Thank you to everyone who completed our parents and carers survey during the Spring Term. It is so valuable to understand the things that you feel are working well at the academy as well as those areas you feel we need to consider making improvements.

We work incredibly hard across the academy to ensure we meet the needs of all of our children and families. Thank you so much for your overwhelmingly positive feedback and comments – they really inspire us.

Where there were suggestions for us to improve, I have detailed them below together with the actions we have taken or will take to address them.

Here are some headlines:

“I think the school ethos and community feeling are definitely a strong point. My child feels safe in school and he enjoys coming every day. He has a lovely group of friends, and he feels that bad behaviour gets punished and his efforts get rewarded. He has made excellent progress since he started in school, and I am happy with how well he has settled in.”

“My child feels seen and always welcome at school. She is always encouraged by her teachers to take an extra step into her learning.”

 “Mr Williams has been amazing at making sure she is cared for and has a plan in place”

“…teachers have been so welcoming and the reception staff too. The boys are thriving and doing so well with all needs met.”

“Great PE provision, future flyers swimming Sussex sports and corporate challenge.”

“… loves school and always seems very excited to tell us the things she has learned. Love seeing all the photographs on Tapestry.”

“My child is very happy at Kingsham and seems to very much enjoy his time there.”

“Has been very good, great support from staff.”

“My child is new to Kingsham and so far we have been impressed with the teachers and school.”

“Miss Noble is just amazing and is an asset to Kingsham.”

“My child enjoys his time at Kingsham.  He has good friends and a great teacher.  He has also enjoyed going on trips.”

“They kids have made a lot of progress this year.”

“It is quite a diverse school, so opportunities to learn differences are huge.”

“Very well managed and all pupils know the values of the school.”

“I like that the teachers know all the students names and greet them when seen.”

“Making learning so much fun.”

“All the children are well cared for. They are always greeted with a smile and warm welcome. They feel safe and nurtured which is what every parent wants.”

“Caring reception staff and involved senior staff.”

“Extra curricular opportunities and school trips are good.”

“Friendly and committed staff.  Welcoming.”    “Fab teachers and morals.”

“I absolutely love Kingsham, every teacher my daughter has had has been amazing! I really feel my daughter has a great relationship with staff and never complains about going to school.”

“Mrs Twine is amazing … it is clear that she genuinely cares about all of them.”

“Such a big effort made for extra activities, sport, cooking, green gang, lots of positives.”

“My child has been encouraged and rewarded for their reading and is now self motivated to read, which I am very pleased about.”

“The school keeps the kids very active with a lot of things to do and learn about the outside world which I love.”

 

Areas you feel we could improve:

“Strike action meant my child missed days at school - this should have been better managed, with children as top priority, not salary battles!”

This was clearly a challenging time nationally and for our teachers, as I mentioned at the time. No teacher wanted children to lose learning time and all were really conflicted about the choices that needed to be made during that time. We attempted to communicate as openly and as swiftly as possible throughout the period. Like you, the whole teaching staff are very happy that the national dispute has now been resolved.

 

“it would be great to have homework that they would have to submit and get graded to make them more accountable for their learning.”

Homework is often an area that we discuss with parents and carers - with views ranging from 'not enough homework set' to 'there is too much homework and not enough time'. Our approach is to keep our homework expectations clear and simple - Children should read 5 times a week and practice their number bonds or times tables throughout the week (children in Yr 6 will be set additional homework to practice key learning). 

Research from the EEF tells us that homework in Primary Schools should practise the learning from class and the demands should not be too great on children of primary age.

 

“When fundraising in general, links and QR codes do not work. The kids love bringing in money for the bucket.”

We agree. Going forward, we will offer both a bucket on the gate and an online option. Donating online means that we can all give gift aid which increases the amount of our donation.

 

“My child does not have a positive attitude towards school.”

If this is ever the case, please speak to the class teacher - either on the door in the mornings or afternoons, or contact the academy's office to arrange an appointment for a meeting. Mr Williams and Mr Dallinger are available before and after school (as well as to arrange a meeting) if you feel a conversation or meeting with them would help.

 

“Mental health - there are many Learning programmes that can be adopted by the school and become part of the curriculum.”

This is an area of our curriculum and assembly programme that is evolving. Our PSHCE curriculum covers areas of mental health awareness as well as considering ways of ensuring good mental health and what to do if we feel our mental health is not good. We observed mental health awareness week in May and will continue to ensure this area has a significant focus across our assembly programme and wider curriculum. Our school uses the Thrive Approach to supporting children's social and emotional learning. You can find out more about this by clicking here. Mr Williams is our trained Mental Health Lead and several of our staff are trained mental health first aiders. 

 

“More awards for great work and behaviour.”

Every week we have a CROWN assembly where children in each class are recognised with a certificate for when they have demonstrated our CROWN values. Our termly Headteacher award assemblies recognise two people from each class who have gone above and beyond in their approach to their learning. For more information, click here to see a video of our school ambassadors discussing the rewards that motivate them.

 

“Consistency with school gates opening times.”

The school gates open at 8:35 every morning so that children can begin the school day in their classrooms at 8:40. On a Friday, we have a brief meeting with the whole staff. We know that this can delay us in opening the gates on a Friday by a few minutes. We apologise for this and will try not to delay any of our families on a Friday morning.

 

“Be more understanding of leave/ holiday very very strict.”

Leave for holiday is often an area that we discuss with parents and carers. We follow our Trust's Attendance Policy which is to not authorise holiday during term time. To read our policy please click here. This is written to ensure the whole school community value the importance of 100% attendance throughout the school year and any holidays or trips are taken during school holiday time.

It is also important to note that if a family receives a fine following an unauthorised holiday, this is managed entirely by the local authority. Our statutory duty is simply to report the unauthorised absence to the local authority.

 

“more supervision at play and encouraging better games at breaks.”

We have a team of staff who supervise breaktimes and lunchtmes. The majority of these staff are teaching assistants at the school who have excellent relationships with the children. This is intentional to ensure that children feel comfortable to approach a familiar adult should there be anything they are not happy with.

We are going to be looking at an even greater range of activities and games at break and lunchtimes to enhance our already excellent provision during these times.

 

Learning about diversity in school

One of the key areas of development for our curriculum has been in ensuring children encounter diversity throughout their learning at Kingsham. For example, our Reading Curriculum has been carefully revised to expose learners to a variety of authors, themes, characters, vocabulary, and global settings. Have a look here. 

Additionally, our RE, PSHCE  curricula have particular focus on learning about diversity, while the rest of our curriculum and assembly programme always takes opportunities to broaden children's understanding of our diverse world, embracing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.