Within the Park Street community, we believe that each person is made in God’s image, and is therefore uniquely valuable. Our staff are committed to providing a high quality education for each child within a safe and nurturing school environment, enabling each child to reach their potential. A child’s home environment plays a crucial part in this, and we therefore want our partnerships with parents and carers to thrive. We strive to communicate well with parents and carers so that they are well-informed about all aspects of their child’s education, and to enable parents to have effective dialogue with the school.

Keeping you informed of what is happening at school is an important part of what we do. To help us, it is essential that we have up to date telephone numbers and email addresses for you so you don’t miss out on any important messages.

How we communicate

Depending on the nature of the information or issue being discussed, we typically communicate with parents through the following means:

• Latest News: We do not send out a Newsletter, but the Latest News page of the website is updated weekly. Key dates can also be found on the website homepage. Regular emails are sent to parents to alert them to important updates on the ‘Latest News’ and key dates pages.
• Emails: These are sent from the school office, directed to parents/carers of particular classes or year groups (e.g. information about a class trip or event). A bulk service may also be used if the school is closed unexpectedly or there is a critical incident.
• Letters: These will usually be from the the Head or the Chair of Governors with important school-wide announcements and updates (sometimes in writing sent home in book bags, and sometimes sent via email from the school office.)
• Book Bags: In addition to letters above, there may be messages from the class teacher sent in the book bag, such as homework or consent forms, so please check them daily if possible.
• Personal Meetings: These can be either at an official parents’ consultation (these happen twice a year, usually in October and February), or through a pre-arranged face-to-face meeting between a parent/carer and a member of staff. This would be to discuss your child in detail.
• Emergency Phone Calls: If your child is unfortunate enough to fall ill or have an accident, they will initially be looked after one of our staff trained in First Aid. However, if they need more urgent medical treatment or need to go home, we will need to be able to reach you by phone, so we ask for your home, work and mobile phone numbers.
• School Website: There is a great deal of  useful information on the school website. The school day is very busy and it is very helpful to the school staff if you can look here in the first instance for answers to your questions. Of course, we will be happy to help if you can’t find what you are looking for.
• At the school gates:  a member of staff (often the Head) is always at the school gate at morning drop-off between 8:45am and 9:00am and, if time permits, parents/carers can have short discussions with them or pass on a message to another staff member. At pick-up time, it is usually possible for parents/carers to speak briefly to their child’s teacher once the teacher has safely dismissed the rest of the class. However, should parents/carers wish to have a longer conversation it is important that they make a proper appointment to speak to the teacher. This can be done via the school office, either by phone or email or in person.
• Online Payments System: As we operate a ‘cashless system’ you will be signed up to our online payments system through Arbor. It is important that you ‘keep an eye’ on your balance, especially if your child has meals to be paid for, as you will not be notified automatically by email when the credit on your child’s dinner money account is getting low. When there are class trips where we are asking for a contribution from parents to cover the cost, you will also be asked to pay through Arbor. As well as paying online, you can also give permission for your children to attend the trip online.  We cannot issue you an activation code for your online account until we have received and processed your Data Collection form.

How you can communicate

• The office: Most questions can go via the office, who will pass messages on to relevant people. They can be contacted by phone, email or in person (at either end of the school day).
• Staff & Headteacher: Please refer to the ‘At the school gates’ section above for ad hoc communications. Formal meetings need to be requested in advance via the office. ​In the first instance, meetings should be held with the class teacher before requesting a meeting with the Headteacher. Unless the concern is with the class teacher.  Please note that it is not our expectation for staff to communicate with individual parents via email: this can become too time consuming and can be detrimental to the day to day running of the school.
• Governors: Please contact the clerk (see the Governor page)
• Concerns: We always aim to work harmoniously with parents/carers in the best interests of their children, and to deal with any issues that may arise in a prompt and professional manner. Most issues can be quickly and easily resolved through effective communication and working in partnership. Please refer to the Raising a Concern page for details of how to raise concerns.

Acceptable behaviour and working in partnership

We want to foster a community where people are treated with respect and courtesy, as is fitting within the Christian tradition.

We are happy to meet with parents to discuss and try to resolve concerns. However, raised voices or other expressions of aggression towards staff, pupils or other parents will result in termination of the meeting, or in removal from the premises. We will also not tolerate confrontational or inappropriate behaviour (including, but not limited to, raised voices, aggression or threatening behaviour) in public spaces around the school where this behaviour could be witnessed by pupils, or on social media.

It is also important that parents do not approach a child other than their own about a concern. Parents should also not try to address their concerns directly with other parents where those concerns relate to incidents between children that happen in the school.

In the event of unacceptable behaviour, sanctions may be imposed, which could include a ban from the school site, or the Police being informed.

Thank you for working with us to provide the best possible school environment for your child.