School to home Communication

Most communication from the school will be sent via Arbor.  Login details for Arbor have been sent to parents by e-mail.  If you have issues logging on, or require these details again, please e-mail office@swchs.net.  You will start receiving communications via Arbor once your child is enrolled at the school (or the start of the new school year).

Students are known by their legal names on all official documentation and records. Their preferred name (if applicable) may be used by teachers during lessons and on registers.

In the case of emergency communication, parents can expect the following.

• An urgent phone call if the incident involves their child in particular.
• In case of an emergency school closure during the day, a communication via Arbor and a note on the school website.
• In case of an emergency school closure before the start of the school day, messages will go out to parents via Arbor, on the school website (www.swchs.net) and on the LA website (www.essex.gov.uk/education).

If you wish to come into school to see the Year Achievement Coordinator for your child or another member of the Year Achievement Team, please either telephone or email the year office to make an appointment. The email addresses are the year office at swchs.net. For example, year7office@swchs.net. We are unable to accommodate walk-in appointments as staff are often teaching, and the reception staff do not have access to the staff diaries.

 

When communicating with the school, we expect everyone to

• Be calm, friendly and polite in all communications (including in writing, in face-to-face meetings, during parents’ evenings and during phone conversations).
• Have respect for each other.
• Set out to build and maintain a positive home/school relationship in the interests of the child.
   

 

Your child’s attendance and behaviour is all logged on our Arbor website. This electronic system, which is used by many other schools, allows parents to have more immediate and on-going access to attendance and behaviour information and provides “live” access to students’ records.

You can also pay for your child’s school dinners, trips and activities via the Arbor parent portal.  Arbor Pay links to the cashless catering system at the food tills and allows you to easily manage payments for all your child’s school activities.

For students in Year 7, Arbor will also include attainment and progress information – including termly progress checks.

For students in Year 8 and above, for the 2026/27 academic year, we will continue to use Go4S to report attainment and progress information – including the termly progress checks.  In order to gain access to Go4Schools if you do not already have it, go to www.go4schools.com and click on Login and then ‘First Time User?’ Enter the email address you have given SWCHS as your contact email address and click on ‘New password’. A password will immediately be sent to your email address.  You can access Go4Schools via their website or via their App.