At St Joseph’s, we operate an ‘Open Door’ Policy to parents. The purpose of our Open Door Policy is to encourage open communication, feedback and discussion. We value the input parents make to the school. If you have any worries or concerns about your child’s education, then we believe that it is far better that you come into school and discuss them – in the first case with the class teacher, then with a member of the Senior Leadership Team and then the Head Teacher. Following this process allows issues to be resolved and explained. Staff will listen to your concerns and work with you to resolve any issues that you might have. Staff and parents are expected to be reasonable and fair to all parties. It is in the best interests of all our children to work together. We are able to maintain our ‘Open Door Policy’ by requesting your co-operation with the following rules.

Thank you for your cooperation.

• All visitors to the school must report to the school office upon arrival. The main office is accessible via the Heathfield Road entrance.
• Class teachers will usually be available for a short Open Door meeting at the end of the school day, during handover. In some cases, the teacher may not be available for genuine reasons and a different meeting time should be arranged that is mutually convenient for both parties .
• If you feel that the matter needs more than 10 minutes to discuss, then parents should phone the school office to make an appointment to see the member of staff at a mutually convenient time. Please make sure to state the purpose of the meeting request.
• Staff are not always available to take phone calls, due to teaching commitments. When they are not available please leave a contact number with the office so that the member of staff may call you back at a different time.
• At the beginning of the school day and during working hours, the main office is only accessible to parents at 8.45 am – 9.00 am and 3.15 pm – 3.45 pm, the site is locked for the security of our pupils at all other times.
• At no time should parents raise their voices at staff, particularly in front of children. Aggressive or threatening behaviour is also unacceptable. Anyone who misuses the Open Door Policy may be asked to leave the school premises and future meetings will only be held after a prior appointment is made.
• In the spirit of our Open Door Policy, a Parents Council has been set up to discuss new initiatives, issues/policies and events.

ClassDojo

At St Joseph's, we use ClassDojo to communicate with parents. ClassDojo is used for the following:

• We will post to the School Story with any messages that are relevant for the whole school.
• Class teachers will post any messages to the Class Story with anything that is relevant for just their class.
• Parents have the option to send a private message to a teacher. Please ensure this is used for general questions. Please only contact teachers during school hours and allow them time to respond.
• For any urgent queries, please phone the school office.
• If your child is going to be absent, please phone the school office. Do not use ClassDojo to tell the teacher that your child will be absent as this message might not be received straight away.

PLEASE NOTE THAT CLASSDOJO IS NOT TO BE USED FOR PUPIL ABSENCE.   IF YOUR CHILD IS ABSENT FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE BEFORE 9AM ON THE DESIGNATED ABSENCE LINE VIA THE SCHOOL - 02920621625