Thanks to all the parents and carers who came along to the first of our parent-teacher meetings just before the half-term holiday. It was great to see so many people attend, taking an active role in supporting their child’s learning.
Thanks also to the 23 parents and carers who spoke to the governors who were around. Here are some of the comments:
Do you feel your child is safe in the school? How do you feel school do this? 100% of parents who were consulted felt their children were safe in safe. Evidence they mentioned included good safeguarding policies, children following rules, a secure site, sharing of information (such as when a child has had a head bump)… even the recent lockdown practice was mentioned.
Do you feel your child is making good progress in school? 100% of parents felt their child was making good progress in school. Comments included: ‘I have just attended parents’ evening and my child’s teacher gave in-depth feedback which was really helpful and evidenced the progress made since year 3.’
Do you have any concerns regarding child progress? Have you discussed this with the school? 100% of parents stated they did not have any concerns.
Do you feel your child is challenged in terms of their learning? All but one of the parents spoken to felt their children were challenged in terms of their children’s learning. Points mentioned included that we’re always promote new learning ideas and we encourage children to learn from their mistakes. ‘My child’s correctly challenged – not too difficult so they lose their confidence.’
Governors also asked about the school library. Parents were positive: ‘There’s has been a huge improvement in the library and the standard and range is good. My children love borrowing the books.’
Governors asked for any additional comments. There are many great pieces of feedback, such as ‘I have seen a massive difference in my child’s confidence and the teacher understands my child.’ and ‘The school maintains excellent relationships with families and the local community.’
…and finally:
Governors spoke to many children during the evening:
- ‘I love my teacher – she is really kind and makes me smile.’
- ‘I know that when you have a green lanyard you are a safe person in the school and if you have a red lanyard you need to be working with another teacher.’ [When asked how the child knew this information she stated her teacher had told her. This was a completely unprompted comment that stemmed from the lanyard the governor was wearing.]
- ‘I love Maths – I am really trying hard. I sometimes get it wrong but I try my hardest.’
- ‘My favourite subjects are reading and writing.’
- ‘I am very happy at school and I love coming.’
We don’t just want to hear your praise. Whilst we can’t act on every comment and suggestion, we do think about them and consider ways to keep getting better. On this occasion, the subject that came up most as an area to improve is the actual parent-teacher consultations themselves: some of you would prefer to have these in classrooms where it’s quieter. Thanks for raising this. There are various reasons to have the meetings in the hall (it seems more and more schools are doing this), but we do accept it can get noisy. We’ll continue to explore what we can do, but in the meantime, do let us know if you have a particular need (eg a hearing impairment) and we can make alternative arrangements.
Thanks to everyone who came to the parent-teacher meetings, whether you spoke to governors or not. Look out for the Learning Update mini-report in December.