We care about what you say. Parents often comment on our welcoming atmosphere, happy environment, our good (and improving) range of after school activities, inclusion of children with special educational needs, safety of the children, children make friends well, teachers are approachable and supportive, school is accommodating when issues have arisen, displays are of a high standard, teachers have good rapport with children, transition between year groups and being able to share their children’s experiences by attending weekly and class assemblies.

Reception parents completed a ‘Settling In Survey’ (September 2020) and this is what they said:
Q1. I feel that my child has been supported well by staff in their move to school – 100% of you agree or strongly agree
Q2. The school has provided me with information on how I can help my child’s learning at home – 97.5% agree or strongly agree (2.5% was neither agree or disagree)
Q3. My child has settled well at school – 95% agree or strongly agree (2.5% was neither and 2.5% disagree)
Q4. I am pleased with the communication between school and home – 97.5% agree or strongly agree (2.5% disagree)
Q5. I know that I can speak to the class teacher if I have any concerns – 92.5% agree or strongly agree (7.5% are neither)
Q6. My child feels safe in school – 95% agree or strongly agree (5% are neither)
Q7. My child feels happy in school – 97.5% agree or strongly agree (2.5% disagree)
Q8. Since joining school my child has made friends – 95% agree or strongly agree (5% are neither)
Q9. I would recommend our school to other parents – 100% (THANK YOU)
Q10. Was for comments and feedback and the vast majority were lovely and very positive. The only ‘negative’ comment received was regarding the information shared prior to you starting with Sherdley, obviously this was a very challenging time with lockdown and partial opening of school. Normally we would have had you in school and would have been able to share all the relevant information with you directly. But the comments are noted and we will endeavour to make improvements next time.

Results from the Covid-19 Parental Survey sent to all parents of pupils in Years 1-6 in September 2020:

From our parental survey (May 2019), you said that we were good at:

That children are happy at school
Keeping children happy and safe
That you were pleased with your child’s progress
That your child is well looked after in school
That your children are taught well
The school makes sure that pupils are well-behaved
The school is well led and managed
And that the vast majority of parents would recommend Sherdley to other parents – THANK YOU.
From previous surveys you also said that:
‘We wish that we were at this school 36 years ago!”
My daughter is so happy….
Great communication and updates from the school as a whole
Teachers look after the children well…
Lovely the way that the choir goes out to nursing homes at Christmas.
Like a breath of fresh air over schools in the borough, a credit to all the staff and leadership.
Support children who are struggling academically.
Very happy with how my son has developed and progressed since starting Reception.
Just asked my daughter the same question and her response was “everything about school”, that says it all to me.
Supports my child’s individual needs.
You make my daughter feel proud to be who she is and create a great community for her to belong to.
The school has a very open community feel and the family learning weeks are great….
…..has been fantastic in helping to settle my child into school and it is evident that her enthusiasm for teaching/learning has had a significant impact on the children.
It was a breath of fresh air when our children came to Sherdley from their previous school. Incredible difference on the staff and management of the school. A credit to everyone involved.
……has come on leaps and bounds since joining the nursery…..
Sherdley Blast is great.
I am thoroughly happy with the school and have never had a reason to feel otherwise……My daughter is very happy and loves coming to school.
My child feels good about herself when she receives praise……keep it up please…..
Encourages children to be independent.

Parents also commented on areas that you felt we may need to develop:

Nothing – thank you

Behaviour and some disruption – the introduction of instant motivational rewards such as ClassDojo has had a great impact in significantly reducing low-level disruption

Better communication – The introduction of the school app makes it a one-stop-shop for messages, calendar, forms, surveys, the website, letter etc

Additional challenge for higher ability children – I believe that with the new curriculum and the way that we deliver it at Sherdley that there is a great emphasis on challenge, this can also be seen in our assessment of children – Greater Depth standard for those who can be stretched and challenged.

If your child is struggling academically, you should be informed sooner than parents’ evenings – parents can come and speak to teachers at any point to enquire about how they are doing. We increased the number of parents evening from 2 to 4 per year. We also send home a termly Progress Report to help inform parents as to progress at the end of each term, against Age Related Expectations.

Disabled parking is a real issue – the staff car park does have allocated disabled spaces and I agree that it’s not ideal to have to open a gate to gain access. However, we need the gates to ensure the safety of our children. 

Better communication about the types of things/ways of learning – we have previously put on numerous workshops at different times of the day, and on most occassions they are very well attended. Further workshops will be put on during the next academic year and we are already planning for year group maths workshops and phonics sessions.

Family Learning Weeks that accomodate working parents – family learning events are a way that parents can engage with their children in school lessons. Unfortunately we need the children in school to be able to hold these and it is not feasible to hold these in an evening. We do however plan these well in advance and publish them onto the school calendar with the hope that parents can plan ahead.