At Swaffham Church of England Primary Academy we recognise the importance of and value parental involvement in the life of our school.  We believe that education is a collaborative enterprise involving, amongst others, parents, staff and children.  As a school, we are committed to establishing and maintaining an effective and purposeful working relationship between the home and school.

Parent voice and feedback is very important to us and supports leaders to drive forward further school improvement.

We regularly obtain parent opinions and views of our school through surveys, questionnaires, obtaining feedback on events and informally by staff being present and approachable on the school gates at the start and end of our school day.

Parent/ Carer feedback:  new families with children starting school in September 2025.

Families were asked:

How do you feel about Swaffham C of E Primary Academy?  Why did you choose our school?

‘the school was so welcoming and we were particularly impressed by the Reception class teacher as she really took her time in explaining everything and interacting with every child on the open day we attended.  He fitted in really well here and looks to be comfortable and excited to be starting in September.’

‘We visited the academy and our son really came out of his shell by the warmth of the teachers and other staff.’

‘We have both had a tour and an interactive session at the school and we were incredibly impressed with the staff and how well they interacted with our child.  She was instantly very at home, playing with other children and Miss Lambert, the teacher, was very engaging and gave off wonderful energy.’

‘From speaking to other parents of children who attend the school, I have heard great things of how their children have thrived.  I would love the same for my son.’

‘I have heard fantastic things.’

‘The school has very good reports.’

Parent Carer Feedback November 2024:  Year 2,3,4,5 and 6 Parents' Evening Questionnaire:

Please click on the link below to see the questionnaire results.

The following comments were also shared:

'We are very happy.'

'I am pleased with the education my child receives.  My child is happy in school and is doing well in her subjects.'

'Very happy with the school and my child's progress.'

'After school clubs and wraparound care will be beneficial for working families.'  We responded to this feedback by contacting the Local Authority to complete a sufficiency survey.  The outcome of this survey showed that there was a need for more childcare places in Swaffham and so we launched our Otter's After School Wraparound Club in May 2025.  We have also expanded our Breakfast club provision to provide more places.  We continue to offer After School Clubs as an alternative and enrichment opportunity for our pupils.

'Our daughter loves coming to SPA- feels confident and happy.'

'My child feels happy at the school and as a parent I am well informed.  The teachers and support staff are fantastic.'

'So pleased with the progress she has made in the last 9 months since being here.'

'I think the school should teach how to sign (sign language) and to ride a bike.'  We thought that learning sign language was a fantastic idea and absolutely what we should do to make sure that we are a fully inclusive school, supporting the communication needs of all our pupils.  Every week we all learn a new Makaton sign.  We share the sign in our Celebration Worship on a Friday and all learn it together.  Mrs Rice posts a video weekly on Dojo so that families can learn too if they wish.  Being able to communicate this way has been transformational for our school.

We have also taken on board the feedback about learning to ride a bike and offered Bikeability courses to our pupils in years 3 and 4 in the Summer of 2025.  We will continue to offer this as we feel it is a very valuable and fun skill and also important for children to learn how to keep safe when on the roads. 

'More options for school clubs would be great.'  We have a variety of after school clubs on offer including football, gardening club, zumba and dodgeball.  We are also supporting our local Church as they have established a choral tuition club available to children in Years 4,5 and 6- we offered a taster session for this in the Autumn Term.

Open Classroom Event February 2024

Year 5 Families were asked to share:

What they enjoyed about the event.

Is there anything we could do to improve the event in the future.

Other comments.

‘We enjoyed seeing what our child has been learning about.’

‘Our child enjoyed showing us her book and her work.  It was really interesting and good to have this catch up.’

‘We enjoyed having this time to see our daughter’s work.’

‘I enjoyed this event as I could see my daughter’s great work with spelling and maths.  She is working really well.  Thank you for your hard work.’

‘It was lovely to see their work.’

‘I enjoyed seeing my child’s work.  I think you should have more events like these- very relaxed and fun.’

‘It was great to see how proud my son is of his work.’

‘It was really good to see the topics my son has improved in.  Lovely to see his work and know what he has been learning at school.’

Open Classroom Event:  February 2023

We asked families what they enjoyed about this event.  Here is a selection of parent feedback:

‘How excited he was to show us his work.’

‘I enjoyed seeing how proud she was of all of her work.’

‘Good to see what is going on in the classroom.’

‘It is great to see what they are learning about and see their books.’

‘How interesting the kids learning was…especially the history.’

‘I really enjoyed that I was able to see how my child is progressing and see the learning environment.’

‘Seeing all the work that has been done over term and how handwriting has improved.’

‘Was lovely to see how well the class get on and help each other.’

‘Finding out what the children have been learning about.’

‘We all enjoyed the quiz.’

‘Looking through the books and seeing all the work I’ve been told about.’

‘Looking through the showbook and seeing displays.  Lovely to explore the classroom.’

‘Seeing what the children are learning and looking at past work.’

‘Being able to interact with my child and see what they get up to in class.’

‘Nice and relaxing…teacher was very informative.’

‘It was nice to see the learning environment and interaction between my child and their teacher.’

‘Interactive.’

Open Classroom Event November 2022:  

Parents were invited to come into their child's classroom with their child to see and hear what they had been learning about.

We asked families what they enjoyed about this event.  Here is a selection of parent feedback:

‘It was lovely to see how much my child has improved in reading and writing.’

‘It was really beneficial to speak to our child’s teacher with how we can support learning at home.’

‘Such a lovely opportunity to see what they have been learning and to see them in their classroom.’

‘Really impressed with all their provision and progress in such a short time.’

‘The freedom of being able to look around the classroom with our child.’

‘I enjoyed looking through the books and classroom and seeing everything they have been learning about.’

‘Being able to look at the progress my child has made.’

‘I enjoyed seeing my child in their learning environment.’

‘It was good to be a part of my child’s learning.’

‘It was great to be able to see what the children have been learning and a chance to see their work and their books.’

‘Seeing how proud he was to show us his work.’

‘So good to see that conservation plays a big part of the curriculum.’

‘How happy the children are.’

‘That we could look through the books with our child and talk about their learning.’

‘Lovely chance to be involved in my child’s work and be in the classroom.’