Effective communication between home and school is vital to pupil attainment and wellbeing. Multiple structured channels are available to facilitate open dialogue while safeguarding staff workload and welfare.

General Communication

We prioritise open, face to face dialogue. Class teachers are accessible briefly before and after school, and senior leadership team members are present on the playgrounds every morning.  In addition, we also have a schedule of information evenings, workshops, coffee mornings, celebration events and parent/carer consultation days. The dates of all planned events are shared with parents in advance via the school website, letters home and flyers.

We also operate a range of other communication strategies to ensure clear, open dialogue between parents and school.

Information about forthcoming events, educational visits,  the school newsletter and diary dates are sent home electronically by Arbor. 

Contacting a Member of Staff

If you have a specific query, this can often be dealt with by your child's class teacher or the school office, and they should be the first port of call as they will be able to answer most questions.

Any matters that need to be discussed in more detail may require a meeting, in which case you are invited to email or call into the school office to make an appointment.

Email Culture

Clapham Manor is committed to safeguarding staff mental health and maintaining reasonable workload boundaries. As part of this commitment, please understand that the majority of our staff are not office-based. During the school day, our teachers support staff and school leaders are actively engaged in classrooms, working directly with children and managing the dynamic operations of the school. Consequently, they are rarely in a position to check or respond to emails immediately. Furthermore, please be aware that staff are not expected to monitor or respond to emails during personal hours, weekends or school holidays. Routine emails will generally be answered within three working days, with allowances made for part-time staff schedules. Any urgent matters must be communicated directly via telephone or in person at the school office.

Complaints

Where routine channels of communication have been exhausted and a concern or issue remains unresolved, paretns retain the right to formally escalate the matter in accordance with the school's Complaints Procdedures Policy.