Message sent from:

St Monica's Catholic Primary School

Responding to parents views

You Said	We responded
Summer 19. My child is good every day but does not get recognition. A lot of attention seems to go to the children who are not well behaved.	Autumn 19. We have flipped our behaviour practice to focus on excellent behaviour first. The Golden Time charts which focused on children who were not following the rules have been replaced by Recognition Boards which celebrate the children who show lovely behaviour every day.
Summer 19. Could you consider stopping asking for packed lunches on trips to be put in plastic bags? That’s a lot of plastic going into the environment.	We have stopped requesting plastic bags on our trip letters. We didn’t buy disposable plastic drinks and crisps for Walking Day but switched to juice in cups and biscuits instead. We are reviewing all of our single use plastic. Thank you for being the catalyst to change!
Summer 18. Thank you for the information about the Relationships and Sex Education programme. I can see that since it’s been implemented my younger child is much better equipped with the correct vocabulary, can you ensure the older children catch up?	We put in place the catch up lessons for the older children.

March 2019 Parents Questionnaire.

49 children had questionnaires completed.

The results are as follows:

Statement	Percentage in agreement
My child is happy at this school	100%
My child feels safe at this school	100%
My child is making good progress at this school	100%
My child is well looked after at this school	100%
My child is taught well at this school	100%
My child receives appropriate homework for their age	100%
The school makes sure its pupils are well behaved	100%
The school deals effectively with bullying	98% see note below
The school is well led and managed	100%
The school responds well to concerns	89% see note below
I receive valuable information from the school about my child’s progress	100%

The parents who did not agree with statements 8 and 10, explained that they could not agree or disagree as they had had no experience on which to judge.

Several parents commented about homework: that it was sometimes too much; and that more creative homework tasks would be appreciated. The staff discussed these comments in a staff meeting in April 2019 and undertook to increase the number of creative homework tasks, and to reiterate to parents that they should get in touch if their child was struggling with the amount of homework so that adaptations could be considered.

Other comments, relevant to particular children will be carefully followed up.

Communications Audit

Communications audit sent out during June 2018.

	?	R	Y1	Y2	Y3	Y4	Y5	Y6	Total
The school keeps me well informed about what events and meetings are going on.	1/1	8/8	9/9	8/8	10/11	7/7	8/8	6/6	98%
With text messaging, emails, the newsletter, the web site, access to speak to the staff, Twitter, What’s App … there are adequate channels of communication.	1/1	8/8	8/9	8/8	10/11	6/7	8/8	6/6	95%
The web site is user friendly.	0/1	8/8	8/9	7/8	9/11	6/7	8/8	6/6	89%
All the information I need is on the web site and class pages.	0/1	8/8	7/9	7/8	9/11	4/7	8/8	5/6	83%
The Annual Reports provide me with all the information I need.		6/8	7/9	8/8	8/11	5/7	6/8	6/6	81%
With their agendas of (specified) Parents evenings provide me with all the information I need.	0/1	7/8	8/9	8/8	9/11	6/7	8/8	6/6	89%
I can speak to school staff when I need to.	1/1	8/8	9/9	8/8	11/11	7/7	8/8	6/6	99%
How well do you think we communicate?
1 well		7/8	9/9	7/8	10/11	5/7	8/8	6/6	91%
2 needs some improvement	1/1	1/8			1/11	2/7			9%
3 poor									0%

Questionnaire sent home in July 2017 asking parents to contribute to SEF in preparation for anticipated Diocesan Inspection in the Autumn Term.

Please tick		Strongly Agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree	Don’t Know
1	My child enjoys school	30	6
2	I am happy with the values and attitudes that the school teaches	29	6
3	I am made to feel welcome in school	29	6
4	The school seeks the views of parents/carers and takes account of their suggestions and concerns	17	15	1		2
5	The school gives me a clear understanding of what is taught in Religious Education	20	15
6	The school enables my child/ren to achieve a good standard of work in Religious Education	20	15
7	The school keeps me well informed about my child(ren)’s progress in Religious Education	16	16	3

Additional comments were received from 3 parents:

I feel that the children were prepared very well for the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation and enjoyed both occasions.

Despite not being from a Catholic background, I feel St. Monica’s gives an excellent insight and understanding of all religions, and is fully inclusive to all pupils. Very happy!!

I think it would be valuable to have a more public, easily accessible way of making suggestions and seeing the responses – eg a notice board on the external wall of the hall.

You said:	We responded:
January 2016: I don’t want the First Eucharist arrangements to change, I want my child to receive the Eucharist for the first time with their classmates.	For May 2016 and thereafter, we offered two ways that children could receive First Eucharist: either in the parish at a Sunday Mass or with their classmates at a special Mass on a Saturday (or both).
September 2016: I am concerned that the gate is open and anyone can get onto the school site.	Summer 2017: automated gate fitted
July 2016: I would have liked a personal comment on the Reception Annual Report as well as the subject and learning characteristics comments.	In July 2017 we redesigned the Reception Reports to include a personal comment.
Behaviour Questionnaire July 2016: We are concerned that our child is being exposed to behaviour that is unacceptable. Good behaviour should be rewarded.	A system of red cards has been put in place and any poor behaviour results in other staff coming to remove children and deal with them out of the classroom, in order to protect the other children’s learning and peace of mind. The Governors have agreed to employ teaching assistants to monitor the behaviour of certain children 1:1 at play and lunch times to reduce the risk of children being exposed to incidents of unacceptable behaviour. The school has paid for a behaviour consultant to advise us on supporting particular children to improve their behaviour. All staff have been made aware of the need to praise good behaviour and use such systems as ‘golden time’ to show other children that rewards are fair.
Easter 2017: My child enjoyed the prayer stations during their First Reconciliation. Perhaps they could be spread out around the church building, led by an adult and more stations added.	Plans are underway to offer additional prayer stations, to spread them out in church and to invite members of the Year 6 Worship Team to come and lead the younger children in taking part.
Summer 2017 Y3 Eucharist Programme parent’s evaluation: What do you think could have been improved? A longer meeting for parents – it is difficult after Mass.	We have arranged a First Reconciliation parents meeting at school on the 8^th February 2018, the week before the Enrolment Mass on the 11^th.
Summer 2017 Y3 Eucharist Programme parent’s evaluation: Clearer guidelines regarding who should go up to the altar with the First Communicant.	This has been noted and will be addressed at the First Eucharist parents meeting at school on Thursday 1^st March 2018.
RE Questionnaire July 2017: all the sessions leading up to the First Reconciliations were during the day so I couldn’t attend. It would be great to have something at the weekend Masses maybe to encourage more family involvement.	Negotiations are underway to have an activity offered by the parish children’s liturgy team during the period of preparation.
RE questionnaire July 2017: could there be a progress update termly?	Staff offer progress updates in Autumn at the first parents evening, in Spring at the second parents evening and the Summer via the Annual Report which includes an invitation to come to meet with the teacher if required. All staff are happy to discuss progress at other times where there are specific concerns.
RE questionnaire July 2017: I think it would be valuable to have a more public, easily accessible way for parents to make suggestions and see the responses.	Since September 2017 parents’ comments and school’s responses have appeared on the newsletter, and will continue to do so whenever there is an update to the web site page. A comments box for the external wall is on order.
RE questionnaire July 2017: I think it would be better for parents and healthier for the children if snacks were a choice of either fruit or veg – therefore eliminating the pester power of kids wanting crisps and chocolates as a ‘healthy snack’.	A healthy snack poster campaign is planned for Spring 2018.
RE Inspection questionnaire July 2017: we don’t get specific updates about progress in Religious Education	At the Autumn 2017 parents’ evening all staff discussed progress in Religious Education. The RE parent newsletter has been revamped and is available on the web site as well as coming home in hard copy each half term.

Spring Term Parents Evening Academic Questionnaire .. March 2016. Many thanks for your replies. Of the 47 replies we received 100% agreed with the following statements: I know whether my child is working at the expected standard for their age. I know how school is supporting my child’s learning. I know how I can support my child’s learning at home. We also received some very constructive comments, suggestions and requests which we will be addressing as follows:
	You Said:	We responded:
March 2016	Can we have more frequent access to Reception observations?	Mrs. Keleher has prompted ‘2 simple’ – the programme that hosts the observations – to send invitations out to parents, which need to be accepted. Any problems, please see Mrs. Keleher.
March 2016	Games and fun activities would be more useful than handouts in workshops. I learn best by practical activities. I would be interested in Science and curriculum organisation. Could you consider mind management programmes for workshops?	We will take note of this in designing future workshops.
March 2016	Could workshops be repeated / timed later to enable me to access them?	We will try to offer workshops at 7 pm dependent on staff availability. We will offer 2 dates for key workshops next year.
March 2016	Ten minutes didn’t seem enough, some appointments were seen an hour late.	We will offer alternative appointments for parents who have issues that need lengthier discussion.
March 2016	I would like my child to be encouraged to read more challenging books.	Resources have been ordered to replenish the reading scheme and guided reading resources. Class reading libraries contain a range of challenging books. We have just put suggested reading lists onto the class pages of the web site for Y3 – Y6 children.
March 2016	Could I see my child’s class work books more often?	Yes, please make an arrangement to see them with the Class Teacher.
March 2016	I would like a run down of what is going to be taught for each year group at the beginning of the term.	The staff put Curriculum Newsletters on the web site at the start of each term. Look out for the Summer 2016 Newsletters which will appear w/b 18.4.16, and let us know if they give you the sort of information you would like to know.
March 2016	Could we have outdoor workshops?	We will research providers of outdoor workshops and canvass parental interest for next year. Meanwhile, you may be interested in a new initiative to start a St. Monica’s Gardening Club, which the Y6/5 children will be invited to join next term.
Parents Views: January-September 2015
September 2015	Your comments from the ‘Survey of Parents’ Views about Keeping Children Safe’: Intercom system at front gate so that it is locked all day. Children cannot always articulate very well, so more pastoral teaching is needed. More supervision at breaks, more staff needed. I feel this policy could be conveyed to parents. (Personal, Social, Health and Emotional Policy and Sex and Relationships Policy) School is well organised, however, more communication with parents would be great Re friendship issues – we have noticed, in the past, a tendency for one side of the story only to be taken account of. It is vitally important, in our view, for all sides to be considered carefully in order to prevent the kind of upset we have had to deal with at home.	Intercom system being costed and presented to the governors. Comments about listening to all sides of the story being shared at morning briefing and with all mid day assistants to remind all staff to be careful to take all sides of a story. Staff numbers on duty have been reviewed and Friday lunch time was found to be low, and so an extra member of staff has been added to the duty rota. The SRE policy is on the web site, and the PSHE policy is being prepared to be added early in November. All staff have been asked to review their programmes to ensure that they are teaching children vocabulary about emotions to help them to express themselves. Where individual children are identified as needing extra support with this, there is a facility in school for small group or 1:1 work to be done on social and emotional skills.
September 2015	In the Ofsted ‘Parent View’ survey, the question with which the highest percentage of parents disagreed was ‘I receive valuable information from the school about my child’s progress’. Ten percent of the 62 respondents disagreed with this. See the results of the whole survey here:https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/parent-view-results/survey/result-print/8131/current	At the October Parents’ Evening, we are sending out information about measures of progress we are using for the new curriculum
April 2015	A general survey was sent out in November / December 2014. A summary of the responses to the questions can be found separately in this section of the web site.	Thank you for your positive responses and encouraging comments. Thank you also for the constructive comments and honest ratings which will help us to improve. We are particularly focussing on sharing children’s targets, ways to make the children feel that they are treated fairly, reviews of homework and how we handle complaints. Measures are already in place to respond to the child who does not feel safe. The suggestions as to how the school could be improved will be posted in the next couple of weeks when staff have completed their discussions about them.
March 2015	We would like more parent workshops.	A phonics workshop was held on 18.3.15. Safeguarding / e safety and maths workshops are planned for the summer term.
January 2015	Could you review the Charging Policy?	The policy was reviewed and charges were removed from clubs that do not incur a cost to the school.
January 2015	Please look again at the proposed changes to the arrangements for First Holy Communion.	A review was undertaken to obtain all parents’ views, and two options were offered to take account of all parents’ preferences.