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Parents’ and Carers’ Views of the School

Parents think that the strengths of the school are:

Teaching:

Achievement and results
Pupils reach their potential
Care and guidance
Encouragement, help and support
Recognising pupil needs and addressing them
Rewards
Teachers easy to approach and talk to

Communication:

Keeping parents informed about progress and behaviour
Monitoring and recording
Using texts and emails

Standards:

Behaviour
Discipline
Uniform
Ethos
Values
Morals

Comments from parents and carers:

"The school has a sense of purpose and takes on its responsibilities"

"A safe environment, full of happy children with lots to do"

"The teachers are pleasant"

"Teaching is good, good teacher-pupil rapport, hard work complimented and rewarded after-school activities"

"I am happy and confident my child is well looked after and encouraged to do her best"

"I like the idea of contacting me via text messaging"

"Friendly, open school. Easy to discuss problems"

"I have found staff helpful and approachable"

"You maintain a good level of discipline without restricting growth"

"High quality of teaching especially Christian values"

"The school is good at communicating with parents"

"Discipline is good, problems are dealt with promptly, we are kept well informed"

In our annual survey of parents and carers:

100% agreed that "staff expect my child to work hard and do his or her best"
99% agreed that "all families are equally valued whatever their backgrounds"
99% agreed that "staff encourage all students to do their best, not just the most able"
99% agreed that "the school encourages all pupils to live a healthy lifestyle"
99% agreed that "the school is led and managed well"
99% agreed that "my child is well cared for at school"
98% agreed that "my child is making good progress because the teaching is good"
98% agreed that "I feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem or complaint"
96% agreed that "the school seeks the views of parents and takes account of their suggestions and concerns"
96% agreed that "I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on"
94% agreed that "behaviour in school is good"
93% agreed that "there is a good range of activities that my child finds interesting and enjoyable"

Comments from Year 7 parents and carers:

“We are very pleased with Emily’s attitude, results and how she has settled in at Mount St Mary’s”

“I really appreciate the school’s effort in giving Jude a good education and being a part of his achievement. Thank you”

“I am delighted that Nathan has such fantastic mentors”

“I am really pleased with the progress Rebecca has made at Mount St Mary’s. It confirms I made the right choice in high school”

“I am so pleased. Thank you for the excellent work from all the teachers”

“Thank you for the support you are giving to our daughter”

“We are extremely pleased to know he has settled in so well and is working so hard”

“This is a start to a great school career”

“This school has been great for me. I have made lovely friends and had excellent teachers”

“The teachers are helpful and brilliant at what they do. They have taught us well and prepared us well. The rest was up to us”

“Thank you for the past five years – I wouldn’t change any of it”

“I just wish I could relive it all again”

In our annual survey of Year 11 leavers

98% agreed that school had expected them to work hard and achieve their best
97% agreed that they had been taught well
96% agreed that behaviour in their classroom was good
94% agreed that they had got good support with their coursework
93% agreed that staff encouraged all students to do their best
93% agreed that all families are equally valued whatever their background
93% agreed that staff encouraged all students to do their best, not just the more able
92% agreed that attending extra sessions outside normal lessons had helped them prepare
91% agreed that having lessons up to the exams had been valuable
91% agreed that their work was assessed helpfully so that they knew how to improve it

The views of our learners are very important to us and let us know what we have done well and what we could have done better.

Poem by Year 11 student - 15th June 2007

Farewell Poem

For five long years I have been here,
Amongst the people I revere,
And now the time has come at last
For me to go and leave the past.

I thank you all for giving me
The light of knowledge I need to see
Through the fog, that was, for me,
Made from clouds of uncertainty.

You shall remain within my heart
As I follow my career and art,
And feeling sorrow I can’t deny,
My time has come…and so goodbye.