Communications
Good communications are a common feature of all successful schools. Three important sections of any school community are the staff, parents and of course the students.

Communication with Parents/Carers

The way school communicates with parents includes:
a) The parents’ newsletter which is called the ‘Friday Letter’ is sent home every Friday throughout the school year. It is also placed in the Parental Information section on the school website.
b) E-portal
c) The Web Site
d) Automated Call Parents Facility
e) Regular Parents’ Evenings – to discuss children’s progress.
f) By sending home written reports or information on recent assessments.
g) By individual meetings with parents in school.
h) By telephone when appropriate.
i) By home visits where this is mutually helpful.
j) Through the homework planner.

k) The opportunity every morning for parents/carers to attend the Drop-In sessions to talk to a member of staff without the need to make an appointment.

We try constantly to maintain close links with our parents and keep them informed about their child’s progress at school. Contact between home and school is a two-way process and parents are encouraged to make contact with our school whenever they wish. During Period 5 or 6 on a Friday, STs issue to each student a copy of the Friday Letter for parents. It contains important information such as future dates as well as reports of events in school such as sports’ fixtures, Masses, special Assemblies etc. It features prominently the names of students who have achieved something worthwhile during the week – this is called Star of the Week. All staff should fill in the shared google document to nominate students plus anything else you’d like included to ABE (Anthony Beckett) by the end of school on Wednesday.

Letters and circulars which are sent out to groups of parents must be authorised by the Head teacher. Parents are always welcome in school but are asked to make an appointment with the appropriate member of staff. It is also helpful if parents can give a general idea of what they wish to discuss so that useful information may be gathered prior to the meeting. The safety of students and staff is of prime importance. If an appointment has been made with a parent it must be entered in the appointments’ book in the School Office. If parents arrive at school without an appointment they may be asked return at a future time or else be invited to see one of the SLT.

We offer a variety of opportunities for parents to join in school activities;
a) Offering help with school teams and supporting matches.
b) Accompanying children on school trips.
c) Attending school assemblies or school Masses.

Increasingly parents are accessing information about their children via the CMIS E-portal system.

Communications between staff

Staff briefings are held daily at 8.35 am. The Daily Bulletin is published via email by 8.30 am. It may be updated during the course of the day. All staff need to ensure their laptops are already logged onto the system to receive this and also to carry out registration during Period 1.

A Weekly Staff Briefing is sent to all staff via email.

Staff emails must be professional at all times. When sending a group email to other staff, staff must ensure that they do not send it to a group with students.