Robin Hood Parent Questionnaire, March 2011
79 Questionnaires returned…less than one third of possible returns.
The school informs me about my child’s progress
Strongly Agree 97% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 2% of forms returned, below 1% of the total school population
My child is making enough progress at school
Strongly Agree 88% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 10% of forms returned, 3% of the total school population
The school helps me support my child’s learning
Strongly Agree 92% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 8% of forms returned, 3% of the total school population
The school helps my child to have a healthy lifestyle
Strongly Agree 93% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 6% of forms returned, 2% of the total school population
The school makes sure my child is well prepared for the future
Strongly Agree 90% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 9% of forms returned, 3% of the total school population
The school meets my child’s needs
Strongly Agree 93% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 6% of forms returned, 2% of the total school population
The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour
Strongly Agree 95% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 5% of forms returned, less than 2% of the total school population
The school takes account of my suggestions and concerns
Strongly Agree 92% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 8% of forms returned, 3% of the total school population
The school is lead and managed effectively
Strongly Agree 96% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 4% of forms returned, 1% of the total school population
Overall, I am happy with my child’s experience at this school
Strongly Agree 95% of forms returned
Strongly Disagree 4% of forms returned, 1% of the total school population
The quality of teaching at Robin Hood is
Outstanding 97% of forms returned
Satisfactory 2% of forms returned, below 1% of the total school population
We invited parents to make any comments that they wanted to on the questionnaires. Most questionnaires were returned without comments. Some people made multiple comments across a number of different aspects of the school. These comments tended to be on those questionnaires returned that disagreed and strongly disagreed with the statements.
The following are all the comments made. Comments have been grouped into the broad headings within which they fall.
Positive feedback
8 comments
• Our child enjoys school and is thriving in her class.
• My son started Nursery in Sept 10 and he really enjoys being at school. I think Miss Abbey and Miss Bradshaw do an excellent job and are really friendly, and anytime I need to ask anything they are really helpful. Keep up the good work.
• Since joining the school at the beginning of Year 5 my daughter has come on in leaps and bounds.
• A major concern to me has always been X’s allergies yet I feel that he is in a safe environment in Reception. Mrs Steel and Mrs Chin have always been approachable about any problems X has had.
• Y is doing well at school but I think this has a lot to do with Miss Oxley. She makes learning fun and exciting. The children love her, Y will miss her when he moves up a class in Sept.
• My child really enjoys coming to school. There has not been one day when he has said that he doesn’t want to go!!! You must be doing a great job.
• I appreciate being able to e-mail the head teacher directly via the school website – in the one instance I contacted Mr Wilson he got back to me and put my mind at rest in the same day!
• I am very happy and satisfied with the progress of Z in Year 1, the teachers i.e. Miss Oxley and Mrs Comstive are excellent and parent friendly. They are good listeners and very hardworking towards the children. Z is very fond of both of them. Both are happy teachers and I really wish sometimes if I could be a kid again and in Robin Hood School, then I would love to have them as my teachers.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
I am very grateful for this positive feedback from parents. Please do not underestimate the value of your positive feedback to the school. The staff at Robin Hood are exceptional. They work exceptionally hard… which is why we are an outstanding school. Your positive feedback, support and acknowledgement is very much valued by our staff.
Curriculum feedback
Sport
5 comments
• Would still like to see more outdoor/sports based activities.
• More sports in school – competitive sport builds character & discipline.
• P.E. taught by Wii instead of outside.
• I just have some concerns about the level of physical education my child gets. Currently they are doing ‘Just Dance’ on the Wii. I would like to see some more classical styles of P.E. i.e. out on the sports field, running, jumping etc.
• The newsletter states that Year ¾ do PE twice a week however Emily says it’s only once a week – physical activity doesn’t appear to be highly thought of – she even says teacher texts during P.E. lessons.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
Physical exercise continues to be a development area within our curriculum. We have a wide offer of activities, After School Clubs and sports, but recognise that there remains further work to be done. One issue is capacity within the school… we cannot offer activities that we do not have the skills for, nor can we offer an unlimited range of activities… we are a relatively small school. We continue to work with our local Cluster in order to extend and enhance the Phys Ed offer. This has faltered in recent times, due to severe funding cutbacks… which has meant that we have not been able to offer the range and extent of PE activities that we would ideally have liked. We continue to engage in representative games, such as football, cross-country, multi-sports, etc.
It should be borne in mind that the winter gone was a very long and a very cold one. We have experienced precisely the same problems faced by all schools. There was snow and very low temperatures around from November right through to March. That inevitably affected the planned curriculum as Hall space and the opportunities to use the Hall are limited. Use of Wii Fit was actually an innovative and creative response to what was a difficult situation, caused by the weather.
The planned PE curriculum did include two hours of PE throughout Key Stage Two this year. A long term sickness absence and a short-notice school move exacerbated the problems caused by the weather and the sudden collapse last year of Cluster funding for PE.
Our Year 4’s, of course, do have – and have maintained – the weekly two hours of PE, as they go swimming every week in addition to their class PE.
ICT
4 comments
• Less computer based activities as this has an impact at home. Children just want to sit in front of a screen.
• Too much work is ICT based.
• Over use of ICT.
• Use of YouTube – non-educational, not monitored?
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
It is unclear how the writers measure ‘too much’ and ‘over-use’, or the evidence-base that they are drawing from. The undisputable fact is that ICT is used exceptionally effectively by all at Robin Hood… evidenced by the national reputation that the school enjoys. Robin Hood is the envy of most Headteachers, teachers and pupils in the UK. It ought to be a source of great pride to us that our pupils are exceptionally skilled and are benefitting from a unique and State of the Art facility that visitors from all over the world want to learn from. Pupils at Robin Hood are exceptionally well prepared for their High School experience and for their working futures.
ICT is used expertly by teachers to help inform, support, inspire and engage children. YouTube is one of the many and varied tools used. YouTube hosts an enormous range of educational content and is used by many schools who are at the leading edge of practice in teaching. Our Internet service is very strictly controlled, monitored and filtered.
International
2 comments
• Trips to Uganda & Senegal for teachers? Use video links to help with their system & send the money that these jaunts cost. (Teachers salary, supply costs, air fares etc).
• Don’t agree with all these overseas visits and links, pay more attention to your own community.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
There is very clear research evidence that shows that the outstanding schools are always busy schools who are involved in a wide range of projects, networks and partnerships… because this is how the richness of experience and opportunity leads to the development of an outstanding staff offering an outstanding curriculum and outstanding provision. Our International curriculum is very rich. It has helped to connect our children in very real and meaningful ways with children in a wide range of different circumstances all around the world and has supported our Modern Foreign Languages studies. We are involved in two International projects. One is fully funded by the European Union Comenius Project, the other is fully funded by the British Council. What both projects have enabled us to do is to build partnership working between teachers and fund additional resources for our curriculum that our children otherwise would not have. Both projects have also provided leadership development opportunities for staff that has helped them to become more effective in their jobs… which has a very real benefit for our pupils and community.
Pupil Progress feedback
9 comments
• More focus on the child rather than ‘league tables’.
• Academically she appears to be doing well but little structure to homework – no homework book – little brother gets more structured homework.
• Re is my child making enough progress at school? This is questionable as we feel our daughter who is now in Year 1/2 is again covering the same work (i.e. spellings, topics and homework) as she did last year when in Year1. Is this delaying her progress? Why is work being repeated?
• My son’s progress has stalled a little since entering Year 3 – this is not the fault of any teacher, but I do think that when a child who is considered a high achiever starts to perform less well, parents should be notified. Perhaps there should be more communication between a child’s current and previous teacher, in terms of discussing their usual standard of work.
• I believe my child is making great progress however a letter sent home and a comment in the reading book would indicate he is not progressing as the teachers would like. This could have been better dealt with through a meeting with me, or a chat at pick-up. Following receipt of the letter noted above I had a meeting with the teacher at which some useful pointers were given.
• Recently a Star Chart was put up on the wall to show which children had learnt their key words, I believe that in Reception they are too young for ‘performance charts’ especially for everyone to see.
• Re the school informs me about my child’s progress – only at Parents Evening.
• Re my child is making enough progress at school – not sure until Parents Evening.
• I would prefer a traditional parent consultation for nursery (a ten minute appointment would be adequate).
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
Due to technical problems, we were unable to issue to parents the December Progress Report that we have sent out for the previous five years. Usually, parents are provided with information about their child’s progress at four points during the year: an Autumn Term Parent Consultation, a December progress Report, a Spring Term Parent Consultation and an end of year report. In addition to this, there are Half Termly Celebration Friday events at which parents are invited to join their child in their classroom after school and review together their progress during that Half Term.
We make every effort to involve parents in their child’s learning through sharing each week’s learning in a newsletter and in online blogs. At the start of each year we hold information meetings for parents on the learning that will be taking place that year and how to best support their child.
Pupil progress tracking is extremely effective and extremely rigorous, as noted by ofsted in their report. Where required, pupils are given additional help and support by the highly motivated staff. We make every effort to engage parents in that dialogue.
Homework is a notoriously difficult one for any school to ‘get right’… because what appears too little for one family will inevitably be too much for another. Some children enjoy a great deal of support with their Home Learning, others get little or no help. We try to take a measured and realistic approach and ask for the support of all parents. We try to offer a menu of Home Learning in the hope that families work with us at a level that is comfortable for them.
To respond directly to the ‘League tables’ comment… I can assure every parent that we see children, not League Tables. We are committed to supporting and helping individual little people… because that’s where our joy is, that’s our vocation and our moral purpose.
Communication feedback
5 comments
• Celebration Assemblies should be for a set class, this way all parents get a chance to attend when it counts to their child and also have space to attend.
• I would like to appreciate the Friday Assembly, as it really gives us an insight into your school and child’s progress (though I am not a regular attendee) but still I want to be a part of it always. My only concern is to get closer to the school staff and to be more involved as a parent so that there shouldn’t be a communication gap between parents and teachers.
• Mini parents classes – to learn the methods taught (this has changed so much since parents were in school!! and more focus seems to be on learning at home – we could do with a bit of teacher training!!!)
• Parents are made to feel not welcome.
• Could the individual years newsletter also be on the blog. As if I don’t get the newsletter I often miss important facts i.e. needing to bring in wellies etc.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
That our community supports our Celebration Assemblies in such large numbers weekly is a key part of what makes our school unique and is a key part of the atmosphere at the Assemblies. It would be a great pity to lose that. Our Assemblies are an open invite to all parents. We hope soon to be able to stream our Assemblies on our Learning Platform… so that parents who are not able to attend in person can view the Assemblies and share their children’s memorable moments.
We are constantly looking for ways in which to involve parents in their child’s learning. It is in our interests as much as it is yours to share teaching methods and strategies. We do hold Parent Information meetings early each year and for targeted groups. We host a series of ‘How To’ teaching videos for parents on our website.
Parents and carers are consistently encouraged to share any issues, worries or concerns with us. We have staff members on every door daily, both before and after school. We have email contacts for key staff members direct from the website. In addition to weekly Assemblies, we invite parents into school every Half Term for Celebration Friday and invite parents in to share Topic outcomes with the children, eg: the recent Victorian Fair and the Indian Feast.
Blogging each Key Stage weekly newsletter adds a further layer of administration that we do not have the capacity in school to support at this time. It is something that we will keep in mind in terms of enhancing the quality of our communication with parents into the future.
Lunchtimes feedback
4 comments
• I feel there should be more supervision at lunch times. There seems to be a lot of incidents at lunch and the dinner ladies never seem to witness what really happened.
• At meal playtimes staff should be more vigilant to those with unacceptable and aggressive bullying behaviours, especially when these are reported immediately after they occur.
• The only problems we have had are that our child does not each much dinner. He rushes out to play. I have contacted school to be told that you cannot force a child to eat. At home our child is a big eater and the only reason he does not eat at school is because he knows he doesn’t have to.
• I have no idea if the school meals are healthy – I hope they are.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
We employ a huge lunchtime workforce, specifically because we recognise that the lunchtime experience for children can be different to that during the rest of the school day. The two parents who have raised concerns about behaviour at lunchtimes should first consider where there information is derived from. What really happened can often be a matter of hot dispute. Incredibly, there are up to seventeen adults on our playground at lunchtime. Behaviour at lunchtime is very safe. There are incredibly few incidents, given the number of pupils. This is not to say we are complacent. We take a very proactive, vigilant and preventative approach to lunchtimes every day. We have a very well-established and transparent system around any wrongdoing on the rare occasions that it does occur.
We employ The Catering Agency as our school meals supplier. As a supplier of school meals, the Agency has to conform with all government Healthy Food Standards. We are working with The Catering Agency to ensure that we use local fresh produce. There will be more information to parents on this subject soon and we are looking at the possibilities for sharing information with parents about daily meal choices, menus, etc. This is something that is already in place at Friendly Faces, our Before and After School Care facility.
Behaviour feedback
2 comments
• There have been a couple of instances where my child has had an injury caused by someone else and I had to raise it with the teacher – I wasn’t informed in the first instance. Aside from that the school is normally excellent at communicating with parents.
• Over use of stickers – children too young to understand the meaning.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
It is our policy and practice to inform parents in the event of an injury sustained in school. If this has not happened as it should, please alert the school immediately.
The culture and ethos at Robin Hood is one of its unique and distinctive features. It is an essential part of what makes our school outstanding. The use of positive praise, celebration and reward to build self-esteem, confidence and resilience amongst children is a proven success in 100% of cases. The use of stickers to reward and praise is an incredibly effective and successful method that is well understood by children, is very well supported by our community at large, and is one that we have no intention of changing.
Healthy Lifestyles feedback
1 comment
• Re the school helps my child to have a healthy lifestyle – it does. Been a bit fed up with my child asking to bike to school. I have to walk and get to work after drop-off. Too much pressure to walk, cycle or scoot to school, some people just haven’t the time.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
In common with every school, every public body and service, and every institution with an interest in the environment throughout the country, we encourage families to consider alternatives to car travel. It is each family’s decision as to how they choose to travel to and from school. There has been a great deal of support amongst the community for the alternative to car travel initiatives we have encouraged. We have a legal duty and a moral obligation to teach about healthy lifestyles and well being. We will continue to support initiatives to reduce the number of car journeys taken to and from school.
Staffing feedback
3 comments
• Staff turnover is very high! Not enough staff.
• Quality of teaching is good just frequent changes of teacher! Is this good for stability and preparation for the future, enough progress, information of child’s progress and the school helping me to support my child’s progress.
• I have no faith in board of governors after decision about Mrs Bailey leaving.
Mr Wilson’s response to the comments made:
Our staffing levels are exceptionally high as a result of the outstanding budgetary management that was noted in the ofsted reports 2007 and 2011. Adult:pupil ratios this year in Foundation Stage are between 1:8 to 1:11, in Key Stage One, between 1:10 to 1:15 and 1:18 across the whole of Key Stage Two… this is within the context of two teachers leaving in-year and a Maternity Leave. Were all of these staff included, the ratios would be even lower. We have a settled and established team at the school who have achieved an outstanding rating from ofsted and who will shortly be going into at least their third year together. The quality of induction, support, training and development of staff – and the quality of the systems and procedures at the school – are clearly proven.
The school faced a deficit budget just over a year ago and a managed staffing reduction at that time was required to balance the books.
Teaching is a dynamic profession and teachers move on for many different reasons. Staff develop very quickly at Robin Hood due to the quality of support and development that they enjoy. Staff trained at Robin Hood are much sought after by other schools. It is natural that high performing teachers eventually move on for their own continuing professional development. Because we are an outstanding school there are high expectations of staff all of the time… because we want the best for our children… all of the time. It is fair to say that there have been a small number of staff who have joined us and found themselves not comfortable with maintaining the standards that we require of them all of the time. Where this has been the case, these colleagues have chosen to develop their careers elsewhere. Children, of course, move to a new class teacher every year. As a parent and a Headteacher, I would always choose for children to be in a class with a gifted and high performing teacher.
