Communication Policy

INVERURIE ACADEMY COMMUNICATION POLICY

Introduction & Aims
The purpose of this statement is to provide information and guidelines regarding communication between parents and teachers of Inverurie Academy. We acknowledge the home as central to the development of each young person and it is our intention that the school and the parent(s)/guardian(s) of the young person strive to be mutually supportive of each other so that the young person can maximise their potential.

With a roll of over 1200 students, each Principal Teacher of Guidance (PTG) and Year Head has an average caseload of over 200 young people.  In order for us to prioritise communication, please:
• Use the generic school email address inverurie.aca@aberdeenshire.gov.uk or school phone number 01467 532290 for information sharing purposes e.g. reason for absences/details of appointments
• If your young person is unwell in school,  they school go to the school office who will contact the School Nursing Assistant who may contact home.
• For issues of a pastoral/wellbeing nature, contact the relevant PTG for your young person’s House group via the Contact Us form onthewebsitehttps://inverurie.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/contact-us/ or via their
Aberdeenshire email address. For issues of a curriculum nature, it may be the PTG passes your contact on to the relevant Principal Teacher Faculty (bearing in mind they may have full timetable commitments too)
• Please do not communicate directly to teachers via their Glow email – classroom teachers often have a full class commitment, and it is not within their remit to liaise directly with parents apart from via the normal tracking, monitoring and reporting key dates – this facility is for student/teacher communication
• If you are an Aberdeenshire Council employee, please do not communicate to members of staff using Microsoft Teams
• If your communication is not of an urgent nature and you have not had a response within 5 working days, please feel free to resend – understandably sometimes communications can be missed or moved to junk folders in error.

Responsibilities of the School

The following list, which is not exhaustive, indicates the main structures in place, initiated by the school, to facilitate communication between the school and parents/carers:

• email communication from the school – normally concerning matters pertaining to the Year Group or whole school.
• ‘Schoolbag’ post – written communication for parents passed via their child which they may or may not be required to return. This will only be used for specific groups, including NHS and school trips requiring consent forms returned.
• Telephone calls – used by staff where a private conversation is deemed necessary.
• Letters by post – used if email is not possible or where deemed necessary by the school.
• Pupil Progress Reports will be issued using the Parents Portal
• Parental interview – likely to be requested by a member of the Pastoral Team (Head of Year (DHT) or Principal Teacher of Guidance).
• The school calendar, will be available on the school website.
• Parents Information Evenings P7 to S6
• End of Term newsletters
• The school uses the school website and social media (Twitter) to share success and non-urgent information.
• Continue to improve use of Google Classroom’s, Google Guardian summaries
https://inverurie.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/google-classroom-guardian-summaries/ )

Responsibilities of Pupils

We expect our pupils to:

• relay information to parents on a regular basis about school activities and events that affect them.
• pass on any written communication from the school to their parent(s) and return the same, duly completed, where required.

Responsibilities of Parents

We expect our parents to:

• develop close links with the school and attend specific pastoral and academic parents’ meetings relevant to the age of their child/children.
• collaborate with the school in developing the full potential of their children
• familiarise themselves with school policies and procedures (all policies are on the school website and a hard copy available on request).
• Ensure contact details are up to date and that they are registered with the Parents Portal