to think this is a dodgy use of school funds?

[surveyquestion]

Our local primary school has an oversubscribed pre-school nursery.

Alot of people leave the nursery and go to the Outstanding primary up the road that doesn't have such a good preschool.

There's a new head who has decided to have a survey to ask the nursery parents what is good and bad about the school, and it seems the underlying thought is to find out what parents really think and why they leave the nursery and don't send their kids to reception.

The survey is advertsied as being confidential and the person doing it will contact the parents in the coming weeks to arrange a meeting.

The person running the confidential survey is another mother at nursery who is also the wife of a school governor.

How can this be "confidentil" when for the rest of the school time she will be part of the parents- somebody in the playground, and her husband will be part of the policy making?
Do they really think they'll get the truth of what people think?
And the deputy head openly called the survey "pricey" at a recent public meeting?

Am I wrong in thinking this just looks like "jobs for the boys" type thing?

Or do you think it is easy to tell somebody who is obviously a part of the school your views and belive that it is truly confidential?

I personally wouldn't want to discuss what I thought of the Head with her- it all seems a bit too cosy and close somehow.

I agree it would hinder being candid. Someone independent should do it surely? If it is already pricey then they could pay someone else?

And how would one bring this up with the head?

The woman involved has a child on another year at the school, aswell as her nursery child.

I can only think of bringing it up annonymously as i can't imagine being the person who speaks out against what I see as something a tad dodgy.

After all, it is important to be seen to be spending public money wisely and without prejudice, isn't it?

Oh, I know it doesn't have bumsex in it- but it matters to me!

Ok, this is my last attempt to get your opions.
I'll give up in my indignation and get on with the rest of my life......

why dont they just make a questionnaire and send it home with the children asking parents to fill it out, with strict instructions not to write their name etc on it and return it to a little drop in box at the front of the nursery (shoe box with hole cut in it)? simple, cost effective and it can be done annonymously.

Well, it could be a bit of paper with questions, sent home for parents to return in sealed brown envelopes - signing their name on the survey optional. That would ensure confidentiality, but it would still be "jobs for the boys" (OP's term, not how I would see it) if governor's wife coordinated the paperwork and summarised the results. And some if not many of the governors would know what kind of comments there were, and they might slip up and tell other folk.

All that could happen no matter how the survey was done.

But other than the face-to-face element of the survey, I don't see a problem with it ensuring confidentiality. Face-to-face interviews are much better than a paper survey for getting more and better comments, imho. School should do both, really; paper survey with request for confidential face-to-face interview for those that are willing.

Seems a bit daft when anyone can figure out for themselves that the Ofsted report for Outstanding Primary down the road is main reason parents go there instead.

I know- it does seem a bit strange.
I've always maintained that the school down the road looks much better on paper.
And the middle class types are frightenend of the ethnic mix at our school.

It's a well known thing locally.

The head has to make the school outstanding- but can't (obviously) do anything about the ethnic mix... so why do we have to pay the governor's wife to do the survey?

At a meeting her fee was described as "pricey" by the deputy head.

That's very unreasonable.

If they've commisioned the survey they'll have to pay anyway now so that's the end of it really isn't it.
Hopefully it will useful and if not they won't use her services again.
Continue with your lives citizens

I think it is the fact that some people might feel uncomfrtable in telling somebody so closely associated with the school why they feel there are problems in the school.

It's a face to face thing- and the knowledge is that the person doing the interviewing knows what you ahve said, good or bad about her personal choice.

And being a local school, she will see you out and about in town even if you don't choose the school.

It doesn't really seem so confidential TBH