Bearwood Primary School

At Bearwood Primary School we fully understand the importance of good communication and appreciate how frustrating it can be when information is lost.

To prevent any misunderstandings and ensure that the correct, and most up to date information is shared, we have created clear systems for communication and ask that parents/carers follow these.

Communication from the School Office

The school office is the hub for all home-school communication. All e-mails, letters, telephone messages, website and social media updates are co-ordinated through the school office and admin team.

The majority of home-school communication is sent via e-mail and our ‘Arbor’ system, including the app.

The Arbor parent portal allows parents/carers to see real-time information in regard to attendance, school meals balances and bookings/payments for clubs and trips. It also allows parents to update contact details and other identified types of information held on their child/children, as well as book times for parents’ evenings which are held in the Autumn and Spring Terms.

Weekly newsletters are sent home on a Friday afternoon via e-mail and app and are also uploaded onto the website. These contain information on what’s been happening in classrooms during the week, attendance and weekly awards results, notices from the school office, diary dates and much more.

The school also uses our website and Facebook page (see link below) to support in connecting the Bearwood community, to promote communication and share updates and photos of life at Bearwood Primary School.

The website contains information on all areas of school life and is the first place to go for details on the school diary, school policies, procedures, clubs, curriculum and much more. Any changes are published directly on the website as and when they happen.

If you would like information about what your child is learning or how we teach, please click here to visit our ‘Learning’ section on our website for information, including curriculum overviews for each year group.

Please click here to access the Bearwood Primary School Facebook page.

Communication with Class Teachers

Formal meetings with class teachers are held during Autumn and Spring Terms and appointments for these are booked online via the Arbor app or parent portal. Parents also receive a letter at the end of these terms providing an update on their child’s learning and targets for the next term. Additionally, a formal written report is sent home at the end of the Summer Term, with an opportunity for informal discussion to be had following the written report at a sharing evening at the school.

Outside of these occasions the most reliable way to pass on any information to the Class Teachers or to raise any questions or concerns in regard to your child’s learning is to send an e-mail via the school office. E-mails sent this way are directed to the appropriate member/s of staff and shared with the Team Lead so that if any necessary support is required they are able to do this.

The Class Teacher will respond to this at the soonest possible opportunity and, if necessary, arrange a meeting with you.

Please note that it is not appropriate to email your class teacher directly with issues regarding your child.

Teachers are available in the playground at the end of each day for brief informal chats about the children in their classes, however if further discussion is required or this is not the appropriate forum you may be asked to e-mail the school office to arrange an appointment.

In the first instance the Class Teacher will always be the person with whom questions or concerns should be raised. If, however they are unable to resolve the issue, or if it is not appropriate for them to deal with the question/concern, it will be passed to a member of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to deal with. If this happens a member of the SLT will endeavour to provide you with feedback as promptly as possible.

Communication with Senior Leadership Team

As for the teaching staff, if you wish to communicate with the Headteacher, Assist Heads or Head of Inclusion, e-mails need to be directed via the school office.

If you request a meeting with the Headteacher, you will be asked to provide some information about the purpose of the meeting as this allows for Ms Alder to prepare for the meeting or alternatively there may be a more appropriate person for you to meet with. All meetings held with parents are discussed with the Senior Leadership Team, if appropriate, and if further action is necessary, is arranged.

These systems will ensure smooth communication across the school and follow up action is taken if a response has not been received. On the rare occasions when this may happen please check with a member of the admin team or the member of SLT on the gate at the beginning of the day so that they can ensure a response is received.