September Letter Home

Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to start this letter by thanking you for your support in sending your children back to school ready for learning, smartly dressed and compliant with our high standards. We’ve had a fantastic start to the new academic year and I am sure you are all breathing a sigh of relief that after a long period of disruption, things are starting to return to some sense of normality.

For parents and carers whose children are new to the school, we welcome you to the Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School family and hope that your child will have a very happy and successful experience here. For parents and carers who are experiencing a child going to secondary school for the first time, this can be quite daunting and difficult to navigate, especially as there are some considerable differences in how primary and secondary schools operate. This letter will help you to understand how to work with school and what to do if you need to contact us.

UNIFORM

As Headteacher I believe that if pupils are smartly dressed they feel a sense of pride and belonging to their school community. We do insist that pupils are compliant and that they follow our policy, which is reasonable and appropriate for the environment.

This term we have had very few issues to deal with regarding uniform and I am very grateful to parents and carers for supporting us with our stance on piercings and footwear. The rules on piercings are very simple: one small stud per ear (for boys and girls) and no other piercings. Nose studs/rings are not permitted and pupils are expected to remove these prior to the school day starting.

CONTACTING SCHOOL

The best way to contact school is by telephone (0121 706 4200) or by email on enquiry@ilsley.bham.sch.uk. Please remember that schools are extremely busy places and teaching staff are not always available during the school day. If you do need to speak to a member of staff, please telephone or email the enquiry address and a message will be sent. Please allow 48 hours for a response; staff teach, have other duties and meetings which take up a large proportion of their working hours.

I must insist that parents and carers do not turn up at school and expect to see a member of staff unless an appointment has been made. It is not reasonable for parents and carers to arrive in reception and expect to see a member of staff without an appointment.

If you have a concern that a child is in immediate danger, please ring school and ask for a member of the safeguarding team.

Thank you for your understanding and support in these matters.

WHO DO I CONTACT?

For minor issues, please contact your child’s form tutor in the first instance. If your query is related to a specific subject,please contact the subject teacher or ask for the Head of Faculty for that subject area. Most issues can be resolved very quickly.

If there are more serious concerns please contact the Head of House for your child’s year group. The Heads of House are:

Y7: Mr Bruton

Y8: Ms Doherty

Y9: Mr Smith

Y10: Mrs Benton

Y11: Ms Hughes

Sixth form: Mr Newman and Mrs McMahon

WHERE CAN I GET INFORMATION?

Most of the information you need as parents and carers will be on the school website: www.ilsley.bham.sch.uk

We also publish a fortnightly newsletter and send out messages on Classcharts. If you do not have Classcharts, please contact us and we can support you with this. Classcharts is a fantastic app which gives you a daily overview of how your child is doing in school and many parents and carers use it.