Communicating with parents/carers
The school will undertake to ensure that:
- Parents and children have clear lines of communication
- The curriculum is clearly communicated to parents
- Parents are informed of forthcoming events within appropriate timelines
- All communications will be treated as confidential within the school context
Parent/Carers will undertake to:
- Read all communications issued by the school
- Raise issues or concerns at the earliest opportunity with the school in the appropriate manner
- Act on the communication (for example, attending special meetings)
- Not discuss school issues on Social Media
Methods of Communication
Text Message: This is our main form of instant communication about what is going on in school. We also use this for information about trips e.g. estimated time of arrival if a journey is delayed.
Email: We ask parents to use the email address office@castlehill.croydon.sch.uk. For the purposes of administration we require all emails to go to a central email address. However, all emails will be treated with full confidentiality and the responses will be made by the member of staff that the email is addressed to. Please note all emails should specify the member of staff to whom the query is addressed. We will always respond to emails in a timely manner that is proportionate to the query. Urgent matters (e.g. safeguarding) would be prioritised.
Website: General school information e.g. policies, dates, news, etc. are all on our school website.
Letter: Letters can be handed into, or posted to, the school office. As with emails all letters will be treated with full confidentiality and the responses will be made by the member of staff addressed. Please note all letters should specify the member of staff to whom the query is addressed. Please let the office staff know if the letter contains information about your child which you would like the class teacher to receive urgently.
Telephone: This would be appropriate where enquiries are deemed more urgent by the parent, such as communicating particular information about the child to the school. We ask parents to phone the school on 01689 843148. If the call requires a response from a member of staff, the message will be acknowledged by our office staff and passed on to the appropriate person. Please note that lessons will never be interrupted for teachers to take calls.
Confidentiality
We hold information on pupils in our school and from time to time we are required to pass some of this information to others for educational purposes. Details have been sent to parents about the types of data we hold, why we hold that data, and who we may pass it on to. We will be compliant with the Data Protection Act 2018. Parents have a right to view the information we hold, and we have contact details of the agencies to which our information is passed.
Appointments
If you wish to make an appointment to see a member of staff, please contact a member of the Office team in person, by telephone (01689 843148) or email: office@castlehill.croydon.sch.uk. Please note that it is not always possible for a member of staff to receive you on the same day of your request, however, you will be contacted by a member of staff with an appointment time.
What to do if you have a concern
Concerns should be raised with the class teacher in the first instance; these may then be escalated to the Key Stage Leader or a senior member of staff, if necessary.
Please refer to our Concerns and Complaints Policy for full details. Thank you.