We asked... You said... We have...

At Edgbarrow we believe that in order to improve, we must have feedback from our stakeholders such as parents/carers and students. Throughout the academic year, students are asked to complete a range of questionnaires about school life. After each Student Progress Evening, we also ask our parents and carers for their feedback on the school.

These surveys are discussed by the Senior Leadership Team and the Governors, and contribute to how we strategically improve Edgbarrow to ensure our students are getting the best possible school experience.

Parent/Carer Surveys

2022-23 Parent/Carer Surveys

Last year, 98% of our parents said that they would recommend Edgbarrow School and Sixth Form to another parent or carer, including 100% of our Year 11 and Year 13 parents.

96% of parents believe their child is happy at school.

In addition to this, over 90% of our parents across the year groups agreed or strongly agreed to the following statements:

My child feels safe at this school.
My child makes good progress at this school.
My child is taught well at this school.
This school makes sure its pupils are well-behaved.
The school deals effectively with bullying.
The school is well-led and managed.
The school responds well to concerns I raise.
The new online parent evening is effective.

Further feedback regarding communication with parents has led to the roll-out of Class Charts, which has been well received by students, parents and staff.

2021-2022 Parent/Carer Surveys

The following are highlights from the parent/carer surveys and are rated agree and strongly agree.

Across the year groups, 96% of parents/carers believe their child is happy at school and 98% would recommend the school and Sixth Form to another parent/carer.

Our areas of strength being:

My child feels safe at this school.
My child makes good progress at this school.
My child is taught well at this school.
This school makes sure its pupils are well-behaved.
The school deals effectively with bullying.
The school is well-led and managed.
The school responds well to concerns I raise.
The new online parent evening is effective.

Areas for improvement for 2022/23 are:

Find new ways to communicate with parents regarding behaviour data.
Catching up on lost learning from lockdown.

Student Surveys

What’s the point in student surveys?

We strive to give our students the best educational experience we can and we need their honest opinions to help us with this. Throughout the school year, students have the opportunity to share and shape their experience through various different surveys. These online surveys take place in tutor time or as lesson starters. The responses give us an idea of the steps we need to take to make school life at Edgbarrow as fulfilling as possible.

What sort of questions are asked?

Our surveys cover a wide range of topics. This year, students have completed surveys on the following:

Year 7 transition
Understanding how I learn
Safeguarding and keeping safe/healthy
Physical environment and community
Quality of education/teaching and learning
Inclusion and equal opportunities
Pride in school and values
Behaviour and bullying
Personal development
Year 9 options
Wellbeing

Student feedback helps us to improve the school…

The results of all of the student surveys are discussed in Senior Leadership meetings and presented to the school Governors. During these discussions, we consider the best course of action to improve students’ experiences at Edgbarrow. Here’s an example:

In 2022, 75% of students agreed that they are taught and understand how to look after their emotional and mental health. Whilst this is a good result, we know that we can do better! We therefore increased opportunities for students to learn about mental health (Youthline appointments, Young Minds, Mental Health Awareness week). As a result of this, in 2023, 81% of students agreed that they are taught and understand how to look after their emotional and mental health. We still want this number to grow, so we are continuing to look at projects and initiatives to improve awareness of mental health, including launching the Peer Education Project in January 2024.

There are many other ways in which we have responded to student feedback, including:

Increasing supervision on the Astro (more cameras and more staff)
Planting trees and reintroducing the Eco rewards program
Creating a working group to look at how and when homework is set
Meeting with students to get direct feedback on PSHE lessons
Increasing opportunities for student led assemblies (Umbrella Club, Black History Month)
Providing more workshops for PSHE (Chelsea’s Story, AlterEgo, Bob Tate)
Focusing the School Development Plan on ‘Deep Learning’ and ‘Success for All’ (2023)
…and many more!

2022/23 Student Surveys Feedback

This year we are particularly proud of…

90% of students think the school is an important part of the local community
92% of students take pride in the presentation of their work
95% of students understand British Values
93% of students agree that the school teaches them to be more resilient
96% of students agree that they understand about consent and sexual harassment
100% of students agree that there is an excellent range of co-curricular activities offered by the school
100% of students agree that school teaches them the difference between right and wrong
97% of students feel safe in school
93% of students agree that there are opportunities to be involved in wider school life

But there is still work to do…

You said: 71% of students agreed that they receive regular and useful feedback which will helps them improve their work.
So we have: put marking and feedback on the School Development Plan so that it is a whole school focus for this year.

You said: 61% of students agreed that they develop their learning by reading or researching around their subjects.
So we have: put ‘Thirst for Learning’ as the Edgbarrow 8 priority for this year.

You said: 79% of students agreed that they had access to reliable ICT when they need it.
So we have: put plans in place to modernise the library and investigate the possibility of rolling out an ICT program that will allow better access to laptops/tablets for lessons.

And we plan to take even more actions on aspects such as inclusion, diversity, and teaching and learning.