Schools can be incredibly busy places, and thus as a parent, it sometimes feels unnecessarily difficult to contact the right person in your child’s school. However, please do persist. Parental engagement is an essential part of ensuring their education and well-being. Below, we’ve written a concise guide to helping you navigate this process effectively.

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Who to contact at Secondary school:

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• Form Tutor: The Form Tutor takes the attendance register for your child, and in most schools, is the first point of contact for you, as a parent. They have daily contact with your child and, along with the Head of Year, support your child’s well-being. Unlike Primary schools, they do not necessarily teach your child – although they will be in regular contact with all your child’s teachers. You can communicate through notes (school planner/diary), emails, phone calls via the Reception, through the school website or parent-teacher meetings. As form tutors are usually subject teachers too, they may not be able to get back to you until the end of the day or the following day.

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• Head of Year: Depending upon the school, the Head of Year may in fact be your point of contact rather than the Form Tutor. In some schools, the Head of Year may not be a teacher, won’t have the teaching requirements, and therefore may be able to speak to you directly. Heads of Years are responsible for the pastoral (non-curricular) care of your child, so are an important source of information for parents. The best way to contact them is usually via email/website form or simply by calling the school reception and asking them to contact you back as soon as they are able to.

 

*Please note that some schools do not have a Head of Year, but may have a Head of Lower School/Upper school/Senior school instead – this is the case especially in smaller state/ maintained schools and independent (private) schools.

 

• Subject Teacher. At Secondary school, your child will have a number of subject teachers, each specialising in a different subject. If you have any concerns about the teaching and learning to do with a particular subject, or if you want to find out more information about the content of the lessons, your child’s engagement with the subject in class or any other information about assessments or homework, then do speak in the first instance to the individual subject teacher. Phone call, email or website form are usually the best way to contact them.

 

• Head of Department (subject): Each Head of Department will be responsible for their area of the curriculum. However, the Head of Department is ultimately responsible for the subject, so you may want to speak to them if your child’s class teacher is unable to answer your queries. The Head of Department is usually highlighted on the website for each department in the curriculum section. If in doubt, do contact the school reception and they will be able to direct you to the correct person.

 

• Designated Safeguarding Lead: This is the person who is responsible for any safeguarding issues in schools.

 

Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm (NSPCC

 

In schools, the guidance around this comes from a document called Keeping Children Safe in Education 2023 (known as KCSIE) and it is statutory, and so schools have to follow it.

 

In Secondary schools, the Designated Safeguarding Lead is usually not the Headteacher (Principal), although they will be a senior teacher. They are trained in this area, and they will be up-to-date on the laws and guidance around safeguarding. They are also responsible for ensuring all staff are trained in this area. They are usually extremely busy people, but do persevere as they will get back to you as soon as they are able to. Please do note that who the Designated Safeguarding Lead is will be made clear to every child, so that they know who to go to. As issues of safeguarding can be time-sensitive, it is probably best to call the school reception directly, and ask to speak to them directly. If they are not available, they will ring you back as soon as possible. If it is urgent, please do say so.

 

• Headteacher (Principal)/ Senior Team: The Headteacher (Principal) has ultimate responsibility for the school, although in large secondary schools, they will have a number of Deputy Headteachers and Assistant Headteachers to support. If your concern is more significant or if you're not getting a satisfactory response from the class teacher, Head of Year or Head of Department, then do feel free to contact one of the senior team. Their roles are usually made clear on the website. If you do contact the headteacher, please do not be surprised if this is initially delegated in the first instance to one of the Senior Team. However, for serious issues, the Headteacher (Principal) will get involved. You will usually need to request an appointment through the school reception or the headteacher’s executive/personal assistant. For urgent, safeguarding issues, please contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead in the first instance.