Have your say!

At Great Sankey Primary School we are outward facing and are always looking for ways to improve. Your views are important to us and we are keen to hear your comments, answer any questions and listen to any concerns you may have. There are many ways you can do this at our school.

How can we communicate?

Every Friday our weekly newsletter and bulletin is distributed to all our families and friends via email mail and we post the links on our social media pages. We are always keen to share and celebrate good news and achievements. This can also be done by contributing to our 'Star Outside School' section. Please email school if you wish something to be included.

Every Friday we hold our celebration assembly in which we share our good news and announce our stars of the week who have either completed outstanding work or have shown an outstanding attitude to their learning. We also celebrate children's attendance and announce the class percentage of the week for the weekly trophy. During this time we also like to share and reward learning and achievements from outside school. The children love to stand up and tell the rest of the school about their recent achievements and we always welcome hearing all about them. If your child has anything to share such as a certificate, trophy or medal, please encourage them to bring it in for Friday's assembly.

Throughout the year there are many opportunities for you to come into school to find out how your child is taught through open evenings, attending our concerts and our popular 'Stay and Play' sessions in EYFS and 'Stay and Learn' sessions in Key Stage One and Key Stage Two.

Speak to the Class Teacher

Please keep in contact with us as we truly value your thoughts. We have an 'open door' policy which means that teachers are available at the end of every day. In the morning, teaching assistants are on the doors and playground should you need to speak to a member of staff. Mrs Wilding or a member of the Senior Leadership Team are always on the gate and Miss Leah (Pastoral Leader) is also available every morning and is always happy to help.

Parents' evenings are held three times a year (once a term) and are an excellent opportunity to speak in depth to your child's class teacher as well as learn about their work and look in their workbooks. Although, if you have any concerns regarding your child's social or academic ability, we suggest you do not wait for the termly meeting, but arrange an appointment to speak with the class teacher as soon as possible.

The children's school planners are also a useful communication tool should you need to share a message with the teacher.

Speak to the Head teacher.

Mrs Wilding is out on the playground most mornings and evenings (weather permitting!) and able to answer questions and queries. Should you require a more private meetings, appointments can be made through the school office or email school directly through the website or on [email protected]

School Surveys

We annually ask parents and carers to complete a short survey. The survey focuses on teaching and learning, behaviour and safety, and leadership. This is one of the most important tools for us as we directly gain your views. This helps us to see the positives and also importantly, areas in which we can improve.

Recent surveys have helped us to improve things. For example parents requested different ways for us to communicate with them, so as well as the newsletter, bulletin and website, we have a parent email system, a school Facebook and Twitter page as well as individual class Twitter pages. Parents also requested notice of events so we publish events on the calendar on our school website as well as sending out reminders via social media, newsletters and Arbor email. Our website is updated regularly and we increasingly direct parents to this as the key source of information.

In previous surveys, we have been commended on the wide range of after school activities we offer. This continues and we are always looking for new opportunities and clubs we can offer to our children across the different terms. Past surveys also requested the development of the outdoor areas. Along with the support of TCAT and the Friends of GSP group, we have been able to create wonderful, stimulating outdoor areas for our EYFS, KS1 and KS2 children. These include a huge new development in our EYFS area as well as the purchase of outdoor gym equipment, a daily mile track, two new outdoor classrooms as well as landscaping and astroturfing these areas and gating. We continually invest in lots of new resources, playground markings and posters for the children to interact with and use whilst outdoors. The table tennis and nets and games tables have also helped to improve the facilities.

During other parents' evenings we always have mini surveys asking you for your views. Don't wait for these surveys though - if you have some feedback for us, let us know!

'Shout Out' the positives.

Please do not forget to share the positives with us through letters, emails, post-its! We like to 'Shout Out!' and capture all our magic moments at GSP and welcome those from families also.

Make a complaint.

Complaints are very rare at Great Sankey Primary due to the excellent relationships and communications we have with our families. We have an excellent team of dedicated staff who are almost always available, along with the Headteacher and other Senior Leaders, so it is often easy to resolve any concerns or issues you may have quickly. However, if parents or carers feel that they need to make a formal complaint, it should be made in writing to the Headteacher. A copy of our full complaints policy and procedures can be viewed under our complaints section.

As always, if you have a question, concern or idea please make contact with us.