What's up with WhatsApp at CSPS?
Stephanie Sim
The School Council’s Community Engagement Subcommittee, with input from a group of our 2023 Class Parent Representatives, have worked to establish a new system around how Whatsapp is used at our school. Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with the guidelines published below.
There are some key changes that will be implemented in 2024:
1. The individual class WhatsApp groups will be established, and links posted to the year level groups by the year level WhatsApp Manager on the day of our whole school transition (the day students find out their class placement for the following year). The links to join will be posted on the whole year level WhatsApp group, which are currently established in the school and will remain.
2. The traditional class contact list (containing the contact details of parents who opt in each year) will no longer be created by the Class Parent Representatives and forwarded via email. To assist parents in locating a phone number of another parent in the class WhatsApp group, once the group has high membership, families will be encouraged to introduce themselves and their child to the group via a template provided.
In order to join your individual class group in 2024, it’s essential that you are already included in the whole year level group. If you are not, please reach out to your current Class Parent Rep who will connect you.
Stephanie Sim
Learning Specialist
Caulfield South Primary School
Class and Year Level WhatsApp Groups
Objective
The year level and individual class WhatsApp groups assist in facilitating communication between parents about school related matters. The messages in the class WhatsApp groups come from parents in their personal capacity, or are messages forwarded on behalf of the Parents Association regarding school events. The school does not post directly on the platform, however, the Class Parent Representatives may communicate messages from the classroom teacher/school via this channel.
Structure
Each year level has its own WhatsApp Group that is managed by one person (this person does not need to be a Class Parent Representative). This whole year level WhatsApp group is established at Prep and carries over from year to year, simply being renamed each year, eg CSPS Year 2 2023. Prep families are invited to join this whole year level WhatsApp group during transition via a QR code/link provided by the school.
On the day of transition, when students are allocated to classes for the following school year, the year level WhatsApp manager creates a WhatsApp group for each of the classes and posts the invite links on the year level WhatsApp group chat. Parents are invited to join the relevant class group. Once the Parent Representatives are established for each class, the year level WhatsApp manager will provide them with admin rights to their class WhatsApp group.
Guidelines
To ensure a positive experience by users on the WhatsApp groups, and to best support the school, parents are asked to adhere to the following guidelines when interacting on the WhatsApp groups:
- Content should be relevant to the group as a whole. The groups should not be used for private conversations between members.
- Messages should be respectful in language and tone.
- In assisting others to gain clarity on school happenings and to avoid unnecessary confusion, only share information that you know to be true and factual. Class Representatives will reach out to the relevant school contact should they need further information regarding a query raised on the class Whatsapp chat.
- The group should not be used as a platform to air grievances regarding school operations, a teacher, child or parent within the school. Concerns and complaints should always be directed to the school through the appropriate channels.
- Please avoid messaging the group before 7am and after 10pm.
Should you have concerns regarding inappropriate communication on a class WhatsApp group, in confidence, please contact our senior leadership team via the school office.