Dear Parents,
Soon we will be launching our annual Parent Satisfaction Survey at The British International School Shanghai. We hope you will take this opportunity to tell us what you think about our school and opportunities for improvement - your feedback is vital to helping us create the best education for your child.
The results from the survey will inform our strategy for continuous improvement. Therefore, the more responses we get, the more confident we can be that our action plans respond to your views, so please do make sure you have your voice heard. Of course, I would also like to have a balanced view, so please tell us where you think we are doing well, as we want to make sure that we build on our strengths too.
One of the questions you might be asking yourself right now is “What happened in response to the last Parent Survey I completed?”.
I’ve listed below some of the changes that we’ve put into place this year to address the things that you raised – I hope that they demonstrate how well we are listening and responding to your feedback.
EDUCATION
In feedback last year, parents wanted to understand more about the progress that their child was making, the content of their learning in different topics, the way we teach at BISS Puxi and how we assess pupil progress. In the last year, we’ve introduced:
- More workshops and information sessions for parents to find out exactly how we teach, assess and support our pupils across the school – from Literacy in our Early Years to Theory of Knowledge in our IB Academy.
- Lesson visits and tours for parents to see learning taking place in both Primary and Secondary classes.
- New opportunities to meet with teachers in the Primary School to discuss progress beyond traditional after-school meetings.
- More detailed data for parents that outlines the progress that your child is making in their learning in the Primary School;
- An additional Student Parent Teacher Conference for Years 11 and 13 parents, with a specific focus on mock examinations.
- The Firefly platform for Secondary parents to use as a ‘go to’ place where detailed information on the topics that your child is learning in each subject can be found, along with timetables, reports, newsletters, sports fixtures and homework details.
FACILITIES
In last year’s feedback, parents wanted the school to have more ‘kerbside appeal’, to look and be more welcoming and to feel premium. Our projects in the last six months have included:
- Updating our bus transport – in the last 3 years, all of our school buses and minibuses have been replaced with new ones, the latest joined our fleet in October.
- Reconfiguring the entrance area to the Primary School, introducing new play equipment and seating areas within a ‘greener’ environment of trees and plant walls.
- Remodelling the Chatterbox Café to be a place for parents to meet, work and enjoy waiting for their children, open from 08:00-16:00 every day.
- A new outdoor learning environment and playground for our students in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
- Refurbishment of Stage One, The Gallery and the Auditorium, including new seating and flooring for these Performing Arts spaces.
- Classroom redecorations throughout our Pre-Nursery classrooms; ongoing in our Secondary School as we redecorate and install SMART TVs in all rooms.
- Upgrading our student bathrooms to be premium.
We still have plans in place this year to enhance our facilities further – this includes a redesigned walkway between the Primary and Secondary Schools; a new heating and dehumidification system in the Secondary swimming pool area; new classroom furniture and a student wellbeing area in our Secondary School.
COMMUNITY
We were asked to have more events and activities for parents to be able to come onto the campus, particularly given the difficulties with this over the past few years. Parents want to be more involved in the life of the school. In response, and in partnership with our parents, we have:
- Set up regular feedback opportunities for parents to meet with the Heads of Schools to enable a collective approach to school improvement. For example, regular invitations and opportunities to spot check lunch provision for pupils have helped to develop our food menus.
- Weekly opportunities for parents to meet and take part in on-campus activities during the school day – including Zumba, yoga, tennis, badminton, and choir.
- Re-establishing parent and community events at the school – this year we saw the return of our Winter Fair at the school, with over 3,500 visitors – feedback has suggested that this was one of the best that we’ve held.
- The return of the International Food Fair and the introduction of a Charity Ball during Spring 2024 – thanks to the amazing work of our very active parent community.
- A brand new and more comprehensive school newsletter.
- A WeChat channel dedicated to BISS Community (BISS Puxi Life).
- A new biweekly newsletter to know even more about school environment, facilities and operations (Good To Know articles on BISS Puxi Life).
ECAs AND SPORTS
Parents told us in our last survey that they wanted their children to have the opportunity to develop their skills further in a variety of sports. In response to this, we have:
- Set up opportunities for pupils to receive expert coaching each week and throughout the year in swimming, tennis, badminton, volleyball, football and basketball. These sessions are delivered by expert coaches as part of our BISCAP programme, with opportunities to compete against other schools during each ‘season’ or term for those sports.
- We’ve reviewed our ECA programme to ensure that those that are most popular are available as much as possible each term. At the end of each phase, parents are invited to showcases to see the progress that children have made in their chosen ECAs.
The list above is not exhaustive and we invite everyday feedback from parents through conversations and messages to our staff so that we can continually aim to get better, with a razor sharp focus on the outcomes for your child. I hope that the above provides you with a helpful overview of what we’ve done so far, as well as some ideas of what we’ll look to do in the future.
Please look out for the survey link in our emails and other school communications.
The survey is accessible through PC, Mac, tablet, iPad, or smartphone and should take you 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Each family should respond once on behalf of all your children. If you wish to share specific feedback, please do so in the open comment boxes at the end of the survey. Your responses will be combined with those of other parents at our school and will remain anonymous.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your help and support.
Best wishes,
Andrew Lancaster BSC (HONS), PGCE, NPQH, MAGNOLIA AWARD WINNER (2021)
Principal
