WhatsApp Guidelines for Parents and Carers
Year Group WhatsApp groups are voluntarily set up by the parents and endeavour to include all parents, who wish to join. These communities are a useful and efficient way of communicating with other parents. The aim of using WhatsApp is to send messages to the entire group, which are relevant to school and helpful for the group members to know, e.g. reminders about school events, homework. Messages in the Year Group WhatsApp groups come from parents and carers in their personal capacity, or may be sent on behalf of FoCS. The school neither sends nor monitors messages on WhatsApp. WhatsApp groups are meant to be useful, interesting and help build a sense of community and support within year groups. We encourage you to join in and positively participate if you wish. However, we ask that parents/carers would note the following guidelines when using school WhatsApp groups.
| Purpose of the platform | The WhatsApp group is a facility for
· the year group representative to post information or requests deemed appropriate for the parents, whatever that may be. · members to ask questions or make inquiries about issues or events that other parents might be able answer. |
| What sort of messages should I post? | Post messages that are:
· relevant for the whole group and · about school related issues Before posting, ask yourself if it might be better suited to a smaller group of parents in a separate friends’ group. |
| What should I avoid? | Please think before you post. Avoid using the platform as a medium to air any concerns or grievances regarding a teacher, child or parent in the class or school or give opinions on current affairs. Please think about how your post could come across, and about how you would feel if you were on the receiving end. If you have any concerns about your child at school or in relation to another child, you should contact the class teacher. If your concern remains, you should contact the school’s Deputy Headteacher or Headteacher. |
| What to do if you feel a post is inappropriate | At our school we take our safeguarding responsibilities seriously and will deal with any reported incidents appropriately. This includes:
· abusive or personal comments about staff, pupils or other parents · posting defamatory or libellous comments · to publicly challenge school policies or discuss issues about individual children, or threatening behaviour. Please be assured that we cannot tolerate inappropriate posts. If someone makes an inappropriate comment, please contact the year group ‘admin’ or a senior staff member at school. Admin reps can refer inappropriate posts to senior school staff and can remove the offending member from the group. The WhatsApp group administrators have every right to take this action when needed. You can always choose to leave a WhatsApp group – and no-one should make a judgement about that decision. |
| Helpful hints | If you are not sure about your post, please ask yourself these questions beforehand:
· Is this relevant? · Is this necessary? · Is it true? · Is it helpful? · Is it kind? · Is this a good time to post? i.e. not late at night or very early in the morning. |
By virtue of being a group member, you accept these conditions and agree to abide by them.
The groups are for those who are parents or carers of current pupils of Combe School.
You can of course leave the group at any time.