Communication with Parents and Families

Parents are part of their child’s journey through school. Through working in close partnership with our families, we are able to provide the very best for every child. Although a large school, we have all the warmth of a much smaller one - staff are approachable and give of their time to allow parents to be fully immersed in the life of the school. Baden-Powell & St. Peter’s Junior really does operate an ‘open-door’ policy, seeing positive engagement with parents as a priority.

It is essential that:

• You check your email regularly (if you are not able to check your email at least once a week then you should probably opt-out) 
• You must let us know if your email address changes

Headlines: our bi-termly newsletter keep families informed about all aspects of school life.

Weekly Reminders: provides up to date information about key events taking place during the following week and covers every year group.

Letters: Parents receive letters about key events or from teachers regarding extra-curricular arrangements, class visits or sports events.

Email Guidelines

Baden-Powell and St Peter’s Junior School recognises that email is a valuable communication tool that is widely used across our society. Staff members are provided with school email accounts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of communication both within the school and with the broader community and parents.

Email may be a fast and convenient way for parents to send messages, but this is not always the case for teachers. Teachers cannot always read their emails on the day that they are sent and they may only be read before or after school; remember that teachers are busy teaching and working with your children. Teachers may prefer to use the phone to speak directly to parents so please send email to teachers via office@bpsp.coastalpartnership.co.uk

When using email, parents are asked to observe the following protocols:

• Parents must not have opted out of our email communication option.
• Please send only non-vital messages by this medium as a teacher may not have time to read your message in a timely fashion.
• Email can be used to communicate briefly about matters previously discussed with the teacher or for brief queries, clarification or updates. More significant issues or ‘new’ concerns are best dealt with on the telephone or in person.
• Grievances against members of staff should not be raised via an email.
• Please avoid contacting teachers with queries that can be handled by the school office team or by consulting the school website. 
• Please ensure that any email communication is courteous and polite in tone; confrontational or aggressive emails will not warrant a response.
• Please avoid sending emails at antisocial times of the day and during weekend/holiday times since this brings disruption to teachers’ personal lives.
• Email accounts are not monitored in the school holidays.
• Please be reasonable and courteous in the volume of emails that you are sending.
• The school reserves the right to withdraw this form of communication from a parent who is using it in an inappropriate manner or in a manner which causes distress to school staff.

Parents should be aware that emails are regarded as a written form of communication and will be kept as a record of communication.