Creating Empowered Lives
Woodlands School Parent and Carer Survey - December 2016
The survey was carried out during the first few weeks of December and the majority of questionnaires were filled in
when parents visited school to see seasonal events.
Fifty-four out of a possible eighty-five families completed the survey maintaining our high response rate – so thank
you for taking part.
The vast majority of parents and carers said that they were pleased with the service offered by the school and feel
we are doing a good job. The comments are very similar. We are grateful for your kindness and if there is something
we can improve on, then we want to know about it. For those few families whose response showed some discontent
we would like to invite you to come and see one of the senior team to discuss your issues or concerns. Anything can
be improved when we work together and have a shared understanding.
We are reassured to see that every respondent feels the school is safe for the children and young adults and that it is
well led and managed. We work hard to ensure this is the case. We have been improving our services to support
families over the past few years and it is also gratifying to see we are getting that right too. If you are concerned
about something regarding your child, please do come and see one of us; we have access to a wide team of people
who can help, often in very simple but effective ways. We are having a closer look at our school clubs and afterschool activities but the cost of staffing, lack of volunteers and the wider commitments of many of our staff mean
that this is not a “quick fix”. We are working with Friends and Families to offer and after a session of after-school
swimming that will be accessible for families – more information on that as soon as we can!
Parking on site has been mentioned to us on many occasions and there are no easy solutions for that either!
However, we think that offering our special event and activities in a morning session instead of the afternoons may
enable more families to park in our designated parking area. We will look to make those calendar changes from now
on.
A number of families have found the transition to Parent Pay challenging and we are doing all we can to support this
on an individual basis. If you are struggling or have concerns about what you see on your Parent Pay Account,
please get in touch with the school office as soon as possible. The kitchen staff are also getting used to the system
and this has led to some spurious errors with some families accounts. Please be reassured that every child always
gets their lunch and that any errors will be carefully investigated.
We are updating our school website over the next few months to improve the usability of it and it’s look. If you
would be interested in being part of a reference group to design the new website, please get in touch with us.
Some families would like to see more physiotherapy offered by the school. Unfortunately the level of physio
provision is managed by the NHS and we have not control over this. We do however, work very closely with
therapists to ensure that programmes can be worked on regularly in class and it is this ‘every day’ focus that actually
makes the difference over time. If you are concerned about your child’s provision come and speak to a senior leader
or the physio team directly.
Finally, it was mentioned that some families would like more times spent on basic skills development. The morning
of every day is given over to skills development in the form of communication, reading and writing and maths /
computing. The young people really enjoy these sessions and are all making good progress. The afternoons are
dedicated to other subject learning and without this there would not be much balance to the curriculum. If you are
interested in what your child is learning in school, you can read our curriculum offer on the school website or come
into school and speak to us about what is being covered.
Thank you for responding to our questionnaire; we will consider your ideas and comments when we develop the
next School Improvement Plan. In the meantime, we will act on any quick wins right away.
Andrea and The Senior Leadership Team
www.woodlands.plymouth.sch.uk
Woodlands School Parent and Carer Survey - December 2016
Strongly
Agree
Agree
Tend to
Agree
Disagree
Don’t
Know
Positive
%
overall
Woodlands school is a welcoming place
90.7%
9.3%
0%
0%
0%
100%
Woodlands staff offer good levels of contact and
support
87.0%
9.3%
3.7%
0%
0%
100%
The school has high expectations for my child
82.7%
11.5%
5.8%
0%
0%
100%
69.8%
20.8%
7.5%
1.9%
0%
98.1%
73.6%
18.9%
7.5%
0%
0%
The school is well led and managed
80.8%
15.4%
1.9%
1.9%
0%
The school celebrates my child’s achievements
effectively
86.8%
11.3%
1.9%
0%
0%
My child will be safe at Woodlands
86.5%
9.6%
1.9%
0%
1.9%
98.1%
I always get a helpful response from school staff
81.1%
17.0%
1.9%
0%
0%
100%
73.6%
17.0%
9.4%
0%
0%
100%
67.3%
26.9%
3.8%
0%
1.9%
98.1%
ParentPay is easy to use and access
47.1%
15.7%
9.8%
3.9%
23.5%
72.5%
The School's Website is useful and easy to use
59.6%
28.8%
1.9%
1.9%
7.7%
90.4%
I am able to contact the school easily
84.9%
13.2%
0%
0%
1.9%
98.1%
Overwhelmingly positive answers
Possible concerns
The school communicates my child’s progress
effectively
Woodlands enable me to get involved in supporting
my child’s learning and development
Woodlands works in partnership with me regarding
my child’s education
Woodlands is open to my ideas and suggestions for
improvement
Higher level of concern
How do you prefer to contact the school?
How do you prefer to get information from
school?
Text Message
Telephone
Home-School Book
In Person
Email
Use School Website
Receive Text Message
Telephone Call
Home-School Book
Email
38.0%
70.0%
58.0%
28.0%
18.0%
www.woodlands.plymouth.sch.uk
10.4%
66.7%
47.9%
79.2%
33.3%
100%
98.1%
100%
Things that Parent/Carers wish to celebrate at Woodlands - staff member, class or whole school
provision.
Thank you for your kind comments: We try hard to get things right for your child and family so this feedback is
welcome to us all.
























My child is happy coming to school this is the hard work the staff do with the child
How much you have helped our daughter, and how much progress she has made.
Children are all well cared for by the staff
Woodlands is amazing and we are so thrilled that our son is part of it.
We have been well nurtured. Thank you all so much
The whole school, teachers, and pupils all the staff are always so helpful and caring about everyone in the
school and their parents. Woodlands is a place of love and caring for everyone :)
Need more feedback about hours spent on speech therapy. Really need more speech therapy. All else ok.
Woodlands is a really good school. Everyone is really welcoming, Mandy and Penny are amazing.
The progress that our children make.
Leigh - Acer teacher has been very responsive to concerns. Has a great understanding of the children’s'
learning needs
Oak class and Roisin in Excellent, and we are really happy with the school provision
Woodlands has always been extremely welcoming and friendly - the first time I set foot in the school I knew
straight away it was my first and only choice for my daughter.
Celebrate all teachers and TA's - weekly. Celebrate all reception /support staff.
Mrs Hemmens
Rosie has been an exceptional class teacher for our child. Lime class is a very happy and productive place.
Woodlands is a very good school and always welcoming. It was the best choice of school for my
granddaughter.
The whole school provision. Everything is adopted perfectly to what our foster child needs from his
Education
The amazing support offered to parents covering every aspect of child’s educational, social and medical care
needs.
Fab school!
We’re extremely happy that we chose Woodlands for our child.
Everything
Julie (Lime Class) is such a valuable asset to Woodlands. Amazing with the children and always really
approachable to talk to and share any concerns etc. EVERYONE at Woodlands is great!
The school is excellent and all of the staff have helped our child so much. Thank you
All staff are really lovely
If we could change or improve some things at Woodlands, what would they be?








Nothing
Assigned parking would be useful.
Communication in home/school books - can be vague, not all information passed on i.e. physio. More
regular progress updates, in person discussions regarding learning and development.
More physiotherapy
More maths / English support for our young person.
More after school activities for kids and parents together.
Jess enjoyed visits to Whitley shops before gave a sense of real life situation. Be good to re-introduce maybe.
Keep Leigh in Acer! :) After School clubs for children like our child
www.woodlands.plymouth.sch.uk









Clubs during the school holidays
More communication from therapists communicate in home school book.
After school care. Holiday Play Schemes
Nothing to improve on
Prefer the old website! The website, I don’t find it as user friendly as the last one. Home/School books- it
would be useful to have the name of the person writing it down. Home school books (in Lime Class) - better
responses / feedback to parents comments.
None again fab school
More detail in home school book including when she has been unhappy - as this usually means she is going
to have a seizure
You do a good job already
Parking for activities
How can we best support your family, now and in the future?



















Being actively involved in my child's education
Keep doing what you are doing.
More parent/class interaction
Carrying on being a listening ear.
By carrying on doing the wonderful job you are already doing!
All A-OK. We are in the future probably going down the term time’s holiday route to save on costs.
Keep doing what you are doing. :)
Ongoing contact, good communication
Keep developing our daughter the way you are. More sessions with Richard.
I receive all the support needed, thank you.
Continue to LISTEN to us and support family. Involve us in all decisions regarding child.
Keep working together as we do.
Maintain good links with Cornwall. Help us to access provision in Plymouth.
We already receive all the support needed.
You're doing a great job!
Continue as you are - communication.
Continue to send lots of information home, pics and videos by email. We love to keep in touch regarding our
son’s achievements and all the lovely things he does at school.
Keep doing what you are doing.
You do a good job already
www.woodlands.plymouth.sch.uk