CHILDREN and young people’s voices are being heard and their views taken seriously when it comes to making improvements in schools.

Results of the 2017/18 Parentwise/Pupilwise surveys are in - and show very high satisfaction rates for Fife's schools.

Children in the schools of the Cowdenbeath-Lochgelly area were involved in the survey and their contributions have been welcomed.

Fife Council is committed to making sure that pupils and parents have their say about the Kingdom's schools and nurseries - and that those views are listened to and acted upon.

Carrie Lindsay, Executive Director of Education and Children's Services, made that point to councillors on Tuesday as they were presented with the results of the directorate's most recent Pupilwise and Parentwise surveys.

She said: "We have been doing these surveys since 2011/12 and every year the response rates increase.

"This year we had 33,423 responses which gives us a real insight into what children, young people and their families feel about their schools.

"The survey is just one of the many ways that puts Fife at the forefront of pupil participation. We know that for our schools to be successful, our children, young people and families need to have their voices heard and to know that their suggestions and feedback are valuable in making sure we keep improving".

Carrie Lindsay added: "We recently hosted the launch of the Education Scotland’s Learner Participation resource, 'How good is OUR school', which is a toolkit to ensure that young people's views are being taken into account when looking at how we improve our schools. They chose to launch this National resource in Fife because of our history of making sure that decisions are made with and by our children and young people and not just for them.

"The voices of our children, young people and their families are a vital and integral part of how we improve our schools."

From October 2017 to March this year 23,510 children and young people, from nursery right up to secondary school took part in the survey. Here is some of the key feedback: From pupils: 70% of pupils enjoy learning in their school/nursery; 76% think they are making good progress in their learning; 79% report that people in the school help them with their learning when they need it; 76% feel safe and cared for at nursery/school; and 80% know who they can talk to if they are upset or worried about something.

From parents 89% of surveyed parents felt that overall they are happy with the school/ nursery; 91% felt welcomed and well informed by the school; and 93% know who to contact if they are upset or worried about something affecting their child;

Cllr. Fay Sinclair, convener of the Education and Children's Services Committee, was pleased with the results and the approach Fife is taking with pupil participation.

She said: "In this, the Year of Young People, it is good to see that in Fife we practise what we preach in actually listening to our young people and acting on the feedback they give us.

"It is encouraging to see that since the surveys began the amount of respondents has almost doubled. Overall perceptions from both pupils and parents remain very high in all categories."