Communication

Stoke Newington School & Sixth Form encourages an open and two way dialogue between our community and the school. We provide general information to parents and carers online and through mobile texts, letters and newsletters as well as through Parents/Carers evenings, Parents Support Groups and events such as Achievement Evenings which can be found in the school calendar. We publish staff contacts and have a commitment to respond to parents and carer’s enquiries within five working days all of which goes towards ensuring that we can work together to address any concerns there may be.

Contacting Us

Contact details for all staff are published annually in the Contacts booklet to enable parents and carers to contact the appropriate member of staff about specific issues. However, we do ask that you follow these procedures for getting in touch with staff:

1. Student Diary

All communication of a non-confidential nature should initially be made to the appropriate member of staff via the student diary.

2. Acknowledging the Communication

In order to ensure that the member of staff concerned has read the note, please ask your child to have the note countersigned with the staff member’s initials.

3. Response

All communication should be responded to within five working days. If this does not happen then please contact the Headteacher’s PA, Aitzie Olaechea, and Ms Gammon will ensure a response is given.

If you wish to communicate a confidential matter then please ring or write to the appropriate member of staff via the school. To email a member of staff use the following format: mr.lastname/ms.lastname@sns.hackney.sch.uk

Contacting you

We operate a texting and email service to update parents and carers with important information so it is important to remember to keep us up-to-date with your contact details by providing the office with current home, work, mobile numbers and email address.

Spotlight & Spotlighter

These are our two printed newsletters which are sent home with students and can also be found online as PDFs.

• Spotlight – is a full colour magazine that comes out three times a year at the start of every term and highlights the achievements of the previous term. It comes out on a Friday.
• Spotlighter – is a fortnightly news sheet giving you the most current and up todate information. It is sent home with your child every second Friday.

Letters Home

General letters home will be posted online so parents and carers can always find the most current information. Please note that no letters detailing individual students will be posted online.

Parent and Carer Feedback

The school sends out annual questionnaires to parents and carers to gather their views. However, we welcome ideas and suggestions from you at any point in the year. If you have views about how the school can continue to improve then please contact Mike Harpham, Deputy Head on 0207 241 9610.

Complaints Procedure

The school has a formal complaints policy, which is available here. If you are unhappy with how your child has been treated please:

• first contact the teacher involved to explain your concerns
• if you are not happy with their response, the next step is to contact the Head of Department or the Headteacher
• if you are not happy with their response, you should contact the Chair of Governors.

If you are still unhappy with the response you have a right of appeal to the Learning Trust, Hackney’s education authority.