The Trust are very keen to work with you by listening to feedback to understand any issues that you may experience as a parent/carer. One area that has been highlighted is that some parents/carers thought that we could improve on our methods of communication. We recognise that poor communication can be frustrating for parents/carers and we are working hard to improve it. I have outlined below the various ways in which you can communicate with us and us with you, along with information about our new parent portal which we will be launching shortly.
Email Communication with Staff
As many of our staff are student facing throughout the day, with the majority of our teachers in front of a class for 22 periods a week, the most convenient way to communicate is via email. If you know the name of the staff member you are trying to contact, you can email them directly by using their first initial and surname in the following email format
a.teacher@kirkby.outwood.com
Alternatively, you can email
enquiries@kirkby.outwood.com and mark it for the attention of the relevant staff member. We aim to respond to all communication received in this format within 48 hours, but please bear in mind that this may vary if a staff member is absent for any reason.
Our advice for improving this flow of communication is as follows:
- If the issue is pastoral, please contact their form tutor in the first instance, this member of staff has daily communication with your child.
- If the issue is academic, please contact the class teacher.
In addition, each year group has a Learning Manager, these are key colleagues who can be contacted should you require further information.
Social Media
The school has a newly established Twitter account with a steadily growing number of followers. This is where current information is shared about what happens in school on a daily basis and also showcases the exceptional work and achievements of our students. The account name is @OutwoodKirkby.
Written Communication
We use emails as a quick way to share information with you. This can be reminders about key events happening in school, attendance matters etc. Please note that all emails will go to first named contacts on our system. Key information can also be found on the website at the bottom of the home page and is titled ‘Updates from the Academy’.
Telephone Contact
When you call the school, the voice recording takes you to the most frequent extension numbers e.g. attendance (option 1). If you know the appropriate extension number dialling this at this point will take you directly to the area of need.
Student Planner
We work hard to ensure that the Student Planner includes lots of information that is useful to not only students, but also to their parents/carers. If you have not already done so, please have a look at your child’s planner.
Parent Portal
Our parent portal is almost ready to be launched! This will enable you to see key information (including historical information) for your child including all praise logged by teaching and support staff and all attendance information. It will also have links to useful websites that you can use to support your child. We will continue to develop the portal in consultation with parents/carers. Initial access and set up for the portal will be via your email address and we will communicate this closer to the launch date.
What we teach your child
There is a vast amount of information on our
website. You can find out more about what we teach in each year group in each subject on the
subject overview pages.
How your child is getting on
Praising Stars reports provide you with information on how your child is getting on in all of their subjects. The reports give you effort and attainment grade information along with any homework or attendance concerns and requests to see parents/carers at Parents’ Evenings. Our next parents evenings are 8th March and 6th July 2023.
Careers Information
Our website has links to Progress Careers who provide independent advice and guidance for all our students. The direct link is
here
I hope you have found this information useful and that it goes some way to helping to improve the communication between us.
Yours sincerely
Mr M Golden
Principal