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Original poster

Tell me what random requests you've been sent by school this term

105 replies

listsandbudgets · 25/10/2023 11:32

About an hour ago I got a notification there was a new message on the school app so as I had time I checked it.

DS is apparently doing a play IN FRENCH tomorrow and with apologies for the short notice school would like us to practise their lines with them (fine for us DP's French is almost fluent)

And please could we send DS in with :

A toy dog (probably got one somewhere in the loft)
Some Euro notes and coins (luckily we went to France in the holidays)

And best of all .......

An inflatable hammer

We knew about the play but until now we had no idea about props and DS certainly hadn't mentioned them. Anyone know how I can acquire an inflatable hammer by 8am tomorrow?

OP posts:
gelatogina · 25/10/2023 11:35

Nothing to add as I luckily don’t have kids but this is hilarious 😂

SkaneTos · 25/10/2023 11:37

That's funny and odd.
Good Luck, OP!

Stephisaur · 25/10/2023 12:19

Please can you send your child dressed as their favourite nursery rhyme character on 13th November. Costumes can be store bought or homemade for that added touch!

My son's favourite nursery rhyme isn't even a bloody nursery rhyme, he just loves "my Bonnie lies over the ocean."

Who even has a favourite nursery rhyme?

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Stephisaur · 25/10/2023 12:20

Can't help much with the hammer OP, any party stores nearby? 😬

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 25/10/2023 12:23

I think best you’ll get is one of those long balloons.

reallyworriedjobhunter · 25/10/2023 12:26

Make a big 2D hammer out of cardboard and paint it?

TheTeaCosyofDoom · 25/10/2023 12:28

There are inflatable hammers on Amazon for about 3 quid.

PuttingDownRoots · 25/10/2023 12:29

Scouts not school...

A clown wig and to help practicing juggling and plate spinning.

DiscoBeat · 25/10/2023 12:34

I think all the parents should get together and send the most ridiculous thing they have and enjoy seeing the play complete with giant stuffed monkey, monopoly money and marrows!

Haphazard8 · 25/10/2023 12:37

Nothing to add other than I read your post as and inflatable hamster.

Gameofsoldiers1 · 25/10/2023 12:38

Ds school are health obsessed. They also feel the need to provide refreshments every time the children do anything outside the usual timetable, we’re in a very middle class part of the south east so we regularly get:
‘could yr2 children please bring sliced watermelon/ blueberries/ carrot sticks / mango/ dried apricots …’.
ffs give the poor kids a bloody biscuit and a drop of milk when they get back from the church! so much more practical then the poor wee lads shuffling into registration negotiating the doors with trays full of bloody fruit platters and competitive vegetable art.
I’m common, so my idea of a mid morning pick me up is a kitkat .So it may be cultural.

Spendonsend · 25/10/2023 12:39

Brilliant.

Nothing as hilarious as that. We did get told to wear a specific blue striped top from petit bateau so all the children matched.

RudsyFarmer · 25/10/2023 12:41

Gameofsoldiers1 · 25/10/2023 12:38

Ds school are health obsessed. They also feel the need to provide refreshments every time the children do anything outside the usual timetable, we’re in a very middle class part of the south east so we regularly get:
‘could yr2 children please bring sliced watermelon/ blueberries/ carrot sticks / mango/ dried apricots …’.
ffs give the poor kids a bloody biscuit and a drop of milk when they get back from the church! so much more practical then the poor wee lads shuffling into registration negotiating the doors with trays full of bloody fruit platters and competitive vegetable art.
I’m common, so my idea of a mid morning pick me up is a kitkat .So it may be cultural.

🤣

CandyCane75 · 25/10/2023 13:01

Must have been so much easier 40 years ago without all these ridiculous requests. Just Harvest Festival to deal with!

mindutopia · 25/10/2023 13:35

Nothing. Our school is fab. They don't do any of this ridiculous stuff because they are very eco conscious. No costumes needed for school plays (they have some there and they improvise). We don't send anything in. We don't do world book day dressing up. They'll do another activity that is actually useful and related to books and authors. We don't even have to buy them house colours for sports day, etc. They have a set of t-shirts they loan out that everyone changes into in the day and you wash and return to school the day after. I love it. Previous school we were constantly ordering all sorts of shit on Prime for next day.

Funny enough, we used to have a giant inflatable hammer! 😂It developed a slow leak and was binned prior to last house move. But I'd have been quite chuffed to have been able to whip that out if ever requested!

WhoAteAllTheDinosaurs · 25/10/2023 16:21

A clean potato

crumblylancs · 25/10/2023 16:25

The question is, did you find a hammer?

WeWereInParis · 25/10/2023 16:33

Thankfully nothing even close to that mad!

As for where to find an inflatable hammer, I simply wouldn't do it. At best, I would cut a hammer shape out of two sides of a cereal box, stick them together, colour in. Or I'd make my child do that if old enough. I wouldn't spend time out sourcing a bloody hammer after work.

There are inflatable hammers on Amazon for about 3 quid.

For same day delivery?

Bambooshoot · 25/10/2023 16:44

“Please feel free to send your child in traditional Chinese dress to celebrate”. On a Wednesday, for Friday. We both work full time, and don’t, surprisingly, as English and Australian parents, have a whole load of Chinese embroidered robes tucked away in a cupboard. “Oh, but he could have just worn red” they say, after I have dropped him off in uniform and headed for work. Then they phone me - “he’s waiting for you to bring him red clothes” they say. I spent a whole morning and my kid got stressed out on something that I could have sorted on Amazon if they’d told me a month before!!

SchadenfreudeIstMeinMittelname · 25/10/2023 16:57

What happens if you message back 'I haven't got any of this crap and I'm not spending good money on stuff I will never use again'?

Teachingteacher · 25/10/2023 17:03

OP, that is the funniest one I’ve heard!

My DS’s school this year (not the same as the school I teach in) have asked for:

  • One carrot, peeler, child-sized chopping board, and plastic knife to make pumpkin soup as a class
  • Feathers for making a Native American Indian headpiece
  • A book about a witch. Any book. I couldn’t do this because all our books at home are in English and he goes to French speaking school.
All these things were requested the day before at about 5pm. The shops here close at 7pm and I was in the middle of dinner/bath time routine so my DH had to race to the shops.

But OP, the inflatable hammer takes the cake!!

xogossipgirlxo · 25/10/2023 17:09

What happens if you message back 'I haven't got any of this crap and I'm not spending good money on stuff I will never use again'?

x

Good question. Why schools demand from parents to spend money on one time items? Same with traditional Chinese dress. Why do parents have to spend money on it? It’s school that needs it, not family of the child. I don’t get it, especially in current economical situation, almost like everyone is crapping with money and only waits for another request how to spend them. Sewing costumes at home when you work full time sucks too.

Bambooshoot · 25/10/2023 17:25

SchadenfreudeIstMeinMittelname · 25/10/2023 16:57

What happens if you message back 'I haven't got any of this crap and I'm not spending good money on stuff I will never use again'?

I would so love to!! Unfortunately you would be relegated to the black hole of evil parent-not-a-team-player-not-one-of-us, which is impossible to get back from, and they would quite possibly give up on your child and expect them to do nothing but ferment in the corner for a year or so.

WeWereInParis · 25/10/2023 17:31

SchadenfreudeIstMeinMittelname · 25/10/2023 16:57

What happens if you message back 'I haven't got any of this crap and I'm not spending good money on stuff I will never use again'?

This would be my temptation as well. Even with a month's notice, I don't want a bloody inflatable hammer, my house has enough shit in it already. And I don't like casually buying plastic crap that ends up in landfill.

Whenwillglorioussummercome · 25/10/2023 17:34

Not quite last minute but for Egyptian Day we got a letter home telling us we didn’t need to spend our money on a costume but instead here were tips for making the outfit ourselves. Once I had looked at the instructions, the materials required, and my time and artistic ability, the £10 for an off the peg outfit felt like a total bargain.