Communications
We are very proud of the close relationship we have with parents/carers. It is important that school and home have a positive working relationship for the benefit of the students.
As such we have a home school communication policy which can be found on the school policies page.
We encourage our students and Parents/carers to share any concerns they may have at an early stage.
As we are preparing students for adult life we urge parents/carers to encourage their children to speak directly to teachers when they have a concern, often issues can be resolved quickly when a student brings them to our attention. This is very empowering for students.
At drop off and pick up, senior leaders are always available at the Lordswood Road gate. Their primary aim at this time of day is the safe entrance/exit of students, however they may be able to assist with any general enquiries you have, however, they will not be able to deal with complex issues at this time. If the senior leader feels that more time is required, they will request that the parent contacts the office to make an appointment.
It is important to note that during the school day, we have very few rooms/offices available for parental meetings. Teachers and School Leaders are also engaged in learning activities with students during the school day. We are therefore unable to meet with Parents/carers who do not have a scheduled appointment.
Phone calls
Parents/carers can contact the school via telephone. The school number is 0121 429 2838. With the exception of reporting student absence (for which there is a separate line), we ask that this is reserved for more urgent matters – email is often more effective for less urgent matters. The phone lines are staffed from 8:00 am-4:00 pm each day. After this time, there is an opportunity to leave a message; messages are listened to once per day. If leaving a message please ensure the following information is contained within the message:
- Name of the Student
- Year group
- Who the message is for
- Brief details of what the message is regarding
Phone lines are often busy between 8:00 am-9:30 am and 3:00 pm-3:30 pm. Parents/carers might find it easier to call outside these hours.
The office staff will endeavour to resolve issues over the telephone where possible, e.g. answering questions. If they are unable to resolve the issue directly a message will be taken and passed on to the member of staff concerned. It is important that Parents/carers share appropriate details of what the call is regarding, this will enable the office staff to direct the message to the most appropriate person. Office staff will follow the procedure below when referring calls:
- Attendance – attendance officer
- Subject concerns – subject teacher
- Pastoral concerns – review tutor
- Safeguarding concerns – DSL
If the subject teacher is unable to resolve the query, then they may pass the question on to a Lead Professional (subject leader).
If the review tutor is unable to resolve the query, then they may pass the question on to an achievement co-ordinator (head of year).
Only if the issue cannot be resolved by the lead professional or achievement co-ordinator will the query be passed on to an appropriate member of the Senior Leadership Team.
Emailing the school
For less urgent matters, Parents/carers may email our school office at any time. The school email address is office@lsg.kevibham.org. Emails should contain the name of the staff member/class in the subject line if known, we also require a quick summary of what the email is regarding. If you do not know who the most appropriate person is to email, the office will decide based on the information provided. In general, the office staff will follow the procedure below when referring emails:
- Attendance – attendance officer
- Subject concerns – subject teacher
- Pastoral concerns – review tutor
- Safeguarding concerns – DSL
Emails sent to this account are read once per day by office staff (term time only) and any relevant information is distributed to staff. We request that Parents/carers do not communicate directly with staff members. This email policy is designed to support teacher workload, wellbeing and to support the time each teacher spends on planning and preparing lessons for pupils.
If a matter requires urgent attention, e.g. medical information or student absence, Parents/carers are requested to make a telephone call rather than send an email.
It should be noted that staff members will often be teaching all day. They have a limited number of non-contact lessons per week in which to respond to emails (and complete other administrative tasks). It may therefore take a number of days to receive a reply via email – it is expected that you should receive a reply within 5 working days. If you don’t, please contact the school office.
KEVI LSG App
As a school we do not send paper copies of letters. All correspondence will be sent via Weduc to your KEVI LSG app. Please make sure that you have register for this in order to receive communication about events/activities happening in school.
