In certain instances, such as our Parents’ Evenings, this has been regarded as definitely the best way forward by the feedback from our parents.   Please see below some of the comments that we have received from the parents of our Year 10 students following their recent Parents’ Evening -

“I just wanted to pass on my thanks in regards to tonight’s Year 10 virtual parents evening.  The booking of appointments was simple and easy, much better than the old system of getting the children to book these for us.  All my appointments ran on time, the teachers were engaging and I felt much more relaxed.  We had some great conversations that didn’t seem rushed. Would be great to see this approach retained when/if we get back to some normality!  Well done Ivybridge!”

“Thank you so much for a very successful parents’ evening.  We really liked the way this was run and found the online format to be very easy to use and preferential to in person visits, for both us and, I suspect, the teachers.  There was plenty of time to talk and all of the teachers we spoke to let us know how to contact them if we had any further queries, now or in the future.Thank you once again. You are all doing a great job in very difficult times.”

“We have been so impressed with our parents evening I wanted to express our gratitude.  We just wanted to say how grateful we are to everyone for their time this evening to talk about our daughter’s progress.  The whole virtual evening has been very positive for us, easy connection, comfortable to say and ask anything and excellent time keeping.  We hope it will be the way forward.  With every teacher that we spoke to, it was very apparent that they certainly knew our daughter very well, giving excellent feedback on her strengths and things to work on.  Their passion for their subject was amazing.  In such a large school we appreciate that you may become a number, but we certainly didn't feel this tonight and haven't ever to be fair.  So please pass on our thanks and gratitude to everyone involved.”

“I just wanted to express my gratitude to all the teachers who made the Year 10 Parents’ Evening a great success.  It was so easy and I managed to speak with most of the teachers I wanted to.  The teacher I couldn’t speak to called me the next day which was brilliant.  At this unprecedented, challenging time I'm so impressed with the dedication of your staff especially throughout the first lockdown.  Both of my sons felt supported and able to access help and guidance despite being at home. Thank you to you all.”

The dates for upcoming Parents’ Evenings and other events are on the College’s Calendar page on the website which can be found here.

“As a College we have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback we have received from our parents with regards to recent virtual events such as the Parents’ Evenings.  Many are saying that this should become our normal way of working post pandemic!  A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to set these events up, so we thank you for taking the time to get in contact with us and we always pass this on to the wider staff body.”  Kelly Olive, Deputy Principal