Dear Parents and Carers,
Thank you for your continued support.
I am delighted to inform you that the academy has been accredited with the Leading Parent Partnership Award. This award highlights our sustained efforts in striving to build long-lasting and highly effective relationships with our community. It represents the culmination of 18 months of improvement aimed at ensuring that our parents and carers work collaboratively with us to support their children at the academy.
The highlights from the report include:
- Strood Academy is a school and community where parent partnerships have been transformed over the period of the award which coincided with the arrival of a new Principal and other significant strategic leadership changes, as part of a much wider rapid transformation of the school.
- The strategic leadership of the award coordinator using the framework as a guide and with engagement of colleagues and leaders at all levels has been highly impactful. Change has been rapid but leaders have taken the whole school community with them, embraced feedback and shown a willingness and openness to go the extra mile.
- There are many strengths that have arisen out of this clear leadership and wider transformation because they have happened so rapidly during the award period but the school rightly identify the most significant strengths are:
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- Communication – there is now a clear and cohesive strategy which is targeted to the needs of the audience and which has been carefully built listening to feedback from stakeholders. This includes clear and multiple channels to communicate to and with parents including daily notices providing parents with accurate up to date information about what is going on at the school and daily drop ins and a call back system ensuring if any parent has a concern or wants/needs to speak to the school urgently this is facilitated rapidly.
- Parent relations – have improved significantly with much wider engagement including attendance at school events, an increase in positive interactions and reduction in complaints and concerns and greater positive engagement with staff at all levels. This has now led to a well attended parent forum and the school being able to appoint two parents to join the board of governors.
- Parent voice – there are many channels and opportunities including surveys three times a year for each stakeholder group. Alongside this, there is now a strong and impactful parent forum valued and empowered by leaders who are used as a sounding board by the school, valued for their feedback and can demonstrate how they have impacted change since their creation 18 months ago.
- Community relations – by looking outward and welcoming their wider community into the school the academy is now playing a wider role in the local community. By engaging with local primary schools and community groups and changing their wider reputation to the benefit of their own school and their new partners. This includes greater community access to the site and providing a more effective transition for primary pupils.
There is now a strong vision in Vision 28 which has been developed with parents as well as staff and pupils building on the existing values of the school. This has enabled all stakeholders to understand why change is necessary and the benefits for them and the wider community. Leaders have demonstrated their commitment to this and the community can clearly see the benefits already delivered giving confidence in the delivery of the wider vision.
This exceptional achievement is a testament to our collective efforts as we continue on our journey towards excellence.
Please find our invite to our Module 3 Parent Voice Forum which is attached here.
Sending best wishes,
Mr Jon Richardson | Principal