Returns from Year 8 Parental Questionnaires

Returns from year 8 Parental Questionnaires

Thank you for completing parental questionnaires at the Year 8Parents’ Evening on Thursday 23 March 2017. 60% of Year 8 parents attended the parents’ evening and 23 forms were returned.This information will be used to help us plan future improvements. Here are the results:

Our strengths

• A good school; The fact my child is happy to come to school says a lot
• High quality teaching and understanding of the level and needs of every student
• The level of challenge in English. Engaging texts studied and a theatre trip linked in.
• Friendly; very friendly staff; Approachable staff; Fantastic enthusiastic staff; Amazing teachers; Polite teachers; Caring attitude
• Good SCAMPs; Encourages my child to do after school activities that they know she is good at but doesn’t have the confidence to join in with; Enjoys dinner time clubs; Activities for pupils
• Teacher, parent, pupil communication is second to none; Communicates well with parents (x2); Very supportive and works closely with parents to nature the best outcomes for students; School to parent communication; Very good with telling parents what is going on

• Keep us up to date with my child’s progress
• Dealing with behaviour; Discipline
• High focus on the development of the children
• Making a stand against bullying
• Happy
• Supporting my daughter well in her education; Children are doing well here
• Encourages attendance
• Well led
• Accessibility
• Good choice of subjects

Suggested improvements

• I would like to be emailed assessment/ exam dates and topics for revision so that I can help my child prepare
• Get rid of bullies and people who don’t work hard enough quickly
• Parents’ evening should be before Options evening as we would have had a clearer indication where our child is with regards to their capabilities and skills and to support them make the right choice.
• More homework; Information about homework
• More contact with parents
• More outreach to local primaries
• Automated school meal system so we can pay online
• Add after school activities to the show my homework app; I know there are lots of activities outside school but other than searching the website I’d like more information
• Try not to keep changing the staff – it is very confusing for the students

Other comments

• Thank you very much for the professional help from all the teachers which has enabled my child to achieve.
• This school has gone from strength to strength
• Very happy with the progress my child is making at ACSC

Our response

• Thank you for all your positive feedback; it is always nice to hear what you feel we do well. The students are always our priority and it is reassuring to see that this is recognised.
• We have clear systems in place to deal with incidents of bullying and disruption of any sort and endeavour to address issues brought to our attention quickly.
• We appreciate your thoughts regarding the timing of parents’’ evening and we will build this into the calendar for future years.
• We ask staff to record all homework on Show My Homework so that parents can support its completion. If you find that there is insufficient details, students can send messages to teachers within the app or alternatively contact the relevant member of staff via the enquiries @ashtoncsc.com email address.
• We are sorry if you feel there is a lack of communication with parents. If this is the case, please contact school and we will ensure that the information you require is made available to you. If you wish to contact the school or a member of staff by email, please use the contact address and add the name of the member of staff you wish to contact in the header line. We do use a text messaging service to keep parents informed and updated but we also use other methods too: Facebook; Twitter; email and the school website are all regularly updated.
• Outreach to local Primary schools is currently being explored via the Head teachers of local schools.
• We are exploring ways that parents can access their child’s lunchtime account to add funds. LCC catering run the school kitchen and they are happy to accept larger payments from parents by way of cheque or cash placed in a clearly marked envelope with the child’s name and form on. We hope this might assist until a longer term online solution can be offered.
• We plan to email all parents after Easter with the full SCAMPs offer.
• We appreciate the confusion that changing staff may cause and try our best to minimise changes during the school year. Sometimes, however, these are unavoidable due to maternity leave, illness or indeed colleagues leaving the school.