​Communication is vital to foster relationships that are open, inclusive and based on trust.  In providing inclusive and effective communication, we strengthen our connections by promoting the life of our school community. One of the best ways that parents can help their children succeed in school is to be involved with their education. This starts with good communication between you and your child's teacher. We acknowledge the need for stakeholders to communicate in a courteous and respectful manner at appropriate times with timely feedback.

At St Thomas’, we acknowledge that methods of communication are becoming more diverse and digital forms of communication are becoming widely used. The following forms of communication are used to foster relationships within our community:

• Thomatalk
  The link to the School Newsletter (Thomatalk) is emailed to parents/caregivers each Wednesday afternoon. The Thomatalk shares important information and messages with the community in relation to the life of the school.
  
  
• Parent Portal
  The Parent Portal is the official ‘information and communication hub’ for the school. It is a secure (password protected) online space for our families to receive important school information. The Parent Portal provides parents with theopportunity to manage and update their family details and access student reporting information.
  
  
• BCE Connect App 
  BCE Connect provides a platform for parents to securely access school information, making it easier to keep track and stay in touch. The App integrates with our Public Website and Parent Portal.   BCE Connect works on both Apple and Android devices and is available to download free from the App Store or Google Play.   Simply “favourite” St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School to receive push notifications direct from the school. It is a quick and easy way to report student absences. There is also now a feature which allows you to add school events to your personal calendar.
  
  
• Email
  Increasingly parents and teachers are using e-mails to communicate with each other. Email is often a convenient and helpful way to communicate with your child's teacher, but parents and teachers should follow the same guidelines as for any professional communication.
  
  All emails for staff should be sent to the relevant staff member’s school email address. Emails should only be sent for professional purposes. School staff receive many emails in the course of a day; generally staff will not have time to answer these during school hours due to their work responsibilities. School staff are required to check their emails once daily on each day that they work. Any emails of an urgent manner should be sent to the school email pcamphill@bne.catholic.edu.auso that relevant information can be passed on or addressed as required.
  
  School staff will endeavour to contact you within a 48-hour turnaround period.
  
  School staff will not respond to email communication between the hours of 4pm and 8am on school days. Emails received over the weekend or during school holidays, will be responded to within 48 hours of the next workday. A teacher may request a meeting if the issue is too complex to resolve by e-mail.
  
  
• Class Blogs
  Teachers at St Thomas’ use the Class Blogs platform as a facility for sharing information relating directly to the life of each class. This includes the publishing of Term Learning Overviews at the beginning of each school term. The school will also use this platform each Monday to communicate to parents the names of the students receiving Active Learning Awards at our weekly Celebration of Faith and Learning Assembly, held each Wednesday at 2:05pm in The Noble Tree Centre.
  
  
• SMS
  The school uses an SMS service to send out important reminders and attendance alerts to parents.
  
  
• Twitter–Follow us on Twitter @StThom_CampHill