You said… We did

You said:
‘I would like to share my ideas but feel a bit shy to take it to the teachers directly’

We did:
Our Parent Governors created the ‘Every Parent Matters’ coffee morning meetings in which any parent can join and talk about any ideas or issues that are bothering them. This is then fed back to the leadership team and actioned (if action is needed) and shared with all families through the Headteacher Newsletter under the heading ‘Feedback from Every Parent Matters’.
It has been a brilliant vehicle for noticing little things that make big impact to families!

You Said:
‘Communication is through too many channels and it can be a bit confusing’

We did:
Slimmed down communication to one single vehicle ‘Eduspot’ and added children’s names into texts to make it clearer for those with more than one child, which class is sending the message. Slimmed down all social media so that Facebook is the single vehicle for having learning and life in school. Weekly newsletter from the headteacher with overview of life in school weekly, sharing learning and reminders of important dates.

You said:
‘We want our children to have trips and experiences, but the cost can be difficult for some families’

We did:
We reviewed trip planning so that we could secure best value for coaches by block booking a year in advance. We made a budget commitment to subsidise every trip to keep cost down for families. We maximised opportunities for free/funded trips (eg: Yr1 farm trip). We have applied for grants to support the costs of residentials. We subsidise trips for all Pupil Premium children.

You Said:
‘We would love more opportunities to be in school’

We did:
‘We have re-introduced parent audience to Goldbook celebration assembly.

Each class has a new to classroom meeting yearly and a further class-based parent session each year to share learning.

We host stay and play sessions in Nursery & Reception termly.

We hold a drama performance for every year group annually and maximise the audience allowance to get as many family members connected with school as possible.

Sports Day is a family event and we encourage whole families to come and support their children on their field in the sunshine (usually sunshine!).

Parents have also been invited to join school trips as helpers and this has been a lovely way of building the bond between parent body and class teachers.

We host a Fab Fry-day each term in which we invite all families to join us for breakfast (cooked by the staff team) – the last one was attended by over 200 people!

Our PTA have got back up and running and have held 3 lovely family events this academic year (22-23) which have brought lots of families into school.

You Said:
‘I am not sure about attendance policy and what it means’

We did:
Monthly Attendance Newsletter from the Attendance team. Attendance team attended the Every Parent matters session in Spring 23 so that [parents could ask questions and chat about attendance in our school. We have a FAQ section on the newsletter that is fed into by parents through the parent governors, so that parents can get answers to anything that is confusing about school practice and policy.