Contact with School
Safeguarding
We are highly committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people. If you have any concerns, contact the Designated Safeguarding Leads, Miss Parnell and Mr Rolt.
School Office
The school admin team, Mrs Andrew and Miss Wardle, who are usually in the office from 8.15am until 4.00pm, can answer many enquiries.
The office deals with all dinner money queries, missing letters, leave request forms, school letters etc. The school diary is also kept in the office so that the office staff can arrange appointments and check the details of planned events. If you require paper copies of any of our policies or procedures, please ask. We are a cashless school.
Calls outside the school office hours are answered by anyone who happens to hear the telephone and they will do their best to help you. We can also be contacted through our school email address (admin@st-james-ash.tameside.sch.uk). Please include a reply email and/or telephone number to help us get back to you.
Headteacher Contact
If you wish to contact Mr Rolt, the Headteacher, on any matter you are most welcome to do so. Please contact the school office to make a mutually convenient appointment.
SENDCo Contact
If you wish to contact Miss Parnell, the SENDCo, to discuss your child's special educational needs and/or disabilities, please contact the school office to make a mutually convenient appointment.
Initial Class Teacher Contact
During the autumn term, we hold a 'Getting to know your class' evening for parents. The purpose of this evening is for you to find out about the upcoming year, the class routines, key events and expectations. This is a good opportunity for you to meet the teacher and you can see how well your child has settled into their new class.
General Teacher Contact
You are encouraged to contact the class teacher in the first instance to discuss any pastoral or academic concerns or problems involving your child, which may occur from time to time.
Written communications are usually given to the class teachers by the children at registration time and receive attention the same day. However, it is not unknown for letters to lie at the bottom of school bags! So, if your letter needs a reply and one has not been received, please ring the school office and ask them to check up on it.
Telephone contact is more difficult for the class teachers during the school day as they have a full time teaching commitment, but if you leave a number with a brief indication of the purpose of the call, it will normally be returned within twenty-four hours. Class teachers can be contacted via the school email.
At the start of the school day, the teachers’ priorities are their classes. As you will appreciate, anything other than a brief message at this time is disruptive to the children. Individual meetings after school can usually be arranged quite quickly if you approach the teacher or telephone for an appointment.
If, on any occasion, your child forgets equipment needed in school, e.g. PE kit, reading book or homework, you may leave them in the school office and they will be passed on to your child at an appropriate time. Similarly, any verbal message will be passed on in this way. This ensures that valuable teaching time is neither lost nor interrupted.
Contact Between Home and School Throughout the Year
We use a variety of occasions over the year to meet with parents. These may include some of the following:
Individual appointments |
Class meetings |
Workshop sessions |
Curriculum information meetings |
Assemblies and Cafe Church |
School sports |
School performances |
Parents’ Staff Association functions |
All parents are invited to talk to their child’s class teacher in the Autumn Term, the Spring Term and at the end of the Summer Term.
School Communication with Parents and Carers
We regularly use email to communicate with parents and carers. Parents and carers have individual login access to Arbor through which they can check attendance, sign up for trips and clubs and sen messages to school.
Each week the school produces the ‘Friday Note’ for parents and carers. This contains lots of information about upcoming events. Each class teacher communicates to parents and carers about the topics and key learning for the term through their class webpage.
Just in case you have missed one, the Friday Note is published in the Virtual School Office on the website every week.
Our Twitter feed is a good source of information about the range of activities happening across school @StJCEPrimary.
During the Spring Term you are invited to come and meet your child’s class teacher or have a telephone consultation. In the Summer Term you will be given the results of any statutory assessment tasks and tests along with an end of year report and reflection on progress and achievement.
Contact with School Governing Body
The full School Governing Body meets every half term to discuss and decide school matters (finance, premises, staffing and the curriculum). Approved minutes for the full governing body are published on the school website (in accordance with the school Governing Body Regulations 1981).
Elections for parent Governors are held every four years.
Emergency Contact with Parents
Please ensure that the School Office always has your up-to-date telephone contact number. It is essential that we can contact you if your child is unwell or has had an accident at school.
Parent helpers
St. James’ School enjoys the benefit of voluntary help from parents and carers in school. All parents are welcome to work alongside the children within the classroom or to help the teachers with the preparation and display of work. Some parents choose to support the school for specific tasks such as accompanying children on trips, helping make costumes and working alongside during a specific class project. If you would like to support the children and staff in this way, please talk your child’s class teacher or to the Headteacher. Regular helpers are required to have a current DBS.