Guidance for Parents/Carers
Working in strong partnership is very important to every child’s learning journey. Parents obviously have the most powerful influence on their child’s development and we aim to help parents “belong” and to feel that George Salter Academy is their school too.
Please click here to view a Safeguarding newsletter with information and advice on Anxiety, details about the Safer Schools App and some additional helpful links for parents/carers.
Parents/Option Evenings 24/25
Please click here to access our GSA Parents Evening booking portal.
- Tuesday 15th October: Year 9 Parents Evening
- Tuesday 22nd October: Year 13 Parents Evening
- Tuesday 26th November: Post-16 Open Evening
- Tuesday 10th December: Year 11 Parents Evening
- Tuesday 21st January: Year 12 Parents Evening
- Tuesday 4th March: Year 7 Parents Evening
- Tuesday 6th May: Year 10 Parents Evening
- Tuesday 10th June: Year 8 Parents Evening
Communicating with Parents/Carers
In the event of bad weather, the decision to close the Academy will be made by the Principal and the academy will be closed if one or more of the following conditions apply:
- Conditions on site are considered to be unsafe and are likely to present danger to users of the site.
- Conditions are such that staff and students are unable to get to the Academy.
- Staff numbers are insufficient for the school to be operated safely.
In the event of school closure, the Principal will inform staff and parents/carers via text message, the school website, social media and local media. For further details, please see the Academy’s Adverse Weather Policy.
ClassCharts is an online system which teachers use to track achievement and behaviour throughout the school day. We believe in working closely with parents and one of the key benefits of using Class Charts is that we are able to securely share your child(s) achievement and behaviour report with you and so keep you up to date in real-time.
Click here to view the ClassCharts Guide for Parents.
Each child has a unique access code which the school will issue parents. Once you have been issued with a code you will need to create an account and enter the code here: https://www.classcharts.com/parent/login
If you have more than one child in the school then you can enter additional codes once you have created an account and are logged in.
Note: Links to mobile phone apps are also available to parents from the ClassCharts page after you logged in.
For any problems and questions regarding ClassCharts, please go to the dedicated ClassCharts Feedback & Support page.
The Academy is using ParentPay, a service used by over 5,000 schools, nurseries and children’s clubs to communicate and collect payments from millions of parents.
ParentPay is beneficial to you, because we can send messages directly to parents and other carers at the same time, you can make online payments to the academy for dinners, trips, uniform etc. and give permission for events or trips online without having to sign and return forms to us.
To register, please click this link to visit the ParentPay website.
Here you can top up your cashless catering, pay for school trips, pay for tickets (Prom, theatre shows) and purchase items from the school shop (school ties/revision guides etc).
Help & Support
- If you need further assistance with registering with ParentPay, please contact the school office on 0121 553 4665.
- For questions regarding paying for food, please contact [email protected]
- For questions regarding paying for tickets, trips or items from the School Shop, contact [email protected]
FAQ’s
What are the main benefits of a cashless catering system?
- Convenient way of paying for school meals.
- Discourages the misuse of school dinner money through spending in shops outside of the school grounds.
- Alleviates many of the associated problems with the use of cash in schools, i.e. loss, theft, bullying.
- Queuing times are reduced through increased speed of service.
- Automatic free school meal allocation with the student remaining anonymous.
What is a biometric cashless system?
At the heart of the biometric cashless system is a software program which recognises each individual customer, holds individual cash balances and records expenditure and cash received. It also records where and when money is spent and on what food.
How are students and staff recognised by the system?
All students and staff will be registered by biometric measurement and photograph. The biometric measurement takes a part image of some of the coordinates of the fingerprint. This information is then converted, encrypted and stored as a unique number. This data cannot be converted back into any image of a fingerprint, nor can it be used by any other source for identification purposes.
What data is held on the system?
Certain data is held on the system to enable accurate operation. This includes the student’s name. tutor group, photo, account balance, meal entitlement and the biometric number. Other than the biometric number, this data is already held on the Academy’s administrative systems. All the data is handled under General Data Protection Regulation guidelines. The data is only used for the purposes of the cashless catering system and will be destroyed when the data is no longer relevant (such as when a student leaves the Academy).
How is the biometric system utilised to obtain food?
An individual places a thumb/finger on the biometric scanner at a till. This will activate an individual’s account which will be displayed on screen for the catering operator, including name and current balance. The till operator will then enter the selected food and drink into the system from an itemised keyboard, while the amount spent and the new balance will show on the display.
How is money entered onto the system?
- By using ParentPay
- By cash at a remote payment station (revaluation machine)
If we pay for a set number of school meals, can it be spent in one day?
No. A daily spend amount of £5.00 is set, which can be spent across break time and/or lunch.
What about students entitled to free school meals?
The system works in exactly the same way for all students. The amount allocated for the free school meal is entered into the system daily and will only be accessible at lunch time. The system will then allow on a daily basis the required cash amount for each individual student to be allotted to their current cash balance. However, any underspend or missed dinner will be identified by the system and will not be added to the next day’s balance.
The student can also add cash to their balance to enable a greater daily spend. Any additional cash can be used for break time snacks as well as lunch time meals.
When can I log into my ParentPay account?
Once you have received the link from the school to register your child you will receive logon details to activate your account and be able to start making payments.
What can I use Parentmail to pay for?
- School Meals
- School Trips
- Uniform
- Ties
- Music Lessons
- School Planners
- School Prom
How do I sign up to ParentPay?
Initially when we process the Admission Form for a student we will text or email a link to register your child. If you do not register straight away and wish to register afterwards, then you can just contact the school for us to send you the link.
When will my child’s account be credited?
Please allow up to 24 hours for payments to be credited to your child’s account.
The Academy is using Go 4 Schools as our new online Assessment, Recording & Reporting real time system. Parents are able to view their child’s progress in all subjects and have access to their reports online as soon as they are released by the Academy throughout the year.
On Go 4 Schools you can find:
- Student’s Timetable
- Detailed Progress
- Whole School Attendance
- Reports
- Key Grades Achieved
Help & Support
To access Go 4 Schools and request a password, click on the link: Accessing and Requesting a Go 4 Schools password.
Click here to view the Parental Access Guide for Go 4 Schools.
For any further support in accessing Go 4 Schools or to request a paper copy of the most recent report, please contact the Academy on: 0121 553 4665 (ext 289).
Help your child reach their potential whilst building their confidence across a range of subjects. Use GCSEPod to learn a new topic together or help them identify their weakest areas and fill their knowledge gaps.
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