Effective communication between parents and school is extremely important as it helps to ensures the best possible outcomes for the children.
It is key to establishing and maintaining positive partnerships and in building understanding and trust. We believe that when we clearly understand and trust each other, we are better able to work together to support children’s well being and development.
With that in mind we have invested in technology to support our communication with you. Here follows a few examples:
- School Website
- School App
- Emails and Text with ParentMail
- SIMS Pay (Online payment system)
- Tapestry
SCHOOL APP
OurSchoolsApp is a personalised app for our school and will allow us to keep you all updated with school information, news, calendar events and contact information.
If you have a smartphone (Android or iPhone) you can download OurSchoolsApp from Google Play Android or the Apple Store for FREE. Access is also available on a tablet and iPad by following the same download process.
When we update OurSchoolsApp with new information or news about the school, a push message notification will automatically be sent to your device to inform you of this update. You can then view the notification which will then take you directly to our app.
Instructions for download:
1. Using your device (iPad, iPhone, smart pad, tablet or android phone), visit the relevant marketplace for your product (Apple Store or Google Play).
2. Search for ‘OurSchoolsApp’ and download the app.
3. Once downloaded, us the search bar within the app and enter the postcode or the name of the school.
4. Hit the search button.
5. Once you see the school name displayed, just touch the screen on the school name.
6. Confirm your choice by pressing ‘OK’.
7. You will now be presented with the correct app for your chosen school which contains news, information, calendar events, contacts and any other relevant details.
EMAILS AND TEXTS WITH PARENT MAIL
Clubs, policies, trips, and events... we know how tricky it can be staying on top of school communications. Trawling through email inboxes for a message is time-consuming and paper newsletters are unreliable.
We want to make our school communications informative, convenient, and easy to manage for our parents - that’s why we’re using ParentMail! Please press on the link below to watch a short video about the benefits of registering with Parent Mail.
We want to make our school communications informative, convenient, and easy to manage for our parents - that’s why we’re using ParentMail! Please press on the link below to watch a short video about the benefits of registering with Parent Mail.
ParentMail utilises a free mobile app, available for iOS and Android devices, as a well as a desktop portal.
We strongly encourage you to download the mobile app; here’s why:
• Push notifications alert you to new messages, enabling you to access important information with ease.
• Keep up to date on school communications from the comfort of home or while out and about.
• Manage all school messages in one place.
• Manage communications for more than one child, across different schools, with one ParentMail account.
• You don’t need to log in to pick up messages or attachments - communications are quick and easy to access in moments.
We occasionally send text messages to our parents. However, text messages are very expensive for our school, and we know they’re inconvenient for you, too. If all parents download the free ParentMail app, we could put the money we save on text messages to much better use and you won't have to dig through your inboxes for school information – win, win! Download the app for free from the Apple App store or the Google Play Store now.
SIMS PAY (ONLINE PAYMENTS)
SIMS Pay provides a safe, secure and easy way to pay online for school items such as school meals, trips, events, clubs and other school activities.
- SIMS Pay Allows you make online payments to the school whenever and wherever you like, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Makes it easy to make payments for school items by debit or credit card.
- Reduces the need for children to carry cash to school.
- Peace of mind that payments are made safely and securely to the school.
- You can also merge your accounts if you have more than one child at the school, or from other schools that also use SIMS Pay.
IS SIMS PAY SAFE – ARE MY PAYMENTS SECURE?
- Yes – SIMS Pay is safe and secure and tested for the highest security.
- All information on Sims Pay is secure and only accessible by completing several security steps and automated checks.
- Payments are secure – no card details are ever stored on the system or accessed by the school.
- Agora is PCI DSS Level 1 certified and uses the highest levels of card payment security & 3D fraud protection measures.
- You will receive an email receipt for all payments and you can check at any time what and when you have paid the school through Sims Pay
HOW DO I GET STARTED WITH SIMS PAY?
- The school will provide an activation letter containing a unique reference for your child – you will need this reference to access
- your child’s account.
- You will need your child’s date of birth.
- You will also need a Microsoft account – you can use an existing account (e.g. a Hotmail account) or create a new one online – they are free, easy to setup and you can use any valid email address and password. If you need a free Microsoft account please go to: https://signup.live.com
- To access SIMS Pay please go to: payyourschool.co.uk
- Follow the few simple steps to activate your account.
- You will receive an email to confirm your account has been activated; once you have clicked the link in the email you will be able to make payments for school items straight away.
- If you have more than one child at the school, you can easily merge their SIMS Pay account into a single combined view – please see the Help section within SIMS Pay on how to do this.
- For more information about SIMS Pay online payments
