Communication

Next review September 2024

1. Introduction and aims

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

The aim of this policy is to promote clear and open communication by:

• Explaining how the school communicates with parents/carers
• Setting clear standards for responding to communication from parents/carers
• Helping parents/carers reach the member of school staff who is best placed to address their specific query or concern so they can get a response as quickly as possible

In the following sections, we will use ‘parents’ to refer to both parents and carers

2. Roles and responsibilities

2.1 Headteacher

The headteacher is responsible for:

• Ensuring that communications with parents are effective, timely and appropriate
• Regularly reviewing this policy

2.2 Staff

All staff are responsible for:

• Responding to communication from parents in line with this policy and the school’s ICT and internet acceptable use policy
• Working with other members of staff to make sure parents get timely information (if they cannot address a query or send the information themselves)

Staff will not respond to communications outside of school hours (8am – 5pm), or their working hours (if they work part-time), or during school holidays.

2.3 Parents

Parents are responsible for:

• Ensuring that communication with the school is respectful at all times
• Making 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.

Conduct Policy September 2020

3. How we communicate with parents and carers

The sections below explain how we keep parents up-to-date with their child’s education and what is happening in school.

Parents should monitor all of the following regularly to make sure they do not miss important communications or announcements that may affect their child.

3.1 Class Dojo

We use Class Dojo class and school stories to keep parents informed about the following things:

• Class activities or teacher requests
• Upcoming school events
• Scheduled school closures (for example, for staff training days)
• School surveys or consultations
• Short-notice changes to the school day
• Emergency school closures (for instance, due to bad weather)

We use Class Dojo messages for:

• Targeted reminders

3.2 Email

We will email parents about:

• Annual reports
• Personal letters
• Trip letters and consent forms

3.3 School calendar

Our school website includes a full school calendar for the term.

Where possible, we try to give parents at least 2 weeks’ notice of any events or special occasions (including non-uniform days, special assemblies or visitors, or requests for pupils to bring in special items or materials).

Any such event will be included in the school calendar.

3.4 Phone calls

We often telephone parents to seek information when emails and messages are not sufficient or a more timely response is required.

3.5 Reports

Parents receive reports from the school about their child’s learning, including:

• An end-of-year report covering their achievement in each part of the curriculum, how well they are progressing, and their attendance
• Termly progress reports
• A report on KS1 and KS2 SATs tests

3.6 Meetings

We hold 2 parents’ evening each year.  During these meetings, parents can talk with teachers about their child’s achievement and progress, the curriculum or schemes of work, their child’s wellbeing, or any other area of concern.

The school may also contact parents to arrange meetings between parents’ evenings if there are concerns about a child’s achievement, progress, or wellbeing.

Parents of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), or who have other additional needs, are asked to attend further meetings to address these additional needs each term.

3.7 School website

Key information about the school can be found on our website, including:

• School times and term dates
• Important events and announcements
• Curriculum information
• Important policies and procedures
• Important contact information
• Information about before and after-school provision

Parents should check the website before contacting the school.

4. How parents and carers can communicate with the school

Please use the list in appendix 1 to identify the most appropriate person to contact about a query or issue, including the school office number and email address.

4.1 Attendance Line (Message service)

All pupil absences must be reported using the absence line.  Please ring 01772 253244 and press option 1, giving your child’s full name, class and reason for absence.  Please ring each day of the absence unless you have already given an expected date of return in a previous message.

4.2 Email

Parents should always email the school, or the appropriate member of staff, about non-urgent issues in the first instance.

We aim to acknowledge all emails within 2 working days, and to respond in full (or arrange a meeting or phone call if appropriate) within 3 working days.

If a query or concern is urgent, and you need a response sooner than this, please call the school office.

4.3 Phone calls

For general enquiries, please call the school office.

If you need to speak to a specific member of staff about a non-urgent matter, please email the school office and the relevant member of staff will contact you within 3 working days.

If this is not possible (due to teaching or other commitments), someone will get in touch with you to schedule a phone call at a convenient time. We aim to make sure you have spoken to the appropriate member of staff within 3 days of your request.

If your issue is urgent, please call the school office.

Urgent issues might include things like:

• Family emergencies
• Safeguarding or welfare issues

4.4 Meetings

If you would like to schedule a meeting with a member of staff, please email the appropriate address (see appendix 1), or call the school to book an appointment.

We try to schedule all meetings within [number] working days of the request.

While teachers are available at the beginning or end of the school day if you need to speak to them urgently, we recommend you book appointments to discuss:

• Any concerns you may have about your child’s learning
• Updates related to pastoral support, your child’s home environment, or their wellbeing

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5. Inclusion

It is important to us that everyone in our community can communicate easily with the school.

We currently make whole-school announcements and communications on Class Dojo and the school website, where there are translation options available in most languages.

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.

6. Monitoring and review

The headteacher monitors the implementation of this policy and will review the policy every 3 years.

7. Links with other policies

The policy should be read alongside our policies on:

• ICT and internet acceptable use
• Parent code of conduct
• Staff code of conduct
• Complaints

Who should I contact?

If you have questions about any of the topics in the table below, or would like to speak to a member of staff:

• Email or call the school office on bursar@frenchwood.lancs.sch.uk or 01772 253244
• Put the subject and the name of the relevant member of staff (from the list below) in the subject line (for emails)
• We will forward your request on to the relevant member of staff

Remember: check our website first, much of the information you need is posted there. We try to respond to all emails within three working days.​​​​​​​

Complaints

If you would like to file a formal complaint, please follow the procedure set out in our complaints policy.