St Andrews Church of England Junior School

SOMERSET COUNTY COUNCIL

St. Andrew’s Church of England Junior School

SURVEY OF PARENTS VIEWS ABOUT THE SCHOOL

March 2007

Summary of Responses

73 responses were received

KEY:

Y: Strongly agree

y: Tend to agree

n: Tend to disagree

N: Strongly disagree

DK: Don’t know

FIGURES	Y	y	n	N	DK
My child enjoys coming to school	40	27	6	0	0
I am happy with progress	37	31	3	0	2
Happy with homework amount	21	40	9	3	0
High standards teaching & learning	31	31	0	0	7
High standards behaviour	38	30	2	0	3
School keeps me informed	38	25	9	0	0
Head & staff approachable/helpful	42	26	3	0	2
Could talk if child had problem	50	22	0	0	1
Deals effectively with difficulties	32	20	3	0	17
TOTALS	619	232	35	3	32
PERCENTAGES	Y	y	n	N	DK
My child enjoys coming to school	55	37	8	0	0
I am happy with progress	51	42	4	0	3
Happy with homework amount	29	55	12	4	0
High standards teaching & learning	45	45	0	0	10
High standards behaviour	52	41	3	0	4
School keeps me informed	53	35	12	0	0
Head & staff approachable/helpful	58	36	4	0	3
Could talk if child had problem	68	30	0	0	1
Deals effectively with difficulties	44	28	4	0	24

Combining the strongly agree / disagree and agree/disagree columns:

NB The numbers do not always add up to 73 because some parents left questions blank or ticked the “Don’t know” box.

	Parents agreeing or strongly agreeing with each question		Parents disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with each question
PERCENTAGES	Number	%	Number	%
My child enjoys coming to school	67	92%	6	8%
I am happy with progress	68	96%	3	4%
Happy with homework amount	61	84%	12	16%
High standards teaching & learning	62	100%	0	0
High standards behaviour	68	97%	2	3%
School keeps me informed	63	87%	9	12%
Head & staff approachable/helpful	68	96%	3	4%
Could talk if child had problem	72	100%	0	0
Deals effectively with difficulties	52	95%	3	5%
TOTALS	581		38

B. COMMUNICATION

	Yes	No	Comment
Do you feel the school communicates well with parents?	60	6	Not always Earlier contact re problems Change of dates/clubs Sometimes Newsletters - yes; in person - no
Do you like the newsletters?	70		Include section for each year group Excellent Improve on size; come out more often Like very much Blanket reminders Sometimes vague eg bingo - no time
Are they frequent enough?	63	7
Do they arrive home each time?	69	2	Sometimes left at school! Sometimes found later in bottom of bag!
Do you ever look on the website?	17	52	Used it before choosing to send child here
If so, have you any comment to make about it? (Does it meet your needs? Could it be improved in some way? etc)	Fantastic Very good Fine Always found what wanted Communication through website Not always current/up to date More regular updates on after-school activities please.		Most comments were highly appreciative of our new site. As regards updating, newsletters are posted on the site within a day of issue, and regular amendments are made to the lists of personnel and other information.

C. TRAVELLING TO AND FROM SCHOOL

How does your child usually travel to and from school? (Please number them in order of frequency)
Walk				Cycle
1 26	2 15	3 9	4 1	1 7	2 11	3 4	4 0
Your Car				Car Share
1 41	2 6	3 1	4 1	1 2	2 1	3 3	4 5

If you drive, Where do you manage to park?	Saints – 14 Rosewood Drive/Close – 10 Dunstan House – 6 Carpark/Lidl – 5 Nearby roads – 5 Outside school – 4 Where you work – 1 Relatives – 1
Might you be interested in car sharing?	No – 25 Yes – 6 If available - 1

Any other suggestions on this subject

Parents are clearly as concerned as we are about the safety of the children as they come and go between home and school. The points below need no detailed response from us except to point out that we depend on parents to help us to make the children as safe as possible. To restate our position: No parent cars are allowed on site (except for disabled pupils); we ask parents to respect the privacy of the sorting office (a private site); we ask parents not to turn left at this end of Kingsway Road; and we agree with most of the other points raised!

Don’t allow any cars into the school
There is a bottleneck of parents and children at the entrance where they block the path at the gates. You have to walk around them into the road. This is dangerous!
Why is it we aren’t allowed to park in the sorting office but some parents still do?
Parents that do drive should not leave it to the last minute to go to school. Also, ask parents not to stand in the gateway with dogs, so that children can go through the proper gate instead of going on to the road. Not all people like dogs!
I’ve noticed not all children use the pedestrian crossing, and they run across the road.
Someone outside school controlling cars, especially those that stop outside the gates and drop children off.
The parking, especially in the afternoon, is very poor. More accommodation is needed, such as making arrangements with the sorting office between 3.00 and 3.30 daily.
Cycle paths would make cycling to school much safer.
Ban or restrict parking and dropping off / picking up at the sorting office area of Dunstan Road. Petition SCC for another pedestrian crossing on Love Lane nearer to St Peter’s Road. Perhaps see more police in the area to educate parents over parking!
Cars should be banned from dropping off at the school gates before and after school.
Perhaps have a teacher at Dunstan Road gate helping children to cross the road there as it gets very busy.
Another crossing near the Saints road, on the other side of the school gates to the pelican crossing.
Widen the gates to make room for cars to go in and drop off children and turn around. (Sadly this would make matters worse as cars tried to leave as others were arriving)
I think it would be safer and easier for all concerned if they made Dunstan Road a one-way system.
Generally make the children aware of the traffic around them and emphasise road safety both at school and at home.
Have a lollypop lady at the traffic lights. Lots of children run across the road there and the lights are too quick to give them a chance to cross.
Cycle paths on main road – Berrow Road, Love Lane, Oxford Street.
Along Love Lane there is only one sign indicating there is a school and it’s set back – if you didn’t know the area you would probably miss it. During the morning and afternoon it might be an idea to get flashing lights to indicate the school and hazards of the children walking to and from school.
When pupils cycle out of school at the end of the day they use the pavement (which is OK, as I think they should) but they don’t seem to notice people walking.

C. FINAL GENERAL QUESTIONS

The Questions were:

What do you feel the school does well?
What do you think we could improve?
Is there anything else you would like us to know?

YOU TELL US THE SCHOOL DOES THESE THINGS WELL:
Prepare them well for Secondary school	Always approachable/children and parents
Good quantity and quality of Homework	Projects
Timekeeping	Playground friends system
Many things.	Newsletters
House points system	Meals
Respect for the school and the teachers	Safe & happy place – positive environment
The school listens well	Outings and trips
Rewards – merits	Enforcing school uniform
Inclusion	Well run and organised
Raises self esteem/confidence	Plenty to do at playtimes
After school clubs and activities, also at break and lunchtime	Wide choice of subjects/good mix of daily lessons
Good education, helping children achieve	Discipline – manners
High standards of teaching	SASA
Children keen to go to school	Christmas concerts
Dealing with problems	Communication with parents
Children are supported/ respected/cared for and encouraged	Encourages children to take responsibility for cleaning and tidying
Everything!

What do you feel we could improve?

(With our Responses)

Some of your suggestions have been grouped together by subject matter, and the remainder are in a general section at the end.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HOMEWORK
There should be more homework	It is difficult to strike a correct balance, and as can see by these stated views, impossible to please everybody. However, well over 80% of parents in this survey expressed themselves happy with homework levels. In particular we continue to emphasise the vital importance of children reading every evening.
There should be less homework
Would like more feedback about homework
Ensure homework is not left at school
Reading records checked and signed by teacher each week
Homework has been very erratic – weeks with nothing except reading.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HEALTH & SAFETY
Outside doors to be unlocked when after school clubs on – H & S	The reason we have begun to secure doors during after-school clubs is that we had a couple of intruders on the premises at this time of day. We are sure parents would approve of our putting safety before convenience, and all doors are easily opened from the inside.
Head lice – I feel a similar policy should be put into place to Burnham Infants where if parents do not check hair properly and child has head lice they are sent home.	This is a recurring problem in virtually every school in the country. We depend on parents responding to an outbreak by checking their children’s hair and dealing effectively with any infestation. Most parents are very helpful with this, but sadly it takes only one to fail to do so and the problem will be virtually certain to recur. We do occasionally ask parents to take children home when we find the problem.
Girls could be asked to tie their hair back before coming to school. Most girls with long hair do this, but some don’t, and if they did I think it would help with this problem.
Security of school grounds.	Short of expensive fencing, it is impossible to be completely secure against intruders, but we are always vigilant when strangers are spotted on site.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING
More information regarding what children are studying – in each subject	We inform parents at the start of each term of the topics that are being studied – that information is included in the first newsletter of each term.
Teach more English heritage as well as other cultures	We do!
Swimming lessons in all years, not just Years 3 and 4.	We are only allocated limited pool time, so sadly this is not possible.
Furthering children with high ability	We have introduced new procedures to help our more able children. There are withdrawal afternoons in all four core subjects each half term, plus external courses and enrichment activities in lessons.
It is a shame there seem to be so many supply teachers – same teacher continuity is important.	Regarding the use of HLTAs, they are highly trained and skilled professionals, and their use is now common in most schools. There is no secrecy about their deployment, which is for an average of one lesson per week. Having such skilled people available will increasingly reduce the need for quite so many supply teachers, which should provide the continuity that is hoped for.
I feel as a parent I should be informed when my child is being taught by HLTAs. I have a right to know. A teacher goes to college for 4 years and a HLTA trains for a few months. They don’t have the same experience, it’s just a case of saving money. If I’d known my child was being taught by HLTAs as much as she was then I would have removed her before her SATs.
We are pleased with our daughter’s progress at school. She seems to enjoy all lessons and teachers.	A number of similar comments were made in the survey.

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ABOUT AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Wider/more choice of after school clubs and activities for all years	We pride ourselves on the number and variety of after-school clubs, which has been commended by OFSTED inspectors and county officials. Teachers and Teaching Assistants give generously of their time, and the children always respond with their own enthusiasm! After school and breakfast clubs have been discussed, but at present it would not be practicable for us to take these on. It is a good suggestion, however, and some provision may become possible in the future. As regards notification of cancellations, we always aim to plan ahead, but we do not always know in advance if a member of staff is going to be absent!
After school and breakfast club
More notice when clubs are not on
I’m disappointed with the amount of sports available to my son. There aren’t any after school clubs available to Y3 and some opportunities e.g. football, golf, are selected without parents being aware.	This year Y3 have actually had clubs available in gymnastics and in ball skills. We tend to fill our clubs on a first come first served basis – all children are invited, and those who bring back their slips gain the places! There are clubs for all age groups, and information is always put in the newsletters.
Information regarding after-school activities. Are there any available for Year 4 next term?

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ABOUT SCHOOL UNIFORM
School uniform – either insist on shirt and tie or change to polo shirts. Also stick to one colour of trousers and skirts. The appearance of some children really lets the school down, and some don’t even appear to be wearing uniform.	Ties have always been optional, and are generally used for formal occasions such as choir concerts. Parents are extremely supportive about uniform, and it is very rare that the code is broken. We work hard to ensure the children look smart at school, and they do so at our local comprehensive too, so I am sure that the third parent here need have no worries on that score!
I think the school is not strict enough regarding uniform and think the children could look a lot smarter especially if they wore a tie.
Are ties a part of the uniform or not? By not enforcing tie wearing, my son will not wear one, which does not bode well when he goes to King Alfred school, as he says he will not wear a tie then either!

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS ABOUT OTHER MATTERS
The merit system seems inconsistent between classes of the same year group. Some teachers are more generous than others.	We have guidelines, but some variation is probably inevitable, though we try to be as consistent as we can be.
More incentives for children who are continually good	The merit system was established for these exact children, who also have the chance of house captaincy in Y6, and other privileges.
Behaviour on dinner tables and proper manners.	In general we have not felt this to be a problem – please contact us if you disagree!
New dining tables please	Good idea – we hope we can afford this soon!
Parents Evening – improved times	Please bear in mind we are always available by appointment to meet parents where there are concerns.
Tighter discipline	Most parents have not felt this to be an issue, so we would very much like to meet this parent to see how we can help.
Have more school trips, but less expensive	We have every sympathy, but sadly the soaring cost of fuel has seen coach prices rocketing recently – this is beyond our control, and we make every effort to keep all costs as low as possible. The school frequently makes a loss on trips.
I cannot believe how expensive the Year 6 camps have become in the space of a couple of years.
Class sizes: 40 children per class is too many.	Agreed, and we have not had any that big for over 20 years. However, unfortunately we are often ordered to admit pupils over our maximum of 36, and our largest class at present is 37 (which is still too many)
Interim reports provide little indication of progress. It would be nice at least to gain the school’s views on a child’s strengths and weaknesses and areas for improvement. As a parent I don’t have a benchmark to assess my child’s progress against, and look to you to provide meaningful statements and data.	The mid-year reports were designed to be a summary of general progress. A much more comprehensive written report is supplied at the end of the year. Where there are concerns, we aim to contact parents individually and invite them in for a chat so that we can see how to help improve the situation.
More information on child’s progress on the mid-term report
My child arrives for school on time every day, but rarely is released from the classroom on time at the end of the day. This is often inconvenient!	Our finishing time is 3.15, and staff are frequently reminded of this. Sometimes a class may overrun, and if so, we apologise – it is not our intention to do so.
It would be nice to see a member of staff on the playground on a regular basis in the morning and at 3.15pm, especially where the younger children are. I do appreciate that parents are responsible for their children until 8.48 am and after 3.15 pm, but it would be nice to see someone.	Thank you for this suggestion. We are now considering how this might be achieved.
Both of my children have enjoyed their time at St Andrew’s. It is an excellent school. Keep up the good work!	Thank you! A large number of you included comments of this nature, and they are much appreciated.
Children that have to stay in break time to catch up with work – I feel that this is their time just like the teacher needs their break.	This punishment is usually used where a child has not worked hard enough, or has misbehaved, so the argument might be that they have not earned a break! On such occasions the teacher usually doesn’t have a break either, because he or she will be supervising them.
My child is a good pupil, but has no fear of being late for school. “So what” is the usual response I get to my nagging, when I was at St Andrew’s we had assembly first thing so, if I was late had to walk into the hall in front of the whole school. Very embarrassing!	We have introduced attendance awards, and we speak to those who are frequently late, sometimes leading to punishments. Thank you for the suggestion. Although we are unlikely to revert to the former system, we will certainly be discussing how we can improve this.
Mrs Hatcher is the face of St Andrew’s and will be missed – don’t let her retire. She is approachable, friendly and if she doesn’t know the answer she finds it out and gets back to your promptly. An absolute asset. She treats the children with respect and as a result they love her.	Everyone here completely agrees with this one! Fortunately, she does not intend to retire just yet!

The staff and governors would like to thank most sincerely all of those parents who have contributed to this document by submitting their completed questionnaires. The resulting information will be invaluable to us as we continue to seek to make St Andrew’s School as effective an environment as possible in which your children can thrive, learn and be happy.

Steve James	Paul Bowkett
Headteacher	Chair of Governors