Dear Parents/Carers,

Many thanks to those parents who completed our Parent Questionnaire earlier this term.  We have looked closely at the questionnaires and comments which we received (110 replies were received) and we have considered our response.  Overall, we were delighted with the very positive response we received from parents, with 99% of parents saying that they would recommend our school to others.

In considering our reaction, we have added up the responses that were either “strongly agree” or “agree” and presented the information accordingly at the end of the letter.   We are very pleased where results are over 90%,  but where results are below 90% (as they are for 2 questions), we are keen to review our processes and see where iprovements can be made.  We have also considered the comments we received from you all regarding how we can further improve and, of course, the many positive comments we received, which were a delight to read.  Thank you to those parents who put their names to comments shared: this enables us to follow up any concerns personally if we feel this is appropriate.

I have taken each question in turn, where the % of parents agreeing to the statement was lower than 90%, and I have hopefully provided you with a satisfactory response, explanation and/or reassurance of our determination to improve:

4. My child has been bullied and it was dealt with effectively

The % of parents agreeing to this comment was 74%: a signficant improvement on last year’s data, but still not as strong as we would like.  A total of 84% of you stated that your children have not experienced bullying.

It is important to know that incidences of bullying are rare but they do occasionally occur at Coleham.  When they do occur, they are always taken very seriously and dealt with in line with our anti-bullying procedure.  We constantly teach our children to treat others with kindness and respect, in line with our 3 school rules.  Sometimes, however, children can make mistakes.  This is part of growing up and school is a safe environment in which they can occasionally make mistakes.  When children make the wrong choice, there is a consequence and we support all parties, where necessary, to ensure that such mistakes are not repeated.  Incidents of unkindness, whilst dealt with robustly, are usually not defined as bullying and sometimes the word “bullying,” which is clearly very emotive, can be used incorrectly to describe a particular behaviour by parents and children.  Bullying is when the unkind behaviours do not stop and often involve groups and/or power imbalances.

If you are concerned about how your child is being treated by others, e would urge you to come and talk to your child’s class teacher in the first instance.  We will then be able to investigate situations and provide consequences and support, where necessary.  It is not always appropriate to inform parents of the exact actions that we have taken in relation to sanctions given to other children, however, please trust that we do deal with behavioural and bullying incidents in a consistent and robust manner.

6. When I have raised concerns with the school they have been dealt with properly.

15% of respondants to the survey disagreed with the above statement.

If you have any concerns with school, we would urge you to come and talk to your child’s class teacher in the first instance: many issues can be easily resolved quickly.  If you feel that this needs to be escalated to a member of the Senior Leadership Team, then your child’s class teacher will immediately refer the issue onto the phase leader and/or Mr Larkham or me.  We take all concerns very seriously and always take time to investigate situations carefully before taking appropriate and robust action

If you do not feel that a concern has been dealt with appropriately, please do get in touch with the school office as soon as possible and a member of the Senior Leadership Team will contact you regarding your concern.

Within the comments section, a number of parents/carers commented on our communication systems, both positively and with some suggestions.  We know there is so much to remember as a parent about events in school and so we want to provide useful information to you in a more streamlined approach.  We have therefore started to produce a weekly newsletter, which links directly to our school website and provides all of the important information regarding dates/reminders for the week ahead, and also some information about what your children have been doing at school this week.  Individual teachers will also continue to post information on DoJo regarding your children’s learning.

There were also a small number of comments raised regarding after school EXTRA-CURRICULAR clubs.  We always aim to run an array of after school clubs because it is really important that the children all have the chance to pursue their interests and talents, thus developing the whole child.  As you know, we have improved the booking system so more spaces are available, but some parents commented that the release time of clubs is difficult for working parents to book spaces.  Moving forward, we will therefore be releasing club spaces at 6pm and hope that this will address these concerns.

Finally, there were some interesting comments regarding our rewards system at Coleham.  It is difficult to please all parents and children with regard to rewards, and it is the inherent nature of reward systems that they need refreshing from time to time so that they remain both appealing to the children, and fair.  With this in mind, we will be seeking the views of the children next term and looking to further develop our reward system for September.

Overall, the feedback that you have provided to us was overwhelmingly positive with many, many comments about the strong community ethos of the school.  Our aim has always been to educate the whole child providing them with a broad and rich curriculum and it is wonderful to read that so many of you feel we are doing a good job!  The many positive comments and praise for our dedicated and hard working staff team were also much appreciated.  We have, of course, shared your comments with the whole team.   Thank you, once again, for your valuable feedback on our Parent Survey.

Yours sincerely,

Claire Jones

Headteacher

Parent Survey Results 2022-23

Number on Roll: 420

Number of respondents: 110

Survey Collected: February 2023

*This figure relates to the number of parents who stated their child had been bullied

** This figure relates to the number of parents who stated they had raised concerns about their child.