Positive Comments

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and your team for all the help and support over the last couple of months.

It seems incredible that we have been in this unfortunate situation, home schooling, for around 16 weeks.

The first week or two were very much a learning experience for all of us but, after a couple of niggles, things soon settled down into a great routine.

I know from conversations with other parents that the support from SDCC has been exemplary. Many of my friends are envious of that support and also disappointed that their children haven't had the same support from their schools.

Just a few more days to go before you can all, hopefully, enjoy a well deserved holiday.  - Parent

I am just sending this email as an acknowledgement of how amazing I personally feel that my sons secondary school have been throughout this lockdown period.

I have 2 boys age 12, school year 7 and age 15, school year 10. They both attend Stoke Damerel CC in Plymouth.

The school have been amazing at sorting and organising daily lessons, listened to advice directly from parents about level of workloads and changed these accordingly. All work set online via google classroom and google docs, an easy to use programme which also allows teachers to feedback directly to my boys about their work.

Also I have received ongoing weekly calls from both my sons tutors, to keep me informed, for me to  ask questions, listen to my feedback as well as checking the safeguarding of my boys and their welfare. As well as weekly calls they have been available on email too, all of which I have found great support.

 All in all I believe they have been absolutely amazing, gone above and beyond. Well done Stoke Damerel CC.  - Parent

“I would just like to say ‘thank you’ for the support from your school during this uncertain time. Work has been set consistently and efficiently. Communication between my son (Year 7) and his teachers has also been great. When my son has had any issues with opening files etc., he emails the appropriate teacher and gets quick responses and support. He was really pleased to get two best work postcards sent to him last week. Also, his form tutor rings weekly to speak to him to keep him motivated and see if he has any questions or needs further assistance with anything. I know from speaking to friends (who have children at other schools across the country) that they are not finding the experience quite such a positive one. So thank you to all your staff and colleagues at SDCC, who are really making this as easy to deal with as possible.” - Year 7 Parent.

“I would like to take the time to thank you for all the support and work that we have received during this time. I have spoken with my son's tutor every week and have had amazing support from Mrs W. She has not hesitated to put us on the correct path of information. I would also like to say that as a school, you have gone above and beyond when it comes to keeping structure and learning as best you can. Given the circumstances as a school,l I am fully in awe of you and am pleased I chose your school for my children to attend. My little girl has had confirmation of her placement for your school and I for one am so glad she got her placement with you. I know both my children’s education is in the best hands and cannot thank you enough ... to have your school totally committed to my son's education is a real credit to your school, your team and your students. I can only say ‘thank you’ and ‘well done Stoke Damerel’.” - Parent

Further to our telephone conversation today, I just wanted to pass on my personal thanks and gratitude to all the staff at SDCC who have enabled not just my child, but hundreds of others to continue with some sort of education while we are in these difficult times. 

All of you have managed to still provide and input into their education without even being present in person, while still having to deal with your own personal/family life.

Unfortunately, I don’t think you are receiving the recognition you all truly deserve. You are all the backbone keeping the educational system afloat and for that, my family are truly grateful. THANK YOU - and keep doing what your all doing!! - Parent

Hello All at #Team Stoke Damerel :)

We would like to send our sincere thanks to all staff at SDCC, particularly the Yr 8 Department. Your continued support, feedback and simply touching base each week with ourselves and our son has helped us feel connected and part of the School community.

The virtual learning package that has been organised is outstanding and has made all the difference to our son who loves to learn despite these difficult times. All staff are to be commended with tailoring the work to suit our son's needs, interests and drive to stay committed to his learning.

A special shout out to his form tutor Mr H, who without fail has stayed in touch with us every week and provided a welcome chat and update on school related affairs. Equally a special thank you to Miss B who has given such great feedback to our son and guided him to take on more challenging work- your enthusiasm for the subject is what makes learning worthwhile :)

We hope you are all taking care of yourselves too.

Many thanks

Parents of Year 8 student

About my time while I'm in lockdown

 

So every weekday, I have been getting up and ready and after that I would do my homework. Today was the same. I got up and ready and started my homework, but when I was in the middle of maths my dad ran to the door to get the post and it was an envelope with my name on it. When my mum found out it was for me she said, “That's not fair, they can't just send you post like that.” Obviously, she was messing around.  Anyway, I opened the envelope and it said this: “Congratulations for being nominated for the Best Work at Stoke Damerel Community College in Maths. You have answered over 100 questions in a week. Best wishes, Miss A Frier”.

 

I was thinking, wait a minute are you sure this is for me? At the moment, I was sure I wanted to cry because I was so happy and this was my first reward from school. I worked so hard on Hegarty Maths but in these hard times, being in lockdown not seeing my family and friends, I never knew that they would still send these rewards to you. After that, my mum sent it to all my family, and my nan and granddad where so proud. My grandma, who I am missing because she is old and lives on her own, and all the family were messaging me, saying what a great job I did. This made me see that I am good at things and that I can do work without help. That's all I wanted to say, now I'm going to go and have a brilliant day thanks to Miss Frier.

 

Goodbye for now, enjoy reading.

From a Year 7 Student

"I just wanted to email in to say that I think your school and your staff are doing an impressive job in supporting my son, and hopefully all of your pupils, during these challenging times. My son’s form teacher speaks to him and to me weekly and is positive, concerned, engaging and a pleasure to speak with … Stoke Damerel are clearly very much ahead on this. My son is pretty self-sufficient with his school work but I do know that he hasn't had any major problems and understands what is required of him so I suspect that not only is your pastoral care spot on but the virtual teaching is, too.  So, thank you, to you and your team (and in particular my son’s form teacher) for supporting my child in these strange times and hopefully it’s not too long before we can start to see the new normal and get out and about a bit more!” - Parent 

“A big thanks to you and the team for supporting [my son] through these strange times - you are all superstars! - Year 10 parent.  

"I have just had a call from [my teacher], telling me that I am the first child in his class to have received a green dot for all of our core subjects last week and I haven't missed a lesson yet, so I wanted to let you know and say ‘thank you’ for helping me receive these green dots. I have also completed my science work and Tassomai … thank you so much.” - Year 7 student.

"Just thought I would communicate with you to say a big thank you for all your support with my son during this awful time.

Having spoken to many of my friends who have children of the same age, it has become apparent to me that not all schools have the same support base that my children have had from Stoke Damerel during this time.

You obviously know how hard it is to keep teenagers focused when they are not in the school environment but with all the measures that the school has in place with daily work set and weekly phone calls it does make it easier as a parent knowing if I have any problems with either one of them you are just an email away and will endeavour to sort asap.

I would like to mention Miss C who has been amazing with my daughter when she was having a bit of a melt down last week, she was getting a bit behind with her work but a phone call from her made all the difference and has got her back on track.

As hard as it is at the moment with everything, having amazing support from SDCC has made our household a more bearable place with us as parents trying our best to keep our kids on track.

I really hope that they are back to routine in the near future." - Parent

"I appreciate all of the support that Miss G is giving to both Rxx and to me.  I couldn't do it without her." - Parent