school communication

[opt123]

what are peoples thoughts on the communication between schools and home? how do most people get in contact - there are some questions i dont want to bother them with - maybe there online places i can post them?

[lljkk]

Pretty bad in our case, kind of amusingly so. I have found out that emails to office are replied to fastest. Hit & Miss with HT's PA or the "Student Support Centre" as points of contact. I am not always sure who to notify about what, either.

Disclaimer: DS entered the school for yr8 and the school have admitted (personal apology from HT to DS) that they totally messed up his induction. Luckily I am bemused by the lack of good comms & organisation. Guaranteed that any letter or note I sign for DS will never make it back to school staff unless it excuses him from detention penalties. I'm better off posting such items direct.

I did get phone call the other day when DS bashed his head on another pupil (Rounders, who knew it was a contact sport?)

[Notquite]

It's fine to ask the school, though if the question is 'when is half term?' you can probably just check the website. I have DC in two different secondaries, both encourage parents to email in the first instance. If you're not sure who you need to speak to or don't know a teacher's email address, email the office and ask them to forward it to the relevant person. If that doesn't work, ring.

[opt123]

ok thats all good to know (and amusing haha) but one thing ive thought that would be helpful is knowing what other people are asking. im a new mum and dont always know what questions i should be asking, though i want to engage. ok, my questions arnt as simple as when is half term, but maybe if i knew lots of people were wondering the same thing, that might be good to know? you get what i mean? a central place where all queries and answers are open. do your schools use facebook?

[lljkk]

Supposedly some local state schools have parental-student logins. Parents can login and instantly see records of things like commendations, demerits, detentions, homework assignments, calendar of events, etc.

DS school is not like that. (sigh)