Trinity Catholic School
Welcome to
Trinity Catholic School Your Compass for Life
Welcome to Trinity Catholic School Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome to Trinity Catholic School I hope you and your family have had a restful summer. As Vice Principal, I would like to warmly welcome you and your child to the new academic year at Trinity Catholic School. At Trinity, we believe strongly in working in partnership with our families and creating a real sense of belonging. Good communication between home and school is an important part of this. We want every family to know who can help, who to contact and where to go if they have a question, concern or need some support. Your child’s Form Tutor sees them every day and will get to know them well. For most day-to-day matters, their Form Tutor is a good first point of contact. If they are not the right person to resolve something, they will make sure your enquiry reaches the appropriate colleague. At Trinity, we value strong partnerships with our families. To help keep communication clear and accessible,this guide outlines the keyways we communicate with families, who to contact for different matters, and the support available to pupils and parents. An electronic version can also be found on our website. We look forward to working in partnership with you throughout the year and celebrating your child’s achievements and successes. Thank you for your continued support of Trinity Catholic School. Yours sincerely, Mrs Murphy-Long Vice Principal & Designated Safeguarding Lead Trinity Catholic School
Who Can Help? Form Tutor – your first point of contact Your child’s Form Tutor should usually be your first point of contact for general day-to-day matters, including settling into school, organisation, friendships, equipment, uniform, general wellbeing and concerns about how your child is getting on. Please also let your child’s Form Tutor know if something is happening at home which may be affecting them in school. You do not need to share more information than you are comfortable with but knowing that a young person may need some additional understanding or support can make an important difference. If the Form Tutor cannot resolve the matter directly, they will help ensure that you are connected with the appropriate colleague. Learning, homework and progress If your question relates specifically to learning, homework, assessment or progress in a particular subject, please contact your child’s Subject Teacher in the first instance. Where further support is required, the matter can then be referred to the relevant Head of Department. Pastoral support Our Pastoral Team supports pupils and families with wellbeing, friendships, behaviour, difficulties in school and circumstances outside school which may be affecting a young person. For pupils in Years 7 and 8, pastoral support is led by Mrs Stacey, Head of Lower School, supported by Mrs Batchelder, Pastoral Manager. For pupils in Years 9, 10 and 11, pastoral support is led by Miss Crossman, Head of Upper School, supported by Mrs Faulkner, Pastoral Manager. Please contact us early if your child is beginning to struggle. We would always prefer to work alongside families before a small difficulty develops into a more significant concern.
Who Can Help?
SEND and additional needs If your child has SEND or an EHCP, or you are concerned that they may require additional support with their learning, our SEND Team can provide advice and support. Our SENCO is Mrs Ridges. The SEND Team can advise families about additional needs, reasonable adjustments, EHCP provision and the support available within school. Peter’s Place – Specialist Resource Provision (SRP) For families whose child accesses Peter’s Place, our Specialist Resource Provision, questions specifically relating to their provision and support can be directed to Mr Farrington. We want families of pupils accessing Peter’s Place to have a clear and direct route into school and to work closely with us to support their child’s learning, wellbeing and development. Attendance and reporting an absence Excellent attendance is essential if pupils are to achieve well, make strong progress, maintain friendships and benefit fully from school life. If your child is going to be absent from school, parents and carers should report the absence using Studybugs. Please report the absence promptly and provide the information requested so that we know your child is safe and can maintain accurate attendance records. If something is making it difficult for your child to attend school regularly or arrive punctually, please contact us as early as possible. Our Attendance and Pastoral Teams will work with families to understand genuine barriers to attendance and identify appropriate support. Please do not wait for attendance difficulties to become established before speaking to us.
Who Can Help? Every day in school matters. Faith, Chaplaincy and spiritual support As a Catholic school, our faith is at the heart of life at Trinity. We are delighted to welcome Fr Service, our School Chaplain, to the Trinity community. Fr Service supports the prayer and liturgical life of the school and provides pastoral, spiritual and faith support for our pupils, staff and families. If you would like to contact Fr Service, request Chaplaincy support or discuss any aspect of the faith and spiritual life of the school, please contact Mrs Murphy-Long, who will be happy to support you or arrange contact with Fr Service. Safeguarding – worried about a child? If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of a child, please contact the school and ask to speak to a member of our Safeguarding Team. The school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). Our Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads are Miss Crossman, Mrs Stacey, Mrs Faulkner and Mrs Sharpe. If there is an immediate risk of harm or an emergency outside school hours, families should contact the appropriate emergency or safeguarding services rather than waiting for the school to reopen. Not sure who to contact? Please do not worry about getting it wrong. If you are unsure who can help, start with your child’s Form Tutor. They will either help you directly or make sure your question or concern reaches the right person. We ask families to give the member of staff dealing with an enquiry a reasonable opportunity to investigate and respond. Some matters can be resolved quickly; others may require us to speak to several colleagues or pupils before we can provide a full response. If you feel that a concern has not been resolved, please let us know so that it can be passed to the appropriate senior colleague.
Your feedback matters We want communication between home and school to be open, positive and responsive. Throughout the year, we welcome feedback from parents and carers about your experience of Trinity. This might be something that has gone particularly well, a member of staff you would like to recognise, a suggestion about how we could improve, or something you feel we need to know about. In addition to the usual routes of communication, we have a direct email to Senior Staff: Feedback@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk Parents and carers are welcome to use this email at any point during the school year. Messages will be received by senior staff, who will ensure that your feedback is acknowledged and responded to appropriately. We value hearing from our families. Your feedback helps us to strengthen communication and continue to improve the experience of our pupils and families. Keeping you informed – Class Charts We want parents and carers to hear not only when there is a concern, but also about the positive contribution, engagement and achievements of their child. We use Class Charts to keep families updated about their child’s engagement in school and to share positive recognition and celebrations. These updates will be sent to you by email, so please look out for them and ensure that the email address we hold for you remains up to date. If you experience any difficulty with your login or access to our school systems, please contact the School Office at office@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk, and the team will help you. Throughout the year, we will also communicate important school information and celebrate the many opportunities and successes of our young people. We encourage families to follow our school website and social media channels, where we regularly share news from across the Trinity community. Please ensure that the school has your current telephone number, email address and emergency contact details so that we can reach you when necessary.
Pupil communication and support We want every pupil to know how they can communicate safely with members of staff and how they can ask for help if they have a concern. Pupil school email Every pupil has been issued with their own school email account. Pupils should only use their school email account when emailing members of staff and should not use personal email accounts for school communication.
Reporting a worry or concern We recognise that there may be times when a pupil finds it difficult to speak directly to an adult about something that is worrying them. All pupils therefore have access to a school-monitored mobile number 07902755714 and email WTCS-MyVoice@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk which they can use if they wish to report a concern, ask for help or communicate something more confidentially. Pupils can use this route if they are worried about themselves, another pupil or anything affecting their safety or wellbeing. Messages are monitored by school and concerns will be followed up appropriately. We will always encourage pupils to speak directly to a trusted adult whenever they can, but we want every young person to know that there is more than one way to ask for help at Trinity.
Your compass for life
This provides a safe and appropriate way for pupils to communicate with staff about their learning, ask questions or seek support.
Please talk to us
Please talk to us Secondary school brings many exciting opportunities, but we recognise that young people and their families can experience challenges along the way. If something is affecting your child, please tell us. Early communication can make a real difference. You do not need to wait until a concern becomes serious, and you do not need to know exactly which member of staff to contact. Our aim is for every young person at Trinity to feel known, valued, safe and supported, while being encouraged to achieve their very best. As a Catholic school, our care for one another is at the heart of our community. We look forward to working in partnership with you throughout the year and celebrating your child’s achievements and successes. Thank you for your continued support of Trinity Catholic School. With best wishes, Mrs Murphy-Long Vice Principal & Designated Safeguarding Lead Trinity Catholic School
Trinity Catholic School
Trinity Catholic School – Parent Contact Guide
Not sure who to contact? Start with your child’s Form Tutor and we will make sure your enquiry reaches the right person. All Trinity staff email addresses end in @straphaelcmat.co.uk. Only the individual email prefix needs to be added below. Who to contact:
Key Area
Who to Contact
Email/Telephone
General / wellbeing
Form Tutor
Subject / learning
Subject Teacher
______@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Subject concern
Head of Department
______@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Years 7–8 pastoral
Mrs Stacey / Mrs Batchelder
kstacey@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Years 9–11 pastoral
Miss Crossman / Mrs Faulkner
lcrossman@straphaelcmat.co.uk
SEND / EHCP
Mrs Ridges – SENCO
eridges@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Peter’s Place (SRP)
Mr Farrington
sfarrington@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Reporting an absence
Studybugs
Report via Studybugs
Attendance support
Attendance Team
office@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk
Chaplaincy / faith
Mrs Murphy-Long – contact route for Fr Service
fmurphylong@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Safeguarding
Mrs Murphy-Long – DSL
WTCSMyVoice@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk
Pupil confidential concern
Safeguarding Team
07902 755714
Feedback / suggestions
Senior Staff
Feedback@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk
Login / school systems
School Office
office@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk
General enquiries
School Office
office@trinity.straphaelcmat.co.uk
______@straphaelcmat.co.uk
Trinity Catholic School – Safeguarding Team
Our Safeguarding Team
Mrs Murphy-Long
Miss Crossman
Ms Faulkner
Mrs Greenmont
Mrs Stacey
Mrs Ridges
Your Compass for Life