Dear Parents/Carers

Re: Changes to School Communication - Seesaw

Since the introduction of Seesaw last year, there has been a tremendous uptake of parents signing up to the application. For that we would like to thank you.

Encouraged by the success of Seesaw within our school and feedback from parents via our parent questionnaire, we are looking to incorporate its use further in our daily communication. As a result, from Monday 16th September, the school will begin to move towards a paper-free system (where possible) to communicate with you.

We would strongly urge those who have not yet signed up to Seesaw (It’s FREE to sign up and download the app) to do so, as letters usually sent home on paper will reduce from the above date.

There may still be occasions where paper copies are unavoidable and we do appreciate that there may be a small number of parents who do not have access to a smart phone or a device to view communications/ letters on. In these instances a number of paper copies will be available from the school office upon request. It will be the parent’s/carers responsibility to check with the office if there have been any letters that day or week. A copy of all letters will be uploaded to our school website as normal.

Reminders and messages from class teachers will only be sent by Seesaw.

Reminder - What is Seesaw?

Seesaw is a platform for pupil/ parent engagement that inspires pupils of all ages to do their best and allows the class teachers and school to communicate effectively, encouraging a healthy school – parent relationship.

Your child can add work to Seesaw to share their learning with you throughout the course of the day. The school and class teacher can also send important messages and reminders using Seesaw. When there are new posts or messages, you'll be notified and can see what's new. Rest assured, Seesaw is private. You’ll only see posts created by your child. You can learn more about Seesaw's commitment to privacy at web.seesaw.me/privacy.

How does this benefit us both?

1. The changes to our communication will streamline our overall approach. All staff, pupils, parents and the school office will communicate via the same method providing a consistent delivery of information. 2. It allows us to instantly communicate with you. 3. You will be notified of any communications (rather than rooting through bags and pockets…) 4. And of course we will be saving paper.

What communications will I receive via Seesaw?

The School office will send letters in a PDF format as an attachment via the ‘Family Announcement’ section of Seesaw. Any letters where a written response or reply slip is required will be sent on paper although electronic surveys sent via Seesaw will be used more often. All other communications home, for example head bump ‘text’ or reminders will be sent via Seesaw.

How do I communicate with the office?

We would encourage you to contact the office via telephone, face to face or via email as usual, please do not reply to the office via Seesaw as the office account will not be monitored at all times.

You can respond and interact with your class teachers as normal, however we would like to reiterate that teachers may not be able to respond to your messages instantly as they will be busy teaching our children. Equally, messages will not be responded to in the evenings or over the course of the weekend.

For any urgent messages during the schools operating hours (8.30am – 4.15pm, Monday - Friday), please contact the office on 0161 921 1295.

For those parents yet to Sign up

Please contact your child’s class teacher who will help get you set up and started with Seesaw.

Thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely

Mr S. Lawler-Smith

Head Teacher