EcclesallInfant School
Parent Questionnaires 2011-2012
Why do you think EcclesallInfant School is “outstanding”?
The school has a very good feeling to it. The Head Teacher is very easy to approach, also I find the teachers very easy to talk to.
The leadership is excellent. The pastoral care/support to children is always high on the school’s agenda. The teaching assistants are of a very high calibre and always seem to go the extra mile – Mrs T and Mrs E are superb. The grounds and buildings are excellent. The school always looks to improve. It has the support of some great parents too.
I think the questionnaire speaks for itself – good management and staff and happy children which all create a good atmosphere for learning and developing.
It is a happy place to be. The staffwork extremely hard. The staff care about the children both socially and academically. Creative curriculum is amazing. Learning ethos – i.e. through play and exploration where possible
Parental involvement and information is excellent.
My child is happy to come to school and talks about all the staff in school in a very positive way.The school has a vibrant/lively atmosphere.
A strong Head Teacher who is also very approachable and enthusiastic.
Everybody is included and important - parents’ views are sought and valued. The teachers and Head are fantastic. I feel comfortable approaching Mrs H if I need to.
It has a warm friendly atmosphere. The standard of teaching is very good. There is a good range of activities. The staff are friendly and approachable.
I think it is friendly and open but has a good balance of activities, teaching styles, learning opportunities and mix between learning, play, social activities and development. The staff are caring but maintain good discipline, and the Head is a good leader.
Excellent teaching and support staff at Ecclesall Infants. There’s excellent people resources that are available to help pupils in areas where they may need extra support. Children achieve more with this extra help.
Staff are caring, enthusiastic and communicate!
Ecclesall Infants is:-
-well organised, thought is given to layout and logistics, information giving etc text messaging;
- very welcoming to children and parents;
-approachable, questions are welcome, reassurance is important;
- a very happy place. My child has always felt secure and at ease there and I’m sure this has contributed to her success.
I think the teachers are excellent. The fund raising ideas are great. The needs of the children and the parents are always considered. The values and attitudes which are focused on are fantastic and I think go towards raising caring and capable children.
It is a happy, friendly, safe school with many interests and activities.
They seem to really care for my child’s education and his well-being.
From the experience of my kids, they feel happy, secure and they enjoy their learning at school.
The children are happy and settled. The range of activities offered by the school are excellent and the progress H has made since starting has been very encouraging. Her interest in learning and how she independently wants to read and do sums shows just how much she is settled and happy at school. Miss B has been very helpful and encouraging.
All staff welcoming and approachable . M shows how happy he is. Good range of after school activities. Good well maintained facilities.
Teachers are of high quality and highly motivated. Head Teacher seen around school and knows the children.
The staff. All involved are enthusiastic committed and approachable. The children feel comfortable with them and it generates an atmosphere in which they can try their best and ask for help. I genuinely feel that the teachers invest as much as they possibly can in the children. Facilities and school environment is also very good.
Excellent friendly leadership team. Welcoming to parents. Fun, exciting learning opportunities.
Very relaxed happy atmosphere in the school. Mix of activities/trips and themes eg science week to stimulate their interest. Staff very good and seem able to pick up on a child’s strengths/areas for development.
All the friendly staff work hard to provide a very good educational service and environment. This is most probably complemented by parental interest, which to some degree may well be due to the school’s catchment area.
The commitment of the staff, the variety of activities at the school both within the curriculum and additional activities outside of school.
There is a large variety of learning methods including play equipment. Staff are kind, professional and dedicated.
D read many of these questions off his own bat. The proof of the pudding…As for “feeling safe” this only refers to his relationships with his peers. There are no problems with staff, facilities, security etc. D has outstanding teaching, creative, enthusiastic and with an eye for the whole child not just the Ofsted requirements. The friendly, welcoming atmosphere of the school is obvious as soon as you walk through the main entrance. The teaching assistants that D has encountered have been as good as the teachers. D is happy at school and is progressing extremely well. J and I are enormously grateful to Mrs H and to all the teaching staff who very obviously work extremely hard and are completely committed to all the children in their care. A big thank you to you all for all that you do.
I don’t really fully understand the term “outstanding” school, however F loves going to school, he has lots of friends and we can see his learning coming on in leaps and bounds. I am impressed with the school so far!
I think the thing I appreciate most about EcclesallInfant School is the warm, friendly, atmosphere.
I feel that the continuity of the teachers at Ecclesall really contributes to its reputation. I have two sons and the eldest started at Ecclesall Infants 11 years ago. When the youngest started just 3 years ago he was taught by 4 of the same teachers that my eldest was taught by.
Good teaching. Good mix of activities for learning. Children are well cared for. Good extra activities after school and within school time.
Staff and environment.
I think EcclesallInfant School is an Outstanding school for many reasons. It has a very warm and welcoming environment. There is a positive and vibrant atmosphere in the school and staff have a caring and committed attitude towards the children. All the staff, including the office staff and Mr M are friendly and approachable. I think the Y2 cookery and growing club run by Mrs T and Mrs C are of an excellent standard, and you feel they have put in a lot of effort into the organising and running of them.
It is a vibrant, happy school and seems to be able to adapt teaching to children’s needs. Visible teachers and Head Teacher which is always re-assuring. Lots of varied activities and make learning fun.
My child feels extremely safe at school, respects staff and the physical building and understands his role and that of the teachers. He is challenged but supported completely. The school provides a rich and diverse environment for learning. All activities within school and outside (trips) are extremely well organised. I know my child is safe, happy and is learning at school.
Beautiful environment – fantastic outdoor spaces. A warm, welcoming feel to the school that is well organised and shows consistency through the year groups. Staff that will always listen and want to support our children in their learning. We feel the teachers our boys have had understand wholeheartedly that children are unique and are willing to provide opportunities/ experiences according to need – Fantastic! So many extra curricular opportunities. Well thought out / thought provoking assemblies.
We feel that the school is a positive learning environment and the teachers are very encouraging towards the pupils. There is a wide breadth of activities and variety of learning methods which help children with different learning styles. We were happy with the part time option at the start of term 1, which we believe helped A settle into full time school.
The commitment and dedication of the staff are first rate and the school as a whole embraces new ideas and innovation. The teaching is of a very high standard and our daughter has made tremendous progress since starting in September.
Very good leadership and direction. Excellent structured learning and social education for the children. Committed, dedicated staff. Excellent, continuously improving facilities. Happy Children and Proud Parents. Very good office staff – extremely helpful all the time and pragmatic.
Excellent, committed staff who use an enormous range of creative methods to teach children of all abilities. A big thank you to all!
Visible leadership – the Head Teacher is there to welcome the children every morning and is friendly and approachable to the parents.
Plenty of opportunities for parental involvement eg xmas craft morning, class assemblies, christingle etc. Excellent information for parents so we can support learning at home – eg weekly curriculum updates on the website, meetings about literacy etc.
Happy well disciplined children who are learning enthusiastically through diverse experiences organised and provided by the school, ie science week, music week etc all give a specific focus and highlight important areas to study and learn from. The work towards their assemblies means learning to present their knowledge in new ways too etc.
Children are happy, want to learn, take learning forward themselves, teaching is clearly of a high standard, well resourced, supported well by parents in terms of children’s behaviour. Well managed, approachable “hands on” head teacher, sense of community.
Great head and teaching staff. Good catchment area.
Outside space. Head Teacher greeting the children and parents as they come into school is very important. Good teacher support. Good range of activity based learning.
Teachers seem committed to their role and in general are friendly and approachable. Head Teacher is excellent – and very well respected by the children. The children are encouraged to try hard to do well and are rewarded for their efforts. Teaching Assistants regularly seem to go out of their way to help children (and parents!). The environment in the school is happy which reflects the above.
Both D and I think you all do an amazing job. We are extremely grateful that our boys attend this lovely school and feel that they have had the best start to their education. Thank you very much to all.
How can we make further improvements to our school?
Pick up time in reception class is a little chaotic. All parents are let into the classroom at the same time and there is not much room to collect your child, check their drawer etc. Maybe furniture could be re-arranged to give a little more space?
We don’t know if the school can do anything to help with this but an opportunity to speak to the music teachers to get an idea of how the children are doing - once a term would be great.
Are there links with the JuniorSchool (Ecclesall) eg Y6 pupils to help in infant classes with reading etc – infants to watch junior Christmas productions etc. Is there a playtime “buddy” system? Eg Y2 pupils helping and playing with new reception pupils? Are there some organised activities at lunchtime in playground with playground equipment?
Can’t think of anything.
Make it clear that letters sent by email can be responded to in the same way.
Improve the outside area near the bins at the reception collection door. Paint the playground floor with circles, interactive areas. Stop everyone bringing buggies into reception collection area at the end of the school? Could you provide a dry area at this door for buggies instead?
If possible hold meetings for parents after school or in the evening. If they need to be held during the day (better to have them, than not to have them at all) please hold them on a Friday as this is a day when attendance may be easier eg many part time workers work mid week but not Friday.
As a parent I would love to be a fly on the wall or have a secret view of a typical day, including lunchtime and playtime so I can see for myself how my child behaves or copes and how she interacts without her knowing that I am watching.
On line swop shop or advert board in school for exchange of books, instruments, school uniform etc. Could be self managed with parents pinning up postcards with description and contact details.
Keep doing what you’re doing…
To continue to communicate with parents on their child’s progress and what we can do to help them.
When work is sent home please can we have clearer instructions on when it needs doing by and what exactly the child is required to do and by when.
Larger classrooms. Wider range of indoor (wet weather) play activities (my son always says he has watched TV).
The range and quality of lunchtime and afterschool activity is excellent. The cost of these activities can be expensive and it must be very difficult for families on lower incomes to meet them. Is external funding available to make some activities open to the class as a whole? I accept that these activities are extra curricular but the exposure to the different sports and classes is very good.
The children would like more playground activities/climbing frame.
J feels the wall of the wildlife wall could be better. Generally we are extremely happy with the school.
Wider corridors and bigger classrooms!!! It’s a bit of a squeeze at drop off and pick up times.
It would be good to see paper recycling facilities in the office/hall and every classroom.
I really don’t consider there are improvements to be made.
Carry on as you are, very impressed with school since I started in September.
Better standards of hygiene in the boys’ toilets. Weekly maths questions to try at home so parents can understand more what they are doing at school and can see what they might be having difficulties with and help them.
Still think more maths practice/homework would be a benefit as homework focuses still on reading/writing/spelling. Need both/all. Sometimes feel would be good to get more regular updates on progress as the parent meetings seem a long way off sometimes but I know the offer of arranging a meeting is there if concerned.
Communication and generally being “present” as a parent when we both work full time. Only on parent’s evening do we know how he’s doing and parent’s evening is actually parent’s ‘afternoon’! Could we have a communication diary in book bags?
Teach a language from Year 1. I would like to see greater links with the JuniorSchool. Possibly more frequent presence of junior children within the school (special events/assemblies?). I would like to see a more involved level of supervision at lunch times – this is the only area I’m not totally happy with.
We would love the children from Ecclesall Infants to be taken on a residential visit – not too far away – perhaps Whirlow Hall Farm? The benefits of even a short visit, we think, are well worth the effort of organising it. We would be more than willing to support such a visit. Greystones take Y2s and they absolutely treasure the experience.
Turn the heating down! Slightly longer slots for parent/teacher meetings. Only chance to find out what A is doing, as he still treats school as a secret. Communicate to parents how point 13 is addressed.
We would like to see the wonderful range of educational visits maintained and extended. Two visits which seemed particularly important were the visit to a local mosque and the visit to Ecclesall Woods Sawmill. Equally we would like to support the further use of outside expertise, such as Conrad Burdekin and Rugger Ed.
Continue close communication with parents. Involvement of parents where possible. Where possible, parent meetings to be held outside working hours, or at least have the option to receive information “on line” if unable to attend other general meetings (not parent/teacher consultations).
The weekly curriculum updates are really valuable but sometimes they contain terms we don’t understand – we didn’t do ‘phonics’ etc in our day (!). So we need explanations/glossary to be able to help our children, more info on teaching techniques would always be useful and clearer (simpler) guidance on what level our children should be at. Also, a few things at parents evening were a shock and not very constructive criticism. The use of language was rather extreme and unfounded eg, ‘disruptive’, ‘destructive’, ‘dismissive’ – there should be no surprises please!
Further increasing outdoor learning/play opportunities. Adding additional ‘special weeks’ – maybe something like a grandparents week for example to focus on the lives of older people and learning from the horses mouth what school/families/communities etc were like when grandparents were young. This would perhaps also help bridge age gaps and give the children a new appreciation of older people.