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Cheshire Academies Trust Limited trading as Boughton Heath Academy. Registered in England and Wales 08108086. Registered office Kelsall Primary School, Flat Lane, Kelsall, Cheshire CW6 0PU.

Cheshire Academies Trust

Boughton Heath Academy ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’

PARENT SURVEY RESPONSE 2014-2015 Dear parents and carers, Below is the final results of the parent survey. Thank you to all of the families who returned the questionnaire. We are grateful because we really do value your feedback. We understand that parents’ feedback is important in continuing to improve our school. We have written responses to some of the less positively answered questions below (Those less than 90%).

Question 9: My child receives regular homework. After a careful review of homework last year and in the recent past, the current school policy will continue to be applied (Please see the homework policy on the school website). The main issue regarding homework is that of feedback to children once it has been completed. The school policy is to provide feedback to children once they have completed their homework. All homework will be responded to but this will not be the detailed feedback children receive in their everyday mathematics and English books. If the homework is completed well, the comment will reflect positively the child’s attainment or effort. If the homework has errors in understanding, the comment may also explain where the child has gone wrong or more appropriately the teacher will discuss this with the child in person. Homework that is not handed in on time and is several weeks late will be looked at but it may not be marked. This is due to the ongoing and high workload for

Becketts Lane, Boughton Chester CH3 5RW

Principal: Steve Ellis BEd (hons) NPQH

Email: [email protected] Tel: 01244 981010


teachers and schools leaders’ decision to try and minimise this. It would greatly support the school if parents could ensure children complete homework on time and hand it in. Furthermore, it is school policy that the nature of the homework consolidates skills already taught or gives children a challenge to complete work which they may not have had experience of yet. Reception will not receive homework apart from reading, phonics and potentially at times other supporting activities. Question 12. The school deals with unacceptable behaviour. A large proportion of parents indicated that they “didn’t know” if the school deals with unacceptable behaviour. This may be due to their children not behaving inappropriately and therefore having no experience of how the school responds. There is a zero tolerance to behaviour which stops children from learning, teachers from teaching or pupils feeling safe. Bullying is not tolerated in any form and the school deals quickly and effectively with pupils who are found to be bullying. Although some parents believe bad behaviour and their child falling out with others from time to time constitutes bullying, the school looks at the context of the situations and the entire picture before deciding on how to “label” the behaviours. Our traffic light system works effectively for almost all children who do not follow the class and school rules. If this does not deter pupils, parents are called to discuss the matter further with the class teacher initially and then the Principal if required. We have an extremely positive behaviour policy which advocates reward over sanction. This policy can be viewed at any time on the school website along with the anti-bullying policy. If parents are concerned about the behaviour of their own or other children within the school, they should proactively seek out their child’s class teacher to discuss the matter further in the first instance. Question 14: The school takes into account my suggestions and concerns. The school always listens to parents different points of view. We always appreciate feedback no matter what its nature. However, like any organisation some suggestions are acted upon and others are not due to the nature of the suggestion and whether the leaders and governors believe it may impact on the school and the children positively. Safeguarding concerns are always acted upon and very rigorously chronicled in our online child protection logs. We go to enormous lengths to ensure child safety. In particular the school would point out the risks associated with pick up time at the end of school, both straight after school and after a club has finished. The school policy is for only Year 5 and Year 6 children, with consent from parents, to be able to walk home alone. All other children should be picked up by an adult who is authorised to do so. If you ever have a safeguarding concern please contact the Principal, Mr Ellis, immediately. Finally, we would like to state in strongest possible terms that we value your feedback. If you feel you have not been listened to, please make that clear and we will endeavour to resolve any miscommunication or issue that may have arisen. Question 17. The residential trips offer good value for money. We appreciate that all of the parents who indicated that they “didn’t know” were Reception or Year 1 parents where there is no residential trip. It is good to note that the rest of the parents believe the school has improved the residential trips’ value for money. A small minority of parents saw this as an issue in the past and the school has worked hard to reduce the cost without any year group losing out on the quality of the activities.


Question 18. I have noticed a positive difference to the school since becoming an academy. With only 58% of parents strongly agreeing or agreeing this is the lowest percentage of any question. Although 24% of parents “didn’t know” the school would like to bullet point below the positive differences that have occurred since January.

School leaders are working together to ensure that best practice from each school is shared in each other’s schools.

Reception class teams have worked together to improve the procedures, assessments and quality of teaching in all 3 schools.

Special Education Needs coordinators have formulated a new policy and worked together to ensure SEN children receive the best possible provision in all 3 schools.

A new ‘assessment without levels’ system has been jointly created so that all children will be assessed in the same way across the Trust. This will help staff monitor the standards in all 3 schools ensuring they are as high as possible.

The 11 by 11 entitlement has been drafted and will be instigated in each school in the coming year.

The Trust has created key performance indicators to ensure high standards of achievement are continued across each school.

Each school council will continue to meet throughout the year and work together. Each class teacher will join together with their counterparts once per half term to monitor

standards and assess work together. Boughton Heath have access to Jon Clayton from Kelsall School one day each week to work

on art projects in school. The Reception classroom has been renovated both inside and outside.

Clearly these are mostly internal events that have taken place. However, as time progresses more and more projects between Trust schools will take place and we will publicise and communicate these to parents when they happen. What is the most important factor in our thinking is that all of these actions have a positive impact on the school and the children at Boughton Heath. 19. I have had good communication since January about Academy changes and improvements. Although most parents have noted the positive communication, a small minority disagreed. As stated above parents can see the multitude of events that are going on between Trust schools. The governing body are working extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure good communication about the many changes that are, and have occurred. We will endeavour to continue to let parents know through newsletters, Twitter and our website how the school is changing as a consequence of our academy conversion. Finally, we would like to thank the parent community for their continued support. Our job is to listen to you and we are determined that you continue to have that opportunity to have your say.

Steve Ellis Joanne Lucy


Principal Chair of Governors

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