Annual surveys – what you told us

Friday 07 August 2020

Thank you to all of you who responded to this year’s annual survey. It came at a difficult time for many of us (the height of lockdown), so we’re really grateful to the parents / carers who took the time to tell us their thoughts.

We made the survey a little shorter this year, and some of the statements we used are a bit different – this was to match new statements that Ofsted use.

We’re proud to say that the feedback continues to be really positive.

We had 22 responses – that might seem small, but it’s a good proportion (just under a third) of the total number of parents/carers we have in our small school. It does mean, however, that to talk about the results can be difficult.

95% to 100% (that’s basically all or all except one) parents/carers who expressed an opinion agreed with the following statements:

These figures are really high – thank you. There are areas were the results were a little lower. We’re happy that despite this, so many of you would still recommend the school.

85% of those who expressed an opinion agreed with the statement ‘The school has high expectations for my child.’ This is a high number but we’d like it to be higher. We do believe we have high expectations and the end of Key Stage 2 assessments show the proportions of children reaching ‘greater depth’ level is in-line with national expectations. Nevertheless, we’ll keep working on how to best provide opportunities for challenge.

Similarly, we’d like the figure of 78% who agreed ‘When I have raised concerns with the school they have been dealt with properly’ to be higher. We can only do this if we work together with realistic goals for what we as a school can achieve (we won’t authorise holidays, for example). Miss Beatson works hard to respond to parents / carers. Please do speak with her about any issue you may have.

Two statements related to behaviour and bullying. The vast majority agreed that we make sure behaviour is good – that’s great to hear. Even better to hear is that the majority of you reported that your child has not been bullied. Of those who raised a concern, most reported that it had been dealt with quickly and effectively. At St James’ CE Primary, we take bullying behaviour very seriously. We have two messages: the definition (Several Times On Purpose) and the solution (Start Telling Other People). If you feel there’s a problem with bullying in our school, please do talk with us about it.

At the end of the survey, we invited comments. We received comments from about a quarter of those who responded. All of the comments were entirely positive – thank you. Here’s a couple of representative comments:

  • ‘Fantastic school and amazing staff who go out of their way to make sure children are happy. My son moved to this school last year after moving house and we have seen a huge improvement not just in his learning but also his social skills. He is also so much happier and loves going to school.’
  • ‘The teachers treat each child equally and want the best for them to thrive in and out of school. My daughter loves attended school and regularly comes home telling me all about the lessons. I cannot praise the school enough or recommend it highly enough to new parents.’

St James’ CE Primary is a happy and healthy place to achieve and believe. Parents and carers are an important part of our close and supportive community. Thank you, again, if you responded to the survey.