Dear Parents/Carers,
You would recall that at the end of the last module we sent out a LAT parent survey to help us gauge, from your perspective, what the academy is doing well and what we need to improve upon. We are grateful to all of those parents who took time to respond to the survey and appreciate the feedback that has been given. In this letter, we aim to share some of the themes that emerged from the survey, to clarify any miscommunication and to share some reflections on how we intend to improve, in the hope that we can continue to work in stronger partnership for the benefit of all the students entrusted to our care.
It was pleasing to note that parents and carers recognise the strength of our Post-16 provision and the work that leaders are doing to raise standards across the whole academy. We were encouraged to read comments like:
“Issues are dealt with swiftly in our own experience. There is a good variety of clubs. My daughter feels safe at school. The classes are not disrupted by poor behaviour of others. My daughter is enjoying and appears to be doing well.”
“They have a good Spectrum Centre and seem to take bullying and mental health seriously”
“Visibility of leadership team”
“Encouraging and recognising positive behaviour”
“Communication is very good. My son is very happy at Longfield. He does well in all subjects and he is encouraged by most of his teachers as well”
Below were some of the emerging themes, some of which pointed to different experiences by parents and carers, and for which I have provided what we have done to help bring clarity:
Communication
Whilst some parents expressed a strong sense of satisfaction with the frequency of our communication and how quickly we respond to queries, there were parents and carers who suggested the opposite. I highlight below some of our modes of communication with parents:
- We send regular letters, particularly at the start of the term to inform parents of expectations and key events. These are sent via the My Child at School (MYCAS) app and also published on our website, on the home page and under the section called Latest Letters and Announcements.
- Our newsletters provide details of upcoming events as well as a summary of key events that have taken place over the course of the module. For example, this newsletter sent at the end of December details key events, like parents evening, from 4 January to 17 April, and reminder letters and text messages are sent nearer the time of upcoming events to relevant families.
- Some of our key messages to parents are accompanied by the Principal’s video recorded briefing, also posted on the website.
- We communicate key messages for particular students to parents and carers via the MCAS app. Daily positive and negative logs are communicated this way, as well as detentions.
- We hold parental drop-in sessions once per module during which parents and carers are able to make appointments with senior leaders to discuss any concerns they may have.
- Interactive parents events for key students and/ or year groups. For example, Year 7, 11, 12 and 13 parents have had opportunities to come into school.
- We also have academy Twitter and Facebook accounts. There is also a parents’ Facebook account and issues discussed there are often raised with us by the administrators.
It is our expectation that staff should respond to email requests from parents and carers within 48 hours. This is usually the case as noted by some of the respondents, however we would ask parents and carers to bear with us on the occasions when this does not happen as school can be very busy sometimes and staff may not always be able to respond in a timely manner as expected. The link to whom you should contact for a quick response is here. Please email info@longfieldacademy.org if you do not receive a response or an acknowledgement to your initial email within 48 hours so that it can be followed up.
Parent/Teacher Association (PTA)
We had intended to launch our PTA initiative at the start of the last module and had taken some steps towards this. Unfortunately, the process was halted by situations beyond our control. We are now ready to explore this avenue as a means of bringing our community together and to strengthen our partnership even further. We are grateful to those parents who have expressed an interest in this initiative. Please email info@longfieldacademy.org if this is something you would like to be a part of and we will communicate this with the colleagues and parents who are trying to put the group together.
Parents Evening
Some respondents requested that we return to face-to-face parents evening. This is something we can consider for some year groups although the virtual meetings have proved to be popular amongst many parents too. We outline below some of our observations:
1.Online instead of Face-to-Face
During face to face meetings, the time each parent spends with a teacher is not moderated. This means one parent may spend up to 30 minutes, leaving little time for the remaining 29 children in the class. Online sessions ensure each child gets time with each teacher.
2. Session Length
The allocated time of 3 minutes 45 seconds is enough for the teacher to provide feedback for each child in their classroom, this way no one is missed out. Parents can make contact with us and any teacher to request a call, meeting or email feedback at any point in the academic year. Teacher feedback is not limited to these sessions. We can request your child’s form tutor to make contact and support you with this if you wish.
3. Signal
97% of our appointments are successful without any technical glitches. However, some people may be affected more than others for a variety of reasons e.g. broadband or fibre strength in the home. In this instance, just let us know and we will arrange a solution for you to receive feedback.
Our aim is to ensure as many children as possible can benefit from consultation opportunities with their teachers. And it is very clear to us that this method benefits the majority of our students, however, if you would like a face to face meeting this can be arranged through your child’s college at any time.
Balance between Rewards and Discipline
We have no doubt that most parents recognise the importance of good discipline for the education of their children and appreciate the work we are doing.
The academy rules, including sanctions are put in place not with the view to punish or inconvenience anybody. Our primary purpose for having them is to use them as a deterrent and to ensure that we have boundaries. The vast majority of our 1055 students do not get detentions because they are able to self regulate and make the right choices.
Section 11.1 of our Behaviour Policy outlines some of the different types of rewards available to our students – this is not exhaustive, for example reward trips to Chessington and Thorpe Park will take place in three weeks’ time. However, we take on board parents’ comments and will explore more avenues to ensure that celebration of good behaviour and associated rewards have a high profile within the academy so that the many excellent students we have do not feel forgotten.
Toilets
It seems from the survey that a small minority of parents have either missed our communication about the installation of the gates on our toilets or have been incorrectly advised by their children.
The link to my letter explaining why we installed gates at the toilet entrances is here. Additionally, we now keep the toilets in the middle of the school, in Matisse College, open at all times although we would insist that students without medical conditions or a desperate need to use the toilet facility do so during lesson change over, at break or lunch. The academy has toilets for boys only and girls only as well as unisex and disabled toilets.
Summer School and Chromebooks
One parent suggested that there is a need to support/train the parents of new students, particularly Year 7s on how to access and navigate our google classrooms. Whilst we cannot provide this training during the summer school because the devices are unlikely to be available to students, we will look into other ways to do this once Year 7s have started and have their devices so that parents can confidently support their children with their education when at home.
Educational Visits
Students continue to enjoy frequent and varied trips from across all of their subjects. At the end of module three, we had nearly 650 places given to students to participate in a range of trips, including 40 students who enjoyed a ski trip to the USA. There are plenty more that are planned for this year, including the Harry Potter Studios trip for Year 10 studying Creative iMedia. In addition to these trips, students have also benefited from visitors to the academy, such as a production company performing ‘An Inspector Calls’ to our Year 11 students who are studying the text for their GCSE English Literature qualification. In July, all students will have the opportunity to visit places of interest across London and Kent as part of our Enrichment Week.
We have a wide variety of after school clubs and weekly enrichment activities. You can find more information and sign up here.
Once again, we would like to thank you for taking the time to respond to the survey.
Kind Regards,
Dr F Donkor
Principal
