Positive Feedback

"I wanted to email to give you an update on the mini-Police and what we have been working on. They are currently working towards a Social Action Plan and have chosen the topic around the Environment in and around school and the littering and we will be aiming to produce a post to cover this.

I wanted to congratulate the students on the continued hard work and dedication to completing the homework set by us - a very positive first term."

Caroline Harris, PCSO at Avon and Somerset Police. Y5 mini-Police. December 2022

"We all really enjoyed today, the kids were brilliant, it was energising to have so many interesting questions thrown our way - great to have such an engaged school visit!"

Petra Mansour, Activities Coordinator & Marketing Officer at the Curzon Cinema. September 2022 following Y5 visit. 

Why Mary Elton is special

 'Why is Mary Elton special to you' competition entries - Summer Holidays 2021  

"My son is in Year 4 and in Miss Brown’s class. I just wanted to reach out to provide feedback on the first day of remote learning that I have just witnessed. I have been sharing the dining room table today, whilst we both work from home, so I have been listening in for large parts of the day. The hard work and dedication put in by Miss Brown and Mr Flory was evident throughout and I am so impressed with the way each day has been planned out and how today was executed. I use "MS Teams" for meetings and presentations in my own work and I know how unpredictable it can be, especially when you have a large number of people dialling in. Please pass on my thanks and congratulations to your team for what I have witnessed today – this is invaluable interaction for the children, both socially and academically." 

"I just wanted to drop you a quick message to say a huge thank you to the EYFS and Year 6 teams for the live teaching today. Both of my children have really enjoyed their first day on Teams. At lunchtime, I asked how my oldest how it was going and was given a ten out of ten!!! My youngest loved his learning today and was so pleased to share his work with his teachers at the end of the day on his Teams call. I’m sure everyone felt nervous this morning having to teach in this new way but I’d like all the teachers to know that they have done brilliantly and that we appreciate and recognise how much time and effort has gone into preparing for home learning. Thank you to you all, our children are very lucky to have such dedicated teachers."

"I wanted to email to express our admiration for what has been put together for the home learning package. Our two children have been so motivated today and have loved the live sessions. I loved watching our youngest take part in the phonics and think that shorter sessions to begin with was a really wise choice. Our older child has written half a page of facts on Italy and already done a page of facts on Germany! It has made a huge difference for them to see their teachers and the staff were all naturals- thank you!"

"Just wanted to say how brilliant the online learning is with Mr Flory and Miss Brown! It’s absolutely great seeing everyone, my child is loving it and you are all doing a fab job! Thank you for putting this in place."

"I would just would like to start this email saying how grateful I am as a parent for all your hard work during this pandemic, it doesn’t go unnoticed how hard every single person from a teacher, assistant, receptionist, head, cleaner, cook is working at this time. All while I’m sure like most are feeling worried and anxious. Once again thank you to all the staff at Mary Elton who work tirelessly not only now but all the time."

"Just wanted to say that Miss Brown and Mr Flory have done an excellent job today under difficult circumstances. I’m very impressed with their teaching style and the engagement of the children in the class so well done all."

"I’ve just witnessed my granddaughter enjoying the experience of seeing all her friends and fellow classmates remotely interacting with Mrs. Banks, whom we hold in very high regard, professionally conducting the session with the children. It was very moving to see all their eyes light up as one by one as classmates appeared on the screen. As an ex Parent Governor of Mary Elton (circa 1989), we’ve always had an allegiance to the school, and I would like to say how impressed my wife and I have been with your remote teaching response and support that you’ve managed to set up in such a short time, and with such short notice under difficult circumstances. This is a challenging time for everyone, and the support Mary Elton school is currently giving to it’s pupils is commendable."

"I just wanted to take a few minutes to write an email to say a massive thank you to you, and all the staff for the work you are doing for our children. The Year 3 team have been just incredible. When we were told we were going into lockdown, my heart sank, but thanks to the learning on teams and support from Mary Elton, it is making life easier. Mrs Ten Broeke, Mrs Jones and Mr Hughes are being amazing, as always! They are worth their weight in gold! The lessons are clear, concise, wonderfully planned and still provide a challenge and routine. They are also always delivered with smiling faces and an upbeat attitude from the teachers. My child is absolutely loving her home learning and is keeping up with it all. She adores seeing her teachers every day, and also her friends. It makes isolation a little less daunting, and both she and I still feel part of a community, so it helps not only with her education, but also both of our mental health too. We really appreciated the phone call from Mrs Ten Broeke as well, just to check in with us and see that we were all ok. I genuinely can not praise you all enough, not only the year 3 team, but all staff for your hard work during these challenging times. It makes the world of difference to us and we appreciate you all!"

"Just a quick email to say a huge thank you and well done for a really successful first day of remote teaching. It must be a huge task for everyone to be using teams so quickly. Our son, Y5, thoroughly enjoyed his live lessons today and was buzzing after each session. He especially liked the maths lesson and also found the geography lesson really engaging. There will always be teething issues but today was such a great start and he can’t wait to continue tomorrow."

"I just wanted to send a massive thank you to Mary Elton and especially Year 3 & 4 teachers. Both of my children thoroughly enjoyed their first virtual learning experience even commenting it’s better than school! What more could we ask for in terms of feedback & they are excited to attend tomorrow. For me personally this virtual learning approach has meant I can continue to work full time from home and eased the pressure immensely as I was slightly anxious as to how I would juggle both roles. Really grateful and many thanks again!"

"We just wanted to say thank you for all that you and the teaching staff are doing to help our children (and us parents) get through this challenging time. You are all doing an amazing job!"

"I just wanted to pass on my thanks for all the work you guys are doing. My daughter is in year 3 and both myself and her dad are working from home so the fact that you have organised so many online classes and everything is so organized is an absolute godsend. You have managed to keep her engaged and still excited about learning! :-) You are all awesome, and we thank you so much for all the extra work you are putting in for all the kids!"

"Thank you again for your help with loaning a school laptop, and also thanks to Mrs Pole & Miss Lamb who have been doing excellent "online" lessons."

"Miss Brown & Mr Flory are doing an amazing job, the time they have put into this, the patience they have (especially with us parents) is faultless, as hard as home schooling is, they couldn’t be doing anymore, they are not only supporting & teaching the children but us parents also!"

"I expect you have received many e-mails over the last couple of days but I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for continuing to deliver at this time. Whilst the switch to online learning has been stressful for many of us (even those of us who use teams every day), I have been super impressed by the year 4 team, they have it cracked! I use Teams to train adults and I know how exhausting delivering online can be, and trying to keep an eye on 40+ little heads on screen is so difficult. I’m so impressed by how the children have become more independent and confident to contribute so quickly. The structure works well and the way the teachers are managing to engage the children in this format is fabulous. Well done everyone!"

"Firstly, I would like to pass on my thanks for all the brilliant work you and your team have been doing over these past few weeks. My children are in school some days and at home others, and I have been blown away by the support and the provision they have both received. I congratulate you all on the consistent and caring approach you have delivered. Both my boys have really benefited from the unwavering consistency they have found in school. Thank you to you all."

"I know I have said it before but I want to thank you and all the staff again for the tremendous job that you are doing. The provision the staff are giving to the children means that I feel the boys are making excellent progress with their learning. We continue to very impressed by the positive, caring attitude from the staff."

"I wanted to start by sending my thanks to all the staff at Mary Elton who have already done so much to give our boys a brilliant start to EYFS and Year 2. It has been such a challenging year for everyone in education and we really appreciate everything that you have all done for our boys. I also wanted to send a personal thanks to you for leading the school so brilliantly. The constant stress that head teachers have been put under has been relentless and even 'holidays' have been spent planning for new terms, planning for uncertainty, dealing with last minute announcements, etc."

Parents/Carers/Families Feedback on Remote Learning, January-March 2021

"Dear ‘Raise The Roof’ Colleagues,
 
I am emailing you to say a HUGE ‘thank you and a HUGE well done’ for the amazing ‘Raise the Roof’ Singing Festivals that you and your children have taken part in. 18 Festivals in total, 52 schools and approximately 4300 Year 3 & Year 4 children taking part. That’s a lot of amazing singing in North Somerset and something for us in this area to be very proud of!
 
I have been astounded by the very high standard of singing in all the Festivals-you have obviously taught your children extremely well!
Their enthusiasm and confidence when performing the songs was wonderful to hear and when they sang the tricky songs (especially ‘The world around me’ which had a lot of difficult, tongue twister-like phrases) and used Makaton signs to help them, they were sounded amazing. At the start of ‘Raise The Roof’, at the teachers’ seminar, it seemed like it was going to be a challenge to sing the songs from memory (especially songs with lots of words) but your children managed it beautifully.
 
I must also congratulate you all on the incredible hats, costumes and the dressing up. Some of the hats were quite remarkable and so impressive. We also had ‘Raise The Roof’ flags and even a Roman standard!
 
All of it, no matter how simple or how complicated it was, was fabulous and looked amazing. It added meaning and more understanding to what we were singing about and to the whole festival in general and the fact that it could all be shared with other schools/children/friends made it even more special!
 
It was interesting that in a recent interview with David Attenborough about the people, organisations, government etc who are now doing things to help improve the environment, he mentioned that it is the Primary teachers who are doing the best job of raising awareness with our children. So well done you!
 
Thank you for all of your support, your enthusiasm and your hard work for ‘Raise The Roof’-you are brilliant. And as I said at the Festival, without your hard work and enthusiasm your children wouldn’t be as brilliant as they were and their singing wouldn’t have been a wonderful as it was. 
 
Thank you once again and a HUGE well done to everyone."
 
Anne Clough, Singing & Music CPD Manager, RE: Y3/Y4 Raise the Roof Singing Festival. November 2019

“Lovely seeing the children so engaged and having fun whilst learning.”

“Great idea to have an open morning. Hope this will become a regular thing.”

“Thank you for the visit, great to be able to look around the school and see children in their classrooms. All children engaged in their work and enjoying their lessons. Fab teachers. Great learning.”

“This has been a really great chance to have an insight into their time at school, and to put information I get into context. Thank you.”

“Thank you for welcoming my son and our family into your school.”

“What a wonderful thing to do to open your doors to us all – don’t want to go back to work now!”

Parents/Carers/Families on our first Open Morning, October 2019

"It has been lovely to see children from your school and their families in our library taking part in Space Chase, Summer Reading Challenge 2019. They have enjoyed choosing books and reading for pleasure. Thank you for your school’s support."

Staff at Clevedon Library RE: Summer Reading Challenge, September 2019

"I wanted to send you an email to put into writing of how impressed I was with all your students across the wheelchair basketball sessions.

With around 340 students taking part across the 3 days from 6 different year groups, the children all did exceptionally well with their listening and with their wheelchair skills. Whether it was Sharks and Fishes or playing a full game of wheelchair basketball, all children played in the right spirit, with fantastic values of courage (to even sit in a wheelchair in the first place), teamwork (to stop the opposition), perseverance (to continue in the face of challenges), and support (from the deafening crowd watching from the side). 

What struck me most was this, and it may come across as a bit odd but so be it. Your children were losers. About 80% of them in my estimation. And what I mean by that is that those 80% in one way or another ‘failed’ or lost the game they played in. Yet not a single student, and for emphasis I’ll repeat, not a single student got upset, was bitter, refused to join in, or cried. This is quite exceptional, and against the odds of having 340 young children take part in physical activity.

A massive well done to them all and to the school for clearly instilling such good ethos and values.

I know so many enjoyed themselves (“That was awesome”, “can we do this every day”, “I want to sleep in a wheelchair”, “I want to cut my leg off”) and I’m sure we will be back again.

So from myself, Joe and Kieran, thanks for having us Mary Elton!" 

Alex Director of Nova Sports & Coaching, RE: Wheelchair Basketball, September 2019

"We have been looking at the list of schools which come to Mill on the Brue regularly and yours is one which has visited for 16 years. 

We have decided that we would like to mark this in some way and to thank you for your loyalty. We are going to dedicate a special tree in the ‘new wood’ to Mary Elton with a label and the school's name on it, so that when your group visits again they will be able to see how ‘their’ tree is flourishing. 

We will also be able to send you updates on your tree’s progress. 

With best wishes, Matt & Tricia Rawlingson Plant"

Mill on the Brue, RE: Loyalty, June 2019

"I just wanted to say a big thank you for choosing VICTA as Triangle's charity event of the year and for looking after Chris, Colin and myself on Wednesday.
From the minute we arrived at the front office, we were made to feel so welcome.

Our event was organised by the EYFS team, saving us a huge amount of stress and hassle, we were able to go straight outside and wait for the children to
arrive. The day went so well and by far exceeded our expectations.

For the event, we split into two and Chris and Colin took questions and talked to the students about their marathon experience, and how life is as a blind person, while I managed the blindfolded obstacle course and run. Most of the children at Mary Elton had never met a blind person before, and I know that some were nervous about doing so, but by the time everyone left Chris had certainly broken down some barriers and changed everyone's perception of life as a blind person. Rather than living in a cave and never venturing out, Chris is quite the opposite and was perfect to raise awareness of blindness and visual impairments with his talk and question taking. After the day Chris took the train to London and took part in a guided run in Hyde Park then headed off to his parents in Romford, all on his own but with assistants to get him on and off trains!

We were all really impressed with the children's behaviour, they were respectful of the SATs going on and also asked some really interesting questions.
As for the obstacle course, I am pleased to say everyone had a go at guiding and being blindfolded with the exception of two of the children (who have ASD I believe). Even these two had a go at the guiding with a little encouragement from us and their support staff which I was delighted about.

It really was a fantastic day, and I am so pleased with the awareness this has raised with your children around sight impairments. Of course the added bonus of some money for VICTA is great, but for me the most important thing was breaking down barriers with the children and their perception of blindness. This was most definitely achieved through the delivery of the day.

I should also say thanks to Mrs Kinsley for arranging us a school dinner, much needed (!), Mr MacKenzie for assisting us through the crowds and the ASPENS ladies for sorting us out some extra potatoes! Thanks too to Mrs Sharp for organising our morning coffee break, we were starting to crave some caffeine so this couldn't have been timed better!"

Tom Sharp, RE: Triangle Charity Week Blind folded obstacle, May 2019

"I wanted to let you know how impressed we have been with the induction process, settling in of the children and the work provided to the pupils so far.

Our child is loving coming to school and I really enjoyed the opportunity to share his learning diary with him on Saturday. It was such a lovely, informal way to celebrate his work and he was clearly very proud of all his work and learning (both formal and informal). I had to read every label written out aloud - some several times! It was also a great opportunity for me to learn so much more about his time in class. The teachers and LSAs gave up their precious weekend to allow as many people as possible to attend and it is really appreciated. Please pass on our thanks."

EYFS Parent, RE: EYFS Bacon Butty morning, November 2018

"I am contacting you to say how wonderful it was to see all of our child's work on Saturday. It is amazing. Thank you so much for giving me (a proud Nannie) the opportunity to do this on a Saturday morning. He thoroughly enjoys school and is really keen to show all the family everything he is learning. He is so proud of himself!

Many thanks for all you do to make school so interesting for Sam and for your time at the weekend."

EYFS Nannie, RE: EYFS Bacon Butty morning, November 2018

"My child has been telling me all about what he has done today. If his enthusiasm is anything to go by the children had an amazing day!! Well done on organising!!"

Year 5 Parent, RE: Anglo-Saxon WOW Days, November 2018