You said, Abbey did - parent feedback

Actions we have taken since the previous annual survey

You Said…

Encourage parents to send alternative birthday treats that aren’t full of sugar.

Communication is great. But some said there is too much.

It’s hard to secure a place at afterschool and holiday clubs.

We…

Know the clubs are popular and try to ensure they run all year round. We give one clear day notice that the booking will open at 4pm the following day. This is to make access as fair as we can – just like booking Bon Jovi tickets! We have also stopped parents booking multiple clubs to help with fairness.

Wrote to all parents at the start of the academic year requesting that you consider alternatives. This will continue at the start of term and at useful reminder points.

Receive more compliments than complaints about our

electronic communication and so kept it as it is. We trust parents to read their messages/emails or otherwise.

Abbey Parents’ evening feedback March 2023 – please help us by completing our new survey.

You Said…

Change the after school club (Playden) back to 6pm.

Give us advance notice for workshops and achievement days.

Trips can be quite expensive.

We…

We… Looked at the logs of times when children are picked up from Playden. The proportion of children needing care beyond 5.30pm is too small to be viable. To help those who needed alternative care we provided lists of childminders who collect from Abbey.

We…

• Populate the calendar for the academic year by September. (This can be linked to your smartphone) • Provided a list of year group dates on our website by mid- September – for the whole year.

• Tried to reduce the number of visits • Try to have some

‘cheaper’ visits to help with the cost of living.

Abbey Parents’ evening feedback March 2023 – please help us by completing our new survey.

You Said…

Cheaper school trips.

Not all children can attend all of the residentials.

Make sure the school dinners are nutritious.

We… • Reduced the number of visits from 3 to 2 and looked to get workshops in school that offered good value and great learning. • We employ our own drivers and minibuses to reduce the coach costs by 20%.

We…

Ensure that over the three residentials, any child who wants to attend will get the opportunity to stay away from home - at least once. We prioritise places for those who have never attended.

Have two kitchens who are 5* rated from the environmental agency. All meals follow the strict school nutrition standards and are carefully calculated by an independent company.

Abbey Parents’ evening feedback March 2023 – please help us by completing our new survey.

You Said…

Parking is dangerous at the start of the day.

Return to children playing on the

Release children from the classroom at the end of the day.

playground before and after school – a change following Covid-19.

We… Totally agree! Therefore we have: • Instigated regular parking patrols. • written to parents & text parents. • encouraged ‘WOW’ walking to school. • engaged with more police patrols. • requested more traffic enforcement patrols. • sent registration plates to the Police for ‘offenders’.

We… Had a noticeable drop in first aid incidents, poor behaviour and accidents by the change to one way. The start to the day is much calmer for children and they are more ready to learn. We decided to keep it as it is.

We…

Noticed the collection was less congested and safer. Children get to their parents and carers quickly, safely and the site clears. We know that occasionally including staff (everyone) gets wet.

Abbey Parents’ evening feedback March 2023 – please help us by completing our new survey.

You Said…

How can we contact the teachers and year groups?

You are worried about children bringing scooters to school.

Uniform can be expensive

Also there is a school- wide special uniform FAQ on or website – Home page – Community - Uniform

We…

Wrote to all parents to be responsible with their children on site and if they ride – ask them to dismount.

Offer pre-loved uniform for any parent who needs it. We ask ’leavers’ to donate uniform for us to keep to re-cycle. We don’t insist on branded uniform – just that it follows our colours.

Created year group emails for each year. These are on the curriculum information leaflets and take the format: Yx@abbey-jun.sandwell.sch.uk In the summer term the email addresses will be shortened to Yx@abbey.Sandwell.sch.uk

Abbey Parents’ evening feedback March 2023 – please help us by completing our new survey.

You Said…

We are unhappy with the 48hour cancellation and booking process for Playden.

Let us bring siblings and younger children to our school performances or workshops.

(At Playden) we are unhappy with the late fee for children not collected on time.

We…

Have to maintain two staff on-site for any late children (safeguarding) and staff are only paid to 5.30pm. Each member of staff would be entitled to claim overtime – we have to cover these costs.

Offer two seats to families, we want the performances to be special and they can run to 90 minutes. We don’t offer children on laps (only exception breastfeeding). Ask that siblings are Y7+ years (KS3). Abbey children will have the opportunity to see performances and so won’t miss out

Have to hold to statutory ratios and so cannot accept late notice bookings. Conversely, we have to pay wages and cannot cover cancellations and refunds.

Abbey Parents’ evening feedback March 2023 – please help us by completing our new survey.

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

www.abbeyfederation.co.uk

Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online