Parent Survey

A letter was sent to you last week about the 2026 Parent Survey. We want to hear your honest perspective on life at The Cottesloe School. Specifically, we are looking to understand:

• What are we doing well?
• What do we need to do better to further support your child’s progress?

Your feedback helps us celebrate the areas where our community is excelling, while also ensuring we focus our resources on the things that matter most to you and your children. This is the link to complete the survey can be found on the letter you received.

Attendance at School

Congratulations to students who had 100%, or improving attendance, last term. In our end-of-term assemblies, we celebrated their achievements. Daily attendance makes the most difference to a young person’s chances of educational success and their ability to cope with the challenges of life. To help you understand our attendance policy and procedures at The Cottesloe School, including what to do if your child is absent or who to contact with attendance issues, we have produced this guide: Attendance Guidance for Parents and Carers 2026 

New Ofsted Grading

A very brief guide The revised Ofsted framework came into force in December 2025. As The Cottesloe School is likely to be inspected this year, you may find the following information helpful. This 5 minute video for parents explains how grading is fundamentally different under the new framework. Ofsted has stated that it expects to rate the work of most schools within the middle three bands – Needs Attention, Expected Standard and Strong Standard. The other two gradings will be highly unusual, with the Exceptional grade only being awarded to the top 1% - 2% of schools who are national leaders in education. There is no longer an overall grading for a school. Our school will receive a grading in each of the following eight areas: Inclusion, Curriculum & Teaching, Achievement, Attendance & Behaviour, Personal Development and Wellbeing, Sixth Form and Leadership & Governance.

Supporting your Child’s Health – Digital Wellbeing

Our assemblies last week discussed the importance of using social media appropriately. There is much discussion nationally about the use of devices and we would like to highlight two useful resources for you to discuss with your child:

Health For Teens is an NHS-backed site giving guidance for teenagers on digital well-being. They recommend that teenagers limit recreational screen time to no more than 2 hours per day, excluding schoolwork, and to avoid screens for at least an hour before bed to protect sleep. They also recommend that devices are kept out of bedrooms overnight. Physical activity, fostering screen-free family time and awareness of adult device use is also highly encouraged to ensure your child’s wellbeing. 

The Children’s Commissioner for England has published her latest guide: What I wish my parents or carers knew: A guide for parents on managing children’s digital lives. The focus of this guide is on the complex, rapidly evolving landscape in which children – and parents – are navigating. It focuses on helping parents and carers with the challenge of managing children’s everyday online habits.

What to do if you’re not happy

We will always work to ensure that your children, and you, have the best experience of education. However, we acknowledge that sometimes you may be unhappy with school. We welcome contact by parents/carers given that it forms an important part of the home-school partnership, which is so vital in supporting students in their learning development. If you have any concerns about the school or the education we are providing at any time, please discuss the matter with your child's Subject Teacher or Form Tutor at the earliest opportunity.  Please see our Complaints and Resolutions Policy. Please be aware, however, when calling to speak to teaching staff that they have teaching commitments throughout the day and may not be able to get back to you straight away, but will always endeavour to get back to you within 48 hours.

Sports Fixtures and Results

The new calendar year has kicked off with some exciting badminton fixtures against The Grange and a nine-goal thriller in football against Thorpe House. Our teams showed great determination and teamwork in all of our sporting fixtures. 

Year 8: Our girls and boys badminton teams played The Grange at badminton on Thursday.  Neither team lost a game and there was some wonderful skill displayed throughout. Thank you and well done to all players involved!

Year 10: Both our boys and girls badminton teams played against the Grange in badminton on Thursday. Our boys team dominated the court, winning every game on the day. Our girls team didn’t win every game but held their own on the court and made The Grange work hard for their victory. Well done to all involved. 

Year 11: Our boys football team played against Thorpe House School in an exciting, nine-goal thriller. Unfortunately, our players were just pipped at the post with the match ending 5-4 to Thorpe House. Unlucky boys! Thank you for representing the school so well. 

Our mixed badminton team also played badminton against The Grange in what was a highly competitive match. Although we were narrowly beaten in the final game, our players showed determination and spirit throughout. Better luck next time!