Service Children's Education:Survey of Parental Views 2008

Service Children’s Education (SCE) is an agency of the Ministry of Defence that has responsibility for, and represents the interests of, children in 43 Service schools and 38 Foundation Stage (FS1) settings around the world. Since 2004, SCE has commissioned NFER to undertake an annual questionnaire survey of parental satisfaction with their child’s Service school/ FS1 setting. The results reported here are key findings from the 2008 survey of parents. This survey also explored the views of parents in regard to how well SCE schools were achieving the five Every Child Matters (ECM) outcomes. Key findings Overall, the majority of parents were satisfied with their child’s education and, in particular, the proportion of secondary school parents who were satisfied had increased from last year. Parents were generally satisfied with schools’ provision for pupils to ‘be healthy’, ‘to enjoy and achieve’ and ‘to make a contribution’. Parents also tended to be satisfied that the schools provided a safe and secure environment. The most frequently mentioned area for improvement identified by parents across all three stages of education was communication, both in terms of general updates to parents, and when concerns are raised by parents. Parents felt that SCE schools and FS1 settings provided good support for their children.