To be angry with DDs school, she hasn't even started yet

@Downandout21 how did DD’s first day go?

Oh lordy a teacher possibly couldn't just be crap at their job by not informing you of their time wasting! They are angels on earth dontcha know.

If you say so. "If they decide this they'll be told no" sounds pretty angry and defensive to me!

And you wouldn't be the first to be seeing it as a terrible imposition rather than an optional extra.

😂 I’m not angry.

Which is fine, nobody is going to be forcing you or making it seem compulsory. No idea why people are so defensive about it. It's entirely optional and meant to be for the benefit of the child. You can cheerfully decline without it needing to be something that makes you angry.

I have no idea why this is a thing but if they wouldn’t/couldn’t do it after Covid, they don’t need to do it now. They didn’t do it in 2021 when my Son started school, if they decide it’s a thing when my daughter starts they’ll be told no. This should be arranged in the school setting if it’s that important to them.

Not I good start I admit. But if this p** es you off be prepared for a lot of angry times over the next fourteen years. In my experience the partnership schools ask of parents is only one way.
I do hope this is just a blip and DD has a good first day and enjoys school. The first few years are definitely the best.

"To take it personally or be furious seems like a massive overreaction."

The OP lost half a day's pay and given that fact, it's certainly not "a massive overreaction". I'd be furious too.,

This is really odd. However: These appointments rarely happen beyond 3:15 because it's outside of contracted hours.

It is likely that the teacher got delayed by overrunning appointments or poor traffic. They probably contacted the school so you could be informed but something hasn't happened. Hopefully it will all become clear on Monday.

"The teacher will possess a mobile phone.."

I wouldn't use my personal phone for school purposes. Some schools have a few "school mobiles" for trips etc.

If the teacher was stuck in traffic they may not have been able to call. Maybe they don't have hands free / Bluetooth or hadn't set it up for a school phone if they were given one..

As OP said the reception class hasn't started yet so that is how the teacher is doing home visits, they don't have their class in school yet.

We missed DD's home visit before she was due to start reception back in 2015. Teachers hadn't turned up an hour and a half after their scheduled time and I had phoned the school to say I couldn't wait any longer as we had to leave to catch a long-distance train. They said they would pass the message on but we came back after the weekend to find a note through the door saying they must have "just" missed us (?) Anyway, it didn't cause any issues and DD went on to spend a happy seven years at her school before leaving for secondary.

We had it and my DD started school in 2017 in Birmingham

Yeah I'd be pissed off.

We declined the home visit, setting in sessions and staggered start - DT’s were fine as were their friends.

Teacher just goes to the various nurseries kids are at I wouldn’t have wanted a home visit rubbish you took time off but perhaps an emergency that couldn’t be helped

Things do happen but very poor and unprofessional that there was no communication !

Presuming with 15 kids in a class you're in a rural area which might make the visits harder...in our outer city school it's 30 kids and the teacher plus EYE/TA visits them all over the two week settling period when they aren't in school for the settling sessions. It must be exhausting for them, but it's a good for all the reasons mentioned above and helped my less confident kids to build a connection to the teacher more quickly.

You are not a teacher, surely?

Same here.

My son spent a morning at the school with the teacher in class, thoroughly enjoyed it. Nobody came to our house.

You're not being unreasonable BUT I teach and we do home visits and honestly lots of things can affect it. They should definitely have rang - but it might just be that they ended up late with all and ran out of time for you

@MSLRT yes the appointment was at 2.45 but if the OP was number 26 on the list and the teacher is still at number 19 then the teacher is simply not going to get to the OP at the end of school hours.
Yes the teacher could have phoned. They maybe a genuine reason for that. Who knows? The OP said she rang the school again at 4 and no one answered. Well that would be because the office staff will likely gone home and there is no one there to answer the phone.
It is a pain that the meeting didn't happen but the OP really needs to chill and go in on Monday and see how it goes at school. It could be the first thing out of the teachers mouth is "I'm sorry I missed the home visit.....".

I’ve never in my life heard of home visits for new starters in reception. My DC were born in the late ‘90s and there was no such thing then.

You get given days to do it, you don't fit it around school hours. The time slots give you barely any time to get from one address to another.

Unless the teacher is completely incapacitated, time wasting is unacceptable, and there is no excuse. Rude.

Doesn’t bode well, but reserve judgment for Monday.