Parent / Carer Communications
Platt Bridge Community School is keen to ensure we provide Parents and Carers with different ways to communicate with staff at our school. We also believe that communication is key to developing a good relationship between school and parents to ensure your child thrives in our setting. We therefore offer a number of way to communicate with us and the main methods are:-
- Class Dojo
- Arbor App
- Text
- Telephone
Written CommunicatioN
As a school we typically use Class Dojo and text messages as a quick way to share information with Parents/Carers. This can be reminders about key events happening in school, attendance matters and links to letters. Please note that all texts will go to first named contacts on our system.
We also us the Arbor App to run alongside Class Dojo to support Parent/Carer communication. How will parents and carers benefit?
- Check on your child from anywhere: With the Arbor App, you can check in on your children from anywhere – all you need is a phone
- Access important information about your child in one place: See your child’s attendance, behaviour and progress this week as well as for the year so far. You can also see upcoming homework and download report cards for your child.
- Get updates from school via push notifications. Get notified when your school sends out a new message via the App.
Telephone contact
When you call school (01942 487999) the voice recording will take you to the most frequent extension numbers, eg school office, attendance, pastoral etc.
Class dojo - Communication with Teachers
All our teaching staff use Class Dojo to keep parents up to date with things that are happening in the classroom, showcase pupils' work and achievements and provide information about whole school events. Parents can read all Class Story posts and direct messages in their preferred language instantly, with automatic text translations in 35+ languages.
Class Dojo is also used by teaching staff to communicate directly with parents/carers. You are welcome to use ClassDojo to communicate directly with your child's teacher about issues relating to your child.
All parents/carers will be provided with information about how to access Class Dojo when their child starts with us. If you are having problems accessing Class Dojo please contact the main school office.
As most of our classroom staff are involved in teaching throughout the day, if you have an urgent matter that you need to contact school about during the school day you should contact the school by telephone on 01942 487999. The school office staff will be more than happy to deal with any enquiries and liaise with teaching staff as necessary.
Information about the curriculum - What we Teach your child
There is a vast amount of information on our website Curriculum All Subjects. You can find more about what we teach in each year group by reviewing our Learning Pathways.
What is the Arbor App?
The Arbor App brings all the functionality of the desktop Parent Portal to your phone. You will be able to view your child's attendance statistics, behaviour points, notifications regarding detentions, and can update personal information on your child’s profile.
How to Download the Arbor App
Click here to download the app for iOS (Apple/iPhone)
Click here to download the app for Android (Google Play Store)
Arbor App Help Centre
Download the app via your phone’s app store. Android users, ensure you have turned on push notifications by going to Settings > Apps > Arbor > Notifications.
iOS users will be prompted to receive push notifications when you download the app, ensure you select ‘allow’.
You must enable push notifications to receive a notification when you have a new in-app message.
If you do not enable this, you will not be alerted to a new message and may miss important information.
Logging in to the app for the first time
- You must enter your email address to log in.
Please note that this must match the email address that we hold on Arbor for you at the school.
If you have any issues logging in, please email us at enquiries@plattrbridge.cfat.org.uk so that we can ensure our records match. Once we hold your correct email, you should be able to login without an issue.
2. You then need to select the correct school.
The first time you log in, you will be asked to read and confirm Arbor’s terms and conditions. As a security measure you will be prompted to confirm your child’s date of birth.
(If you have more than 1 child at the school, please confirm the date of birth of your eldest child. Once you are logged in, you will be able to switch between children)
ARBOR In-App Messages
We also use in-app messages via Arbor to your phones to reduce the number of text messages that we send. When you are sent an in-app message, you will receive a push notification (ensure you have enabled this feature on your phone, as detailed above.) In the Arbor App you will see a notification at the bottom right of your screen on the profile icon. Tap this notification, then click to see your messages. You will be taken to the messages page where you can see all messages received. All new messages will be marked as 'new' and will be written in bold. Read messages will be written in normal text.
Troubleshooting
If you are having difficulty accessing the app, first check that the email address you are using to log in, matches what is held with the school office.
Email us at enquiries@plattrbridge.cfat.org.uk so that we can assist you. If however, your details are correct and you are still not able to access the Arbor App, here are some steps to take:
- If you have more than one child, make sure you are entering the date of birth of your eldest child to access the app for the first time.
• Only relatives who are primary guardians of a child can access the app. You can ask the school office to confirm if you are listed as Primary guardian. Primary Guardians are the person/s who have parental responsibility for the student.
- Make sure you are accessing the app on a phone; the app will not function on a tablet.
- If however none of the above steps results in you successfully logging in to the App, please contact the school. Please do not contact Arbor directly.
If you have any difficulty using the app or require additional support, please do not hesitate to contact the mail school office for help and advice.