Dear Parents & Carers

Standards of Communication

As a school, we believe that developing good relationships with parents is an important part of our work. We encourage parents to speak to us on a regular basis recognising that your children are of the upmost importance to you and to us as a school. I’d like to take this opportunity to remind parents/carers about the different ways we should be communicating together to ensure the best possible outcomes for your child(ren).

Passing on a message

On occasion, there may be something you'd like the teacher to know at the start of the day, such as a different person picking your child up, a change in family circumstances that might affect your child's wellbeing, or a poor night's sleep. You can pass these messages on to the staff at the gate or through the office, who will ensure the teacher is informed. We are all on the same team, and the staff want what is best for your child(ren).

Raising a concern

Sometimes, parents/carers will need to raise concerns with the school. No concern is too small if you are worried about it. Initially, all concerns should be raised with your child’s class teacher. This should be done either face-to-face or over the phone at a mutually agreeable time. The best time to speak to class teachers face-to-face is at the end of the school day (mornings are busy, and staff focus on welcoming and settling your children into class). Our teachers will always aim to speak to parents/carers raising a concern on the same day. For wellbeing reasons, I would kindly request that any concerns are not raised via email to individual staff members. The teacher will address your concern and will contact you if appropriate.

If you are still concerned and do not feel like the concern has been resolved, then get back in touch with your child’s class teacher again. We hope that all concerns are resolved in the first instance; however, we do appreciate that sometimes despite our best efforts concerns cannot be resolved the first time around.

• If you are still concerned and are not happy with how a concern has been dealt with, then please contact the school to speak to myself or Mrs Hughes (Deputy Headteacher). Again, we request that this is raised either face to face or over the telephone. We aim not to get to this stage with parents/carers; however, sometimes this is necessary and we will always strive to resolve any concerns you still may have.

Trust the team at Newton Primary

I feel very privileged to be working with enthusiastic children, supportive parents and highly skilled and experienced staff. I understand that when your child is upset or worried about an incident at school, as a parent/carer your instinctive reaction is to respond immediately. As a parent myself, I fully understand how this works, but would ask all parents/carers to trust the school in the first instance. The school recognises that sometimes it will inevitably make mistakes, but ultimately the staff here truly care about your child(ren) and work incredibly hard to ensure they get the best educational experiences as possible. Please take the time to come into school to get all of the information that is needed. Often, other sources of communications can sometimes be misleading or inaccurate, which is why I would urge every parent/carer that has a concern to come straight to the school directly so it can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently.

If you would like to discuss any points raised in this letter any further, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

Many thanks in advance,

Mrs Stow

Headteacher