Supporting Pupils and Parents

The welfare of pupils is a vital aspect of our work at Oak Lodge and staff work hard to monitor this closely and regularly. Pastoral groups are small and teachers build close personal relationships with the pupils in their group. We have clear rules and sanctions that are agreed and used by all staff, prefects and pupils. We give regular positive feedback and rewards for appropriate behaviour and good work. Pupils are aware of the sanctions for breaking the school principles and theses are applied firmly and consistently. Bullying is not tolerated and is dealt with clearly and firmly.

We have systems to identify pupils who may be experiencing personal, social or academic difficulties, and appropriate action is taken. A senior member of staff is responsible for monitoring these systems. We have close links with the Deaf Child and Family Service of South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust (Springfield Hospital), who work with individual pupils as well as giving general advice to staff on the management of pupil behaviour.

We can quote many examples of pupils who arrive lacking in confidence, with a history of difficult behaviour, who are enabled to leave us as successful, mature, confident adults. Ofsted described our work in this area as "outstanding".

At Oak Lodge we actively encourage pupils to celebrate their successes and to express their concerns and worries. We are proud of our ability to create a safe and constructive environment that encourages pupils to be proud of their achievements, their behaviour and their school.

Parents and Families

Parents and families are welcome to visit the school or hostel and can discuss their child's progress at any time with their child's pastoral teacher or hostel keyworker. The school values informal contact with families and encourages this by:
· using the homework diaries to convey messages between home and school.
· letters telephone and minicom.
· information published in the "Oak Lodge School News", "16 Plus Bulletin" and "Hostel News".

Formal meetings about pupils' progress and achievements include:
· annual review meetings.
· parents' evenings.
· Year 7 parents' welcome evening.
· annual reports.

In addition parents are encouraged to attend social events (such as the school drama production, parents' days, etc.) and Prizegiving Evening when pupils' achievements are celebrated.

We have a full-time Behaviour Support Co-ordinator. She encourages links between families and school by:
· visiting all families at home before pupils transfer to Oak Lodge.
· keeping in telephone contact with parents.

All parents are asked to sign a Home-School Agreement which summarises parental, pupil and school responsibilities.

Parental involvement in the school is encouraged at many levels, and there are three parent representatives on the Governing Body of the school.