Praise for Thurnscoe primary school's parent-friendly approach
THURNSCOE’S The Hill primary school has been awarded a Silver Award by the charity ParentKind under its Parent Friendly Schools scheme.
The award celebrates The Hill’s commitment to building trust, belonging and meaningful partnerships with families, as staff work hard to improve children’s safety, happiness, and learning outcomes.
The award recognises the academy’s understanding that strong and positive relationships with parents and carers are not an extra, but a foundation for successful schooling.
The Parent Friendly Schools report said the inspector was “impressed that your parents are proactively reaching out to the school” and noted the “constant communication that helps educate parents to support the need for learning”.
Care at the academy was highlighted as effective in improving attendance and children's happiness, while plans for more informal get-togethers, like pizza night, make the school a place where people gather.
The report concluded: “Your strength is that you care” and that The Hill was “building something special for families that genuinely need someone to care”.
Racheal Smith, Service Lead at Parent-friendly Schools who inspected the school, said: “It was my privilege to hear stories about The Hill's work and to celebrate the school's excellent practice.
“The team is working hard to ensure the school is at the heart of the community, caring for families so that young people have every opportunity to reach their potential.
“Central to the ethos is the belief that children can only thrive when they are safe and happy and the school team partners with parents to ensure this.”
Kirsten Middleton, Principal at the school, part of the Astrea Academy Trust, said: “We are delighted to receive this Silver Award which recognises the importance to us of building positive relationships with all our families, based on trust and belonging.
“By working closely with our pupils’ parents and carers, we are seeing real improvements in the children’s attendance, wellbeing and overall happiness.
“We would like to thank the whole school community for its ongoing support as we celebrate this achievement.”
Rowena Hackwood, CEO of Astrea Academy Trust, said: “At Astrea, we are determined to break down barriers to achievement and to offer rich opportunities that strengthen our communities. This Silver Award for The Hill reflects this ambition and we are very proud of the academy’s achievement.”