Archibald First School, Gosforth, Newcastle Upone Tyne | Having fun, learning together

Parent and Carer Questionnaire

June 2017

Results and Feedback

Dear Parents and Carers

We would like to say thank you for your responses to the annual parent and carer questionnaire.

Out of 277 families, 104 questionnaires were returned in total and analysed.  We appreciate the time taken to complete this and to add your comments regarding what we do well as a school alongside your thoughts for additions and changes. All the comments that you added have been collated, and as always this has been considered carefully by the school team. The results can be accessed via this Parental Questionnaire Percentage Results 2017.
An exceptionally high percentage of the questions were scored under strongly agree and agree with your comments overwhelmingly positive. 100% of you feel welcomed by the school; think that your children are safe and well looked after and, would recommend us to another family -thank you.

Most importantly 99% of you have expressed that your children are happy at school, behave well, being supported to do so; and that the staff not only know your children well as individuals but that we also expect your children to work hard and to do their very best.
The ‘It’s Good to be Green’ reward system along with the team points for Reception to Year 4 continue to place the emphasis on good behaviours, the right attitude and choices with children being rewarded for this. The children are praised for a wide range of reasons, not solely linked to academic achievements; although these are important. Examples for team points include determination, respect, tolerance, friendships, work ethic, perseverance and many more.

In addition to being happy at school, 98% strongly agree and agree that the children enjoy the curriculum on offer as well as 99% acknowledging the wide variety of visits, activities and clubs that the school provides. More information about the clubs can be found at www.archibaldfirstschool.org.uk/school-clubs/ whilst the school diary is updated weekly with events in school time. Where possible each new topic aims to include an educational visit or visitor. The PLOD boards ‘Planning lines of discovery’ enable the children to have a voice in their learning by asking questions which the class will endeavour to answer in their curriculum time. For those of you who require additional after school provision in addition to what the school already provides we are happy to sign post you in the right direction.

The above responses support our school vision for every child and member of Archibald to ‘have fun, achieving excellence!’

In terms of preparing the children for the next step in their learning journey, 80% of you agreed or strongly agreed. The remaining 20% were unsure.  For those parents who have not had experience of your children moving schools or phases this is well supported by the school. The older children have visits with the middle schools predominantly in the summer terms whilst staff liaise closely together passing on information. For children who have been in our Nursery and are moving to new schools, the nursery staff speak to the children’s new teachers to make sure all relevant information is passed on. Reception children are involved with a ‘transition week’ where they work with their new teachers in year one and spend time in the classrooms. This year this is taking place in July and there will also be a meeting for parents regarding the transition. All children coming into Reception and Nursery are offered visits prior to starting as a way of introducing them to Archibald, friends and staff. At the end of each academic year the children in school have a ‘meet the teacher’ session.

Thank you for the positive 99% ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’ responses regarding the leadership and management of the school. 97% of you also said that any concerns are dealt with effectively, 2% were unsure and 1% disagreed.

97% of you told us how valuable the meetings with staff are, and in terms of reporting your children’s progress, 94% feel well informed about the progress they are making. In 2016-17, we will have held a ‘Meet the teacher’ evening, two informal parents’ afternoons, two formal parents’ evenings, sent out two sets of report cards (years 1 -4) and finally an end of year report in July. The staff are always willing to talk to parents about their children, if you would like to make an additional appointment at a mutually convenient time please speak to your child’s class teacher. As you know the end of the day is a busy time when staff are dismissing 30 children and is not the easiest time to talk. If there are any concerns from the staff regarding your child they will always endeavour to speak to you about this at the earliest opportunity.

We are looking at how the report cards can be implemented for our young children in Reception to show how they are being successful in their friendships and the initial part of their learning journey.

Over the last few years the questions and parental comments that have continued to prompt discussion are predominantly related to homework. The results this year again show that 91% of you agree or strongly agree that school sets appropriate homework for your children. The additional comments continue to express the need for ‘more’ or ‘less’ homework. We have worked hard to develop a balanced approach, and to provide homework that can be completed together which is age appropriate for your children. The staff are always on hand to speak to you regarding any queries with homework.

Many of the comments linked to ‘what we do well’ relate to the communication between home and school. With regard to our ‘social media and letters’ which a couple of families put forward as suggestions;

The staff and children regularly blog about events in school which can be accessed via the home page of the website under ‘News’, in addition to this we also have a school Twitter account @Archibaldfirst.

Our website is our main source of communication with letters. Unless you have chosen to receive a paper copy, since March 2016 all letters which do not require a response are sent out electronically to the email address you provide the school with. This is the email address that is linked to your Parent Pay Account.

Copies of letters are put onto the website as soon as possible, and if payment is required for anything this is added to Parent Pay as soon as possible. We are sure you all appreciate and understand how busy school life is, therefore, please be patient if something does not appear immediately; if you are unsure if a letter has made it home or not then please check the letters page or if a letter is missing please inform the office and it will be added at the earliest opportunity.

There is also a diary which all key dates are added to well in advance. Please keep checking on this to see up and coming events https://www.archibaldfirstschool.org.uk/parents-information/diary/ .

Working in partnership with you makes a vital contribution to our school maintaining its Outstanding status.  Your feedback from this questionnaire and comments throughout the year are valued and where ever possible acted upon. Together we can continue to provide the best school experiences for our children.

Yours sincerely

Mrs. J Bayes and the Archibald Staff