Communication with Parents/Carers
Communication with Parents/Carers
As a school we feel very strongly that effective relationships between parents/carers and the school enables students to thrive. We always welcome contact from parents/carers regardless how big or small the matter. We are keen to ensure that all queries and concerns are dealt with quickly and amicably and so moving forward we ask that you follow this guidance:
As technology has progressed, we recognise that where meeting in person used to be the norm, this has now been replaced by email and that this form of communication provides parents/carers with an easy and quick way to communicate with us as a school. If email is the best way for you to contact us, please email the member of staff directly if you have their email or [email protected] and the email will be forwarded to the correct member of staff. Our office@ email box is monitored throughout the day.
To ensure that this method of communication is used as efficiently and purposefully as possible, we will use the following protocols:
- All emails will be responded to during working hours and within two working days, dependent upon the level of concern/nature of the concern. However, staff are not expected to respond to emails sent out of working hours. Out of working hours emails are classed as emails sent after 6.00pm and before 8.00am during the week or emails sent after 6.00pm on Friday evening and before 8.00am Monday morning. There may be occasions where staff respond out of hours however this is down to the member of staff and is not the expectation.
- If an issue cannot be resolved satisfactorily within a two email exchange (four in total), then a face to face meeting in school should be convened.
- Staff are not expected to respond to an email deemed/perceived to be abusive or aggressive.
Face to face meetings
At Lacon Childe School, we value face to face communication and we feel that these interactions between teachers and parents/carers are the most effective and productive. However, we fully understand that meeting during the school day is not always possible and so we will always endeavour to find a time to meet with you outside of the school day. If this is not possible, we are always more than happy to accommodate requests for online meetings via Microsoft Teams. Unless it is an emergency situation, we ask that you always book an appointment prior to coming into school. The vast majority of our staff have a teaching timetable and so it is very unlikely that we will be able to meet with you without a scheduled time.
Social media
We ask that you work with us, are patient and refrain from using social media to air your grievances. Posting remarks and complaints online via social media as well as private channels like WhatsApp groups can adversely impact parent/teacher relationships and unfairly affect the reputation of schools, staff members, and our children. It can also lead to the targeting of the subject of posts. We will deal with inappropriate social media use in accordance with our behaviour policy and mobile phone policy and will work with the police where necessary.
We hope that most issues can be dealt with promptly, however some issues do take longer to rectify. In some instances, a parent/carer may feel that an issue has not been resolved satisfactorily and want to refer to our complaints procedure that can be found on our SGET Trust website. However, the school retains the right to deem the matter closed where it feels due diligence has been afforded to the concern.