The survey was structured to cover 6 key areas as follows:

1. Home/School Relationships
2. The Learning Experience
3. Making a contribution
4. Relationships with staff and other pupils
5. Well-being
6. The Summary School Experience

Parents were offered a list of 40 statements and they had to indicate whether or not they strongly agreed with them, agreed with them, neither agreed nor disagreed with them, disagreed with them or strongly disagreed with them. Non-responses to any particular question by individual parents were also recorded.

In addition, the Company provided benchmark data in the form of a similar set of statistics covering all schools surveyed by them up until 31st December 2009 – thereby allowing the school to make some comparisons.

In order for the school to identify areas of overall strength 70% or greater of parents who responded had to strongly agree or agree with the statements provided. Similarly for the school to identify areas of overall weakness they required 40% and over of parents responding to have done so by disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.

Irrespective of overall strengths or overall weakness identified by the company, where the school data indicated a performance which varied 10% (worse) from that indicated by the benchmark data – the school views these statements as potential areas for improvement, and are indicated below.

Home/ School Relationships

The Parents responses in this section (7 statements) indicated that the school had an overall strength with regard to the following statement:

I feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem or a complaint – 73%

The parent responses indicated no overall weaknesses regarding any of the statements in this section.

Comparison to Benchmark Data

Irrespective of overall strengths or overall weakness the school has identified the following as areas for possible improvement:

• Staff explain how I can help my child/children at home.
• The school is a welcoming place for parents/carers.
• The school actively encourages parents/carers to be involved in its activities.
• The school seeks the views of parents/carers – surprising given the survey.
• The school takes account of the suggestions and concerns of parents/carers.
• I am kept well informed about how my child/children is/are getting on.

The Learning Experience

The parent responses for this section (10 statements) indicated an overall strength with regard to the following statements:

• My child/children is/are making good progress – 81%
• Teaching at the school is good – 74%
• Staff expect my child/children to work hard and do their best – 92%
• Staff encourage my child/children to become mature and independent – 79%
• There is a good range of activities that my child/children finds interesting and enjoyable – 82%
• The school helps my child/children acquire the knowledge needed to succeed in the future – 72%
• The school helps my child/children develop the skills to succeed in the future – 72%
• There were no overall weaknesses indicated by parental responses in this section.

Comparison to benchmark data

Irrespective of overall strengths or overall weakness the school has identified the following as area for possible improvement:

The school teaches my child/children how to manage their feelings appropriately.

Making Contribution

The parent responses in this section (4 statements) indicated an overall strength to the school with regard to the following statements:

The school gives my child opportunities to make positive contributions to their class/group or school – 81%.

The parental responses indicated no overall weaknesses in this section.

Comparison to Benchmark Data

Irrespective of overall strengths or overall weakness the school has identified the following as areas for possible improvement:

• The school gives my child opportunities to make contributions to the Community outside school.
• The school asks my child for their views about important things in school – again surprising given surveys off students over the past 2 years.
• The school takes account of the views of my child.

Relationships with Staff and other Pupils

The parent responses in this section (7 statements) indicated an overall strength for the school with regard to the following statements:

• Staff treat my child/children fairly – 74%
• Pupils at the school behave well – 74%
• The school helps my child/children to develop positive relationships with teachers and other pupils – 73%
• My child/children is/are praised when he/she works hard or behaves well – 75%
• The school teaches my child to respect people from different backgrounds, races, religions, etc – 80%
• The parental responses identified no overall weaknesses for the school in this section.

Comparison to Benchmark Data

Irrespective of overall strengths or overall weakness the school has identified the following as area for possible improvement: The school is good at stopping racism or dealing with it even when it happens.

Well-Being

The parental responses in this section (9 statements) indicated an overall strength for the school with regard to the following statements:

• My child/children is/are not bullied or harassed at school – 81%
• My child/children is/are not racially abused at school – 87%
• The arrangements for my child/children to settle in when they started at the school were good – 90%
• I think the school is a safe place for my child/children to work – 93%
• The school teaches my child/children how to deal with risks and behave safely – 73%
• The school encourages and helps my child/children to take regular exercise – 80%
• The school gives my child/children information on how to deal with things such as alcohol & drugs – 76%
• The parental responses indicated no overall weaknesses in this section.

Comparison to Benchmark Data

Using the 10% difference rule parental responses indicated no real areas for improvement by the school within this section at this time.

The Summary School Experience

The parental responses in this section (3 statements) indicated an overall strength for the school with regard to the following statements:

• My child/children like(s) school – 80%
• I think this is a good school and would recommend it to others – 80%

The parental responses indicated no overall weakness for the school in this section.

Comparison to Benchmark Data

Irrespective of overall strengths or overall weakness the school has identified the following as area for possible improvement:

The school is well led and well managed.

Current and Future Action

Having undertaken this survey and produced this summary analysis the school will:

• Publish the summary results and summary analysis of the parental survey as widely as possible throughout the school and to the parents.
• Immediately emphasise to all staff the important of addressing the Whole School Targets in the current School Development Plan for 2010 ie:

1. to respond to pupil views
2. to demonstrate increased engagement with Parents
3. to further develop communication with all stakeholders
4. to engage fully in the role of Group Tutor (particularly in terms of communication with parents)
5. ensure that relevant Year Groups and Departments discuss the outcomes of the survey and take appropriate action
6. to ensure some of the key issues are included in Management forward planning fro Development Plans in future years.
   

G P Roberts, Deputy Head