Response to Parent/Carer Survey

Dear Parents/Carers, 

Your feedback is valued and really important to us at Hanham Woods Academy. We understand that it takes a strong partnership between home and the Academy in order to give students the best chance of success, which is why your voice is important in helping us to understand the issues and drive further improvement.  

Thank you to those parents/carers who completed the recent feedback survey. This letter is a response to your feedback with a breakdown of key themes and actions. If you have a concern/issue , or just want to provide feedback, please do not hesitate to get in contact so that we can work with you towards a resolution. We appreciate your continued support!  

Parent/Carer Survey Response – Term 2 

A summary of the broad themes from the survey can be found below, followed by a more detailed response to the areas for further improvement… 

1.  Communication regarding what students are studying could be improved.  

 We recognise that it is important for parents/carers to have a good understanding of what their child is studying in order to support learning at home. The first place to look for more information about curriculum is the Academy website: https://hanhamwoodsacademy.clf.uk/curriculum-overview/ .  We are in the process of updating the documents available, but you should be able to find out what your child is currently studying alongside the intent for each subject area and contact details for subject leaders. This is an area that we will continue to work on to ensure we provide good quality information and insight into your child’s learning. 

2.  More communication relating to the day-to-day experience of students (e.g. attendance, praise/behaviour points, e.t.c.) would better equip parents/carers to further support their children 

In the last academic year we moved our MIS (Management Information System) from SIMs to Bromcom and it has taken time to implement that system well within the Academy. The next phase of implementation is to launch the Parent app part of the system which will enable parents/carers to access day to day information such as attendance, praise/behaviour points, timetable, etc. as well as use it to book parents evening appointments. We are currently preparing a plan to implement the parent app, which will start by trialling the app with the parents/carers of one Year Group in the first instance, to iron out any issues, before rolling out to the other Year Groups.  More information to follow on the implementation of the Parent app. 

Beyond being able to access more information about your child, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you of your child’s Year Team who are available to support you with any academic / pastoral issues you may have: 

 3.  Some inconsistencies in lessons, particularly where there is supply teaching in some subject areas 

 We make our expectations of behaviour really clear to students and regularly remind them through tutor time, assemblies and additional sessions when we feel they are required. Staff receive regular training in Ready to Learn, adaptive teaching to meet needs and also strategies to develop positive relationships with students. When we are made aware of disruption the Senior Team and Curriculum Leaders will attend lessons to support the class to minimise further disruption. We also take a proactive approach to attending lessons identifying where there may be supply teachers who require further support. We are working hard to support all students to overcome their barriers to learning. 

The use of supply teaching is a challenge for us at the moment (as it will be for many schools). We are in a recruitment and retention crisis in schools across the country, with it becoming increasingly more difficult to fill vacancies. We work closely with our central Trust recruitment team to ensure our adverts are seen far and wide, and use robust recruitment processes to ensure we appoint the best possible candidates to join the team at Hanham Woods. We acknowledge that the quality of supply teaching can vary, but we actively monitor this and take action where the provision is not strong enough. Where we have supply in one area, we look to re-timetable at points during the year to ensure the same classes are not taught by supply. SLT also step in to cover lessons on a regular basis (whilst maintaining capacity to run the academy site). 

It is a complex problem without a straightforward (or quick) solution, but I can reassure you we are working hard to recruit good quality colleagues into permanent roles and taking action to improve provision in the interim. 

4.  More SEND information and support for parents/carers to understand the support being provided 

We are really proud of the amazing work that goes on every day by our SEND team (and wider teaching team) to support our learners with SEND and are working hard to continue to develop in this area. We have focused a lot this year on increasing staff awareness and understanding of various SEND needs and further developing inclusive teaching practices so that classroom pedagogy consistently meets the needs of all learners.  

We have also improved systems for sharing key information about our students with SEND and have increased our intervention provision to better support individual students. We value parent/carer involvement and Mrs Hathway is currently exploring ways to further improve information sharing and communication, provide further opportunities for parent/carer voice and for parents/carers to come into the Academy.  

If you have concerns that your child may need additional support with their learning or may have SEND then the first port of call should be their Pastoral Leader who works closely with our SENCO. What follows is a process of adjustment, implementation and review to develop strategies around the individual child.   

Thank you for taking the time to complete the Parent/Carer survey. We will look to repeat the survey later in the academic year.   However, in the meantime, if you have any concerns please do contact your child’s Year Team (see above).

Dream BIG // Work Hard // Be Kind 

Mr O’Callaghan | Principal