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The staffroom

Whether you're a permanent teacher, supply teacher or student teacher, you'll find others in the same situation on our Staffroom forum.

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Original poster

Class Dojo

36 replies

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:08

It's a new arrival in our school and I'm pretty ambivalent towards its uses in my nursery classroom. However I am very VERY anti the parent communication bit and voiced this firmly in the last staff meeting.

When I set it up I clicked all the no parent communication bits and yet I check my personal email at 6pm and there is a request from a parent asking to join.

Aside from the fact that I was told that personal emails would be fine, I am really uncomfortable that despite clicking the NO buttons, I'm still getting requests.

Does this seem right or am I missing something??

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Hulababy · 08/09/2017 19:10

Many of the teachers at my school use Class Dojo. However, they only use it in class with the children, resetting it each week. They don't use the parent communication side of it at all.

Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:13

THATS what we are supposed to be doing, I don't even know how the parents know we are using it!

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Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:14

Random capitals there...

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MaureenBehindtheWindow · 08/09/2017 19:16

The children have obviously been telling the parents.

I dislike it thoroughly and I can't fathom why it's so popular- it's just fancy star charts.

Hulababy · 08/09/2017 19:18

I assume a child has gone home and told a parent about it. Said parent has googled Class Dojo and seen a contact teacher/see childs results type link and sent the request that way. Just ignore the message.

Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:20

WE had star charts. I LIKE star charts they worked.

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Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:20

I also dislike it intensely.

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123fushia · 08/09/2017 19:21

We have had it for a year for class behaviour points, and have now decided to do away with planners and send messages by dojo. Parents send messages at all hours - lost jumpers, dental appointments etc. I feel strongly that the school office should be the point of contact for many things, and dojo is another extra thing to do. Don't get me started on posting daily photos of children at work!

Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:27

YY to an extra thing to do, and I feel like it's so clumsy to use with nursery children. I understand the need to teach digital competency but this is ridiculous.

I'm afraid I'm going to be that teacher in the staff meeting next week!

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MaureenBehindtheWindow · 08/09/2017 19:29

There's been a few discussions on FB teacher groups about the legality of it all, possibly go down that route?

Stick to the star chart, be brave!

Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:30

Legality of it? Because of working hours/being contacted etc?

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MaureenBehindtheWindow · 08/09/2017 19:31

No. Something to do with the data being stored on a US server.

Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:32

Ooooh interesting. I'll definitely be that teacher then, it's a new senior member of staff that's brought it in...

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Llareggub · 08/09/2017 19:32

Our school uses it, but only for comms, not star charts. It is great, when my son was being bullied I could message his teacher and let her know what was happening and she could deal with it. She could then call me when she could or message me back.

She posted updates and class letters; far more efficient and cost effective than send paper home.

I dont think any of us use it for lost jumpers. We all know to contact the office for that.

Eolian · 08/09/2017 19:34

I like it, but I found out about it myself and used it in my own classes only (secondary). The kids liked it partly because it was a novelty and they didn't have it in other lessons. I wouldn't like the parent communication side of it and I wouldn't be impressed with it being imposed as a school-wide system tbh.

Original poster

MooMooTheFirst · 08/09/2017 19:40

I can definitely see the benefits for older children, especially when you can let them input their own dojos so you don't have to get up and do it all the time. Mine can't read their names yet for the most part though and I like to have interactive activities on the whiteboard during the morning which is interfered with by this. Also, due possibly to the way it's been introduced, i feel like I'm praising them just for breathing at the moment which I also dislike!!

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123fushia · 08/09/2017 19:42

Llaregrub - believe me it happens. Also " my DS hasn't got the dojo point that he was given at hometime today' - sent at at 3.35!
Parents use it like a text message and some expect a prompt and personal reply.
Uploading school newsletters and other info is good, but again, the school office could do that.

funmummy48 · 09/09/2017 08:59

We use it in our school and the children love it. It's a quick and effective way of communicating with parents but the drawback is that parents can be thoughtless and demanding in their own use of it. We've seen some unpleasant messages from parents and lots of demands with the expectation of an instant reply. We've had staff receiving messages very late at night with complaints the next morning that they weren't replied to. Our parents have all just had a reminder that messages should be going via the office and that staff will not be looking at Class Dojo in the evenings. I agree that some parents treat it like a text message and are too quick to fire off something that they wouldn't dream of saying face to face.

user1471427614 · 09/09/2017 09:07

my sons primary school uses class dojo, as a working parent I find the daily photos updates of what the class is doing is my only link with the school (as I can't do drop offs or pick ups). class dojo being updated is the highlight of my day, parents always put nice comments and it gives me an opportunity to be involved, it's very important. Being a teacher myself I understand the concerns over parent communication and agree the office should be the first point of contact

Branleuse · 09/09/2017 09:14

As a parent, i found it really useful. I didnt realise it was a pain for the teachers

Llareggub · 09/09/2017 09:17

It isn't just the class teacher that posts stuff. Our last class teacher posted a message on the inbox saying that it was after office hours and she would reply during office hours. thats fine. Just manage expectations.

Our school communicated with all the parents about how and why dojo should be used. Overall I think it has improved my knowledge of what goes on during the school day and has prompted conversation at home about work done during the day. I rarely knew what my sons were up to at school before.

This week our teachers posted the dates for the meet the teacher event. I got the notifiication at work through the app so I could immediately change my diary to allow me to be there. And as I said previously, it was SO helpful when my son was being bullied and as i could share information quickly with his teacher.

Liadain · 09/09/2017 09:20

I personally would never add parents to Class Dojo. I can imagine I would end up with a load of parents messaging at all hours and tbqh - if parents want to contact me, they can drop in in the morning, send an email or ring the office. They don't need this extra function and I don't like the impression of 24/7 contactability I get from it. We have a weekly school newsletter that goes out, which contains photos.

Besides that, I can also imagine parents would be querying why their kid got a particular point/ why x has more dojos (yes, they can't see the others points, but I still could see this coming up), and being upset if photos aren't updated regularly.

No thank you. I wouldn't add that parent if I were you.

Llareggub · 09/09/2017 09:48

Well. I am in a job where emails land in my inbox 24 hours a day from any of the 3,000 colleagues I work with. It doesn't mean I am responding 24 hours a day!

You mention email; this was never used at our school as a means of communicating at our school. If your school does I can see why you wouldn't want another channel to manage. My sons are both juniors so the dojo point thing isn't used. it is mainly used to communicate to parents.

But anyway, as an example of how well it has worked in our school. My son reported a serious incident to me at 10pm on a wednesday night. I reported it to his teacher via dojo. There was no expectation on my part for a response that evening. She called me the following morning and arranged an urgent meeting with the HT, SENCO and a few others and this took place on the friday morning. Yes, I could have rung the school on the Thursday and waited for the office to get her the message. But she could see the urgency from my dojo message and prioritise her time. I certainly would not want to share the specifics with the school office and so she would not have been aware of the urgency.

Littlefish · 09/09/2017 09:56

We trialled it last year in years 3 and 4. This year it's being rolled out in years 5, 6 and 2. However, we are NOT using the parent communication part. We gateway made a school decision not to use it in Nursery, Reception or Year 1 as we feel that the children need more immediate, visual ways of understanding appropriate behaviour so we use things like zone boards, individual monitoring sheets etc.

Liadain · 09/09/2017 09:56

Every teacher in my school has a personal work email - I encourage parents to communicate through that. Notes in the diary work well too of course but sometimes they get forgotten. In the bullying case for your son, you'd probably just have emailed if you were at my school and we'd have had a similar result. And with a phonecall, all that would have to be said is could the teacher please ring you back as a matter of urgency.

We have had issues where parents email at all hours and then get shirty when they don't get an immediate reply. I don't reply to work emails outside of my work hours, but even so. They don't need another channel - particularly not with dojo which is quite fb messenger esque.

Different styles work for different schools and teachers. In any school I've worked in though (even without email), I wouldn't really want the parents linked in to Dojo. If I could turn off the messaging aspect I think I'd use it. I'd like it if they gave the teacher doesn't have that flexibility.

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