Hi everyone, and a massive thanks to all who filled in the online survey sent at the end of May to all parents.

Here are the findings from it, including possible courses of action. They have all been shared with the In-School-Leadership-and-Management Team, and with all teachers and SNAs. They have already made an impact in the conversations around the school. They will be shared again at the Aug or Sept staff meetings.

Below is a Summary of Findings / Possible Courses of Action

Satisfaction: Parents are overall pretty satisfied with the school (4.21 out of 5.00 rating).
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​Connection With Parents: Parents feel welcome, feel connected, are interested in more opportunities to participate in school activities, but event times aren’t convenient for about 3 in 10 (they are convenient for 5 in 10).
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Help for Parents: Parents want teachers to provide a range of help (in a question where they could tick what they wanted, if anything):
  1. Ideas of clubs/groups/activities in the area open to your child to join in 72%
  2. Resources/Suggestions for Maths 40%
  3. Resources/Suggestions for Art/Music/Drama 33%
  4. Resources/Suggestions for Irish 28%
  5. Resources/Suggestions for PE and Wellbeing (& behaviours and emotions) 26%
  6. Resources/Suggestions to help my child with their reading 23%

Bullying:

Children feel safe, 100%, in the eyes of their parents
However, there is bullying in the school: 1 in 4 say yes, 1 in 4 unsure. And 1 in 3 children has witnessed bullying going on in the school.
The school is well rated for being committed to dealing with bullying behaviour and its prevention: a rating of 4.05/5.00
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What Subject Areas Do Parents Want The School To Give More Time To:
Diverse views here, when given the seven subject-areas, but the general feeling is more time to Maths/Coding/Science, more time to English, and more time to Wellbeing, as being the top chosen areas.  This contrasts with the students’ views in three focus groups at the end of the year, representing all students, which put more time for ‘Religion & Praying’ as their number one priority and more time for Maths and English at the bottom. All three groups had also wanted more “SPHE & PE” and more “History and Geography”. 
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Homework is generally going well, generally the right amount, the right difficulty, and it’s slightly more enjoyable (2.60/5.00) than it is stressful (2.47/5.00). 1 in 6, however, find homework too easy, and nearly 3 in 10 find there’s too little. This suggests there’s scope for some teachers to regularly check if they can improve / adapt how they are differentiating the homework.
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As for Digital Tools, 56% are unsure of the use of them actually helping their child learn. 5 in 10 say their child is learning important digital skills, 4 in 10 are unsure.
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Parents were given 4 ideas of things the school could maybe do more of, and the parents agreed with all four ideas.
  1. They want the school to “do a little more with phone safety for my child and all the children” (86% agree or strongly agree).
  2. They want the school to “do a little more with road safety to and from the school” (76% agree or strongly agree).
  3. They’d like the school to “do a little more for children with exercising” (71% agree or strongly agree).
  4. And they’d like the school to “give all the children a hat (selected by the students) to keep them safe in the sun” (3:1 in favour)
If you’ve any questions about this, or anything to add, please just ask. Once more, a massive thank you for using your voice, working in partnership with teachers and SNAs, and being part of the process of setting the direction the school is going in.