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?

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?)

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.

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?

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)