What small or large things does your school do that endears you to it/pushes you away? It can be a whole school policy or something big or small that has helped/hindered your child/family.

[Mrspoint]

The headteacher said she had lots of spare uniform if anybody was struggling or just needed an extra set. She said children can wear plain trainers if they find them more comfortable. My other DC’s school insists children carry around football kit with boots and PE kit with trainers all day, rather than just specify when either will be needed.

Every child gets a free tie. They don't specify any other uniform except black trousers/skirt and white shirt. No compulsory blazers or ridiculous shoe rules. PE kit is any sportswear (no team logos though).

A free book every summer holiday to read and then add to their class library. No pressure to return it if they want to keep it.

Not letting them take their personal exercise books home except in the week before tests/exams. Generic notes online are not the same as their own personal (beautifully highlighted) ones and only allowing this the week before tests penalises the studious child who wants to revise as they go along.

Same as previous poster - in both primary and secondary basic school uniform of black/Charcoal trousers/skirt, black trainers - in primary it was white polo/red sweatshirt. In secondary white/black shirt and school tie, black/charcoal jumper/sweatshirt. Both schools kids looked well turned out.

No excessive policing of packed lunch in primary.

Amazing headmaster and deputy who both knew every child by name in primary (around 600 kids) and kids were regularly sent to their office through the school day for either praise or “behaviour advice”. Ds would come home beaming if he got to speak to Mr Burns and got a sticker/pencil or some token off him that day, School was in a mixed intake area with many social issues in the area but behaviour/bullying was never a significant issue in school.

Secondary school was ok. It was merged with another secondary school to become a new build super school which caused a lot of disruption. The main issues were disengaged staff due to the merger and change of location, shocking organisation especially with teacher job shares, they didn’t give a shit about pupils doing advanced highers (Scotland) - teachers regularly didn’t show up or just turned on shit, crackly, pandemic recordings and left them to it.

The lack of winners on sports day 🙄

My son's school is a secondary school for boys, a comprehensive.

They do "two lunches" - they have two breaks and the boys can buy food at both breaks. The food is reasonably decent. They can also go in before school and buy breakfast, again reasonably decent and very cheaply priced (cheaper than I could make myself at home). When we were looking round it the headteacher explained that he feels hungry boys don't learn and boys that age are always hungry so they do what they can to feed them up.

The school's whole ethos is one I really like. I won't put the whole thing here but essentially they explicitly state their support for marginalised groups, women, feminism, and promote kindness and respect for the environment.

Expensive school trips push me away. It’s not compulsory but heartbreaking when your child is the only one that can’t go

To paraphrase JFK, parents need to think not what the school does for them but what they can do for the school.

Name your child’s belongings, teach it to dress itself, eat with knife and fork etc. (usual riders about children whose SEN means they need help)

Secondary- keeping school trips affordable

Primary - only fussing about uniform to the extent it’s in the child’s control, eg tucking shirts in, but if a child turned up in the wrong colour shoes or with patterns shaved into the back of their head the headteacher would be fine with it.

Hear hear! Its ages since I attended a school open day as a parent, but I still remember being put off one possible school for my daughter because the head kept banging on about trips throughout her talk, and so did subject teachers as we went around. Some were low key curriculum trips, fair enough but lots were flashy affairs that we'd never have been able to afford. I just wanted to get a feel for the normal life of the school.

She went elsewhere.

They've been really pro active in promoting smartphone free childhood, which I'm pleased with.

But the uniform is very complicated with so many options and rules, although some of the rules are frequently broken and they don't seem to care. So I wish they'd just simplify it all and reduce the variety and changes for different year groups.

A sensible approach to uniform: using as many generic and widely available colours and styles as possible (grey/ navy/ black ect). Polos, trousers/ joggers/ leggings/ skirts, school shoes. No blouses and ties and blazers. Also recognising that parents do not want to be buying new school shoes or uniform 4 weeks before the end of the summer term.

A sensible policy on packed lunches: allowing a sweet treat in lunch boxes and asking for largely healthy food where possible but also having allowances for sen/ arfid/ dietary requirements. Not aggressive lunch box police and confiscating of items.

Our old headteacher used to stand at the gate every morning and evening and greet every parent and child. If the head was unavailable then a member of SLT would do this. Everyone knew the head, issues were dealt with on the playground. They were aware of children who were frequently late/ struggled to get into school. The head always had a walkie talkie on them and would radio for one child in DD's class 1:1 to meet them at the gate if they were resisting school to help the mum get the siblings to their class.

Polite and respectful communication with parents. Doing their best to give as much notice as possible, asking for parents support with uniform/ behavior/ attendance in a polite yet firm way. recognising that it is a team effort.

Our head is currently on a sabbatical and we are currently under another head from the academy trust for the next 6 months and the tone of the emails she sends is quite frankly rude and patronising. I can guarantee if I sent an email in the tone she sends them I would be in front of HR. She locks herself in her office and demands everything in an email.

I love that some schools try not to detract from learning by addressing comfort and hunger. My DC has started taking a packed lunch in as the whole school goes to lunch at 1.20-2.20. There are more than 1,500 children sharing a food truck and a canteen. @ScaramoucheCanYouDoTheFandangothose schools sound like chalk and cheese.
Another sweet thing one of the teachers does is personalised birthday cards. Each pupil writes down a nice characteristic about the birthday child on a card/poster for them.

DSs old primary has zero dressing up/themed costume days. Even for world book day there were no costumes allowed, everyone made a prop from cardboard from their favourite book and they all had to guess the book. They also had a donation table for people to leave old books and everyone could help themselves.

Even for the school Christmas dinner they got people to decorate normal jumpers with decorations from home as it's wasteful to buy jumpers. They all arrived covered in tinsel and baubles.

It was so refreshing after DDs primary had themed costume days with immersive workshops every half term. Paying for actors on these days was also not as voluntary as they made out.

No complicated costumes for the school play. At most we had to provide a pair of black leggings or a white t shirt. Anything else was sorted by the costume team

No school uniform at DS's high school...it's bliss! Back to school this year cost me £15 for a calculator.

Our old headmaster knew everyone,
and all the parents. He was a huge cheerleader of his students, yet didn’t allow any disrespect. Even my often wayward son liked him. He was welcoming and fair yet firm. Sadly a few parents couldn’t quite understand that their precious children might not be the super intelligent angels they thought and got a campaign to get rid of him which wore him down and he eventually resigned. It was a private school and unfortunately money sometimes wins over reason. The next head was awful and only lasted three years.

The secondary school my DSes attend has no restrictions on hairstyle or colour, for staff or students.

Given my SEN DS permission to stay in his PE kit when PE is first or last lesson.

Education as human flourishing (the head’s words) rather than a grade/exam factory.

Going in PE kit for first lesson or staying in it for last lesson makes sense for everyone, unless it’s got wet or really muddy. It wastes lesson time for a start. The secondary school would have kittens about that or a hair colour and a string of other petty offences. Teachers are allowed random hair colours because representing the school only matters if it’s pupils. Caveat: I agree that teachers should be able to do this, but it’s just mixed messaging.

Costumes and dressing up days. I like PP’s idea and it sounds more fun for the children too. There’s all the other dressing up days as well e.g. a Victorian child, with helpful suggestions like repurposing some old doilies or nightcaps WTAF? The parent’s WhatsApp group suddenly lighting up on a Sunday night asking if we really need a costume for Tuesday’s assembly and half the parents knowing about it and half not as for some reason teachers only mentioned it to the class and not the parents. Amazon does well out of the last minute comms.

Homework in primary (not referring to spellings, timetables, reading), just why?! The school says it’s because some parents want it, but then don’t make it optional. I don’t want to be fitting in trips to buy random stuff that then need an adult’s input. I don’t want to be watching several YouTube clips of how to do something. I want to do what I’d planned with my family.

The primary do genuinely seem to care about the children and I feel that if there was a problem, they’d deal with it well. I get opposite vibes from the secondary but keep hoping I’m wrong.

This is a moany post. My next one might be more positive!