Communication Policy Introductory Statement
St Matthew’s strives to provide a caring, happy, secure and well-ordered atmosphere where the intellectual, spiritual, moral and cultural needs of the pupils are identified and nurtured. Parents are recognised as the primary educators of their children. Teachers are recognised as professionals in education, and work in partnership with parents. Regular and orderly parent-teacher communication is welcomed at our school and home-school links are actively encouraged. Members of the school management, teaching staff, classroom support staff, and secretary strive to create an open and welcoming atmosphere where good communications are fostered and developed. Respectful communication between teachers, the school Principal and the parents and guardians of our pupils is imperative and is in the best interests of the children’s education, care and well-being while enrolled in our school. Respect, honesty and acceptance of differing viewpoints form the basis for all good communications.
Aims of Communication Policy
· To build a school community which is supportive of pupils, staff and all members of the school community.
· To establish procedures for sharing information in relation to pupil progress, needs and attainment.
· To enrich and optimise the educational opportunities provided for our pupils by accessing the skills and talents of all the school community.
· To promote a culture of respectful partnership in the education of the children in our care.
Types of Parent-teacher/ Home School Communication
The following types of communication are actively pursued in our school. Other activities may occur as appropriate.
Information meeting in September/October: The class teacher will speak with parents about their plans for the year ahead.
Formal Parent–Teacher meetings: Generally held in November each year for 1st - 6th Classes and February for Junior Infants and Senior Infants. If custody of a child is shared, requests can be made by both parents to meet their child’s teacher(s) individually for parent/teacher meeting.
Introductory meeting for parents of new junior infant pupils and pupils themselves: May/June each year.
Written reports: sent by Aladdin at the end of each school year for all pupils, which include the results of standardized tests for pupils from 1st – 6th class.
Student Support Plan (SSP) consultation meetings: in October and February/March for parents whose children have a support plan in place.
Newsletters
Regular updates: emails and/or letters in relation to various school activities.
SeeSaw: Class Teachers communicate and share news via the SeeSaw App.
School website
PTA Communications: the Parents’ Association may arrange various communication channels
Aladdin Connect: text messages
Outdoor notice board: at the entrance to the school
Website
On our website you will find:
General Information about the school;
Policies appropriate and relevant to the student’s day-to-day life at St Matthew’s.
Insights and information about our pupils’ learning
Links to admissions documents and the admissions portal (via Aladdin.ie)
Absence Notification
Parents/Guardians are required to notify the school of any absence, late arrival or early departure. This should be done via Aladdin Connect. This is in keeping with the school's attendance strategy and national guidelines.
Homework
Homework packs for Junior and Senior Infants.
Homework Journals, 1st – 6th class, used to relay messages. Parents requested to sign a diary each night to confirm homework has been completed.
School events
Parents are invited to school events and celebrations – Assemblies, Carol Services, 6th Class Graduation, Sports Day.
The Parents Association assists at many school celebrations.
Getting in touch
Parents can contact the class or SET teacher directly via Seesaw.
The school can be contacted by email to secretary@stmatts.ie. The school secretary will receive these emails and will forward them on to the relevant staff member (Principal, Deputy Principal, Class Teacher etc.)
Teachers may contact parents by telephone or through SeeSaw
The school must be informed when mobile phone numbers are changed. In the case of an emergency or some issue, a member of the school staff will attempt to reach a child’s parents or guardians via the phone numbers saved on file. In the case of an emergency, if the parent or guardian cannot be reached, the school staff will seek to contact the child’s designated emergency contacts. All parents should ensure that their contact details are up to date. Parents may edit their own contact details by using the Aladdin Connect App, or by notifying the school secretary.
The aims of Parent/Teacher meetings are:
To let parents know how their children are progressing in school
For parents to inform teachers on how children are coping outside school
To facilitate an ongoing relationship and communication with parents
To help teachers/parents get to know the children better as individuals
To help children to understand that both home and school are working together
To consult parents on the school support plan, for those pupils receiving support from a member of the SET.
A Teacher/the Principal or a Parent may request a parent-teacher meeting at any time to discuss teaching, learning or behaviour management issues. Every effort will be made to arrange a meeting at the earliest possible opportunity. Parents can phone or email the office and a mutually convenient time can be arranged.
Informal Parent/Teacher Meetings
Respectful and constructive communication between Parents and Teachers/Principal is always encouraged. However, arranging parent/teacher meetings within the school day while children are in school is difficult.
Meetings with the class teacher in the morning in the classroom or at the school gate to discuss a child’s concern/progress is discouraged on several grounds:
To enable all concerned to benefit from a meeting, it is necessary to give notice of the meeting so relevant information can be collected.
It interferes with teaching time for the class.
A teacher cannot adequately supervise his/her class while at the same time speaking to a parent.
It is difficult to be discrete when so many children are close by.
It may be possible and practical for a parent and teacher to exchange brief communications at dismissal time in the afternoon, however, if an in-depth discussion is required, a meeting should be scheduled.
When a parent would like to meet a Principal
The Principal is very happy to meet parents regarding enrolments, finances, secondary schools etc.
However, if a parent has a concern or complaint, they must first approach the class teacher regarding the matter. If the concern or complaint remains, a parent may then seek to speak to the Principal regarding the matter. If a parent contacts the office to make an appointment with a Principal, s/he will be given a ‘Request to meet a Principal Form’.
If the matter has not been discussed with the Class Teacher, the parent will be redirected to meet the teacher first.
A parent must give a reason for the meeting. The template in the Appendix can be used. The Principal will then give the parent a time and date at which they will be available to meet the parent. Where a complaint remains unresolved, s/he may consult the Parental Complaints Procedure.
Complaints Procedure
There is a formal procedure for dealing with parental complaints. Parents should refer to this Complaints Procedure (available on our website).
The school management must uphold this procedure, which has been agreed at a sectoral level by stakeholders, including the Schools Management Association (CPSMA) and the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO).
Registration of New Entrants
Enrolment forms are available on the school website.
Parents of all incoming junior infant pupils are invited to attend a welcome afternoon in April or May. A welcome pack with school information is given to each family. This is important because it is an opportunity for:
the children to become familiar with the school before September and to meet their new teacher and the Principal,
new Parents to meet the class teacher and the Principal and to become familiar with the school,
the class teacher to speak to the Parents about general organisation within the classroom, the subjects covered and various other useful topics of information, and
the Principal to speak about the school, its general organisation, policies and practices and to ensure Parents and children feel welcome in the school.
Communication by Email: Response Time
Response times to emails from the school secretary can vary depending on the demands in the office at any given time.
There may be occasions where a parent is trying to contact the school by phone and/or email and are not receiving a response. Office hours are limited, and the secretary is not always at the desk. We ask for patience during these times.
Response times to emails to the Principal can also vary greatly depending on the demands at any given time. Priority must be given to the pupils, staff, and the overall running of the school.
Teachers are in class during the day and will not have time to access emails or Seesaw. They may be engaged in planning, meetings or other essential tasks after school opening hours. The Principal and teachers will endeavour to respond to communications as quickly as possible, subject to their capacity and the task load before them.
Monitoring Volume and Content of Written Communications
Communications between parents and teachers in St Matthews may take the form of in-person conversations, phone conversations, written notes or email correspondence.
St Matthew’s encourages conversations and discussions between parents and staff, ideally in person, where there is a challenging matter for consideration.
Parents may not insist that teachers communicate only via email or written notes regarding matters at hand. Parents should note that where a member of staff has met with, or sought to meet with, a parent to discuss a given matter, the staff member has complied with their duty to communicate with parents.
Email communications between members of staff and parents may be monitored by the School Principal.
High volumes of email correspondence between individual parents and individual teachers is not constructive and is discouraged. It is the Principal’s duty to ensure that high volumes of email correspondence do not interfere with the ability of members of staff to perform their duties in the best interests of the school.
If it is considered by the Principal to be in the overall best interest of the school, the Principal may contact a parent to raise concerns in the event of a high volume of written correspondence being directed toward an individual teacher over a sustained period. The Principal will describe her concerns and seek to resolve the situation.
If the Principal’s concerns are not resolved to her satisfaction, she may prepare an anonymised account describing the volume, frequency and broad subject matter of communications for the attention of the Chairperson of the Board of Management.
Seeking to act in the best interests of the school and, mindful of the Board’s role as an employer, the Chairperson and Principal may decide to cease the process of directing written correspondence to an individual teacher for a period of time. In such an instance, the parent concerned will be notified by the Principal that this decision has been taken, why the school is concerned by the communications and for how long written communications from the parent concerned will not be directed to the individual teacher.
Examples of written communications that are not acceptable and may raise the concern of the Principal are as follows:
Communications that contain profane, abusive or discriminatory language;
Communications that contain some form of threat;
Communications that contain sarcasm or adopt a disrespectful tone; and
Communications that include derogatory comments about other members of staff, parents, pupils, or members of the broader school community.
In addition, written communication may give rise to concern where it seeks to repeatedly raise a point or query that has already been addressed in previous correspondence, or that has been addressed during a meeting.
Where a teacher has offered to meet with a parent to discuss a point or query, and such a meeting has yet to take place, but the teacher is in receipt of repeated written messaging regarding the subject, this may raise the concern of the Principal.
Measures to Promote Effective and Positive Meetings
Parents can expect meetings with school staff to be conducted in a professional and respectful way. Staff will be prepared in advance. They will be willing to discuss any aspect of a child’s education that the parent has notified them about. A conversation may move to other topics in an unplanned way, and this may necessitate staff to consult with notes or refer to files and follow up with parents at a subsequent time and/or date. Staff will expect parents to communicate positively at meetings in the spirit of working together for the good of our pupils. It may be the case that either a staff member or a parent may feel that a meeting has not gone well and that concerns arise in respect of future meetings. In this instance, the school will seek to support future effective and positive communications between the staff member and the parent by assigning an additional member of staff (such as a member of the Special Education Team or the School Leadership Team) to attend a meeting.
The school will also encourage the parent to have another supporting party attend future meetings with them where the parent wishes to do so. The presence of an additional staff member is intended to reduce the possibility for misunderstandings, miscommunications and/or discussion that is not productive.
Where these measures have been implemented, but concerns persist following a number of meetings between staff and parents, the following arrangements will apply:
Parents: parents will have recourse to the school’s Complaint Procedure. This procedure is available to view on the school website, and all parents may request a hard copy of this document from the school secretary.
Staff: members of staff will raise their concern with the Principal in the manner described below.
Principal: if the Principal has an ongoing concern, she will engage with the Board of Management in the manner described in this policy.
Staff Communication
Open, respectful and efficient communication among staff supports the smooth running of the school.
Leadership Communication: The Principal, Deputy Principal, and Assistant Principals meet regularly to review planning, school priorities and decision-making.
Staff Meetings: Whole-staff meetings and special interest team meetings are scheduled throughout the year. These ensure updates, discussion of initiatives, and staff input into planning.
Day-to-Day Communication: Day-to-day information is shared via email, brief meetings, and via the intercom.
Staff Collaboration: Teachers collaborate within class levels and across subject areas. Special Education teams, class teachers and SNAs work closely together to support pupils.
The Principal or school secretary may send staff reminders or notification of emergencies, such as school closure, through text. Teachers regularly carry out formal & informal meetings on a daily basis, before, during and after school. This process of communication is ongoing and continuous.
The School has adopted The Working Together initiative from 2024
Communication with Pupils
All interactions between staff and pupils are based on respect, encouragement and clarity. Communication is always school-related and takes place during school hours or official school activities.
Staff
Staff will bring to the attention of the Principal any concerns which they have in relation to staff/parent communications. The Principal will investigate the matter. If, following such an investigation, the Principal is concerned about the approach of a parent to meetings with staff members, she will contact the parent and seek a meeting aimed at resolving the matter. Such a resolution may involve the Principal or deputy Principal attending some or all future meetings along with the member of staff concerned.
If the measures described above do not resolve the concerns of the Principal, she may prepare an anonymised account describing the concerns that have arisen. Seeking to act in the best interests of the school and, mindful of the Board’s role as an employer, the Chairperson and Principal may decide to end the practice of meetings taking place between the individual teacher and the parent. In such an instance, the parent concerned will be notified by the Principal that this decision has been taken, why the school is concerned by one or more aspects of the meetings that have taken place, and the period of time during which the parent concerned will not be facilitated to meet with the staff member concerned.
Examples of occurrences during meetings that may raise the concern of the Principal are as follows:
Profane, abusive or discriminatory language being directed toward the staff member;
Any form of physical or verbal threat being directed toward the staff member;
Sarcasm, or disrespectful comments, being directed at the staff member;
A visibly angry or negative demeanour being sustained by a parent throughout a meeting with the staff member.
The sustained adoption of an uncooperative approach to the matter under consideration across a number of meetings.
Recording/Broadcast Meetings
Meetings with staff members of St Matthew’s shall not be recorded (either by audio recordings or any other form of media capture) under any circumstances. Meetings with staff members shall not be broadcast via any video or audio-conferencing platform, except in circumstances whereby the meeting would not be possible without the use of such a platform and the decision to use one has been taken in advance between the parent/guardian and teacher, subject to the approval of the Principal.
Parents Association
St Matthew’s has a Parents Association, which represents the parents of our pupils. The committee of the Parents’ Association aims to promote the interests of all pupils in our school in partnership with the Board of Management, the Principal, the teaching staff, support and ancillary staff. The PTA has representatives from classes who are responsible for communicating with their class about PTA events and seeking volunteers. The committee of the Parents’ Association meets on a regular basis throughout the school year.
The function of these meetings is to plan for school activities, to discuss and organise fundraising activities. Individual parents are encouraged to assist at the various events organised for parents and pupils throughout the school year.
A class group email is in place between Parents/Guardians who consent to participating (only available to each specific class and the Parents/Guardians therein.) A class contact list may be set up by the PTA representatives for each class; this list may not be used for advertising, complaints, or for school matters concerning any child, parent/guardian or staff member. They shall only be used for general organisational and social purposes.
Board of Management
St Matthew’s has a properly constituted Board of Management composed of nominees of the trustee, community, teachers and parents. The Board of Management meets on a regular basis.
Implementation
This policy was approved by the Board of Management of St Matthew’s on 11th of November 2025.