Parent/Carer Evaluation Results

Some parent/carer comments:

• ‘First, I would like to thank all Thomas Jones' team for their engagement, their kindness and all the efforts made to deliver the best possible education to our children. You are doing an amazing job and we know that some of you have really long days. Our children arrived in the UK from France last September without speaking a word of English. They received a warm and personalized welcome by Mr Sellens. They were introduced to French-speaking staff who were able to help them if needed. Their teachers Miss Ellie and Mr Gourley and all their team adapted the lessons and homework to their needs, offered them booster classes and named pupils to help them in class. All this help was wonderful. Now our children speak, read and write in English thanks to all of you and we are very grateful. And cherry on the cake they are very happy when they come back home! We are very satisfied with all the things you are doing at the school (learnings, clubs, sports, school trips, assemblies with a strong leadership, the culture of responsibilising the children and the promotion of inclusion and diversity...) and we would warmly recommend the school to other parents. What could be improved: Try to avoid watching TV during breakfast clubs and reduce video games during after school clubs.’
• ‘This is a school that any loving and caring parents would want for their children. I can rest peacefully knowing that my child is in the best place of care. It is a joyful environment and everyone are treated the same way. I love the fact that the head teacher knows every single name of every child and almost every parents too.It is very impressive how much effort is there as he greets and shakes hands every morning before 9am and every end of the day along with the others teachers to all us parents, visitors And pupils giving all of us the eye contact and making every one feeling special.’
• Our daughter has shown significant and surprising progress in her learning since attending Thomas Jones. Whilst our daughter is bright, determined creative and capable she left her last school lacking in confidence. We truly appreciate all the staffs patience support and encouragement that they give each and every day! It shows in her work, she wants to do well; this is a delight to see. Her class teacher is truly fabulous, professional and caring. Thank you Thomas Jones.’
• ‘TJS is one of the best schools in the area Children are well educated also there physical and mental well-being is given a big thought by the teachers it’s very well laid in my experience in the school for the last one year my son has Enjoyed been one of TJS students . The head teacher is very welcoming and passionate about each student, that’s very refreshing to see every morning All staff are very approachable and helpful at TJS keep up with the good work thank you’
• ‘As parents, we are well impressed with the way that the school is handled. The teachers and staff are very understanding and supportive, and they take every possible effort to deal with any situation. Our son has made great progress in his learning. He is now more confident and engaged under many aspects. He is always excited to learn new things and we believe that this is due to the outstanding level of teaching at the school. Thank you'
• ‘We are very lucky to have our children at Thomas Jones and will forever be thankful to the staff who create such a wonderful, nurturing and inspiring learning environment. Our children are both excited to go to school each day and engaged with the learning that takes place. Thank you to everyone who makes it so wonderful! Very happy parents :-)’
• ‘Thomas Jones School continues to provide a formidable education to our daughter. The consistently high standards of care, both educationally and pastoral, apply across the entire team, and clearly stem from the passion and commitment of Head Teacher David Sellens. As a result, our daughter is happy and proud to be a Thomas Jones Scholar. Thank you!’
• ‘Thomas Jones is the best primary school in the world. My grandson looks forward to attending every day and he wishes there could be a secondary school just like it with the same head and teaching staff. I am immensely happy with my grandson's achievements at the school and am confident he will reach his full potential in all subjects.’
• ‘It happened that my daughter had an incident at school but the teacher and the management were very professional. I learnt from them to be patient and give myself some time for reflection before any judgement. I really appreciate all the efforts of the head teacher and his team. Chapeau toute l'equipe et bonne continuation’
• ‘Thomas Jones has been a superb and outstanding primary school for all my children who have attended it in the past, and for my children who is currently at Thomas Jones. I'm forever so grateful to all the staff at Thomas Jones for their excellent work and effort.’
• ‘Thank you to the wonderful Thomas Jones family for all their years of support in teaching my child. I am very grateful for their commitment, care and enthusiasm in teaching my child over the years. Great team led by a great Head. TJS is the best.’
• ‘Children learn to respect each other in the school. Very high teaching quality.’

What parents/carers said, and what we are doing

1. You would like less TV during breakfast club and reduced video games during after school clubs - Play Plus does offer a range of activities each day however, we take on board these comments and will liaise with the leaders of these ventures about alternating the use of screens with other enrichment activities.

2. You would like a halal meat option -  Thomas Jones is a community school and does not cater to the dietary needs of any specific religions. However, we do ensure all children have an option they can eat at lunchtime. We will continue to prioritise serving organic meat.

3. You would like more after school clubs such as taekwondo/karate, basketball, football, coding, instrument lessons, and language with different levels -

   We currently offer 8 clubs across the school (including football to all ages) and we audit our wraparound care offer regularly to ensure we are offering the most cost effective and high quality range of clubs we can. This can be tricky in a small school site where we also offer Play Plus 4 nights a week. However, we are already looking into some of your suggestions ready for the next clubs audit.

4. You would like more challenging homework to be given -

   If you feel your child is not being challenged enough with home learning, then in the first instance, do speak to your child’s class teacher. This year the leadership team led a homework audit to ensure some level of consistency across the school. We will do this annually.

   Home learning is the opportunity to consolidate learning from the week and also to inform parents/carers about what has been learnt in school. We will continue to work with teachers to offer age appropriate, quality home learning.

5. You would like yearly parent open afternoons -Yes, we agree, and are committed to continuing the open afternoons for all classes annually in the summer term.
6. You would like better communication around nursery and reception term dates - 
   

   We will ensure our Nursery Admissions Policy reflects term dates for Nursery. Reception start dates are communicated with parents as soon as possible and we will endeavour to send these out as soon as we can.

7. The playgrounds are very small, especially the KS1 playground, with limited resources for the children to play with - Unfortunately, we have to utilise the existing space we have for play times. However, behind the scenes the Leadership Team are researching ways to enhance play in the KS1 playground to ensure playtimes are engaging and motivating for children. This will include some new resources, which we hope to utilise at some point next term.
8. You would like less emphasis on uniform and more on behaviour -

   Uniform at Thomas Jones is integral and a requirement for all children. We have exacting standards in relation to this, as we believe children feel good about themselves when they are smartly dressed. Uniform also helps with inclusivity.

   We believe behaviour is a strength at Thomas Jones and any disputes are managed in a timely and appropriate way. However, if you have any concerns about behaviour, these should be communicated with your child’s class teacher in the first instance.
9. You would like us to offer Play Plus on a Friday (wraparound care) -This year we increased our wraparound care offer (Play Plus and Breakfast Club) to include all mornings and Monday-Thursday after school rather than Tuesday-Thursday. We feel this meets the needs of most of our community. We are very mindful of working parents and so we offered the use of Venture after school on Fridays but had very little interest so staffing this was not an option for us. The leadership team will continue to review our wraparound care offer annually and we will communicate any changes with parents in a timely manner.
10. You would like us to utilise parent skills for clubs -We agree, and we have sent an email asking parents to come forward with any skills they may have for clubs this year and had 1 response. We will ensure we send this email periodically however.
11. You would like choir be extended to KS1 children - Historically, choir runs in KS2 only to ensure we have slightly more developed voices for performances. The LT are open to discussing an option for KS1 next year, however this will depend on other finalised clubs due to space and staff capacity.
12. You would like music clubs be made more accessible and affordable? (Instruments/ singing) - Music lessons are very popular and waiting lists reflect this. We use a fair system to ensure children who would like music tuition receive the offer of a place as soon as we can. We apologise for any lengthy waits and we also encourage parents to seek music tuition outside of school, if this is an option available to them.
13. You said that the school lunches do not seem to be as good as they were previously - We do set incredibly high expectations for our lunches and liaise with the catering team daily to ensure that the lunches are appealing, varied, nutritious and healthy. Children have three options to select from each day, along with a wide selection of salads and fresh bread that is prepared daily. The school council are often consulted with in regards to any improvements the children would like to see made.
    There have been a few changes within the catering team over the course of the year, however, we are hopeful from September that we will have a consistent team and that this will be reflected in the lunches.
14. You would like afternoon slots for sports day’s/ children’s performances/assemblies/workshops etc. to help working parents -

    We believe that timing events such as class assemblies, sports day etc. should be based primarily on when children are ‘at their best’ and most alert. For this reason, we hold all such things in the morning.

    The recent parent/carer open afternoons were held in the afternoons to assist parents with collecting their child as there was less emphasis on the children’s performance for this venture. We will continue to consider timings for all parent events however the children’s best interests will always be our primary criteria for choosing.
15. You were unclear about the current sex education being taught to the children, and it not taking into consideration religious beliefs of households and the age things are taught - 

    We would like to make it clear that sex education lessons are only taught in the summer terms of year 5 and year 6 by the class teacher and school nurse. These lessons are not compulsory and parents/carers are welcome to withdraw their children from these lessons.

    Our Personal Development curriculum incorporates the Relationships and Health Education curriculum elements of the RSE curriculum. We are committed to working with parents/carers about this area of their child’s education and so the leadership team consult with parents about RSE (Relationship, Sex Education) biennially, when our policy is also reviewed. Most recently we held this over 2 mornings where parents/carers could come into school, peruse lesson plans, look at resources and offer their comments/discuss concerns. We will continue to do this.

    Some of the new Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education are statutory and so we send home curriculum maps for our Personal Development curriculum which tell parents what is taught and when. We will also continue to do this.

Thank you to all parents and carers who took the time to respond to the questionnaire. We really value all of your comments and suggestions.