At CHS South, we believe that effective communication is key to building strong relationships between home and school and supporting every student to be Creative, Happy and Successful.
This page brings together the key information that guides how we communicate with families and how families can work with us. Here you will find our Home School Agreement, outlining our shared commitments; our Communication Charter, setting out expectations for respectful and effective communication; our guide to raising concerns or complaints; and our Trust Complaints Policy.
We encourage all parents and carers to explore these documents to help ensure communication remains positive, timely and focused on achieving the best outcomes for our students.
At CHS South, we are committed to ensuring that every young person is empowered to become creative, happy and successful.
We are proud to be a diverse and inclusive community where every individual feels a strong sense of belonging. Our shared culture is built around being ready, respectful and safe, alongside developing our Qualities of Success: creativity, curiosity, resilience, optimism, empathy, responsibility, practice, motivation and reflection.
This agreement reflects our shared commitment - students, families and staff - to work in partnership, building positive relationships through clear, respectful communication and a shared sense of responsibility.
As parents and carers, I/we will endeavour to:
Support my child to be ready for school each day by ensuring good attendance, punctuality, correct uniform and equipment
Inform the school by 8:30am of any absence due to illness or other reasons
Communicate with the school in a timely and open way, sharing any information that may affect my child’s wellbeing or success
Work in partnership with the school to support my child in being respectful and responsible by upholding the school’s policies
Support the school's no phone policy by not contacting my child on their phone during their time at school and supporting the consequence of phone confiscation where needed
Encourage my child to take pride in their learning and approach challenges with resilience, motivation and reflection
Celebrate my child’s achievements and support them in becoming creative and curious learners
Engage in respectful, productive and thoughtful two-way communication with the school through in-person meetings as the main form of communication, working collaboratively to resolve concerns
Contribute to the wider school community, supporting a culture where all families feel welcome, respected and included
Promote and model the Qualities of Success at home and in the community
As a school, we will endeavour to:
Create a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment where every student feels they belong and can thrive
Support every child to achieve their full potential as a valued member of our community
Enable students to become creative, confident and reflective learners through a broad and engaging curriculum, both in and beyond the classroom
Promote high expectations by applying policies and expectations fairly and consistently, supporting students to be ready, respectful and safe in all aspects of school life
Build strong and positive relationships with students and families, underpinned by empathy, respect and responsibility
Communicate clearly, openly and proactively, resolving concerns through constructive dialogue and partnership, and responding in a timely and professional manner
Ensure students feel heard and valued, providing meaningful opportunities for student voice to shape school life
Celebrate achievement, effort and progress, encouraging students to develop the habits and qualities needed for success
Work collaboratively with families and the wider community to enrich opportunities and strengthen our shared sense of belonging
Promote and model the Qualities of Success across all aspects of school life
As a student at CHS South, I will endeavour to:
Be ready to learn by attending school every day, arriving punctually and bringing the equipment I need
Wear my full, correct school uniform with pride to show that I belong to and respect the CHS South community
Be respectful to all, showing kindness, empathy and understanding
Help to keep myself and others safe by making positive choices in and out of school
Work hard in lessons, showing motivation, curiosity and creativity in my learning
Take responsibility for my actions, showing resilience and reflecting so I can improve
Support the school's no phone policy by having my phone switched off and away all day while on the school premises and cooperating with the consequence of phone confiscation where needed
Contribute positively to the school community, helping everyone to feel welcome, included and valued
Take pride in my efforts, my environment and how I represent myself, my family and my school
Share my ideas, opinions and feedback respectfully, listening to others and valuing different perspectives
Take opportunities to contribute to school life through leadership, student voice and community activities
Speak to a trusted adult when I need support, taking responsibility for my wellbeing
Demonstrate the Qualities of Success in everything I do
Together, we will:
Build a community where everyone feels a strong sense of belonging and pride
Support each other to be ready, respectful and safe every day
Communicate openly, honestly and respectfully, resolving challenges through positive dialogue and partnership
Work together to ensure every child is creative, happy and successful
Celebrate success, effort and progress, and learn from challenges together
Embody and promote our shared Qualities of Success in all that we do
At CHS South, we believe that through strong relationships, shared values and a commitment to our community, every young person can thrive and be creative, happy and successful. By working together, we ensure that all members of our community feel valued, supported and empowered to succeed.
CHS South recognises the importance of clear and effective communication that is open and accessible. It is very important to us that we work closely in partnership with parents/carers, and communication between home and school is key. We recognise, however, that it can often be difficult to communicate with teachers because of timetable pressures; and we recognise that parents/carers also have very busy lives.
In creating the CHS South Communication Charter we aim to develop the effectiveness, the consistency, and the efficiency of communication, enabling us to forge strong home-school links, whilst also clarifying expectations to ensure that we are mindful of staff workload and wellbeing.
We request that the communication between all parties is respectful.
Teachers want to respond to parental queries at the earliest opportunity and will do their best to do so, however, the majority of teachers’ time is taken up teaching and preparing for lessons. Teachers’ responsibilities extend beyond the classroom, and they may be unable to respond to you on the day a query is made. We have also agreed with staff that there is no expectation to respond to queries outside of their working hours.
The day-to-day care, welfare and safety of your child is managed by the person who is placed closest to them. In the first instance, please approach the following members of staff who are responsible for your child in the following order:
Classroom Teacher or Curriculum Leader (if query is relevant to a specific subject).
Form Tutor or Pastoral Leader (if query is of a more general nature).
Letters to teachers can be an easy way to get a message to a teacher promptly and can be used as everyday communication. The student is responsible for showing the letter to the correct teacher.
Please use the main reception number to leave a message for a teacher to contact you. Reception staff will relay messages to teachers as soon as possible; lessons can never be interrupted for teachers to take calls.
Teachers will try to respond to you within three working days, if not the same day.
If a call is urgent, please inform the receptionist who will contact your child’s Pastoral Leader or a senior member of staff to speak to you as soon as possible.
Emails can be a useful way of communicating quickly between parents/carers and school, however as well as having many advantages, this ease of access has also increased the demands made of staff. As a school, our first priority is to deliver high quality teaching and learning. Staff cannot and are not expected to monitor and manage their inbox during lessons or at other times in the day, when they should be planning and preparing for lessons, assessing student work or carrying out school duties. To help manage the expectations of all, the following points are provided as guidance:
We aim to respond to you as soon as possible and within three working days.
Meetings should always be pre-arranged with members of staff.
If you urgently need to see someone, for instance if there is a serious family emergency or a child protection issue, please phone ahead and the reception staff will do their best to find a senior member of staff to see you.
For non-urgent meetings, we will aim to meet with you within five working days. The school will determine the level of urgency at its discretion, to enable it to manage multiple demands.
We recognise the importance of keeping you informed about your child’s experience at CHS South and how they are progressing. We, therefore, have timely information sent out to all parents/carer on a regular basis. This includes:
Annual contact
Biannual contact
Termly contact
Fortnightly contact
Our preferred method of contacting you is via Arbor. This allows us to communicate with parents/carers quickly and cost effectively via email, text and Smart Phone app. We are able to send app messages and you can send messages back for free. Parents/Carers can also use the system to pay for school meals and trips, view their child's timetable and access their child's reports.
Telephone calls will be made by school to parents/carers where immediate contact with a family member is required, i.e. when a student injury of significance has occurred. A staff member will call the first named emergency contact as listed. Where no contact is made, a call will then be made to the second named contact. In the event that no contact can be made, the member of staff will either leave an answerphone message or ensure that repeat calls continue to be made to the contact numbers, where possible.
The School website holds a wealth of information about the school. On the website, parents/carers can find forthcoming dates, curriculum information, assessment information and other details about school life. Any emergency information will be announced on the homepage of the website.
Microsoft Teams is our digital learning platform, where staff will place home learning assignments and signpost study resources to prepare students for exams or any distance learning. This gives parents/carer an overview of their child’s homework in one secure online platform. It can also be used to safely communicate with other users and can provide a platform for live online learning.
We use our social media channel/s to share what has been happening in school. Through these channels you can find information and celebrations in respect of student achievements, subject information and generic educational information. You can find these by searching @chssouthmcr or the following the link:
If you have not received a response from the school within three working days, please contact the school by emailing admin@chssouth.org.uk and we will chase up your enquiry. If you are unsatisfied with a response, please highlight the email FAO The Senior Leadership Team. Communication with parents/carers is important to us, and we will continue to work with parents/carers to monitor this and our approach to improve the process further.