Communicating with Parents

Portmoak is a school that takes a great deal of pride in our family atmosphere and welcoming ethos. We do endeavour to be an open school and will get back to parents as quickly as possible, usually responding within 24 hours except for holidays and weekends, and certainly well within the Council minimum standards for customer service. We do appreciate that you put a great deal of trust in us looking after your children and that parents need to feel all concerns or requests, no matter how small, will be given attention in a timeous manner.

We use a wide range of methods to communicate with parents. As well as phone, text message and email, we also have a Headteacher’s newsletter monthly, which updates parents on what is going on in school. This contains opportunities for parents to get involved in the life of the school, for example through ‘Meet the Teacher’ open afternoons (Autumn), parent workshops, parents’ evenings (Autumn/Winter and Spring), class and special assemblies (throughout the year, relevant dates are in the newsletter) and special events such as Sports Day, coffee mornings or fundraising events. We recommend you add the school email to your safe senders list.

We use Seesaw to share children’s progress in learning with home, as well as for messages and announcements from the class teachers. School trips are signed up for and paid for through the ParentPay website, which also allows those not on free school lunches to pay for school dinners. We are a cash free school now, so all payments are to be made through ParentPay.

Throughout the year we host a ‘Parent Coffee and Catch Up’ in the school library. This is an informal chance to come along, meet with other parents and the Headteacher and generally just catch up. There are often representatives from the parent council there, as well as other members of staff on occasion.

We are delighted that all parents are now on our email circulation list, and on ParentPay, as this enables instant communication and takes away from the issue of children leaving notes in their school bags or trays. Parents are also encouraged to make use of the school website www.portmoakprimary.co.uk and to follow us on Twitter on @PortmoakPS. Please note that the text message service does not alert us to incoming messages, so unless we ask for a reply to a message, please use email, phone, or pop in to see us with a message.

Mobile Phones and Other Electronic Devices

We would ask that you encourage your child to leave all electronic items at home and do not allow them to bring them to school. This includes watches which are capable of taking photographs or making calls. Fitbits or similar smart watches may be worn if desired, but please note that no liability is taken by the school for loss or damage.

If you feel there is an occasion when your child requires access to a mobile phone at the end of the day (for example if they are going straight to a friend’s house) then they may hand their mobile phone into the office at 9.00am for safe keeping and can collect this at the end of the school day.

Rest assured that staff will continue to contact you in the usual manner if there is any concern about your child’s health or wellbeing during their time at school.