Listening to Families: Survey Results & Next Steps
At St Peter’s, our vision of Love, Learn, Shine guides everything we do—especially how we work with families. We know that strong partnership with parents helps every child feel loved, supported, and ready to shine brightly in their learning.
Recently, we invited parents and carers to share their thoughts about our new end‑of‑term report cards and the parent consultation process. We are extremely grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. Your feedback helps us refine and strengthen the way we communicate about each child’s learning and progress.
In total, 28 families responded, representing around 11% of our school community. Leaders and governors have reviewed the full set of responses, and we were genuinely touched by the thoughtful comments—including the many warm messages recognising the dedication of the staff team and the positive impact this has on the children.
💡 What Families Told Us
Accessing and Understanding the New Report Cards
- Every family was able to access and read their child’s autumn report card.
- Most found the information clear and helpful in preparing for the parent consultation.
- Families overwhelmingly felt that receiving the report beforehand made the consultation more productive.
- Almost all parents agreed that the combination of the report and consultation gave them a good understanding of their child’s progress so far this year.
Parent Consultation Appointments
- All families reported attending their consultation.
- A small number shared that appointment timings felt slightly tight, with limited transition time between meetings.
Report Timing
- 20 out of 28 families preferred reports to be sent home before the holiday.
- A small number preferred the start of term, and some had no preference.
🧡 Key Themes from Your Comments & What We’re Doing Next
Before collecting feedback, we promised that all comments would remain confidential—and while we maintain that commitment, we also want to be open about what we learned and the improvements we’re putting in place.
1. Earlier updates for children starting school (Early Years)
Some families shared that first personalised information in the autumn term came later than they expected.
Our next steps:
- We are exploring replacing the written autumn report for new starters with full parent consultations around October half term, ensuring earlier, meaningful conversations with families.
- We will keep parents updated as this work develops.
2. Making report language clearer and easier to navigate
A few families found some of the terminology confusing.
Our next steps:
- A simple explanatory guide will be created using a ‘mock’ report.
- Report sections will be reorganised to make Reading, Writing, Maths and foundation subjects more clearly separated.
- Some wording will be refined to avoid suggesting a direct link between learning behaviours and academic progress.
3. Keeping report cards before the holiday
With the vast majority preferring this timing…
Our next step:
- Reports will continue to be issued before each holiday.
4. Parent consultation timing & experience
Some families felt sessions were a little rushed, and many appreciated the distraction‑free environment created by offering child supervision.
Our next steps:
- We will continue offering free, supervised activities for children in the lower hall during meetings.
- A short transition gap will be added between appointments.
- Staff will receive additional guidance on managing consultation timings.
- We will explore offering extra appointment availability for Early Years families in the autumn.
- A simple overview of how information is shared throughout the year will be created (e.g. Stay and Play, Meet the Teacher, newsletters, phonics evenings, handovers).
🌈 Working Together So Every Child Can Shine
Thank you once again to everyone who shared their views. Your feedback is helping us strengthen the way we communicate about children’s learning and ensuring that we continue to offer a supportive, transparent, and nurturing learning journey for every child at St Peter’s.
If you have any questions, please get in touch via admin@stpeters.ycst.co.uk or by calling 01423 569684.
Families can read the full letter below.
