School Communications.

Class Representatives

The primary role of the class rep is as helper and communicator – providing support to teachers and facilitating communications between parents and teachers. The class rep responds to teachers’ calls for organisational help in classroom activities. He/she actively encourages parents to become involved in the life of the school. The class rep fosters positive, friendly relationships among parents and teachers.
The class rep is an interested parent who volunteers his/her services. Ideally, the teacher and the class rep build up a relationship which enables them to share the handling of matters of concern together.
To help in communicating with parents, the class rep tries to:
- Welcome and make contact with new parents. Class reps are notified of new parents by the Registrar and, in turn, new parents are given the name and address of their class reps.
- Hold form parties early in the year. These are social occasions.
Assist when teachers wish to call on parents to make use of parental skills and enthusiasm. Sport, for example, is an area in which parents may be involved by the school.
Parent/Staff is a volunteer organisation and class reps are therefore not elected. Rather, we rely on interested parents to come forward and volunteer what spare time they may have. It is sometimes difficult to find enough volunteers to do the necessary work and we would like to impress upon parents how much we appreciate their efforts. The school would indeed be a very different place were it not for the marvellous support we have always received from committed parents.
The selection of class reps has to take into account two very different points of view: long-standing, experienced class reps can offer their valuable knowledge and understanding of the workings of the school, whilst new class reps may be full of ideas and enthusiasm to provide impetus to other parents. A mixture of the two provides a good balance.
A review of class reps is made once a year. A letter is sent out to all parents by the Chair of Parent/Staff in the summer term, inviting volunteers for the position of class rep at the end of the academic year. During the year, reps actively seek help and involvement from all parents in their class. Parents can take the initiative to get involved, using reps as a channel to do so.

Contact with Teachers

Many of you will bring and/or collect your children from school and these times may provide opportunities to speak to the class teacher. As I am sure you will appreciate, however, it may not always be convenient for the teachers who may be busy preparing for the day or have to leave promptly after school. Arranging a mutually convenient time in advance will ensure that you have his or her undivided attention. This can be done by dealing directly with the teacher or by telephoning the Lower School office.
We welcome regular contact with parents during the term so that we can work with you to help your children.

Notice-Boards

The notice-board for Ivy Wood is between the two classroom blocks and at Manor Wood there is a metal board surrounding a tree at the end of the driveway. Parents are asked to check the boards regularly for changes to scheduled events or for other news and information of interest.

Queries and Concerns

If you have any problems or questions please talk to us. In the first instance, contact your child’s teacher by making an appointment. If you feel you want to take the matter further, you can arrange to see David Weale, the Head of Lower School, by telephoning Meg Burchnall on 020 8457 5243 or by emailing lowerschool@kingalfred.org.uk. David has regular ‘drop-in’ times, usually on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday afternoons, and parents are welcome to sign up for one of these 15 minute sessions by putting their name on the board outside the door to his office.
Harriet Wilson, our Chair of Council, can also be contacted by letter, via the school, or email at harriet.wilson@condenast.co.uk Alternatively, you can telephone directly on 020 7499 9080.

Weekly Newsletter

A Lower School newsletter is produced each week on a Friday. This contains reports and reviews of the previous week, reminders and details of the week ahead. It keeps parents in touch with what is going on in the lower School, and occasionally within the rest of the school. It is sent out via email although we do produce a few hard copies for those who cannot access email.

Parentmail

This is the main way in which KAS communicates with all parents throughout the school. The newsletter is sent out by Parentmail. From time to time, you will receive Parentmails from class teachers informing you about sports fixtures or class visits. There will also be Parentmails sent out about whole school activities like our annual fireworks or the AGM.

Friday Café

At the end of each week, there is a Friday Café in the Main School Hall. Different year groups in the Lower School take it in
turns to provide a whole range of refreshments for people throughout the school to enjoy. Parents and children enjoy
a social opportunity at the end of the week – a time to catch up, plan play dates and to wind down at the end of
a busy week. Family and friends are all welcome.