Thank you to all those who took the time to complete our most recent parent survey. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us continue to challenge, cherish and inspire every child in our care. The partnership between home and school is central to everything we do, and your input ensures that we continue to grow and improve together.
We were delighted by the overwhelmingly positive responses and the thoughtful, constructive comments shared by families. One of the highlights of this year’s survey was our Net Promoter Score (NPS) - a key measure of how likely parents are to recommend our school - which was significantly higher than the sector average. This is a wonderful reflection of the trust, pride and sense of community that defines our school, really making it the best decision ever for families.
Parents particularly valued our nurturing ethos, high-quality teaching, and the way children are encouraged to challenge themselves and take pride in their learning. Many families also recognised the care and warmth that underpin every aspect of school life, where each child is cherished as an individual and supported to flourish both academically and personally.
Alongside this positive feedback, thank you for the helpful suggestions offered for improvement and growth. We have listened and reflected carefully and this booklet contains 'You Said, We Did' pages outlining the key actions we have taken, or are taking, in response.
Your voices continue to shape our direction and strengthen our shared vision for the future. Together, we will keep ensuring that every child is challenged, cherished, and inspired to reach their full potential. Thank you once again for your partnership, trust and ongoing support.
Rachel Hamlyn, Head
67.5 Net Promoter Score vs a sector average of 32
How our parents describe The Manor…
Atmosphere of the school
Quality of teaching and learning
Behaviour of pupils
Class sizes
Pastoral care
Down to earth feeling
Behaviour of pupils
Quality of teaching and learning
Pastoral care
Academic progress and results
Parent Survey
Key Stats
Wraparound care
Breadth of the curriculum
Quality of teaching and learning
Pastoral care
Early Years
Teachers and staff
Happiness and wellbeing of children
Caring and nurturing environment
Sense of family and community
Quality of teaching and academic support
Our Community You said… We did…
We would like to have more opportunities to engage with the school.
We would love more opportunities to engage with other parents.
We held a Parent Forum in the Summer Term to explore how we can provide plenty of opportunities for parental engagement without causing difficulties for working parents.
Some super ideas were generated and will be implemented, such as surprise Reader of the Week, open classroom events at the end of each term and more information being shared about volunteering opportunities.
Regular Parent Forums are providing the opportunity for in-depth discussions on specific topics and more informal SLT coffee events are also being offered for parents to join if they wish.
The newly-formed MAP committee also attended the Summer Term Parent Forum to discuss what parents might want from the organisation.
Events for the 2025/26 academic year focus on informal community building, such as the Welcome Back Party at the end of the first week of term. The committee will also share the dates for MAP socials further in advance to help families build these events into their plans.
It can be tricky to plan in advance with such a busy school calendar.
The Senior Leadership Team compiled a calendar overview for the full academic year 2025/26, which included the main school events to which parents are invited as well as the Manor Fun dates for the year ahead. This was circulated before the summer break to help parents plan.
Our termly summary of events continues to feature on the reverse of Manor Messages each week, and the full school calendar can be accessed via the Parent Portal.
You
said… The School Day We did…
Children in Years 3 to 6 cannot participate in after school clubs and catch the minibus home.
The structure of the day was adjusted slightly at the start of the school year 2025/26, to enable clubs to start immediately after lessons and for our minibuses to depart slightly later.
This enables all children in Years 3 to 6 to catch the minibus after they have attended a club should they so wish.
The day is very long for children who wish to stay for after school clubs.
Clubs now start at 4:00pm and finish at 5:00pm, 30 minutes earlier than previously, without losing any club time.
The minibus routes don’t work for us.
Working with information from the Parent Survey, as well as a largescale catchment analysis commissioned by the School and data from Vectare (the company which oversees our minibus provision), we have fully reviewed the routes on offer.
We have revised our three minibus routes to offer greater coverage for families of children in Reception to Year 6, including a new route heading towards Wantage. In addition, adjusting the timings of the school day has enabled families of children in Year 3 to 6 to use the extensive Joint Bus Service (JBS) either at the end of the school day or after clubs.
After school care provision can sometimes not meet the needs
of families.
Small changes have been made to streamline our after school provision for children in Years 3 to 6, to ensure it delivers with clear purpose. For Years 5 and 6, Homework Club now sits separately as a club which can be booked via SOCS. It is hosted in a classroom as a supervised prep session; an environment much more appropriate to completing high quality work.
Year 3 to 6 children staying at school, but not in a club, now attend a ‘home from home’ Extended Day session where they can play, colour and enjoy time with their friends in a relaxing environment before having some quiet reading time to help them to wind down from a busy day.
Any children (aged 3 years plus) staying later into the evening, in the paid for session from 5:30-6:00pm, are now provided with a packed tea to help busy families and make the day more manageable.
The School Day
You said… We did…
Not all children get an afternoon snack.
Some of us are concerned about the amount of refined sugar in the food on offer.
Since September 2025, all children receive an afternoon snack before they finish their normal school day.
We are a little concerned about the amount of screen time children have in and out of school.
The school has asked for all of the menus in place to be carefully reviewed by the nutritionists at Holroyd Howe, our catering provider, to ensure the offer is appropriate and aligned with guidance, including new government guidance. Whilst this is aimed at EYFS children, we see benefits that should be considered for all Manor children and have, therefore, rolled out consistency across all age groups. Where possible, there have been alternative snacks and puddings introduced with lower sugar content, as well as a ‘Boost It’ range of recipes which have enhanced nutritional content.
In our Parent Forum on the topic, attendees had the chance to try some of the new snack items as well as hear from Holroyd Howe about the many initiatives they have in place. There was also plenty of time for feedback and the sharing of ideas. We will be producing our own Manor ‘blueprint’ that outlines our approach to food, including menus design, food technology and the broader education of our children.
A full audit of screen use in school was completed in the Summer Term 2025 to ensure the level of exposure in lessons is appropriate. Teachers continue to use technology as one of their many teaching tools. Technology is integrated as required, with a focus on creation rather than consumption, and a careful balance is struck with other teaching and learning resources, particularly hands-on, experiential learning. Since September 2025, children are no longer set homework that requires IT and Extended Day activities are all off screen, meaning all Chromebooks (Y3-6) can be left at school. This allows each family to make their own decisions on screen use outside of the core school day.
The Manor, in your words…
“ “
Thank you for doing what you do to help our child learn, explore and grow.
“
The
best possible start.
“ We
Manor. “ “ Staff always go that extra mile. “ “
We love
The
“
couldn’t be more delighted!
“
An absolute gem of a school! “ “
Systems and Processes
You said… We did…
Can the systems for reporting pupil progress be reviewed?
The number of apps and communication platforms can be confusing.
A Parent Forum has been arranged for the Autumn Term 2025 to focus on reporting in the broadest sense, including Parents’ Evenings and written reports. This will be a great chance for parents to share their observations, thoughts and ideas so that the Senior Team can then consider what is the best fit for parents and staff.
This is the cry of parents at schools nationwide! It is a concern which we are seeking to address in a number of ways and we are always looking for ways to improve.
Music lessons are now organised through SOCS alongside the existing sign up for clubs and management of our sports fixtures. Since September 2025, SOCS has also been used to book Late Stay/Tea (5:30-6:00pm).
The Parent Portal offers a ‘one stop shop’ for current parents with links held centrally to the other platforms which we use eg. School Cloud for Parents’ Evening bookings and Classlist as well as SOCS. The School Calendar and Weekly Mailing are also accessed via the Parent Portal and the use of the portal for the publication of School Reports saves additional email traffic.
Within the Weekly Mailing, Mrs Hamlyn’s video message helps highlight important points or themes in an easily accessible way for busy families.
The Manor, in your words…
The Pre-Nursery is the best I’ve ever seen.
What a wonderful team of people! “
“
“ “
You
can just feel the genuine love and care for the children.
Our child has thrived academically and emotionally.
“ “
Thank you for raising our children with us; it really is a joint effort! “
Thank you for doing an amazing job! “
“
Facilities and Operations
You said… We did…
The parents' car park could do with some TLC!
We would love the school to have an all weather sports pitch.
We are concerned about affordability of school fees.
We have completed extensive work to excavate and re-lay the surface in the affected area. The drainage in the car park was investigated and cleared to ensure water flows away more effectively on wet days. Moving forward, there will be work on some of the pathway areas to further enhance the efficiency of the drainage.
MAP worked with the School to devise a fundraising initiative to generate the required funds for this project. Funds were secured in Summer 2025 and the pitch should be in place before the end of the 2025/26 academic year.
The Government policy regarding VAT on fees, loss of Business Rates Relief and National Insurance Contributions have resulted in approximately £350,000 in additional costs the School must cover each year.
In light of this, the school has worked hard to optimise efficiencies of the business model, making cost savings where appropriate and possible, whilst not impacting the quality of education for pupils. This enabled the School to minimise the impact, as far as possible, with only 12.5% of VAT costs being passed on to parents and a sensitive September 2025 fee rise (at 3.9%) compared to many other schools which passed on all of the VAT as well as inflationary increases.
