Thank you to all parents who returned their WHASP summer scheme evaluation forms. It was another good summer for the children who attended WHASPs. The younger students enjoyed half day trips to farm parks and train rides complemented by activities in school such as cooking and hydrotherapy. Students in key stage two explored Cotswold farm park, soft play, swimming and the park and the students in secondary experienced a train ride to the Thinktank in Birmingham, an off road Landrover ride, a boat trip and Kenilworth castle.
The weeks were thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended. The students all appeared calm and happy and were exceptionally well behaved and a pleasure to be with on trips out.
The results from the questionnaire demonstrated that the parents were happy with the timings of the scheme but many parents wanted the scheme to run for longer, many requesting a week at the end of the holidays to support the students with their transition back to school. Parents generally were ‘impressed with the range of activities on offer.’ Parents of our younger children felt that there was a ‘nice variety with some chill out time at school each day.’ The students in secondary appeared to particularly enjoy the activities on offer and parents felt that the ‘train to Birmingham went down particularly well’ with the students.
Most parents were happy with the information given prior to the scheme although some parents felt that they needed the dates of the scheme earlier on in the year. The majority of parents were pleased with the staff who supported the scheme, finding them knowledgeable and approachable and they felt confident of their child’s safety at the scheme. One parent reported that they would have liked to meet the staff working with their child prior to the scheme starting.
All parents felt that their child was generally happy at the scheme with comments being that children were ‘content and relaxed’, ‘happy and excited to attend each day,’ ‘always looking forward to the next day,’ ‘returning home each evening happy and confident,’ and that they ‘absolutely loved summer school.’
Many parents were put off the summer scheme this year due to the increase in cost. Many parents recognised that it was still heavily subsidised by the school and local charities and that the contribution parents were asked to make still only covered 40% of the overall costs. Some parents felt that the cost was ‘about right,’ because of the ‘high staff ratio and trips (being) included.’ Some felt that it was ‘comparatively very good,’ ‘excellent value for money’ and one parent asked ‘where else could you get excellent childcare for just £20.00 / day?’ One parent suggested the cost being means tested. We appreciate that the summer can prove a costly time for parents and so will continue to work diligently to secure funding for future years so we can subsidise the cost to parents.
We thoroughly appreciate all feedback and will take suggestions into consideration when planning future schemes. It was a great Summer, the students were a pleasure to work with on the scheme.