Book Your Parent Interview Time via Our School App

Earlier this year we launched a school communication app to further improve how we communicate with and receive communication from members of our school community. 80 people already have it installed on their devices and have been making use of many of the handy features especially the absence notes.  

Later this week, we will be making the booking of March parent interview times available via the app. Pupils in P7 and in the speech classes will not be having interviews at this time.

Whilst we will still be able to organise appointments for these meetings on 2nd to 5th March via the traditional paper methods, parents using the app will be able to book their appointment time NOW.

You can easily download the app from the iTunes or Google Play store by searching for the app (search for Castle Gardens Primary School).  The app is free!  You are also free to have other members of your family and child minders download the app as emails, newsletters, text messages and payments can all be done through this app.

 Step by Step Guide

1. Download the Castle Gardens Primary School App
2. Enter the Notification Password: 11111
3. Select the notifications you would like to receive (i.e. which class your child or children are in).  So if your children are in P1, P4 and P7 click those classes and you will get updates from their teachers.  This might be things like, “Remember your Wellie boots.” “Class trip tomorrow” etc.  Be sure to “enable notifications” so that you get these updates directly to your phone.

What can you use the app for?

• Book parent interview times for w/c 2nd March
• Receive notifications and messages relating to classes
• Complete consent forms for class trips or outings
• Update us with short and long term medical needs and pupil self-administration permissions

You will also find our newsletters, holiday dates and club timetable within the app but I would encourage you to keep the Schools NI app on your phone if you wish to view photos etc. The Schools NI app is also available to download via the iTunes or Google Play store and worth installing if you haven’t already done so.

Late Arrivals, Signing In or Pupils Leaving Early

You will no doubt have noticed an iPad on the wall in reception over the last few weeks. This will be used to replace the pages that we have in the office to record visitors to school, pupils that arrive late in the mornings or pupils that need to leave school early for various reasons.

Help-sheets will be available to provide assistance and there will be undoubtedly a few teething issues but this new addition will make our office more efficient and reduce the amount of information on display.

It also has an alert system built in that will send notifications to a member of staff and hopefully reduce waiting times at the door.

Thank you for supporting us as we try to make communication more effective and easier for parents/carers.  As always, we will be happy to show you how to use it, simply drop into the office for a little extra help.

Yours faithfully

Mr J Gray