Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you to all of you who took the time to complete our most recent Parental Survey in September 2022 using the Ofsted questions which will be used during inspection.  Your feedback and opinions are very important to us.  We have been carefully analysing the results to identify what we can learn from your feedback to help us improve and develop all aspects of our school.  As a school, we are fully committed to constantly evaluating and refining our processes to be the very best we can be for our children, parents and school community.  Your views form a vital part of that process.

There are, once more, a significant number of positives in the survey and this highlights the strengths the school has.  We are delighted the vast majority of our parents feel we are delivering a high-quality educational experience for their children.  We equally feel it is important that we listen carefully and pay attention to those areas you feel could be improved.  Below, you will find a response to any main areas of concern and, where appropriate, the action we have taken or will take going forward.

Finally, we welcome any feedback about any aspect of our school and I am always very keen to hear from parents with suggestions for improvements in the way we operate to deliver a first-class holistic educational experience for our children and parents.

We similarly greatly appreciate those parents who take the trouble of thanking our staff and conveying their gratitude for significant school events; milestone moments and things the school does well.  We always relay these messages to our staff.  They are very much appreciated, and, as Headteacher, this is an enjoyable part of my role.

Please feel free to email me on office@broxbourne-pri.herts.sch.uk, including ‘Parental Feedback’ within the subject line. 

We will reissue our questionnaire at the end of this academic year to gauge our improvements against the areas presently identified.

With best wishes

Paul Miller

What does the School do particularly well?

In response to the above question, our parents answered as follows in September 2022:

• My child is happy at the school and has settled well.
• Amazing support teachers and resources. Great environment to bring out the best in a child's development.
• I would confidently recommend this school to anyone.
• Faith school, well-led with amazing teaching staff.
• Broxbourne has a good community feel, and encourages learning, the children to achieve their best and has a good range of extra-curricular activities. It also supports religious beliefs and welcomes everyone. The teachers are also very good and are a credit to the school.
• Wonderful school with great teachers.  A lot of importance is placed on the awareness of cultural diversity which is ideal.  The school staff seem to know all of the children by name which is reassuring.
• Fantastic warm-hearted school.
• A lovely friendly school in a great location with supportive staff and parents.
• It's a warm, nurturing environment for children to grow and develop.
• The school is very well run and organized, and offers lots of opportunities in and out of the classroom for children to develop themselves.  We are very happy to be a part of this school and the school community.
• I love this school. I will be very sad when our second child leaves.
• I recommended the school to my neighbour.
• My children have always been happy and willing to attend school. The school environment has always been welcoming and nurturing.
• Having had a child go all the way through and do very well, I do rate the school. The school is very nurturing and has a sense of community, my youngest has suffered slightly educationally because of lockdowns and hopefully will be getting the help she needs moving forward.
• Amazing community, small friendly school. The Headteacher is passionate about each child's learning.
• Welfare of pupils is important as well as academic standards.
• Only 2 weeks in, but my son is really enjoying nursery.
• I like it’s a small school.
• This school has unapologetically high standards for both students and parents. Students are stretched and extra interventions are in place for any student who needs it. The sense of community created by the school, parents and PTA is truly lovely and a significant reason why the children are so happy here. We believe the teachers and the leadership of the school really strive to know our children and to nurture and encourage them.
• Provides an all-round approach to teaching and learning, both in the classroom and outside the classroom. Also instils a good sense of behaviour based on the religious principles of the school.
• Although we haven’t been part of the school family that long I can see the positive ways the school invests in the children and the expectations. So I am pleased with these and will definitely be recommending them to everyone.
• Of course, you are very lucky if you get in to Broxbourne C of E Primary, the kids all come out well-mannered and respectful and do a brilliant job teaching from the very start in EY1 right the way through to Year 6. The Head Master is approachable and the teachers too as well as the receptionists.
• The school puts a lot into promoting my children’s development.
• It’s a great school in the local area.
• The school creates a nurturing environment for children and the children are happy. The values are strong and demonstrated by the majority of the school community. The school maintains strong links to the church and the emphasis on personal development amongst the pupils is great.
• Lovely nurturing school which I feel can credit itself on the year 6 that has just left. They have brought a community feel to the school and my young children look up to the older children due to the support, and example they’ve set so well.
• The school has a wonderful community feel to it.
• Both kids at school liked every teacher and assistant and felt supported from the very beginning of school in early years to year 6.
• Believe it is a lovely small school.
• Great Christian community spirit. Being welcoming to our child.
• Fosters an incredible sense of community among pupils, teachers and parents. Focused on developing well rounded children grounded with good values. Focus on faith and connection with the church is very special. Provide many opportunities for pupils to engage in sport and other extra-curricular activities. As parents we feel well led by teachers to support our child at home - excellent use of Google Classroom and support material sent home.
• Organised and communication from teachers is great.
• Communication.
• The school is friendly and fair whilst being robust when needed. The teachers are supportive and approachable which is great.
• The school is putting in lots of extra support to progress those who require it from the loss of learning during the pandemic. I am really proud of the efforts and very grateful.
• Creates a happy environment.
• Show genuine care to the children. The school keep parents informed of everything happening in the school.
• Supporting.
• Uphold Christian ethos.
• It's a friendly lovely school, I am happy with my children being there.
• The academic side of it is very strong, the children are able to go on school trips & the school ensures the children get plenty of exercise, with clubs & inter school competitions.
• Getting good results.
• Well organised.
• Teaching staff and Teaching Assistants are professional, experienced and caring. The school has a positive sense of community. Children are taught to be kind and respectful.
• Education for each child.
• Informs parents.
• General behaviour and respect - children are a credit to the school.
• Teaching morals and kindness to others.
• Sense of community, good behaviour and strong discipline.
• Caring and friendly.
• Build a friendly culture and community.
• PTA events, good selection of after school clubs, option to learn a music instrument, couldn't just name one.
• Good early years provision.
• All children know each other in different years, behave well, good manners.
• Making people feel welcome.
• Teaching the Curriculum.
• Sport, supporting the PTA and creating a sense of community and responsibility in the children.
• Put education and wellbeing above anything else.
• Rally together in all things school and outside school. From Governors, to the PTA.
• Very academically focused.
• Provides a variety of lunch time and after school clubs. The school want to help the children do their best and are happy to come in early and help with extra maths and English to give children an extra boost, which I really appreciate and my kids actually like.
• The school goes above and beyond to create a safe, Christianity based and fun learning environment.
• Administrative communications/school events.
• Provide a caring and safe environment for my child.
• Support children to reach high standards.
• Well behaved children.
• The teachers and TAs are fantastic as are the sporting opportunities on offer. The PSHE curriculum is fantastic and the focus on wellbeing has supported the pupils well over the Covid period. I feel that the children feel safe coming to school and enjoy being there. The office team do a wonderful job and the PTA are incredibly dedicated. I am very encouraged by Miss Clifford's efforts in promoting equality and diversity and look forward to seeing the results of this.
• Instil good values and morals.
• Communication between parents and teachers has been brilliant since starting school this year. I hope it continues. We appreciate the notes and tapestry observations. Teachers are amazing.
• Providing extra support.
• Community feel and bringing older kids in to support younger years.
• Help kids if struggling with subjects with extra classes, approachable staff and teachers.
• Sports involvement.
• Sports, although my son isn't sporty!
• Provides a range of extracurricular activities and areas for children to grow beyond school lessons. The communication with parents is excellent and the teaching staff, headteacher and deputy head are all superb and very talented in their field.

What could the School do to further improve?

Communication:

On our most recent September 2022 parental survey, 28% of respondents to this question mentioned the theme of communication as an area which they felt could be further improved. Some parents felt there was too much communication, whereas others felt there was not enough or that certain information was not timely enough. The main area suggested by parents was a desire for more specific information about the curriculum their child is following and their individual progress. The timing of communication was also mentioned along with replying and making payments in a paperless manner for trips and school events.

School response:

The school has a significant amount of detail for each curricular area and year group, mapping progression and key learning aims and objectives within our ‘Curriculum’ website tab.
 
The school ‘Assessment and Reporting Cycle’ has since been detailed on the school website in response to this to ensure all parents know exactly what to expect across the academic year:
https://www.broxbourne-pri.herts.sch.uk/assessment-and-feedback/
Our school provides a significant number of opportunities to discuss, feedback and share the progress your child is making across this cycle. Our mid-year report format identifies learning characteristics and denotes attainment across the curriculum.
 
The school has a new website and a comprehensive website calendar denoting key school events. We inform our parents as soon as we are able regarding all school events and sports fixtures. Sometimes, the details from the hosting organisation are received less than a week before the event and so, on these occasions, the communication is likely to feel like short notice.
 
The school has an online parental booking system for Parents’ Evenings, after-school clubs and for ticketed school events. The school’s lunch system in electronic and meals are ordered by parents in advance.
The School Gateway app we continue to use has and does have the option of paying and giving permission electronically. Trip replies, After-School Club bookings and parental permissions can also be made through this. If you are unsure how to do this, please speak to Mrs Davidson in person to be shown.
 

Extra-curricular Provision

15% of respondents to this question mentioned a wish for more after-school activities, particularly for Key Stage 1 children across a range of areas.
 

School Response

The school has extra-curricular clubs running across the week to maximise the use of its available resourcing and indoor provision. We wish to optimise the number of opportunities our children have and wherever possible spread these out across the week to avoid clashes. The school presently offers Key Stage 2 chess, basketball x 2, football x 2, netball x 2 and choir as free clubs and offers the option of tennis. Art, Herts Ballerz Girls’ Football and Rock Steady Music as paid for clubs.
 
The school has a KS1 Multi-skills sports club at lunchtime. Tennis continues to be available as a paid for club for Key Stage 1 each Wednesday and Herts Ballerz Multi-skills on a Monday.

Some of our older children have the responsibility of running additional lunchtime clubs for our younger children. In recent times, these have included Origami Club, Coding Club, Dance Club, Girls’ Fun Sports and Fitness is Fun.

14 clubs are available across the week for KS1 and KS2 children and ‘on occasion’ as many as 18!
Our Early Years’ children are quite tired by the end of the school day and as our children become older the number of clubs available increases accordingly. We hope to offer a club involving EY2 in the summer term as is stage appropriate. In the previous year, this was ‘Balanceability’ and developed bike riding skills and awareness of road safety.

Mental Health

7% of respondents to this question mentioned that the school should focus on the mental health needs of the children.

The school has and continues to focus upon supporting the Mental Health of all children in our school.  Each year, we hold a ‘Feeling Good Week’ focusing upon this important aspect. Our Jigsaw PSHE scheme comprehensively focusses upon supporting Mental Well-being and health: offering strategies and support systems to help and develop self-awareness across the year.

Anti-bullying Week and Safer Internet Day are also annual school events to support all of our children in educating them so that they may flourish.

We work with HABS (a children and family support team for the Hoddesdon and Broxbourne area), ‘Strength in Mind’ and the Hertfordshire Nursing Service to help identified children who benefit from appropriate in school support. Our Year 6 children undertake an annual questionnaire to support them in their transitioning prior to commencing secondary school.

Historically, with the mental well-being of our children foremost in our minds, prior to our wider return from the pandemic, for this very reason, the school invited all year groups back, alternating weeks across the last four weeks of term prior to summer 2020. This was to ensure all children had the opportunity of attending school prior to September 2020 and a further six weeks without this. These two weeks were used to support recovery, well-being and to re-connect with schooling in readiness for September. We feel this decision was pivotal in our successful September return.

Across lockdown, the school provided live lessons to ensure our children were socially supported and encouraged across this challenging period.

Progress

Parents understood the need for catch-up post Covid and acknowledged and appreciated the school’s efforts in this regard. Currently, 112 children have been invited to attend the Tuesday to Thursday early morning sessions. 14% of respondents to this question suggested that greater depth children were not being stretched.

School Response

As a school, we seek to extend and challenge all of our learners and always encourage our children to develop a deeper understanding of concepts across the curriculum. Whilst some of our children are attending their respective interventions to consolidate and achieve age-related expectation in core subjects, a number of our early morning children are attending with the specific focus of attaining greater depth of the standard at the end of Key Stage 2. We often additionally run in-school extension groups for this specific purpose during lesson time. A number of children attending our Mathletics provision have made significant progress in their fluency and speed of recall and they continue to be challenged appropriately.

Diversity of Staff

There was a suggestion that the staff body should be more diverse.

School Response

We are fully committed to equal opportunities in all aspects of our practice and always seek to appoint the best available candidate for any position in our school. All job adverts welcome applicants from all backgrounds and we advertise to seek as diverse a field of applicants as possible. We anonymize applications, prior to short-listing, and base our recruitment upon objectively meeting our job specific criteria. The Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher were part of a Hertfordshire initiative ‘The Great Representation’ seeking to increase racial diversity across Hertfordshire schools and as a result of the school’s good work, have published a case study on increasing the diversity of our curriculum:

https://thegrid.org.uk/assets/15-gr-vol-1-broxbourne.pdf

As part of this project the specific issue of diversity in schools was focused upon and related aspects addressed. We have always tried to ensure our Governing Body is representative of all members of our school and have been successful in this regard. Following on from our case study, our school has recently started a termly Ethnicity, Diversity and Inclusion forum for parents and staff to ensure the school continues to evolve and focus upon this important area, considering the views of all of our school community.

During this year, we asked for our advertising material to be reviewed by an Equalities Advisor from Hertfordshire and took her advice when creating new adverts in order to try and ensure that every potential applicant feels welcome and wants to apply.

Our collective staff all received Equality training in the Autumn Term delivered by the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher.

What does the School do particularly well?

In response to the above question, our parents answered as follows in November 2019:

• Teaching.
• The range of after school clubs and activities has increased greatly over the last few years which is really great.
• Support for child’s adaptation and learning.
• The school is very warm and welcoming. It appears to be a very calm environment where teachers have high expectations of pupils. Pupils in the nursery are well stimulated and clear routines are embedded.
• Very supportive.
• Communication.
• Uses Tapestry frequently. Sends informative letters and emails on a regular basis.
• Good morals.
• Makes my child feel safe and happy whilst at school.
• The teachers have been very good.
• Behaviour, manners, core subjects.
• Parents evening was really well organised. I also thought the appointment booking system was very good. All teaching staff have been very friendly and approachable. The administration staff are always extremely efficient and helpful. The school is really good at keeping parents informed of what’s going on within the school. The weekly newsletter is really helpful.
• Lending of books.
• Lots of community activities.
• The school has a wide range of educational toys & activities & is a very organised school.
• Teach the children to have respect for each other and their teachers. To have fun enjoying learning new things.
• Teaching and Learning.
• Teaches good behaviour and good manners which is reflected in senior school.
• Feels like a community and the teachers & reception are always so helpful.
• Sets high standards.
• Teaches children to love and respect themselves and each other which is so important.
• Family and friendly school.
• Make learning fun that they listen and can repeat what they have learnt with enthusiasm.
• As it is small, there is a very close relationship between the head teacher and the pupils and all the pupils together.
• Reading and writing.
• Encourages open and transparency learning for children – they are comfortable and enjoying their learning at school. Staff are attentive and caring for children.
• Teach the Christian values.  My child really enjoys assemblies.
• Respect of others. Reading.
• Sports.
• Teaches the importance of respect and good behaviour.
• The school has a clear identity and purpose. I see this at events like the sports day and various parent-organised events.
• Good focus across curriculum & behaviours.
• All staff are professional and respectful of parents and children. There is an overwhelming sense of care by the staff over the children’s overall well-being.  Ensuring they are happy, which I think is vitally important. This is not to say there isn’t clear focus on their academic and physical education but there just seems to be a healthy balance between the two. Thank you to all the staff, including those behind the scenes, and to Mr Miller for running a lovely school. It’s not an enviable job! Thank you for everything you do. It does not go unnoticed.
• Provision of clubs is good & improving. School has good measures to notice kids’ emotional well-being. Class teachers very good at answering parent questions.
• All children are cared for and respected.
• Fostering the idea to support each other in learning.
• The school maintains a great culture amongst the children and they are all comfortable to engage with each other across the year groups.
• Behaviour of the kids.
• Share and promote values.
• Encourage good behaviour.
• The school is very good with children when they need that extra help
• Listens to children and encourages them to be proud members of their school community; fosters a love of reading; teaching and implementing Christian values; a calm environment where children feel safe and looked after. Very important – the school teaches children to be respectful and kind to one another.
• Encourages a good sense of community across the school.
• Ensure that the children are kept safe.
• Staff are all excellent, teachers have been exceptional! Weekly newsletters keep us informed.
• Good range of school trips and clubs available. Love the Information Evening at start of year.
• Really engaged PTA.
• Discipline.
• Religion, Sport. Just very good in general.
• The children learn good values and manners.
• Making children feel valued and safe in their environment.
• Bringing the best out of the children and making them want to learn to their best ability possible.
• Class Assemblies.
• Offering opportunities to try new things, and helping the children work to a high academic standard.
• Variety of learning.
• Push my children to be the best they can be.
• Organisation.
• Good all round – education and personal development.
• Everything.
• They are creative about how they deliver the curriculum and seem passionate about their role in helping the children to achieve their potential. I love how my children have developed a better understanding of their faith and feel the school have supported them to do so in a fun and exciting way.
• Employs good teaching staff.
• It is not any one thing; I like the ethos of the school.
• Behavioural expectations.
• Fostering a sense of community and belonging.
• The school have experienced and dedicated teaching and support staff.
• Teacher interaction with the parents.
• The atmosphere is lovely, children across all year groups mix well.
• Focus on English and Maths which I support of it being key subjects for children to focus on.
• I think the school is fantastic as a whole. It has brilliant ethics and I am glad to be part of it.
• RE lessons, church visits, instils in children the love of God, children are polite, teachers very helpful.
• Sense of community.
• Gets the balance right between hard work and a fulfilling and happy life.
• Lovely supportive school with approachable friendly staff.
• Equality.
• Encourage and support the children.
• Knows the children, their personalities, strengths and areas for improvement. Staff have always worked with us, as parents, to share information and offer a supportive environment throughout the school day. I have no worries when I say goodbye to my son in the morning, as I know he is cared for comprehensively and in an understanding manner. I believe the experience he is having here will stand him in good stead in the future. Huge thanks to the office team who are always friendly and helpful.
• Great teaching and interaction with parents.
• Bespoke support, involving the parent, supporting the child and the family.
• Carry the children along.
• Everything – the headteacher is just fantastic and all the teachers are great.