Active Lifestyle January 2023

As always, thank you very much to parents and carers for completing the questionnaire and for your comments and responses. We value the opinions of all of our stakeholders in order to improve our school curriculum offer and make it a successful provision for all of our learners.

We have spent time reading every response and the results of this have been shared with Governor’s and staff so that we can further develop this aspect of the curriculum. We have already planned for some of your suggestions to be implemented into the summer term and continue into the next academic year.

Should you feel you need any further support or guidance in regards to your child’s physical health, please contact school as we will be more than happy to support you.

If so, what kinds of activities do you do as a family?

• Running
• Walking
• Bike rides / scooter / skating
• Activities at the park such as playing basketball, football etc.
• Trampolining
• Swimming
• Activities in the garden
• Playing table tennis
• Playing tennis
• Karate
• Badminton

What do you think are the barriers, if any, to developing your family’s fitness levels;

• Time constraints
• Not enough clubs outside school
• No nearby facilities such as tennis courts
• Weather constraints
• Money

How do you think we could further support your child’s physical fitness?

• A wider range of sport-based activities for EYFS/KS1 children
• More days dedicated to Physical Education
• Dance classes
• Offer more sports after school clubs
• Active fitness club

As always, thank you very much to parents and carers for completing the questionnaire and for your comments and responses about our school. We have compiled the results and are pleased to present them to you.

The results of this will be discussed and shared at the next governor’s meeting and with staff so that we can make our school an even better place to be for pupils and parents. Parents’ suggestions are gratefully received and will be considered as we set our school development priorities for the future.

98% of parents reported that they understand our Catholic Mission. As a school we are extremely grateful of all of the support you give and our aim is to continue to further develop opportunities for you to do this.

Only 4% of parents disagree that our children learn how to behave respectfully. We will continue to embed this into our daily Curriculum as we firmly believe that each of us is made in God’s image. If you do have any concerns regarding behaviour, please come and speak to a member of senior staff.

96% of parents reported that their child was happy at school. We are extremely pleased with this result and will continue to conduct further surveys and pupil interviews so that we can maintain this and make further improvements.

98% of parents reported that their child feels safe at school. Safeguarding is such an important area and all children should feel safe at school. We will continue to seek children’s views in discussions with them and respond to any concerns about feeling safe that they may have. If you have any concerns in this important area, please come and speak to Mrs Mulrooney or Miss Joyce.

98% of parents agree that we are a supportive and joyful community. For us, academic excellence is a given but St. Patrick’s is about so much more, offering a richness of opportunities that inspire and enthuse them throughout the time our children spend with us.

94% of our parents believe that we support those in need in our community and around the world. This year we have already supported local charities such as The Haven and the Well and global charities such as Ukraine Support, Children in Need, Brain Tumour. We will continue to support other charities throughout the academic year. If there are any charities that you would like us to support, please let us know.

96% of our parents feel welcomed in the school. It has been a tough few years and we haven’t been able to welcome you in school as much as what we had hoped. This year we are pleased to welcome you back into our School Worship, Praise and Class Assemblies. We also have an array of workshops over the academic year so watch this space!

At St. Patrick’s we aim to promote exceptional behaviour from all our staff so that all children receive the best academic experience and have a positive role model in their school lives.

As a Catholic School RE lessons is a core subject throughout the entire school. The Senior Management team will continue to work with teachers and provide Professional Development in all areas of the teaching of RE. As a staff, we will discuss this to ensure a wider variety of activities are taught to promote a love of learning.

Only 85% of our parents feel they know how their child is performing in RE. Your child’s performance is discussed during parent consultation meetings and in mid-year and end of year reports. Please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance if you are concerned that your child is not doing well in RE– we want all children to thrive and do well across the whole curriculum.

A high percentage of parents agreed that we support their child’s wider personal, spiritual and moral development. We will work on developing these areas so that parents understand how we support their child in this area. We will also continue to conduct further surveys and pupil interviews so that we can make further improvements.

We have now fully opened our door and have already held two successful whole school Masses within school to which parents were invited. We have worked with Father Dawid to ensure each month we offer prayer services for our children and parents.

As a Catholic school, God is at the centre of everything that we do. We endeavour to offer constant and unconditional support to our families and the children not only with their education or when they are in school but also any issues that may arise outside of school. Please contact Mrs Mulrooney or Miss Joyce if you are struggling or in need, as always, we will support as best we can.

The results are in! Thank you so much to everyone who completed our recent parental questionnaire. We have had a superb response and I have to say we are thrilled with the results. THANK YOU for all your support and all the kind words! We know we don’t always get things right, every time and that we can’t always please everyone in all aspects of school life, however much we try. But it is such a boost to know how happy parents (and your children!) are at St Patrick’s. Your feedback will be used to review what we do in school and following this I will be asking children a few quick questions to gather a bit more info, such as on homework, clubs, the use of Class Dojo.

But for now, here is what the parental community feels about St. Patrick’s, enjoy!

My child likes school and feels safe and happy:

95% of parents reported that their child feels safe and is happy at school. We are extremely pleased with this result and will continue to conduct further surveys and pupil interviews so that we can make further improvements. If you have any concerns in this important area, please come and speak to Mrs Mulrooney, Mrs Ryan or Mrs Connor. It is our aim to make sure that all our pupils feel happy and safe at school.

My child knows that they can turn to an adult for help should they need it:

In school, we constantly encourage children to talk to an adult should they need help. The children have recently implemented a new well-being club where children can seek support from their peers if they feel unable to talk to adults. We will continue to remind all children that our Wellbeing Ambassadors, whether adult or child, are always there to give support when needed.

The school encourages my child to be independent:

As your child gets older and progresses further up the school, we teach them a range of techniques to encourage independence there. If you think your child is struggling to complete tasks independently, please contact the school for assistance.

My child enjoys their learning and school:

97% of parents believe that their child enjoys learning at school. We are extremely pleased with this response. We will continue to develop our curriculum and provide a variety of experiences both in and out of the classroom to make learning as fun as we can.

The school has high expectations and encourages my child to work to their best ability:

92% of parents agreed with this with 5% not knowing and 3% disagreeing. This response has improved drastically since our previous survey. If you are concerned with your child’s learning, please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance – we want all children to thrive and do well across the whole curriculum.

I feel welcome in school. The staff are friendly and approachable:

It has been a challenging few years and we as a school have missed having parents in school. Our aim is to now invite parents into school wherever possible and provide a variety of workshops to help assist parents when supporting their children at home. If there are any workshops that you feel would be of great assistance, please let us know.

The school is well led and managed:

87% of parents believe that school is led and managed well with 10% not knowing and 3% disagreeing. We will continue to work with all stakeholders to further improve the provision we offer.

The school actively engages with parents, such as through Newsletters and Social Media and keeps them well informed of activities and events:

At St. Patrick’s we enjoy sharing the range of activities and events that the children participate in. We will continue to share photographs and information with all parents so that they are fully aware of the learning that takes place throughout school.

The Website/Newsletters/Social Media are informative about the life of the school:

We are extremely pleased with this response. We ensure that information is given to parents in a variety of ways; Newsletters, updates on the school website, updates on the school Facebook page, text to parents and letters home. If you are not receiving any of the correspondence, please contact the school office so we can check your contact details.

Class Dojo points work well as a behaviour reward tool and my child is able to explain how/why they receive them:

We are a little disappointed with this response and as a result will ensure that we communicate to parents how we use Class Dojo as a reward system throughout the school.

The children are well behaved in school and there are high expectations of pupil behaviour:

Only 3% of parents disagree that we have high expectations of pupil behaviour. We will continue to inform parents whose children’s behaviour falls short of our expectations and support the children so that they can follow the school rules successfully. If you do have any concerns regarding bullying, please come and speak to a member of senior staff as discussed in our Behaviour and Anti Bullying policy. As a school we take any form of bullying seriously and take immediate steps to address it.

My child likes the rewards systems in place e.g. Rewards machine, weekly Praise assembly:

At St. Patrick’s we believe that praise is one of the simplest and most powerful tools to engage and motivate our pupils. Our school behaviour Policy is well embedded and the children have a good understanding of the school rules and Catholic values. We will continue to conduct pupil interviews to ensure rewards given to children are suitable to all ages.

My child is set an appropriate amount of homework:

85% of parents agree that their child is given an appropriate amount of homework. We believe that homework is an important part of the learning process for our children. We have a clear homework policy that is available on the website. We are aware that occasionally, homework causes anxiety amongst some families and that defeats the objectives of this policy. We strongly encourage parents to get involved in supporting their child’s homework activities.

The school care for the well-being of my child:

At St. Patrick’s we believe that in order for a child to meet their full potential, they must be happy. If you are worried about the wellbeing of your child, please contact Mrs Mulrooney immediately as there are a range of interventions and outside agencies that we can get support from.

My child is taught how to stay safe and to be healthy:

90% of parents agreed that we help children to stay safe and have a healthy lifestyle. We will ensure that we continue to develop our curriculum so that it not only focuses on keeping children physically healthy but also mentally healthy too.

There are a good range of extra-curricular activities:

We are extremely pleased that 87% of parents agree as this has been one of the weakest areas on previous parent questionnaires. So far this academic year we have doubled the amount of afterschool clubs that we provide for all our children and will continue to do so as the year continues. If any parents can assist with providing an afterschool club, please contact the school office.

The school values good attendance and punctuality:

We are extremely pleased that 97% of parents believe that we value pupil attendance and punctuality. The more your child is in school, the more learning they will do. If you do need any support in regards to attendance, please contact Mrs Mulrooney.

The school seeks the view of the children:

As a school we always seek the views of our children and want to deal with any concerns in a prompt manner and in a way that satisfies all concerned. We recognise that not everyone will be happy in the decisions that are made but we must follow protocols and procedures. We will do our very best to implement changed suggested by the children and resolve any concerns they have promptly.

We value the opinions of all of our stakeholders in order to improve our school and make it a successful provision for all.  We therefore endeavour to conduct regular parent and pupil questionnaires in order to get feedback about our school.

Thank you very much to parents and carers for completing the questionnaire and for your comments and responses about our school. Your opinion is very important to us and thank you for the many messages of support and appreciation. We have spent time reading every response and have planned for some of your suggestions to be put into practice.

The results of this will be discussed and shared at the next governor’s meeting and with staff so that we can make our school an even better place to be for pupils and parents. Parents’ suggestions are gratefully received and will be considered as we set our school development priorities for the future.

100% of parents reported that their child was happy at school. We are extremely pleased with this result and will continue to conduct further surveys and pupil interviews so that we can maintain this and make further improvements.

98.3% of parents reported that their child feels safe at school. Safeguarding is such an important area and all children should feel safe at school. We will continue to seek children’s views in discussions with them and respond to any concerns about feeling safe that they may have. If you have any concerns in this important area, please come and speak to Mrs Mulrooney or Mrs Reynolds.

Information is given to parents in a variety of ways; Newsletters, updates on the school website, updates on the school Facebook page, text to parents and letters home. If you are not receiving any of the correspondence, please contact the school office so we can check your contact details.

Each half term we send copies of ‘Curriculum diaries’ and update these on the school website for each year group. We were slightly disappointed that only 88.1% of parents agree. Please remember to read all the school letters that are sent out and go onto the website to look at the curriculum areas and curriculum diaries – all this information is here to enable parents to find out what the children are learning about throughout the year.

https://stpatrickscpa.co.uk/curriculum/curriculum-diaries/

83.1% of parents agreed with this with 1.7% not knowing and 15.2% disagreeing.

Once again these figures a lower than the previous parent survey, this maybe to be expected as due to the restrictions surrounding COVID and how we had to change how we have worked in school.

Here is a reminder to parents of what we do: Parent Consultations are held twice a year. This gives parents an extended opportunity to liaise with their child’s class teacher to discuss progress, attainment, targets for improvement and any other matters which may affect their child’s experience at school. A full written report is sent home at the end of the school year.

Parent workshops will be held throughout the year to keep parents informed and updated about approaches to teaching and learning in each year group.

Finally, parents are very welcome to contact teachers at any time. Last year we created year group emails so that parents can contact class teachers directly. These proved to be very successful both during lockdowns and when the children returned to school.

93.2% of parents said that their child does well at this school with 5.1% not knowing and 1.7% disagreeing. Please speak to your child’s class teacher in the first instance if you are concerned that your child is not doing well at St. Patrick’s – we want all children to thrive and do well across the whole curriculum.

90.8% of parents said that they feel the teaching is good at this school with 7.5% not knowing and 1.7% disagreeing.

90.3% of parents agree that school supports them with their child’s learning. We believe that homework is an important part of the learning process for our children. We have a clear homework policy that is available on the website. We are aware that occasionally, homework causes anxiety amongst some families and that defeats the objectives of this policy. We strongly encourage parents to get involved in supporting their child’s homework activities. As your child gets older, the amount of independence in completing tasks increases, however parents can still share finished products with their child. Feedback from parents is very important for the child. If you are struggling to support your child with their homework, please contact the school for assistance.

98.3% of parents agreed that we help children to have a healthy lifestyle. Following the pandemic, we have ensured that our curriculum not only focuses on children keeping physically healthy but also mentally healthy too.

A high percentage of parents agreed that we prepare all children for the future and support their child’s wider personal development. We will work on developing these areas so that parents understand how we support their child in this area. We will also continue to conduct further surveys and pupil interviews so that we can make further improvements.

As St. Patrick’s is made up of a diverse community, we acknowledge and teach the equality and have respect for everyone in God’s world regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or disability. We encourage children to share celebrations from their own religions and beliefs and celebrate these as a whole school during praise assembly and via social media.

84.7% of parents agreed with 10.1% not knowing. Our behaviour Policy is well embedded throughout the school and the children have a good understanding of the school rules and Catholic values. We will also continue to reward the houses who have achieved the most reward points as well as the weekly Praise assembly awards. We will continue to inform parents whose children’s behaviour falls short of our expectations and support the children so that they can follow the school rules successfully. If you do have any concerns regarding bullying, please come and speak to a member of senior staff as discussed in our Behaviour and Antibullying policy. As a school we take any form of bullying seriously and take immediate steps to address it.

As a school we want to deal with any concerns in a prompt manner and in a way that satisfies all concerned. We recognise that not everyone will be happy in the decisions that are made regarding concerns involving their children. We follow protocols and procedures when dealing with concerns and do our very best to resolve concerns promptly.

We are extremely pleased that 86.4% of parents agree as this has been our weakest area on previous parent questionnaires. This academic year we have doubled the amount of afterschool clubs that we provide for all our children and will continue to do so throughout the year.

90.8% of parents believe that school is led and managed well with 6.4% not knowing and 2.8% disagreeing. We will continue to work with all stakeholder to further improve the provision we offer.

As a Catholic school, God is at the centre of everything that we do. We will continue to promote exceptional behaviour and ensure children are happy and well cared for. We endeavour to offer constant and unconditional support to our families and the children not only with their education or when they are in school but also any issues that may arise outside of school.

96.6% of parents would recommend St. Patrick’s to another family, which is good. A very small minority indicated that they did not know. The Governors hope that if there is such strong feeling, people would feel confident to express any concerns directly to the school in order that they can be discussed and addressed if necessary.