Being such a large primary school, with nearly 700 pupils on roll and with up to 500 families, it's imperative that communication between school and home is very effective.  Therefore, Greswold employs a small number of tried and tested communication channels which help families to contact school while also enabling school staff the chance to communicate  to  individual families, groups or year groups of families and the whole school.

These channels include:

• Face-to-face meetings
• School office email account and telephone
• App messaging service 
• Tapestry for EYFS and Year 1
• Parent Pay
• Website 

Scroll down for information about how to use each channel and what each one is used for:

Face-to-face meetings

There are two formal opportunities to meet with class teachers face-to-face.  These take the form of 10-minute Parent Consultations, the first in October so the focus can be on how the children have settled in.  The second is in February where the academic progress of the children can be discussed in detail. 

In September, Greswold organises 'Meet the Teacher' meetings whereby parents can meet with class teachers face-to-face to find out about the upcoming year, weekly routines and year group expectations.  This is another opportunity to ask questions.  During meet the teacher evenings, the senior leadership team also run a separate meeting to disseminate whole school messages and guidance to the parent community. 

Class teachers are available for a limited time at the end of the school day after they have released the children at collection time.  Please be aware that the class teacher's priority is ensuring the children are safely released to their families first and foremost.  However, a brief conversation or question can be asked afterwards before the gates are closed and locked by SLT.

Members of the Senior Leadership Team are available to speak to at the start of the day as they welcome in the children to school and using at the end of the day as they oversee the releasing of children to families before locking gates. 

Families with children on the SEND register will also meet with the SENDCo face-to-face at least twice a year as part of a SEND review meeting.   

Office email and telephone 

The school office email is a system which can be used by parents and school alike to communicate pertinent messages and enquiries.  Parental enquiries sent by email are then forwarded on, by the school office team, to the relevant member of staff or staff team.  Our email system isn't currently equipped with an automated response system, however please allow up to 48 hours for a response.  The office email address is 25office@greswold.solihull.sch.uk

Greswold's telephone lines are open between 8:30am and 4:30pm and are most appropriate for urgent messages.  However, enquiries can also be made and if the school office team can't advise then they will pass the enquiry onto the next suitable person, e.g. class teacher, SENDCo, SLT, e.g. Please allow up to 48 hours for a call back depending on the urgency.   Parents can leave a voicemail outside of these times.  The school telephone number is 0121 705 4738.  Please be aware that telephone lines are very busy between 8:30am and 9:15am.  

App Messaging Service

The app messaging service is our main form of outward communication here at Greswold.  It allows school staff to communication updates and messages to the whole school, to year groups, to classes and even to individual families.  Our app messaging service is called TheSchoolApp and can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:

https://www.greswold.solihull.sch.uk/the-greswold-school-app/

Each pupil can have up to two app messaging recipients and we would advise all families to include that number. 

The message will show up on your mobile phone screen with a title and you can simply swipe on the message to open it.  Alternatively, you can access messages by opening the app itself on your home screen.

The app also allows you to access other communication systems in school such as the school calendar and the Latest News page of the website, our version of a weekly newsletter.

On occasion, app messages will contain a link to open, usually to a page on the school website, for additional information. 

Messages received through MySchoolApp can also be translated.  Click on the document below to access the instructions: 

Parent Pay 

ParentPay is an online payment service for families to pay for school services.  It is also a platform which school utilises when sending out formal communications to families. 

To access your account you will be provided with an activiation letter when you join the school - subsequent activiation letters can be requested from the school office. You will need to set up a parentpay account to be able to pay for school activities. 

Formal communications sent out through ParentPay will appear in your email inbox appearing from the sender 'Platform'. 

If you miss any emails you can also access all communications by accessing the communication section in your parentpay account.   

You can also set up alerts via your account to notify you of emails, when a new payment item is allocated to your child or you meals balance is running low. 

Help on setting up and making the most of your parentpay account can be found here: Parentpay Help

Tapestry for EYFS and Year 1

Tapestry is an online journal which showcases children's learning and has the facility for parents to share home experiences.  This builds up a unique picture of a child and celebrates their achievements and successes. 

There is a section called Care Diary where private messages can be shared between parents and teacher to inform of any personal day to day issues related to your and relevant to school. 

Tapestry aids the transition of your child starting school whilst giving you an insight into their early experiences of school based education.  It can also help to create talking points with your child.  The Care Diary function continues into Year 1 before more formal systems of communication are adopted solely in year 2. 

Click here for a useful guide for parents or click here to log in using the details you have been sent home by the School Office.

Website 

Like many schools, Greswold are now paperless meaning information isn't sent home by paper through the children anymore.  Instead, we utilise our website as an extensive source of information and guidance for parents to easily access, and should be used to find answers to initial enquiries.  

It's organised into 4 helpful sections:

• Key Information
• Parents
• Pupils
• Community

Greswold's version of a weekly newsletter is Latest News which can be found in the Parents section of the website.  Latest News details a significant number of events, achievements and updates which really showcase the type of education the children receive and the sort of unique Greswold is.  With a number of stories, there includes a link for parents to provide feedback on a particular story.  Feedback can then be shared with staff or children or can be used to review and improve school services. 

If a website user wishes to read the information in a different language, simply click on the drop down Google Translate menu and select your preferred language.

Although visible on the school website homepage, be aware that Greswold doesn't currently use X (Twitter) as a channel of communication.

Translating information  

Both our app messaging service and our school website can be translated into a whole host of different languages.  To access instructions on how to translate app messages, simply click on the document below.

If a website user wishes to read the information in a different language, simply click on the drop down Google Translate menu located on the home page and select your preferred language.