Background

24O families out of an estimated 900 families used the Parent Survey in November 2023 to provide the College with feedback - a copy of the full survey findings that we shared with you in January 2024 is shared here for your reference.

As a Senior Leadership Team, alongside the Governing Body, we have reflected intently on the parent survey findings this year, especially as in certain areas there is a disconnect between what the Ofsted inspection saw in May 2023, our internal evaluation of the college, and the perceptions of parents and carers in November 2023. It is our belief that though there may be areas in which we are falling short of parental expectations, our greatest weakness could also be our commitment and ability to communicate and share with families the work we do that led to such a positive Ofsted report.

We were very proud that the Ofsted report captured both the character and vision of the school:

However, we cannot ignore that these views were not shared or experienced by all families who completed the survey.

Our focus since January 2024

We have focussed on the three statements that scored the lowest rating in the survey and made these a priority for us to tackle in the Spring and Summer term.

Our actions for statement:
8) The school has high expectations for my child.

Our expectations for your child centre on our drive to ensure that all pupils leave Swanmore College ready, willing, and able to transition successfully to their life choices beyond 11-16 education. Our challenge is to make sure that you and your child know how we are managing and sharing our high expectations for them at Swanmore.

1. We have…committed to rolling out Class Charts, a powerful two-way communication tool that will ensure that rewards and daily achievements are more visible to you and your child. Please see the accompanying ‘Spotlight…on Class Charts’ to learn more.
2. We have…purchased Unifrog, a tool that will enable pupils to have a deeper understanding and control of how they build, track, and maximise the opportunities available to them at Swanmore and in the wider world. Please see the accompanying ‘Spotlight…on Unifrog’ to learn more about this exciting new platform going live in September.
3. We have…produced a robust College Vision and Strategy for 2024-2028, embedding our commitment to high expectations for your child into our strategic objectives. Alongside feedback from a parent forum in March 2024, the Swanmore Leadership Team and Governing Body are excited about the scope and opportunities to champion high expectations for all pupils in the coming years. The 2024-2028 Vision and Strategy will be shared with parents and carers in September 2024.

Our actions for statement:
10) The school lets me know how my child is doing.

We know how important it is that we give you accurate, timely and useful information across the school year to help you feel knowledgeable about how well your child is doing. 2024-2025 is the year when we intend to transform our approach to informing and communicating with you through a combination of a new digital platform and a review of our academic reporting systems.

1. We have…been reviewing our reporting and assessment policies and procedures and would like to introduce some significant enhancements to the content and format of our reporting.  Do look out for a parent forum in the Autumn term to invite you to shape our procedures.
2. We have…committed to rolling out Class Charts, this real-time communication tool will enable you to log on at any time of the day to monitor and support your child’s daily progress at school. You will be able to monitor rewards, behaviour, lesson attendance and homework, to list just a few of the functions. Please see the accompanying ‘Spotlight…on Class Charts’ to learn more.

Our actions for statement:
13) The school supports my child’s wider personal development.

Actions 9) and 10) feed firmly into this statement, and we have concluded that our focus needs to be on upskilling and empowering the pupils – your child - to be able to share with you their views, ideas, and confidence about their personal development during their time at school.   This has been the key driver in our decision to purchase 2 digital platforms to support pupils.

1. We have…purchased Unifrog, and already trialled it with some Y9 and Y10 pupils to see if the package is as good as we believe it is.  Unifrog will enable pupils to build an online portfolio of skills, experiences, events and achievements from Y7 through to Y13 (the account remains accessible for a pupil until the end of Y13).  It will encourage pupils to discover and explore opportunities within and beyond school.  They will be able to manage their own development and understand how their academic achievement, alongside other key life and character skills, fit together to help them plan out their future. Please see the accompanying ‘Spotlight…on Unifrog’ to learn more about this exciting new platform going live in September.
2. We have…committed to rolling out Class Charts, and all pupils will receive their log in in September. Pupils will be able to log in and see their lesson by lesson, daily and/or weekly progress across the curriculum, understanding how their effort and engagement has translated into rewards and praise. As the product develops, we will be able to identify and track key skills used in lessons and this data could be transferred by pupils into their own Unifrog portfolio. Not only should pupils understand how they are developing, but they should be able to see how their actions and decisions are shaping their personal development inside and outside the classroom.

Parent Views shared through optional comments in Parent Survey

In the November 2023 Parent survey, the most common areas of concern were:

• There is inconsistent and inappropriate use of the Hub when disciplining pupils.
• Communication between home and school is not good enough.

It is not possible to meaningfully isolate the actions and processes we have put in place during 2023-2024 to tackle these 2 areas.  They remain polarising comments that ultimately will be shaped by your personal experiences and daily, weekly, and termly interactions with the school. We can assure you that we remain committed to focusing on these areas in our 2024-2028 Vision and Strategy for Swanmore College. We would also like to reiterate our commitment that was shared when we initially fed back the findings of the November survey: