Parents Questionaire

[Guest]

Good evening all, i am now approaching the end of the first half term in my new job- nursery reception and i was going to try and do pupil perceptions, just to get idea of what they thought so far. i was also hoping to do one for the parents and this is where i need help, the parents are involved quite a bit and i thought it might be useful to get some views. i would be very grateful if you had some ideas of questions i could ask of if anyone has an example of this, thanks all ger

[Susan]

Make sure you can cope with the responses, they may not be all what you want to hear. Half a term isnt long to make an impression really.

[Guest]

I know Susan and yes that is why i need to word the questions properly/ carefully. It mainly came to mind because of the parent discussion part on the eprofile and more just making sure I am including parents in their childrens learning, maybe its just a no, no, but with ofsted always looming i am just keen to make sure i have everything covered, what do you think??

[Guest]

What do you feel your questionnaire should be covering? We ask questions, at pre-school, about the settling in process, activities and equipment available, do you feel your child's needs are met, what do they think about food provided for snack, do they feel they are kept informed about what is happening in the group and with their child? Are those the sort of things you are looking at or is it more curriculum and profile based?

Linda

[hali]

we ask similar questions as Linda and include things like if they have a problem do they know who to approach,what do they like best/worst about the pre school, do they what thier learn/are they kept informed about progress......

[Guest]

I've used similar questions as already stated plus I ask what parents expectations are, have these expectations been met (although may be too soon to say), what areas would you like to see developed.

 

If you do one at this early stage maybe questions related to communication, how would the parents like you to communicate with them, what do they want you to communicate about, or not.

 

As for Ofsted luming, even if you decide it is too early to send out questionairres it wouldn't hurt to have some prepared with a timetable for the year when and why you will be sending them out.

 

Give permission for constructive critisism, try and wod questions to enable insightful answers rather than graded yes/no/maybe/don't know or 1 as good 5 as bad ( although useful for data collection doesn't always give the parents true view point. Think of questionairres you have filled in, how hard it is when they don't give the opportunity to voice an opinion, or the structure/ content doesn't feel relevant etc.

 

Be clear in what you really want to / need to know and be clear on what you intend to do with the information once gathered. Plan how you will share the information gathered and how you will act on it ( which in turn will determine what type of questions you ask.

 

Don't just do a paper exercise for the sake of it, make it as meaningful and useful as possible.

Consider how to include all parents ( non literate / ESL/EAL).

 

Apologise if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, just typing my first thoughts

 

Be interesting to see what you come up with, maybe a selection of parent questionairres would be useful to place in the resource library, yours could be the first one eh

 

Peggy

[Guest]

thanks everyone, i will do my best peggy and let you know when i have got something.

[Lucy P]

I used a really good one that i found on this forum, just off for a search

[Lucy P]

Here it is!

 

I used LJW's example (8th post down) and can confirm Ofsted loved it!

[Guest]

thanks very much Lucy, that will really help. great

[Susan]

Does your head know you are thinking of doing this?

[Guest]

I asked if we should/needed to do one, he liked the idea and now its in my performance management. Do you not like the idea Susan? The parents like to feel they are very involved and i thought it might be a good way of doing it but like you i can see where it might lead. ger

[Guest]

bit late i know

 

but i do a thing called settling in cards

 

i send after half term a picture of a very happy child beautifully mounted with a written card which tells the parents how there child has settled in if there has been a problem like dinner times i take a pic of a very happy child eating dinner etc

 

i rite about friendships settling in dinnertimes playtimes etc all the things parents are concerned about as there child starts school

 

i then send a blank settling in card for the parents to write their views on how there child has settled in i dont always get these back but i dospare copies to add to their profiles and attach parents views

 

the responses are lovely thanking me and the parents are delighted to get a picture of their child at school

[HappyMaz]

cheerycherry this is a brilliant idea!

 

I may well be 'borrowing' this idea for this term's newbies. How lovely to receive something like that in the post - especially if separation has been a bit of an issue!

 

Maz

[Guest]

maz you daft woman

 

i thought i was one of the only daft ones who wanders through this forum this late at night looking for inspiration on food

 

get to bed lol

[HappyMaz]

maz you daft woman

What a shrewd judge of character you are!

 

Maz

[Guest]

cheerycherry

what a lovely idea.My parents would love this Hope you dont mind if i use your idea with my new ones in Jan.

Skippytrip

[Guest Wolfie]

I agree, it's a lovely idea!

[Guest]

Hmm, I remember that questionnaire. Its part of the SPEEL project which always goes down well with Ofsted.