Parent View Questionnaire March 2019 | Townville Infants' School

We received 65 responses from 172 families = 38% response rate.

Parent Questionnaire March 2019	Strongly Agree/Agree	Disagree/ Strongly disagree	Don’t know/No response
My child is happy at this school	95%	3%	2%
My child feels safe at this school	95%	2%	2%
My child makes good progress at this school	97%	5%
My child is well looked after at this school	98%	2%
My child is taught well at this school	95%	2%	3%
My child receives appropriate homework for their age	72%	7%	21%
This school makes sure its pupils are well behaved	91%	5%	5%
This school deals effectively with bullying	67%	5%	29%
This school is well led and managed	91%	2%	8%
This school responds well to any concerns I raise	87%	3%	9%
I receive valuable information from the school about my child’s progress	88%	6%	6%
Would you recommend this school to another parent?	88%	5%	8%

You praised us with comments such as…

I am a very happy parent. I feel the school is improving.
Communication is better now we have the Marvellous Me app.
I am glad my children attend here. The teachers are nice, approachable and helpful. The new(ish) Headteacher is very innovative and I can see she is striving to lead the teachers to do their best and to ensure our children get the best chances in early education.
The nursery has improved. There is always new things to do and they are very creative and engaging to a point where the children don’t even know they are learning. My child loves nursery and constantly tells me what she has been doing with all the staff.
The Marvellous me app has been great.
Half-termly open evenings has meant I can ask questions and get feedback on top of the termly parents evening.
The Tapestry app is brilliant – I love to share my child’s learning (EYFS)
Very nice place, teachers. My child is very happy.
The staff are lovely and listen and help with any issues. My child is happy, has made friends and likes his teachers.
Love coming to the parent open days.
My child has made fantastic progress.
Our child tells us in great detail what he is learning. He is obviously very interested and engaged.
Communication has improved significantly since school started using Twitter and Marvellous me.
Great changes have been made to constantly improve the school.
My son counts the sleeps back to school in the holidays!
I don’t have a complaint for the school.

You expressed concerns about…

How we manage the behaviour of children with additional needs.	We constantly strive to meet the needs of all children and ensure everyone is safe. Occasionally some children do struggle as they learn to manage and control their emotions; the safety of all children is our paramount concern.
The number of staff & leadership changes your child has had over the last 12/18 months.	This has been concerning for us too. In each instance, we have tried to ensure the children have felt the least impact possible. We are constantly monitoring this and are striving to raise educational standards swiftly.
Communication between teachers and playtime staff.	Our teachers and teaching assistants are our playtime staff. We will look at the process of information sharing following a lunch play to see if this can be improved.
Sometimes communication can be confusing.	We are sorry you feel this way. We have received praise for the improvements in communication since the introduction of methods such as Tapestry (EYFS), Marvellous Me and Twitter. We will continue to monitor this as we improve the relationship between home and school. This is a key priority for us.
Too many events through the school day, difficult for working parents.	We understand your frustration with this however because most of our events focus on involving parents in their children’s learning they have to take place whilst the children are at school. We do try to ensure parents have plenty of warning about events, which will take place in the forthcoming half term.
School dinner standards have dropped.	We have changed to a different supplier this year and the number of children taking a school dinner has risen. I will ask our student council to survey their peers to gather a clearer understanding of this.
Behaviour at playtimes.	We have recently introduced sports coaches to lunchtime provision. We have seen a significant reduction in incidents of poor behaviour since this was introduced. A group of Year 2 pupils now also hold the role of Playleader at breaktime.

You suggested improvements such as…

Sometimes information about events can be last minute. It can be upsetting for children when activities are limited by number of places.	We do try to give you as much notice as possible but unfortunately, occasionally things do have to change at short notice. We also recognise that it can be upsetting if a child misses out on something because there are not enough places. Following the huge success of our first family learning event we are going to try offering our next Family learning event over two days so there are more places. Sometimes with events, such as after school clubs, places have to be limited to a certain number. If clubs are over-subscribed we will always endeavor to run them again so all children have the chance to participate.
Focus week’s (in EYFS) are good for information on progress, but could do with more updates in-between	Have you signed up to Tapestry? This should provide you with regular insights into your child’s learning in between Focus weeks. We are also continually trying to improve the information we share with you via Marvellous Me and Twitter.
More frequent Parent consultations.	We hold three parent consultation events each year; parents also receive a formal report. We continue to endeavor to improve our communication with parents through Marvellous Me. We also hold regular Open afternoons and Entry or exit points for topics as appropriate. If you have a concern, you may arrange to meet with your child’s class teacher.
Not knowing the day your child will take their spelling test and unclear homework.	We have recently updated the way we set homework for children. Experience tells us that parents have many different views about what or how much homework should be set for their child and this is echoed by professionals across education. Each half term the homework sheet is stuck in your child’s homework book and is made available on your child’s class page on the website. We will also look to give suggestions of some extension activities you may do with your child. We will ensure parents are informed which day spelling tests will take place.
Been able to respond via Marvellous me.	This feature is not available through the app but you are always welcome to e-mail school admin@townville.wakefield.sch.uk.
Children come to school in their PE kit on PE days.	We understand why you may suggest this however for young children the process of changing for PE is a valuable learning opportunity in its own right. It promotes a child’s co-ordination, gross motor skills and self-care. It also encourages children to take care of their possessions.

Thank you to all our parents and carers who took the time to respond to our questionnaire. Your feedback and suggestions are invaluable to us as we strive to offer the best possible education for our children.