Parent Communication and Code of Conduct
Communication
It is the school’s aim to have clear open channels of communication for parents/carers.
We believe that clear, open communication between the school and parents/carers has a positive impact on pupils’ learning because it:
• Gives parents/carers the information they need to support their child’s education
• Helps the school improve, through feedback and consultation with parents/carers
• Builds trust between home and school, which helps the school better support each child’s educational and pastoral needs
Parents can communicate with school in the following ways –
• Via telephone on 01606832231
• Via email : [email protected] This is for all general enquiries, including requests to speak to class teachers. Requests for contact with your child’s class teacher should be marked ‘For the Attention of...' followed by the name of the class teacher in the email subject line and the office team will forward this to the relevant teacher.
SENCO queries via [email protected] This email address is for direct contact with our SENCO. This email address is monitored during the SENCO working hours
We ask parents to:
• Maintain a realistic expectation in terms of a reasonable response time from the school.
• Take into consideration that for the majority of the school day, teachers are delivering the curriculum to the children and school leaders will have meeting schedules throughout a day.
• Support us in helping our staff to find a suitable work/life balance.
• Understand that staff are not expected to respond to communications outside of working hours.
• Ensure that communication with the school is respectful at all times, especially in terms of language used and tone
• Make every reasonable effort to address communications to the appropriate member of staff in the first instance
• Respond to communications from the school (such as requests for meetings) in a timely manner
• Checking all communications from the school
Any communication that is considered disrespectful, abusive or threatening will be treated in line with our parent code of conduct.
Parents should not expect staff to respond to their communication outside of core school hours, or during school holidays, with the exception of the [email protected] email address for all Safeguarding concerns.
A monthly newsletter is produced which keeps parents informed of all events in school relating to that period. This is generally emailed at the beginning of each month . A copy is added to the website.
Curriculum newsletters for each year group are distributed half-termly or termly through the class pages on the school website and also through Google Classrooms. Reception Acorn class provides parents and carers with a weekly summary of key learning and upcoming reminders .
The parents association publicise all events via School Spider letter or email.
The Headteacher, Mrs Macaskill, is available each morning from 8.30am – 8.50am on the gate to answer any queries from parents.
Teaching staff are available for a brief exchange of information, or to arrange a more lengthy meeting, at 3.15pm.
There are two formal parent-teacher meetings through the year but additional individual interviews can be arranged to discuss pupil’s progress or behaviour, if neccessary. Dates for parent meetings are circulated via the newsletter and can be found on the school website.
Parents receive a report from the school about their child’s learning at the end of the academic year, including: An end-of-year report covering their achievement in each part of the curriculum, how well they are progressing, and their attendance. A report on KS2 SATs tests (Year 6) is also included, along with Phonic check information (Year 1) and Multiplication Check (Year 4)
Parents can access all information, including letters emailed home, via the School Spider app. Please ask at the office for more information if required.
Parents with additional communication needs
We aim to make communications accessible to all:
All whole-school announcements and communications (such as email alerts and newsletters) can be made available in multiple formats.
All communications are written as clearly and concisely as possible
Parents who need help communicating with the school can request reasonable adjustments.
Please contact the school office to discuss these
Parents with English as an additional language (EAL)
We currently make whole-school announcements and communications (such as email alerts and newsletters) available in English. Parents who need help communicating with the school can request the following support:
School announcements and communications translated into additional languages
Interpreters for meetings or phone calls
We can make additional arrangements if necessary. Please contact the school office to discuss these.
Parents of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), or who have other additional needs, may also be asked to attend further meetings to support these additional needs.
Workshops for parents are arranged covering many aspects of the curriculum and health issues. Parents are invited to school regularly to join in celebrations and pupil presentations.
Volunteer parents are warmly welcomed , supporting staff in many ways and enriching the programme of activities on offer for children.
Parents Suggestion and Opinions
We do carry out questionnaires from time to time to canvas opinion and evaluate our performance and also encourage parental comment in person
SMS Messaging
Sometimes we will contact parents by text messaging or via email. This is usually to remind parents about a school event or school closure (e.g. adverse weather conditions). Therefore, it is very important that parents keep the school office aware of any changes in mobile numbers or email.
