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At Dormston we really recognise the importance and benefit of working closely with our parents/carers. ‘Parental Communication & Engagement’ is an intrinsic part of any successful school and our parents/carers support really does make a difference to our student’s success. If we don’t have good communication then we can’t really expect to have good engagement, so at Dormston we firmly believe the two must go hand in hand.
It’s really important, that as a school, we are able to put ourselves ‘in your shoes’ and listen to what you say. If you have any ideas or suggestions on how we could improve in this area please contact Karen Otton on 01384 816395 or kotton@dormston.dudley.sch.uk.
We do understand that as parents/carers you have busy and demanding lives so it is important that we try to communicate with you as effectively and efficiently as possible so that we can all work together.
On a day to day basis we aim to respond to ALL parent/carer phone calls and queries within 48 hours. This is due to the fact that many of our teachers have a full teaching timetable as well as other outside class commitments and meetings. We also sometimes need time to look into and investigate queries to be able to respond effectively to your concerns/questions.
Way back in September 2018 we undertook a Parental Communication & Engagement Survey. Although the results were good, we still wanted to improve this area further to ensure that we are doing all that we can to communicate and engage with our parents/carers effectively in terms of ‘whole school communication’.
Good ‘Parental Communication & Engagement’ has no end and is constantly evolving. It is a continuous commitment on our part to do everything in our power to make parents/carers feel involved and well informed of school life.
Please see the downloads tab at the bottom of this page for our Parental Communication & Engagement Survey Results
Part of good ‘parental engagement’ relies on good parental communication from us as a school. We need to be contacting you and keeping you informed of when things are going well NOT just when there is a problem, whilst also sharing relevant information that makes life easier for you in a timely fashion! Here are some of the things we do to try and maintain good, positive communication and engagement with you.
Development of Family Learning Opportunities to engage both parents and students together in learning. We have facilitated various family workshops such as Christmas Cake Decorating, Christmas Wreath Making & Pottery Workshops. Now things are starting to go back to normal we hope to reinstate some of these opportunities. If this is something that you are interested in please contact kotton@dormston.dudley.sch.uk.
In a survey with parents involved in Family Learning:
Quotes:
Launch of “Friends of Dormston Community” Launched in November 2019 Friends of Dormston Community is currently made up of 15 parents/carer (and their numbers are increasing all the time). They seek to raise not just funds for the school but also, equally as important, community spirit that has Dormston at its heart. Please see our Friends of Dormston Community Page for more information about this fantastic group.
Parents Committee Membership was reviewed, re-established and has subsequently increased from 12 to 30. We now increasingly use our Parents’ Committee as a sounding board and seek advice from them when planning events and making changes whenever the opportunity arises which has proved really valuable.
Headteacher/Parent Coffee Mornings – hearing first hand from our Parents/Carers about how they feel about us as a school is incredibly useful and valuable. Groups of parents are periodically invited in to have coffee & cake with the Headteacher to discuss how things are going and if there is anything we could do to support them further. If this is something that you are interested in being invited to or you have any suggestions about how we could further improve our Parental/Communication and Engagement both now and in the future, please contact Karen Otton on 01384 816395.
Learner of the Month – all students who are nominated for this monthly award by staff also receive a personal letter home from the Head Teacher telling them who and why they were nominated for this very special award. The winning student’s parents are also invited in to school to see their child receive this accolade. This often turns into quite an emotional affair with both staff and parents in tears! We think it is really important to take the time to celebrate and share with you when your child is doing well.
Introduction of a Quick Note System – parents/carers wanted to know more frequently how their child was getting on in school. The Quick Note System gives parents/carers a simple ‘heads up’ that their child has worked hard in a particular subject, on that particular day. This was originally just for KS3 but due to the popularity of this simple but effective system this has also now be rolled out to KS4. Again, we think it is really important to take the time to celebrate and share with you when your child is doing well.
‘Weekly Bulletin’ – a Weekly Bulletin is circulated every Friday which gives a weekly update from the Head Teacher, a snapshot of the week ahead, giving useful reminders of reply slip deadlines, payment deadlines, trips and events for that coming week. We also share weekly sporting results and Headteacher Commendations in this bulletin.
Monthly Update Sheet – this contains, School News, Student Success Stories along with any school events that are coming up over the next two months to give parents/carers advance warning. Parents are actively encouraged to share any successes their child has achieved outside school for inclusion too!
Increased staffing in ‘Main Reception’ at peak periods to help deal with phone calls and visitors to the school more quickly and efficiently.
Improvement to Phone System which now means we have an additional phone line which is being manned almost all day, every day. When the main school office number is engaged, callers are diverted to another telephone that is being manned to help us answer your calls more quickly.
Standardisation/checking process for all correspondence to improve consistency and accuracy of letters that are being sent out to our parents/carers.
ALL information sent out is now automatically uploaded to the Website – giving parents the option to look on-line if letters have got lost/mislaid.
A move towards e-communication to assist with information being received quickly and efficiently without delay.