How to contact the school

Our positive home/school relationship is incredibly important to the potential success of your child. Communication is absolutely central to the success of this relationship.

The information below will help you to know who to contact, how to contact them and what to expect.

Please refer to the table at the bottom when contacting the school.

 

Staff expectations

Staff will aim to respond to communication during core school hours (8 – 4) or their working hours (if they work part-time. In line with promoting staff wellbeing and helping our staff find a suitable work-life balance, staff may work around other responsibilities and commitments and respond outside of these hours, but they are not expected to do so.

Parental expectations

• Ensuring that communication with the school is respectful at all times
• Making every reasonable effort to address communications to the appropriate member of staff in the first instance
• Respond to communications from the school (such as requests for meetings) in a timely manner
• Checking all communications from the school
• Any communication that is considered disrespectful, abusive or threatening will be treated in line with our trust procedure.
• Parents should not expect staff to respond to their communication outside of core school hours or during school holidays.

How we communicate with parents and carers

Parents should monitor all of the following regularly to make sure they do not miss important communications or announcements that may affect their child.

Email, via ParentPay for upcoming events, scheduled school closures, school surveys or consultations, class activities or teacher requests, Friends of Weston communication, payments

Text messages (these are rare but we have the facility to text) for short-notice changes to the school day, emergency school closures (for instance, due to bad weather)

School calendar our school website and regular newsletter include a comprehensive school calendar for the year ahead/upcoming months. Where possible, we try to give parents at least 2 weeks’ notice of any events or special occasions (including non-uniform days, special assemblies or visitors, or requests for pupils to bring in special items or materials).

Phone calls to discuss pupils’ performance and behaviour, both positive and negative. The purpose of these calls is to enable our important partnership work around supporting the children to find frequent success, build on prior successes and recognise how to make adjustments where necessary. 

Letters (usually sent as ParentPay attachments) for information about trips, visits and other special activities, consent forms, attendance related correspondence, our newsletter, which is now an electronic newsletter published on Microsoft Sway.

Reading diaries for children to record all of their reading at home (a minimum of 4 times per week) and at school and to record homework. We expect parents to regularly look in their children’s diaries to support and reinforce homework and reading expectations. 

Reports for an annual written report, attendance and assessment information.

Meetings for parents’ evening(s) in the Autumn and Spring terms and additional meetings if there are concerns about a child’s achievement, progress, or wellbeing. Parents of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), or who have other additional needs, may also be asked to attend further meetings to address these additional needs.

School website for school times and term dates; important events and announcements; curriculum information, important policies and procedures; important contact information; information about before and after-school provision. Parents should check the website before contacting the school.

Class Dojo for teacher/parent communication. We also use the Class Story function to provide specific class updates such as changes to PE days. Whilst all pupil-facing staff have access to Class Dojo, please refer to the table below to understand who to address your messages to. Please note that staff Class Dojo messages are subject to monitoring.

How parents and carers can communicate with the school

Parents should use the list below to identify the most appropriate person to contact about a query or issue, including the school office number and email address.

Email or class dojo to the appropriate member of staff about non-urgent issues. We aim to acknowledge all emails within 2 working days, and to respond in full (or arrange a meeting or phone call if appropriate) within 5 working days. Typically, school will respond well within these timescales. If a query or concern is urgent, and you need a response sooner than this, you should call the school. Please note that staff email is subject to monitoring.

Phone calls If the issue is urgent or time sensitive, parents should call the school office. Urgent or time sensitive issues might include things like family emergencies or safeguarding or welfare issues. For more general enquiries, please call the school office.

Meetings If parents would like to schedule a meeting with a member of staff, they should either email the school office or call the school to book an appointment. If the meeting is with your child’s teacher, parents should contact them directly via Class Dojo. We try to schedule all meetings within 5 working days of the request. While teachers are available at the end of the school day if parents need to speak to them urgently, we recommend they book appointments to discuss any concerns they have about their child’s learning or updates related to pastoral support, their child’s home environment, or their wellbeing.

Class Dojo Generally, staff are able to respond to Class Dojo messages within 2 days of receiving them and will respond within 5 days. Typically, staff will respond well within this timescale. Parents should not expect a response outside of core school hours or during school holidays.

Inclusion

It is important to us that everyone in our community can communicate easily with the school. We currently make whole-school announcements and communications (such as email alerts and newsletters) available on Class Dojo so that parents can use the translate function if necessary. Parents who need help communicating with the school can request that school announcements and communications are translated into additional languages. Please contact the school office to discuss these.

 

Who should I contact?

If you have questions about any of the topics in the table below, or would like to speak to a member of staff:

If emailing, please include your child’s full name in the subject line.

We try to respond to all emails and Class Dojo messages within 5 days.

Remember: check our website first, much of the information you need is posted there

 

While some parents of children with SEN have regular conversations with their child’s key worker, it is important that all written communication is via the class teacher.

Parents should not seek other means of communication, for instance social media.

 

I have a question about…	Who you need to talk to
My child’s learning/class activities/lessons/homework	Your child’s teacher via Class Dojo
Arranging a meeting with my child’s teacher	Your child’s teacher
My child’s wellbeing/pastoral support	Your child’s teacher
Payments	School office via 01270 814848 or admin@weston.cheshire.sch.uk
School trips	School office
Uniform/lost and found	Your child’s teacher
Attendance and absence requests	If you need to report your child’s absence, call: 01270 814848 If you want to request approval for term-time absence, complete a leave of absence request form and send it into the school office
Bullying and behaviour	Your child’s teacher via Class Dojo
School events/the school calendar	School office
Special educational needs (SEN)	The SENCO Mrs Loveland, via eloveland@weston.cheshire.sch.uk
The Hive	The Hive administrator Mrs Davies, via hive@weston.cheshire.sch.uk
Hiring the school premises	School office
Friends of Weston	fowvillageprimaryschool@gmail.org
Governing board	chair@weston.cheshire.sch.uk
Catering/meals	School office

Complaints

If you would like to file a formal complaint, please follow the procedure set out in our complaints policy, which can be found on the school website.