To be furious with school over this?

[pink4ever]

My dc is starting school on wednesday. A few weeks before the end of the summer holidays the school gave out the uniform order forms. They had to be completed and returned with payment by a certain date. However due to many parents failing to do so by said date we did not receive our orders in time. We were assured we would get them before school returns.

I go to school this afternoon to collect mine and hear a mum in front of me querying that there is no blazer in her pack. I decide to check mine, Hey ho-no blazer. When I ask about this I get told it is nothing to do with office staff and I have to speak to head of pta. I am also told that I should have had a phone call informing me of incomplete order. I hadnt(order has been paid for in full btw)

I phone the women supposedly in charge who doesnt seem to know anything about incomplete order. She tells me she is trying to get to the company who supplies uniform this afternoon and that I hopefully will be able to pick up order tomorrow.

I am beyond furious. At the parents who handed orders in late,at the pta who dont seem to have a clue what they are doing but mainly at the school for their shrugged shoulders attitude.

I want my dc to have the proper uniform for the first day-it is an important moment. Also as I said I have already paid for it so as far as Im concerned thats theft-they have not supplied what I paid for.

So am I BU?

Really, beyond furious? You're going to want to chill out abit unless you want to be apopleptic with rage on a weekly basis once they actually get to school.

It's not that big a deal.

A bit, it's nothing to do with the school.

And it's still warm enough to not need a blazer

• you sound a weeny bit over the top

I think you need to take a chill pill.

It's very irritating, but assuming you will get the blazer eventually, I think theft is a bit strong. Obviously, they will need to come up with a blazer or give you your money back.

I think it would be good to chill a little, though. You don't want your DC to go in upset and if you don't get the blazer in time, you need to make as light of it as possible.

You're going to come up against far worse than this during their time in school . That's not to make you feel bad, but to get it in perspective a bit.

You weren't being unreasonable until you mentioned theft...clearly there's some sort of problem with supply/distribution.

This is what annoys me about schools who insist on just one supplier. We should be able to shop around as parents.

Also, the school shouldn't leave it up to the PTA...that's just using them like unpaid skivvies imo. The office should have a member of staff willing to be accountable for uniform purchase/ordering.

I'll tell you what, if you think it's theft call the police. See how much of a good impression you make with your dds new school.

Its frustrating and I can understand that when your DC starts school you want them to be in full uniform for photos etc, but to call it theft is slightly dramatic. Its probably not the school fault but the company who supply the uniform. You can still take photos in full uniform in a few days. This time next month none of this will matter you know.

YABU. It's a blazer. It's summer so your child won't freeze. It's the school's fault so your child won't get into trouble. Someone else is in the same boat so I am sure it will be sorted as soon as possible.

theft

Blimey, your school goes back early. 17 August, really?

Probably Scotland.

Is it Scotland? They go back early I think.

YAB way OTT.

Please don't let your DD pick up on your frustration about this or you will cause unecessary anxiety on her first day.

All will be well, either your blazer will arrive on time, or lots of children will not have a blazer on the first day.

It isn't actually the school who are responsible, and spend some time on the voluntary PTA committee before you get so furious at them.

I Hope all goes well on Wednesday and your dd has a great day. She may well remember her first day at school, she will never remember whether she wore a blazer or not.

I'm assuming Scotland

Please bear in mind that the PTA woman who has taken this on is doing it on a voluntary basis so that the PTA can get a % cut from the supplier and put it towards activities/equipment which will benefit your child. If she's not very competent then that's just how it goes.

I can see why you're upset about it - I had a major tantrum in a school uniform shop once when it seemed that DC3 would be starting High School without the jumper I'd ordered 3 months previously - but the truth is that your DC won't be the only child in incomplete uniform and the uniform won't be the thing she/he remembers about the first day at school. It really doesn't matter that much.

Probably in Scotland Yusmilady

You are going to have so very many opportunities to become enraged over the next 14 years or so, I hope you are in good health.

You're not really starting off on the best footing, being "beyond furious" at the school and the PTA. Your DC has another 13 years at school. Not having a blazer on his first day of P1 isn't that big a deal.

On the other hand, if you go in all guns blazing, you will be remembered for that for the duration of your child's stay at the school. My oldest is 16 now, but I still sometimes bump into a mum from primary who will always be know to me and my friends as "the woman who slapped the janitor" - and that was 12 years ago!

I'm assuming you are in Northern Ireland or Scotland given the date that term starts. Not that this is relevant!

However, I would strongly suggest you reserve your stress levels for when they are genuinely needed. There's years of school stuff to be "beyond furious about" and some of it might actually warrant fury. The lack of a blazer, given that your child has not been singled out as the Lone Blazerless Boy, is a nuisance, not a catastrophe.

PS. Or indeed the Lone Blazerless Girl.

It will be Scotland. But some areas don't go back until monday 22nd. Depends on the area. Can you not go direct to the supplier and ask about the order ? My DD's school order direct from the supplier but parents can also contact them direct outwith order times. He won't be the only one who doesn't have a blazer if other orders are incomplete. But once you get it I would complain to the supplier not the school, they didn't make/supply the items.

To be furious with a set of cock ups is reasonable. To despair of what it's going to be like with any future bit of admin with a cohort of late replying parents you'll be stuck with for years is reasonable. On the evidence so far, concluding the PTA is a shambles is reasonable (but that one is solveable - get involved and run this better yourself in future years).

But accusations of theft for a delayed item in an order is unreasonable, and concerns about the likely impact of no blazer on your DC at the start of term (when, by your account, they are going to be far from alone in this) are also excessive.

I hope it does turn up soon and that, having ranted here, you can then be calm so your DCs have a positive start.

WOW

agent provocateur what on earth happened!?

Do tell.

Please!

The world is not ending tomorrow is it?? Calm down.