Communicating with school & GDPR Consent & Local school visits Consent

Dear Parents,   I am sure that your child/children have begun to settle into the daily routines of of school, once again. It takes a little time for the body-clock to reset to September school time.     Effective communication   School Communicating with Parents & Stakeholders

(a) Teacher to Parent - this will normally be via the SEE- SAW App

(b) School Principal to Parents – will normally be via email  on Teacher2Parents (Priorty 1 parents will receive this notifications automatically)  or

(i)NI Schools app Go to  the apple/android store and search for NI Schools app -search Co.Down - find st.patricks holywwod 

(ii) School website - https://www.stpatrickspsholywood.com/parents/calendar/?caltags= you can link the school calendar to your phone via this link 

(c) Emergency or Short Notice announcements will be via the Teacher 2 parent Text Service e.g Emergency school closure, after school club cancelled due to absence. Priorty 1 parents will only recieve this message. All parents/guardians are asked to keep the school up to date with any changes to a mobile or email address.

(d) Provision of all school policies are on the school website and email. Written copies available on request. 

(e) SEN documents e.g Pre- Code and IEPS will be issued via email, parents will need to verify that the document has been received.

Parents are welcome to arrange a meeting with the class teacher to discuss.

Parents Communicating with Staff

• Learning & Curriculum , after school clubs issues – e.g., forgot a homework should be addressed by contacting the class teacher by ring School Reception on 028 90 424 772 or send an email to info@stpatsps.holywood.ni.sch.uk

• Our aim will always be to return a telephone call to a parent within 24 hours.
• Return calls may be made by someone other than the person to whom the original call was made, should it be felt that this is more appropriate.
• Safeguarding – please ask to speak directly to Mr Sherlock, our Safeguarding Designated Teacher. In his absence, Mrs Tunney will offer advice as his deputy. Otherwise speak to Mr O'Neill - all information regarding safeguarding procedures are clearly outlined in the policy attached.

(c) Reporting an illness - Parents should ring School Reception on 028 90 424 772 or send an email to info@stpatsps.holywood.ni.sch.uk

(d) General enquiries - Parents should ring School Reception on 028 90 424 772 or send an email to info@stpatsps.holywood.ni.sch.uk

(e) Alternatively, a note to the class teacher can suffice.

Key Points

1 The initial point of contact should be with the class teacher.

2 At initial point of contact can you give a brief outline of what your query is about so that it can be dealt with efficiently and effectively.

Telephone communication can be a problem in school, where teachers are teaching full-time or taking after school clubs,the teachers priority is their class.Parents may be disappointed or frustrated if they feel that a message does not receive an immediate reply, when in fact there has been no available opportunity for the member of staff to reach a telephone or return a call. Be assured, a member of staff will deal with your request as soon as possible.

 See-Saw Communication Tool  As a consequence of the Covid pandemic, school closures and remote learning experiences, the school staff availed of and used the SEE- SAW app to communicate directly with Parents.

As we return to normal schooling, the teaching staff will continue to use the SEE- SAW but in a reduced capacity, staff will continue to send out information regarding their class, class activities, samples of class work. This will be a one-way flow of information (Teacher to Parent only). This is to encourage the more established interactions between staff and parents, via face-to-face meetings and phone calls to the office. Emails to info@stpatsps.holywood.ni.sch.uk will also receive a personal response.

  GDPR Consent Forms and Local school visits /trips/ weekly events Forms   We are moving to a digitial based GDPR Consent and Local /weekly events  forms response from parents. This is a more efficient and effective use of admin staff time. The specific link to your child's class has been emailed to you. Please complete the link before 29/09/2023.

New School Year Celebration Mass Finally, Primary 2 to P7 children will celebrate our new school year on Thursday 21st @9:30am in St.Colmcilles Church. Everyone is welcome to attend.   I look forward to a great year for your child and family in our school.   Kind regards    C O'Neill Principal