Parents and guardians,
Thank you so much for your helpful responses to our survey last week.
They really do help us focus on the issues you’ve raised. We’ve shared your 65 responses with all the staff, both at an overview level at our staff meeting yesterday and also in detail with summary documents. The In-School Leadership and Management Team will meet to discuss your responses in greater detail and take action based on them.
Vision Question
You were asked what is your vision for Talbot. Amongst the big variety of great answers, the following were common themes:
- Inclusivity (including diversity)
- Zero-bullying
- Safe Travel to and from the school
- Community
- Environment / Nature / Sustainability
- Safety
- Caring / Kindness / Respect
- Languages
- Teaching / Learning / Potential
- Being-active / Sports / Facilities / Afterschool
- Children / Students
We created a ‘word cloud’ to visually highlight key themes you raised. Words appear based on their frequency mentioned. It’s at the bottom of this webpage.
Your answers will be combined with those of the children and the staff. The vision, when complete, will help everyone focus on what is most important for the children now and for their future. It will be referred to often so that everyone works towards a shared vision for your children.
Bullying Questions
- 95% of parents said their child feels safe in school
- 1 in 3 parents (33%) said their child has experienced bullying behaviour in this school
- 1 in 3 parents (35%) said their child has witnessed bullying behaviour in this school
- Parents perceive the school to be committed to dealing with bullying behaviour, but not all (ranking out of 5, parents gave an average of 4.15 on its commitment)
- 36 parents gave replies to the optional open-ended question asking for suggestions/comments for the school to deal with bullying behaviour. All these are much appreciated and are being fed into our school’s new ‘Bí Cineálta’ anti-bullying policy, led by Ms Shaw.
Your General/Specific Comments or Advice for the School Right Now
Amongst all these responses, nearly half focused on safe travel to and from the school.
Other themes were: community connection (working with nearby schools to achieve common goals); more after school activities; litter around the school; and praise for the school (openness, teachers, inclusiveness, caring, feeling safe and protected).
These and other issues raised are being listened to by the school’s leadership team.
Other Quick Questions
- Parents find it extremely important to have a voice in saying what happens at Talbot (ranking out of 5, parents gave an average of 4.68 on this).
- Parents want to be regularly asked for their views on different school issues/policy 4 or more times a year (most: more). (52% chose 4 or more times; 32% chose 4 exactly; 13% chose “1, 2, or 3” times a year).
- 6% of respondents were interested in learning more about the Parents Association with a view to being part of it (if you left an email address it is being passed on to Mr Byrne, who will contact you shortly)
So, again thank you. Be assured that we will be contacting you regularly for your views. This has been a wonderful insight into how you (Talbot’s parents and guardians) think. The value lies in both the big number who responded and in the quality of the responses. If you want a more active voice, do consider joining the Parents Association and be active within it, urging positive change in the direction you wish and being part of that change too.
Mr Stuart and all the staff, 4th April 2025
