Responsibility for childcare arrangements, both before and after school, rests with the parents and not the school.

During School Hours: 

In order to minimise impact on the children’s learning, parents/carers should ensure that routine appointments, e.g. to see the dentist or doctor, are made during the school holidays or after school.

At the end of the school day: 

The school expects children to be collected at the end of the school day, which is 3.10pm for Key Stage One (KS1) and 3.20pm for Key Stage Two (KS2).

Children travelling home independently:

 Children in Years 5 and 6 are allowed to leave school independently provided parental consent has been given in writing. The school keeps a register of children who have parental permission to travel from school independently at the end of the school day (3.20pm). Further consent will be required if you would like your child to walk home independently after the After School Club.

Please note:

·         If you arrange for another adult to collect your child, you must let the school know the details of that person. We will not send a child home with someone else even if they are known to the staff member/school unless this has been communicated to the school office or class teacher first from a person with parental responsibility.

·         If children are to be collected by someone under the age of 18 years and the school has not had any confirmation, the school reserves the right to contact parents before releasing the child/ren. If a child under 18 is regularly collecting your child, the school requires written permission.

·         When informing the class teacher or school office, parents should indicate if this is an on-going arrangement or a one off situation.  If the arrangement is likely to be frequent, all staff can be made aware of the arrangement.

·         If a message is given to a member of the admin team during the school day, it may not be possible for the message to be given to the class teacher before it is time to go home.  In these circumstances, class teachers will bring the child and the person collecting them to the school office (once all the other children have been dismissed) for clarification of this before sending the child home.  In order to avoid any difficult situations, please make sure the adult collecting your child is made aware of this important safeguarding procedure.

·         If there are changes to collection arrangements, please try to contact the office by 2.45pm via telephone.

Non collection: If a parent/carer does not arrive to collect their child at the end of the school day and the school has not been made aware of alternative arrangements, the school will take the following steps:

1. The teacher will bring the child/children to school reception and ask child/ren to wait in school reception table where they are supervised.

2. A member of staff will check with the office whether the parent/carer has telephoned and left instructions or an estimated time of arrival.

3. If no contact has been made by the parent/carer, the office staff will attempt to contact the parent/carer and the emergency contact by telephone.

4. Where appropriate, a member of staff will sensitively ask the child whether there is a reason that could account for their parent/carer being late.

5. School will continue to try and contact the parent/carer and the emergency contact/s.

The steps outlined below applies to all late collections after school including After School Activities and After School Club.

1. Up to 10 minutes after 3.20pm, the child/ren will wait in school reception ready to be collected from the school office.
2. More than 10 minutes late, the child/ren will have to attend the After School Club and you will be charged for the entire session (Early Bird = £7 and Late ASC = £12).
3. If a parent/contact is not contactable, the school will contact the Bracknell Forest Health & Social Care’s office.
4. In an emergency, school will contact the police.

Many schools suffer from severe vehicle congestion problems in the area close to their premises and St. Joseph’s is no different.  Gipsy’ Lane is a public access and we have no jurisdiction over this drive, so parents/carers/guardians need to take responsibility for their children on this lane.

Wherever possible, entrances used by pedestrians should be segregated from vehicles. However, this is not possible at St. Joseph’s Primary due to the restricted access to the school. We ask that all parents, cyclists, pedestrians are very alert both in in Gipsy Lane and in the school car park.

The parking bay on Gipsy Lane is a passing zone and should be kept clear at all times. A maximum speed limit of 5mph is recommended both in the school car park and in Gipsy Lane.

Eco Rewards, an initiative for Bracknell Forest Council and Public Health encourages pupils and families to walk, cycle and use public transport rather than driving on the school run. The aim of Eco Rewards in Bracknell is to reduce local car journeys, improve physical and mental health as well as the environment. This is a green and active travel  awareness scheme aimed at encouraging school children, parents and staff to think about and change travel behaviours. We achieve this by incentivising and rewarding conscious choices through prizes, discounts, offers and perhaps more importantly by means of seeing how these changes positively impact us as individuals and our wider community.

Cycling, walking and greener  travel journeys can be reported by tapping smart tags on blue readers* (locations close to Bracknell centre only), scanning QR codes or using an online form. League tables, badges and carbon savings calculator keep motivation high, plus participants can take part in special challenges, be entered into prize draws and access discounts and cash-back from thousands of well-known online retailers. They can log their routes, achieve goals, all while helping to save the planet.

Find out more or register at: www.ecorewards.co.uk/bracknell

Gipsy Lane is the main entrance to the school and for safety reasons, the school has imposed a curfew:

• 8.20am – 4:40pm

We ask all parents and visitors to abide by this curfew.

We also remind all parents /carers/visitors to show consideration towards the specific arrangements for blue badge holders that allow them to drive down Gipsy Lane at times when others have been requested not to do.

Parking around our school is an on-going problem and we have complaints from local residents about irresponsible parking that affects access to their home. It is essential we respect the residents and work together with our local community by parking responsibly.

During the school day, the only vehicles in the car park should be that of staff and approved visitors’ cars.

Parents whose children are attending the Morning  Club & After School Club may park in school car park to drop off and collect their children. However, there are a few conditions when using the school car park

• Morning Club: Parents must adhere to the morning curfew (no driving down the lane 8.20 – 9.00am)
• After School Club: Parents can only use the car park before 16.20 or after 16.40
• All cars must be parked between the lines in the bay
• A maximum speed limit of 5mph in the school car park and in Gipsy Lane.

Visitors will be asked to park over the far side of the car park – near the school field/churchyard. All cars must be in a lined bay. Wherever possible, delivery vehicles will be encouraged to arrive and depart from the premises during lesson times

If you are fortunate enough to live within half a mile of the school, and a great majority of our children do, we would like you to make every effort to walk /cycle/scoot to school. Unfortunately, more than half of children living close to school are coming in a car. We understand that a lot of parents travel onto work after dropping children off, but we are still aiming for at least half of all children living within half a mile to walk/cycle/scoot to school. To help parents, the council have published a map showing the area within half a mile of the school and highlighting underpasses,  crossings and shortcuts.

A journey shared is pounds saved! Analysis from the school census suggests the average school run to St Joseph’s by car costs in the region of £150+ per year in petrol alone. If you live near someone who is driving to school, why not suggest to car share. This will free-up your time on days when you are not driving, as well as saving you money. We realise this will not suit everyone; if you have more than one child, fitting all the child seats in can be problematic. But it can work. At another school in the borough, just over a third of children car share on a regular basis.

In response to concerns raised by residents, the police and civil enforcement officers will be jointly patrolling the local roads to ensure cars are legally parked. The concerns raised are not solely directed at parents of the school. Staff and students from the nearby college are also being asked to act responsibly.