Why do some parents not engage with school?! Asking as a teacher!

For children that never ever read at home, just keep their books at school and make sure they read to Teacher/TAs/parent helpers as often as possible. I've found it's not necessarily the families you expect that don't read at home. Some families believe school teaches they don't. One parent got very shitty his child was falling behind others having been ahead. She didn't read at home, others did. It was that simple. Anyway parent fixed it by switching to a private school where he could pay for breakfast club and after school homework club and never bother to engage with his daughter again. School then did everything

My dc also didn't have to have a pencil case in Yr1

I don't make mine do any homework or even ask about it anymore - y4 now. I just don't believe in homework at primary and no indication she needs the extra help

I am moderately engaged (and also a teacher!). It sounds frustrating for you - I think it's a combination of unrealistic expectations from your school/authority and just parents being busy.

My kids school doesn't do homework other than reading books. I don't engage with the reading books because they are boring, outdated and don't always match my kids ability so I let them choose their own.
Mine both bring a pencil case to school so as far as I know they're prepared but I wouldn't necessarily see it as a massive issue if a P1 kid didn't have a pencil. In my own school plenty of kids don't bring stationery - I just have a jar of pens/pencils/rulers etc and they can help themselves.

My DCs did hopelessly in Y1 spelling tests and we didn't bother practising after they started getting so discouraged. DS has dyspraxia and you couldn't read any of his letters. I asked for him to use magnetic letters and was ignored. DD was quite behind at that age and we concentrated on reading.
I really don't see the point in spelling tests in Y1.

I agree OP - I have 2 DC - one in Yr5 & other in Yr2. The Yr2 DC has spellings to learn each week, 5mins of Numbots a day & daily reading. We've instilled & enforced that they have to do homework - spellings are done before school, so we can do more work after school if needed; Numbots is done after school & reading at bedtime. & yes, we work & are busy with clubs for both DC & still manage it all plus extra that DC in Yr5 has. Both DC accept this & get on with it, which will hopefully set them up for secondary.

Having spoken to other parents their reasons are:
Child doesn't like reading or the school books
Not enough time
Child doesn't like it therefore parent doesn't want to deal with the resulting meltdown
Child will only do one thing, so parent has to choose which to prioritise
Parent doesn't see the point in homework so won't make them do it

Unfortunately I'm not sure there is much you can do. If the parents won't engage, there's not much you can do to change that - it a similar experience that I get as a PTA Chair.

Do parents really have to provide own pencil?
If it’s not a poor area, i would prefer just being told to pay £5 each to cover pencils and other supplies at school. Then teacher buys enough pencils for the whole class for the year

I mean were we live you have to provide everything from pencils to paper, so it’s seems normal. But obviously it’s not working well at yours and it would be one less thing

I would also say that as parents, we are bombarded with information from the school. Constant emails and messages across three different apps; pay for the school disco,
give permission for this school trip, costume for the play, bring a cardboard box on Friday, red nose day, world book day, bring something for the raffle.

Add in an extra sibling or two, and two full-time working parents. And extra-curriculars such as instrument lessons or gymnastics. I’m afraid you are being very unreasonable to judge. Homework for 5/6 year olds 🙄

I work 3 days a week but we do homework every night. Usually get in from after school clubs about 5.30-6, sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later depending on the day of the week.

Lots of working parents will be getting in at 6 or 6.30pm 5 days a week.

There's absolutely no pedagogical evidenxe that 5 year olds doing homework improves outcomes except where schools are underperforming

@Strawber mine have school chrome books but i often have to watch them as they will go on a game.

My Reception child has books to read at home every week and my Year 1 has different homework every night. Tonight was two pages of maths, a reading book and a list of eight words to practice writing/learning ahead of a spelling test on Friday. It's not much!

🙄

I also wish teachers would go back to printed homework it was much easier. My child is always faffing about with logins and also trying to her to stay on her homework and not stray to Netflix is a temptation.

I'd love my son to have a teacher like you. I do work with him at home but am no expert in what I'm doing and would love daily homework to guide me.

Unfortunately, although he has a nice teacher, he frequently has the same reading book for 2 weeks (finishes it in 2 or 3 days with me). He does have weekend homework, but it's not always accessible to him. Regardless, we always do it. They don't read individually, daily at his school (due to staffing levels I guess), but I'd also love it if they could (I volunteered to be a school reader but got no reply from the school).

I'd be more likely to do homework if they were given a sheet but we have to log in and then print it ourselves and then photograph it to submit it. It's such a lot of time especially when mine have an activity most nights after school, the days they don't they are with their dad and he won't do homework.

That's a good point actually, at dcs school they upload some homework onto the site which I then need to print off, photograph dc working on it & send them in. It's so long winded. Even the apps are a pain because you have to make sure the phone is charged, that you don't need it for something etc. Just give me a textbook.

I'd say if the books are sometimes in bags and sometimes not that's an indication that they are being taken out and read at home. Sometimes I notice my child's book on the table after I've already done the school run but it's because we've read it the night before. If we never read it then it would just stay in his bag.

Homework is a waste of time at that age.

Why are the kids not going in to school in PE kit on PE days? This is a change since Covid which has saved so much time and lost kit.

Why do children need indoor shoes? I’ve never been asked to provide indoor shoes.

Children at my sons’s primary have all learning resources provided and I wouldn’t expect to provide pencils and stationery at that age.

Reading - yes - parents should support this of course. But this is the only point I agree with.

DD was somewhat older when at parents evening a teacher complained to me that DD never had a pencil and it wasted so much time in the lesson finding a spare one for her. I felt humiliated as obviously this was a problem but why wait until parents evening. I kept a pack of pencils in the car from then on and checked every morning when DD got out of the car that she had one.

I had never met this teacher until parents evening but a note or an email and I would have had it sorted straight away

YABU because there is no need for homework at that age. I would be unhappy with that as a parent.

My Y1 child read independently in bed every night, and chatted about topics to me. That was it. They don’t need to be doing at home learning at that age.

I haven’t either. My DC’s school provided pencils.

I'm an engaged parent but I work with a wide range of parents. My thoughts are:

• Some are overwhelmed either due to health issues, difficult circumstances or worries about money etc and don't have the bandwidth to deal with school issues
• Some believe it is school's responsibility to teach their child and don't feel they have a role
• Some are 'anti school' - it didn't do them any good and there's no point or the kids are too young and should just be playing, so don't engage

Some kids are behind due to SEN etc but some are behind because their parents don't see the value in reading etc, so some of the ones who need the most help get the least.

I know, I feel exactly the same way trust me, but I would still never not support my child with their learning

Do you work full time? What time do you pick up your DC from childcare each day?