The imparting or exchanging of information.
We recognise that families are crucial to supporting the education of students and that effective partnerships between home and school, without doubt, have a positive impact on students’ learning and wellbeing whilst they are in our care.
The aim of this policy is therefore to ensure that there is effective communication between the school, the students, their parents and carers and other members of the wider community.
In turn, the principles are that all communications are clear, professional, respectful, timely and relevant.
Senior Leadership Team: Ensure effective communication with all stakeholders including the Academy Council.
All staff: Communicate wherever possible by phone, within five working days or sooner if the enquiry is of an urgent nature. Responses will be within working hours only. Communicate only from the school email/phones. Provide updates for the newsletter, Facebook page, Twitter feed and website. Post homework on MCAS.
Parent/Carer: Inform the academy of any absence by 8.20am via email: [email protected] or call 01684 851806 (option 2). Ensure all contact information is up to date. Check MCAS regularly to ensure homework completion. Do not make contact with your child by mobile phone during the day as it contravenes our mobile phone policy. Attend Progress evenings.
1.4.1 Academy to Home:
1.4.1.1 Provision of day-to-day information
Useful information e.g. term dates and celebration of events occurring within the academy will be communicated as follows.
• Website: https://tewkesburyacademy.clf.uk/
• Termly newsletter: emailed home to our priority contact(s).
• Letters: emailed home to our priority contact(s) and also posted on the website. All letters are processed via the Academy admin team to ensure quality control.
• TA Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TewkesburyAcademy the purpose of this account is enhancing the reputation of the academy within the wider community. Therefore, tweets will refer to the wonderful activities happening both for students and staff.
• TA Twitter @tewkschool the purpose of this account is enhance the reputation of the academy within the wider community. Therefore, tweets will refer to the wonderful activities happening both for students and staff.
1.4.1.2 Provision of student specific information
Attendance, behaviour record, lesson scores, academic performance and other information specific to an individual student will be communicated via the methods below.
• MCAS App – see attendance, positive and negatives and reports, ability to update the contact information we hold for our students
• Twice yearly progress report – which will be sent to the MCAS App
• Daily absence/lateness text
• Progress evenings x1 per year. Conducted online via School Cloud
Where parent/carers need to attend from separate locations, the priority contact will be sent the booking information and can ‘invite’ the 2nd parent/carer to attend
• Postcards home – celebrating something the student did that was above and beyond our usual
expectations
• Text messages to say a student has been placed in detention
• Home visits
• Communications Agreement – where regular contact between school & home is necessary
• Face to face meetings for a specific reason
MCAS Logins are sent to parents/carers at the start of Year 7. Logins to School Cloud are sent to one parent/carer in advance of the Progress evening.
1.4.1.3 Emergency communication
In the event of an academy wide emergency e.g. the academy had to close due to snow, we would use a selection of the following to keep parents/carers updated.
• Text the priority contact parent(s) or carer for whom we have an up-to-date mobile number
• Email the priority contact parent(s) or carer for whom we have an up-to-date email address
• Post a message on the academy website and The Gloucestershire County Council website
• Post on our social media sites
In the case of an emergency that affects a single student or small group of students e.g. an injury in
PE, we will phone home directly.
1.4.1.4 Communication in the event of a behaviour incident
If a student receives a same day detention, parents/carers will be advised of this via text during the school day by mid-day. After mid-day, the detention will be the following day.
If a student is suspended, appropriate members of staff will phone home to discuss the incident prior to the suspension. A formal letter will follow via email in line the processes indicted in our Academy Behaviour Policy.
All significant meetings related to behaviour will have a follow up letter sent via email summarising
the discussion.
1.4.2 Home to Academy:
1.4.2.1 Routine enquiries
Please call the academy on 01684 292152 or email [email protected]
An acknowledgement email will be received. Our reception staff will forward the email to the relevant member of staff who will reply within five working days by phone wherever possible to build relationships and avoid the ambiguity that can occur with emails. Furthermore, it allows our staff to stick to acceptable working hours and not feel obliged to reply to emails in the evenings or weekends. Staff emails will not be published on the website.
To further improve communication, we are moving away from direct contact with a Head of Year and into year group mailboxes. These each have a Head of Year, Pastoral Manager and member of the Learning Support/SEND team assigned to them, so queries can be dealt with promptly and by the most appropriate person.
1.4.2.2 Urgent enquiries
In the case of an urgent enquiry, please call the academy on 01684 292152 and our receptionists will forward the call to an available member of staff. Reception is open 8:00am to 4:30pm and until 3.30pm on Friday.
Examples of urgent enquiries are:
• Any concern about the safety of your child or any other child
• A change in who is picking up your child or where your child must go after school
After each Progress evening we will send out a survey to parents and carers to ask for their reflections on the academy in general which we will use to inform strategic planning for the academy. We urge parents/carers to take this opportunity to suggest improvements to the school generally.
It is not usually possible for staff to see parents/carers without an appointment as they are likely to be teaching. Please therefore call the academy or email [email protected] to request an appointment.
The principle is that our communication with stakeholders is respectful and professional. Whilst it is recognised that emotions can sometimes run high, there is a clear expectation that all communication with our staff is respectful and that they are treated with dignity. If this is not the case, staff have the right to finish a phone call or end a meeting once a polite warning has been given. Communications may be reconvened. This will be on the understanding that it is done so respectfully, enabling a satisfactory resolution to be found.
Further to this, we will not permit conversations to be recorded electronically, if this is attempted, we will end a call/a meeting. A written record can be kept of any meeting.
It is also generally unhelpful to voice disquiet on social media – it is rarely the best way to achieve productive resolution.
Working in partnership is a keyway to support young people to achieve the best outcomes with an excellent education. In our experience most concerns can be dealt with in partnership through respectful and timely communications.
In the event however, that a parent/carer is unhappy with the outcome of a discussion or meeting and matters remain unresolved, please refer to our complaints policy. It is important to note that any complaints directed to external agencies about the school will normally expect you to have used the school’s complaint process first.
K McGillycuddy
Principal
Tewkesbury Academy
