High quality communication between home and school lies at the heart of excellent educational provision. As a result, we use a wide range of techniques to communicate with parents and we are constantly seeking ways to improve these systems. An outline of our current approaches is detailed below. 

Please also read our policy on home-school communications, available here.


Electronic

This website forms a key element of our communication strategy. Apart from giving parents access to key information and documentation, we also use our website and Twitter feed to provide regular updates on current news and events.

Each member of staff also has an email address and they use this regularly. We encourage our parents to contact us in this way as talking to individual members of staff by phone can be difficult during the school day.


Meeting your child’s teachers

There is one parents’ evening per year in KS3 and two parents’ evenings per year in KS4 and KS5.  You will receive information about how to make appointments for these meetings via the PTO system shortly before the date scheduled in the school calendar. We also schedule regular “Parents’ Information Evenings” for different year groups to communicate key messages and themes that are especially relevant to that cohort.

We make specific efforts to celebrate the achievement of our students in a public manner with their parents. As a result, we organise a separate “Awards Evening” for each year group. This programme is supplemented by additional awards evenings for the Performing Arts and Sport.

Each member of staff also has a voicemail account. If you ring the main school number and our Receptionist is unable to locate the person you wish to speak to, you will be given access to their voicemail so that you can leave a message. All our staff check their voicemail regularly. Please be aware, however, that colleagues who are teaching all day may not be able to respond to your call until the following working day.


Email communications

KS3 students receive a statement of attainment twice a year.  KS4 and KS5 students receive this information three times per year. After every 20 days of attendance you will receive an Attitude to Learning report that shows your child’s attitude and commitment in lessons. 

Of course, we also email parents regularly to keep them up to date with forthcoming events and emerging issues that are relevant to particular individuals, year groups, key stages etc.


Parent Voice

We systematically seek parental feedback at every opportunity. As a result, we circulate surveys to parents at most events and we also routinely send questionnaires home covering particularly important themes. We scrutinise these responses with great care and they play a key role in developing school policy and direction.  Ofsted’s Parent View website also offers an important perspective on the quality of our work.