One of the foundations of a good school is good communication. Most importantly, good teachers are good communicators. Any number of people can have heads full of knowledge, but only someone who is skilled at passing on that knowledge, and can inspire a thirst for more, can be a really effective teacher.

Good communication between the head of a school and the teachers is essential if the school is to have a clear sense of purpose and direction. Good communication between the school and home is what helps the school become both a co-operative endeavour and a community.

Most of this communication has to be conducted at a personal level, because only personal relationships can generate the spirit of trust and solidarity a school needs if it is to do its job well. Although it is not always either convenient or efficient, for example, I am sure that the head’s door must always be open — to pupils, to colleagues and to parents.

But schools are also striving to be at the cutting edge of new means of communication. There cannot be many schools in the country that do not have their own websites. Photographs, copies of head’s letters, fixture lists, and inspection reports, all allow prospective parents, in particular, to get a snapshot of the school, a first impression of the school’s ambitions and how effectively it is achieving them.

Though an e-mail can often seem impersonal, the time is surely coming when routine correspondence and newsletters will only be sent electronically. That is not good news for postmen but it would be a small contribution to helping save the planet. Fans of ‘smart phones’ will be familiar with the ‘App’. The ‘App’ allows a person instant access to a whole range of information, including breaking news, what’s on locally, weather forecasts and the latest scores.

Many of these things can also be important to a school community, so recently we took the decision to develop a Cokethorpe school ‘App’. Through it, parents have been able to keep regular track of the progress of the school’s rugby tour of South Africa, to find out the date of the next music scholars’ recital, to check if a dinner engagement clashes with the GCSE information evening. If this winter proves as harsh as the last one, parents will be able to find out instantly if the school buses are getting through.

There is no doubt that advances in communication technology can be of real service to a school, facilitating contact with lots of people quickly. But that is not to deny the pitfalls.

We have probably all heard of someone sending an e-mail, rather than walking the ten steps to speak to the colleague in the next room. Schools especially are dynamic human communities, and that quality is sustained by regular, open, personal contact, for which there can be no substitute.

Damian Ettinger
Headmaster

The Cokethorpe app is available to download free from the iTunes store