have to be organised in a different way because of the need to avoid unnecessary gatherings.
- Early Years: ‘The Tapestry app would make communicating home learning much more straightforward and being able to view your child’s profile any time is a massive advantage for parents.’ – This suggestion was made by three parents. We’ve considered Tapestry (and similar products) previously. We know that an online communication tool offers lots of advantages, although there are some cost implications. We’ll definitely keep evaluating this as a possibility.
- Learning: ‘My child is a high achiever and often mentions that he finds the work very easy or that he is not challenged enough. More differentiation and encouragement within school for him to challenge himself would help him get the most out of school.’ – 98% of respondents agreed that we have high expectations and the end of Key Stage 2 assessments back this up; for example, a greater proportion of Scholes pupils reach ‘greater depth’ level in Reading, Writing and Maths than nationally. Nevertheless, we’ll keep working on how to best provide opportunities for challenge.
- School dinners: ‘Canteen menus have worsened over time, becoming less varied week on week and offering a narrower range of food.’ – There’s a very difficult balance between providing meals that children eat and providing a varied menu, which might include new dishes and flavours. We’ll definitely pass on your comments and we’ll get the School Council to consider this, too.
- Clubs: ‘We would like even more clubs e.g. cooking, gymnastics and cricket (after Covid-19 crisis is over).’ – Whilst 100% of respondents were positive about the clubs we offer, more clubs would be great. There are two issues for us to consider here: more clubs can mean one club competes against another meaning fewer children attend each one, and we rely on the skills and interest of staff for some of the clubs. We’ll keep reviewing the variety of clubs we offer because we agree that this is an important part of our school.
Scholes (Elmet) Primary continues to be a happy and healthy place to learn. Parents and carers are an important part of our close and supportive community. Thank you, again, if you responded to the survey.