Listening and Responding to Parents

Overall approaches of listening to parents and changes implemented

Staff are asked to promptly respond to families, even if it is a holding email at first, to help families know they are listened to. Additionally, we host events across the school calendar to encourage communication with families.

Some changes we’ve made based on family feedback include improving communication channels and avoiding multiple platforms for communication. We’ve also used feedback from families to include running a variety of clubs for the children and adapted the trips and visits to reach a wider range of interests.

I wanted families to feel invested in the school, to feel that it was being built with them, not simply for them. That early sense of buy-in was critical, particularly with our first cohort of 120 pupils.

When a child joins Florence, their families also become part of our Florence Family. We provide home visits for every child joining the school, and that responsibility is shared across the senior leadership team. We work exceptionally closely with our primary schools. I have senior leaders who sit on primary governing bodies, and I have appointed a primary trained teacher to our senior team to ensure the transition process is genuinely joined up. For me, listening to parents starts long before a child arrives in Year 7.

Listening is not confined to surveys; we run regular parent voice surveys and actively seek feedback on  decisions, such as catering and wider provision. What matters most is that we do not just collect feedback and sit on it. When parents tell us something, we respond. I highlight concerns, arrange follow-up meetings, and ensure actions are taken. That responsibility ultimately sits with me as the headteacher, but it is shared across the team. Every member of staff understands that listening to parents and acting on what we hear is part of our core business.

Much of our work around “poverty proofing” has been shaped by listening carefully to our families and the context in which they live. We are based in an area of significant deprivation in Stoke on Trent, with almost half of our pupils eligible for pupil premium and a high proportion of looked-after children. Parents were clear that they wanted a school that was ambitious for their children but also deeply caring and practical in its support.

We have worked hard to remove stigma. Parents and students order meals online through the Arbor app, and food is served restaurant-style at family dining tables. You cannot tell who is in receipt of free school meals and who is not. We have built the cost of trips into our budget wherever possible to avoid placing financial pressure on families. Every child receives a Chromebook and has a backpack given to them on arrival, so that technology is not a barrier to learning. Our Family breakfast is free for all students, ensuring that no child starts the day hungry, particularly those who sit just above the free school meals threshold. Even small details, such as offering professional school photographs for one pound per JPEG instead of expensive packages, are deliberate decisions rooted in our understanding of family circumstances.

Dignity matters. Parents have told us how much they value that their children feel equal, and that sense of belonging is something we are immensely proud of.

Very early on, parents told me they did not have time to read long, formal correspondence. So we adapted. The vast majority of my communication now goes out via a weekly or fortnightly vlog. It is spontaneous and authentic, and I am often interviewed without knowing the questions in advance. Parents tell me they watch it while cooking tea or in the background at home. It is accessible, human and far more effective than letters that go unread.

Listening does not sit solely with me. Heads of Year communicate directly with families, and we have support staff available by phone throughout the day. In some cases, key parents have my mobile number and can ring me directly if they need a conversation. Responsibility for acting on feedback is shared, but it is led from the top. If we are serious about listening, leadership must model it.

Our work around mobile phones is a good example of how we’ve worked with parent feedback recently. There are national directives, but this is not a black-and-white issue. Parents have different experiences and legitimate concerns. Rather than rushing to impose a rule, we have worked with them, listened to their anxieties and discussed what would work best in our context. That dialogue builds trust.

Uniforms are another area where parent feedback has been important. We serve a community where around 50% of our students are disadvantaged. If a child arrives in the wrong shoes or without the correct uniform, we do not immediately sanction them. Instead, we support them. We run an on-site food bank, provide energy vouchers and offer a free breakfast club. We will lend uniforms or give families time to put things right. We do not lower standards, but we enable families to reach them.

I am proud of this approach because it reflects partnership. Parents know we are firm, but they also know we are fair. That balance is what sustains long-term engagement.

We are committed to creating a genuine culture of listening, where parents feel welcomed, respected and actively involved in their child’s educational journey.

We recognise that parents are the experts on their own children. Because of this, we approach all communication with openness, curiosity and a desire to truly understand their perspectives. When concerns or barriers arise, we work collaboratively with parents and, where appropriate, outside agencies to explore solutions together. Our discussions are grounded in honesty, compassion and shared responsibility.

Ensuring that parent voices are heard is a whole-school responsibility, supported by all staff. Senior leaders oversee the systems and ethos that prioritise parent engagement, while class teachers and pastoral staff maintain day-to-day, responsive relationships with families. Parent feedback, whether gathered formally or informally, is carefully considered and used to drive improvement across the school.

We respond swiftly and sensitively to parental questions or concerns, making use of a range of communication platforms to ensure accessibility. This includes email, face-to-face conversations, telephone contact and direct messaging through Class Dojo. These systems allow us to maintain regular, meaningful dialogue with families and act promptly on the feedback they share.

One of the things we are most proud of at Manorfield CE Primary School is the way parent feedback has directly shaped meaningful and transparent improvements across our school community. The comments provided through Edurio, alongside the survey results themselves, have been invaluable in giving us deeper insights into parental thoughts, experiences and concerns. This richer understanding has enabled us to respond more precisely and effectively.

We have used platforms such as Class Dojo and our school newsletters to clearly communicate back to parents what we have heard and how we have acted. By regularly highlighting the specific steps taken in response to their feedback, we have been able to demonstrate swift, direct action and reinforce the message that parental voices genuinely make a difference.

Sharing parental perceptions with staff has also been an important part of this process. It allows colleagues to see the positive impact they have on families and appreciate how their everyday interactions contribute to the wider school culture. This creates a stronger sense of collective responsibility and deepens the connection to our school’s vision and values.

We continually work to strengthen a positive culture of inclusion, with a particular focus on nurturing strong, respectful relationships with parents. This ongoing reinforcement supports a school environment where feedback is welcomed, valued and acted upon.

Overall, we are most proud of the transparency through which these improvements have been developed. Parents can see clearly how their views have shaped change, and this openness has helped build trust, strengthen partnerships and enhance our shared commitment to every child’s success.

We use a parental app that has been specifically chosen for its accessibility and ease of use, recognising that many of our parents find the formality of emails a barrier to engagement. This enables timely, two-way communication and encourages a broader range of voices to be heard.

We also create structured opportunities for parental voice through curriculum-focused workshops and events, where parents can engage with what and how their child is learning, ask questions and share feedback. Individual classes regularly share their learning with families, helping strengthen relationships and open up further opportunities for dialogue.

Most importantly, we pride ourselves on being highly approachable. Senior leaders and staff are visible and welcoming at the school gates, and our open-door policy in the mornings ensures parents can raise concerns or share feedback informally and promptly.

Improvements driven by parent feedback range from small, practical changes to wider wholeschool developments, and we are proud that parent voice genuinely shapes how we operate. On a day-to-day level, this has included logistical adjustments such as refining communication methods or timings to better suit family needs. At a broader level, parent feedback has directly influenced how and when we offer opportunities for engagement with the curriculum.

A strong example of this is the way we schedule curriculum workshops. Through listening to parents, we recognised that sessions held at 3pm were not accessible for many working families. In response, we adapted our approach by staging workshops such as reading, e-safety and maths at a range of times, including early evening slots, to ensure greater accessibility. These changes were carefully planned and implemented with staff wellbeing firmly in mind, and expectations around availability are clear and respected by parents.

Building a strong home-school relationship

We support staff to engage meaningfully with families by giving staff scripts for difficult conversations. We also rehearse these kinds of conversations with staff members as part of our CPD offering.

Our Family Handbook provides parents with clarity around expectations, along with our HomeAcademy Agreement. That personal contact builds trust from the outset.

We employ a full-time Community Pioneer, a role we have adopted from the co-operative model. She acts as a bridge between the school and the local community. Her work ranges from grant writing and sourcing resources to meeting with parents to unpick concerns before they escalate. She will arrange meetings, have conversations over a cup of coffee, and ensure misunderstandings are clarified. It is about being present and accessible.

As we have grown and moved into a much larger building, maintaining that closeness has been more challenging. Capacity is something I am actively reflecting on. We are developing more opportunities for parents to come into school and have direct access to the senior leadership team, including bookable drop-in sessions. I am clear that as we scale up, we must work even harder to preserve the depth of relationships we established in our first year.

We provide explicit training for all staff from day one on how to engage with parents constructively. We talk openly about the reality that while most interactions are positive, there will be times when parents are upset or anxious. Staff are trained to remain calm, to listen carefully, to avoid reacting defensively, and to escalate concerns appropriately if they are unsure. This training is not limited to teachers. Support staff, office staff and site staff are included because they all interact with parents and the wider community. We coach staff where necessary, including scripting phone calls and modelling difficult conversations. The message is clear: if you are unsure, say so and seek support.

We also expect home room tutors to make phone calls home each day. Those positive interactions mean that when a more difficult conversation is needed, it sits within an established relationship rather than feeling adversarial. It is about building a home-school partnership, not seeing them as separate entities.

The greater the level of need, the greater ourlevel of contact. Alternative provision, pastoral layers and support systems are designed not just for the child, but for the family. Conversations are prioritised over emails. We prefer to get parents into school where possible and to build relationships face-to-face. Trust is cumulative. It grows through small, consistent actions like being accessible, being kind, being clear, and doing what we say we will do.

Supporting staffin working with families starts with a moral purpose. We regularly return to our “why”: transforming life chances for young people in a high-deprivation community. We draw on stories such as those in Katriona O’Sullivan’s book “Poor” to remind staff of the profound impact
education can have.

When staff understand that what we do may be the decisive factorin a young person’s future, conversations with parents are reframed. They are not confrontations; they are shared efforts to change a child’s trajectory.

We also model psychological safety internally. Staff must feel supported by leadership if they are to handle difficult conversations confidently. If a parent challenge arises, we stand behind our staff while also remaining open to reflection. That balance is essential.

Staff are consistently present at the school gate for meet-and-greet, enabling natural, informal conversations with parents at both the start and end of the day. These daily interactions build familiarity and trust over time, making communication feel accessible and safe for every family.

Our values-driven approach to communication, particularly our emphasis on compassion, helps parents feel understood, respected and supported. This is especially important for families who may have previously found school engagement challenging. Flexibility in the way we communicate also makes a significant difference, allowing us to meet parents’ needs rather than expecting them to adapt solely to ours.

Collaborative working with parents, particularly for our most vulnerable children, is a key pillar of our approach. Through open dialogue, shared problem-solving and a commitment to doing what is best for each child, we demonstrate that parents are partners in education, not passive observers. Over time, these consistent habits and systems build strong, long-lasting trust and reinforce our collective responsibility for every child’s wellbeing and success.

Class Dojo messaging has further strengthened our communication with families by offering a simple, informal and friendly channel for dialogue. We maintain an expectation that Dojo messages are responded to swiftly, helping parents feel heard and valued. However, our communication policy clearly outlines staff availability, helping parents understand when they can expect responses while also supporting staff workload and wellbeing. Teachers have protected time at the beginning and end of each day to respond to messages, ensuring communication remains timely and purposeful, allowing them to handle sensitive matters with care rather than haste.

We operate a model where all staff spend time across different classes. This means that children, and by extension parents, build familiarity with more adults in school, giving families multiple trusted points of contact. Parents are encouraged to contact any staff member, which reduces barriers and increases opportunities for positive connections.

In addition, we continue to expand the number and variety of open school events, taking into account parents’ work commitments and providing as much notice as possible. These events strengthen relationships, create shared experiences and deepen parents’ sense of belonging to our school community.

We have established a range of practices that support staff in responding constructively and sensitively to parent concerns, particularly when issues are complex or require careful handling. These practices are rooted in our school values and our commitment to ensuring that all families feel heard, respected and supported. A key element is our emphasis on compassionate, values-driven communication. Staff are trained and encouraged to approach every conversation, especially the challenging ones, with empathy, patience and an openness to understanding the parent’s viewpoint. This helps create an environment where parents feel safe to express their concerns honestly.

We recognise that effective communication with parents is a skilled area of practice, and we invest in staff CPD focused specifically on parental interactions and communication.

These sessions develop staff confidence in listening carefully, responding with empathy and clarity, and communicating professional decisions clearly and calmly. They also address the important skill of being appropriately assertive, enabling staff to set boundaries and manage conversations where expectations may not align with school policy or where information may be incomplete, while always maintaining positive relationships and mutual respect.

Alongside this, staff are supported by senior leaders who model effective communication and provide guidance where needed. This ensures that concerns are addressed consistently, professionally and constructively, with a focus on resolution, partnership and the best outcomes for pupils.

Feeding back to parents

If we consult on an issue, such as catering provision, we follow up with clarity about the decisions taken and why.

We also host events to bring parents into the life of the school. When we moved into our new building, one of my first priorities was to invite parents in. Before the formal opening ceremony, we organised tours for each year group so that families could see the space, explore it with their children, and understand that this building belongs to them. That visible openness reinforces trust.

Communication is an area I continue to develop. As we grow, I want to strengthen both the frequency and the clarity of our updates, ensuring that parents can see the direct link between their feedback and our actions.

We rarely “blanket bomb” the whole parent body with messages. If an issue affects 30 families, we communicate directly with those 30 rather than alarming 1,200. That respect for context demonstrates that we are listening carefully rather than reacting publicly.

Updates are framed around clarity. If parents raise an issue, we explain what we have heard, what we are doing, what we are not doing and why.

Our newsletters allow us to share the outcomes of our endeavours in a clear and accessible way. By explaining what actions have been taken and why, we help parents understand the ongoing cycle of listening, reviewing and improving.

Class Dojo messages provide a more immediate and informal way of keeping families up to date. The consistency of communication across this platform reinforces the sense that our endeavours to act upon parent feedback are continuous, thoughtful and responsive. These regular touchpoints help families feel connected to the improvements as they unfold.

Equally important are the informal conversations that happen at drop-off and pick-up. These face-to-face updates offer parents quick insights into the school’s ongoing endeavours and allow them to ask questions or share further thoughts in a natural, supportive setting. This relational approach builds trust and makes the process of improvement feel shared and transparent.

Together, newsletters, Dojo updates and personal conversations form a successful blend of communication strategies. They highlight our endeavours clearly, reach parents in multiple ways and ensure families can see the direct impact of their feedback on the life of the school.

The newsletter provides a regular snapshot of children’s learning, key developments and upcoming events, and parents consistently tell us how much they value this window into school life. Engagement with the newsletter is very high, with the vast majority of parents accessing it each week, making it an effective and trusted method for sharing updates and demonstrating how feedback informs our work.

Alongside this, our parent app and school Instagram account offer further insight into children’s learning and special events. These platforms allow for more immediate and visual communication, helping parents feel connected to daily life in school. The parent app is particularly successful, as it enables older pupils to share their work directly with parents at the click of a button. Children regularly upload photographs of writing, maths work or completed art and DT projects, which appear instantly on parents’ devices in a secure and safe way. This immediacy not only strengthens home-school links but also clearly shows how parental feedback around communication and visibility of learning has been acted upon.

Advice on embedding parent voice

Our success in our first year was rooted in the strength and depth of our relationships with primary colleagues who knew the children and their families well. That joined-up approach is invaluable.

Secondly, act on what you hear. Collecting feedback without responding damages trust. Even when you cannot do exactly what has been asked, be clear about why.

Finally, never underestimate the importance of dignity. Removing stigma, poverty-proofing decisions, and ensuring that every child feels safe, fed and valued sends a powerful message to parents. When parents see that their children are happy, safe and thriving academically, trust follows. For us, strengthening those relationships as we grow will be key to our long-term success.

Second, make communication human. Parents respond to authenticity more than polish. They need clarity, not volume. Third, build trust through consistency. Do not over-promise. Do not react performatively. Listen, act, explain and repeat.

Finally, understand that there is no single solution, that what works for students works for staff and works for parents. Working with parents is not one grand gesture, but a hundred aligned actions that create a culture where parents feel heard and valued.

Our recommendation to other schools or trusts is to begin by cultivating a culture where parents feel seen, welcomed and respected as partners.

A significant part of our approach has been building strong day-to-day visibility with families. Staff being present at the school gate, greeting parents, and taking the time to talk informally has transformed the way parents share their thoughts with us. These small moments of connection have developed into long-standing relationships that make honest communication feel natural, not formalised.

In our experience, communication that is rooted in compassion and a real desire to understand the whole family makes a profound difference. When staff respond with empathy, especially when parents may be uncertain, anxious or navigating challenges, trust grows quickly. Other schools may find that leading with humanity, rather than process, creates space for deeper, more meaningful conversations.

Using a variety of communication channels has allowed us to reach families in ways that suit them, not just us. Class Dojo, newsletters, face-to-face conversations and open events have all played a part in ensuring that listening is accessible to everyone. We have learned that offering multiple routes for engagement helps parents who might otherwise feel disconnected or unsure about how to approach the school.

Clear systems that show a commitment to acting on feedback are also vital. At Manorfield, we have found that when parents see tangible outcomes, however small, they are more willing to share their thoughts in the future. Regular updates about our endeavours have reinforced the message that parental voice genuinely shapes the direction of the school.

Sharing feedback with staff has strengthened our internal culture, too. It has helped colleagues see the positive impact they have on families and understand how their interactions contribute to the wider vision and values of the school. Other settings may benefit from making parental insights part of whole-staff reflection, not just leadership discussions.

Throughout our journey, transparency has been central. Being open about what we are doing, why we are doing it and what improvements still need to be made has helped parents feel truly included. This openness has been one of the strongest drivers of trust at Manorfield, and it is something we would wholeheartedly recommend to any school aiming to deepen parent partnerships.

In essence, the practices that have been most transformative for us: visibility, compassion, multiple communication pathways, consistent follow-up, internal reflection and transparent action, have reinforced the belief that listening is not an event but a continuous relationship. These are the endeavours that have strengthened our connection with families and can support other schools in building similarly meaningful partnerships.

Being visibly present and genuinely approachable makes a significant difference. Regular informal contact, such as leaders and staff greeting parents and being available at the start of the day, builds trust and makes it easier to raise concerns early and constructively.

Finally, effective listening must sit alongside professional clarity. It is vital to listen carefully to parents’ views, but also to be firm and transparent about priorities. Schools must protect time and focus on what matters most: high-quality teaching and learning. When this balance is clear, parents are more likely to respect boundaries and work in a genuine partnership with the school.