Head’s Blog: Feedback and Fake News

We recently conducted a survey of parents/carers to gather your views on Fearnhill. All parents and carers were then invited to a feedback event to discuss this further. A small number of parents attended and the discussions were encouraging and productive.

Survey headlines

Just over 100 parents and carers responded to our survey. Here are some key headlines:

  • Over 75% of parents agree or strongly agree  that their child feels safe at Fearnhill
  • Over 75% of parents agree or strongly agree that the school has high expectations for their children
  • Over 80% of parents agree or strongly agree that there is a good range of subjects
  • 75% of parents would recommend Fearnhill to another school.

All of this indicates that there is plenty to be pleased about, but also more for us to do supporting some students.

Facebook Fake News

One of the more frustrating experiences for staff in a school is reading the inevitable ‘trial by social media’, that occurs from time to time. I read some comments recently on social media that were untrue and serve to harm the reputation of the school that has taken so long to improve.

Fact check

Parent and student surveys consistently show that the majority of students either do not experience bullying or are satisfied that it is well dealt with where it has occured. Ofsted have visited the school in the last 2 years and paid close attention to SEND provision. They were very complimentary about the steps the school is taking to meet students’ needs and noted the improvements since the previous inspection in 2019.

Continuous improvement

In truth, Fearnhill’s journey of improvement continues apace. Our exam progress at GCSE and A Level are well above the national average. We are oversubscribed with over 25 students on waiting lists to attend Fearnhill. Our Ofsted grade is ‘good’ with very minor areas for improvement. We have not received a qualifying Ofsted complaint in the last 18 months (Ofsted receives over 15,000 complaints nationally each year).

Your feedback is important

I know that there is always more to do. There are times when we do not support students as well as we could. Sometimes it is lack of funding, or pressures on staff time. On other occasions we could just do things better. Where this is the case we want to listen and improve. If you ever need support or want to discuss an issue that is important to you please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Tim Spencer, Headteacher