PFB first day at school parents ignoring the schools request to NOT accompany their PFB into the cloak room.

[D0oinMeCleanin]

If you are one of these parents FUCKING STOP IT! FFS!

The cloakroom is built to comfortably hold 60 children, 2 teachers and 4 TAs. Not 60 children, 2 teachers, 4 TAs, 30 mummies, 20 daddies, 10 sets of grandparents, 6 toddling siblings and 3 babes in buggies.

20 fucking minutes it took me to convince my yr1 child to go into her cloakroom because she didn't dare push past all the fecking imbecile parents. Do you realise how daunting it is for a 3ft something child to have to force her way through that lot!?!

And to the mummy who shoved past dd2 to get to her whimpering child - shame on you You'd better hope you don't me in small, crowded space. You'll be the one going face first into the fucking wall. I can guarantee you that.

Our kids don't line up in the playground
We have to drop them at the classroom door

I agree though that a member of staff should be standing there saying 'I'll take it from here' and passing child & bags to a ta to lead them to the cloakroom

It's the endless questions too - we've been told the morning rush is not the time to vent concerns that x doesn't drink his water but parents still monopolise the teacher, who then can't welcome the children as they come in

Rhubarb, the school has a system in place for children who genuinely need extra support.

They are met at reception the SENCO and taken directly to their classrooms. The SENCO then collects their coats and bags and hangs them on the correct pegs.

These were all NT children with no extra needs having been identified yet.

It's actually the top mainstream school in our town for children with extra needs.

Rhubarb, you are missing the point. The school has taken responsibility by asking parents not to crowd into the cloakroom. It is then the parents responsibility to follow the rule. If they don't, then it's the parents fault that a problem occurs.

These are teachers that are expected to deal with this, not riot police. They shouldn't have to do any more than ask the parents to follow a rule.

Your poor DD, that sounds awful. I am always petrified walking in amongst small children because of how unsteady I am on my feet that I might hurt one of them, I can't believe how unaware of her surroundings the other parent was.

My mum is taking time off to come to my DD's first day at school though, I didn't realise this was frowned upon.

Our times are staggered and the majority of the children have their classrooms in a sectioned off area shared by the nursery, so parents here are expected to go in I think. I am going to call up and find out today so I can sort it in my head.

Even if the school allows children to be accompanied inside I think it's bloody stupid for the whole extended family to tramp in. Fine if every living relative wants to come, but please, make a fuss, take photos and do all that nonsense in the playground but just one parent go into the class for settling in for heaven's sake.

Hang on a minute, I certainly didn't say I wasn't upset, all 3 times I sobbed all the way home from school. I just held it together (mostly) until I was out of sight of the dc so they weren't upset.

I really object to posters who suggest that because some parents wrren't sobbing over their dc that they dont care

It isn't frowned upon Rabbits. Grandparents, Aunties, Uncles etc, they just need to stay outside in the playground.

yanbu op it does my head in! In our school they state the children should line up independently taking their bags with them but no still we have droves of parents who push through the lines of children with their big pushchairs to drape school bags over their kids. Drives me mad. Dd was so excited to start year 1 this morning, but I could see her little face getting more and more worried as she was pushed and pulled about by parents physically steering their children around, why? They line up right in front of us with their teachers, you can see their every move!

Ooh, looks like my post is in response to Rabbits mentioning her mother. It is not RabbitsMakeBrownEggs!

Special allowances SHOULD be made which is EXACTLY why I am saying that the school is at fault and NOT the parents.

The OP says that the children come in at 8.45 and have to be seated in class at 9am. Does that sould reasonable to you?

So the Year 1s share a cloakroom with Reception - again, is this a good idea?
Therefore many of the parents who were there, were parents of Reception children?

FYI our school has no cloakroom, the children go straight through a door into the classroom and through there into the cloakroom. I have liaised with the school as to the best way to deal with ds and so far they say to just lead him through with the other children. I have gone in early to avoid upsetting the other kids but the school discouraged this and if I go in late then they are all sat there whilst he is dragged off me.

If the school do not provide adequate facilities or have enough room to cope then they need to assess that properly and come up with a sensible solution and it doesn't sound as though the OPs school is being particularly sensible. But then if parents don't complain and merely come on here to vent at parents then why should they change?

I wonder if the OP will tell the school about what happened this morning?

I don't understand taking grandparents
It just hypes up the whole thing
Take photos at home & leave the children be on their first day

I think the best thing is to drop them at the door and run on the first day in Reception so you can go home and be sad.

I'm just going to leave you all to it.

Vent away. I'm obviously on the wrong thread.

My mum would love to come but I won't let her because she would be one of the ones crying and sobbing. She'd also be first into the cloakroom to see her PFGC's coat peg. Luckily she works FT and was strongly discouraged from taking the day off when her grandchildren started school.

I am feeling much calmer now. Calm enough to calmly explain why dd2 was late, when the school phone and calm enough to ask what they intend to do to make sure it does not happen again tomorrow, so I can switch my phone back on now, knowing I am in the right frame of mind to not swear at the school receptionist when she phones

Agree sparkling
Not fair on the kids to see wailing parents

Schools often just have to make the best of it when it comes to space inside their buildings. More often that not there simply isn't enough space, and there is only so much that can be done about that.

A sensible solution includes asking parents to not crowd the cloakroom, but it is up to parents to abide by that. If a few parents ignore the rule, then it encourages others to, because they won't want their child to be the only one that hasn't got a parent going in with them.

Why do people on these types of threads deliberately misunderstand the information given.

The school asked parents not to enter the cloakroom.
Parents decided to ignore this and brought the entire family and their dogs to wave pfb off.
OP is annoyed her child got caught up in the melee.

It's a pain in the ass OP, the rules it seems are for everyone else. And when you do follow the rules as asked, you look like the uncaring one just shoving the child in on their own. A royal pita.

There's more room in the playground. Why can't drop-off be in the playground, all the children line up in twos and, when the time comes, they are led in by a teacher or TA?

This used to happen and was so much easier than the portrayal I've read her of what happens now. Oh dear! Will it be raining? Poor little mites. Get them used to a bit of hard life for a change. They'll learn to cope.

By saying that, I do not mean they should accept being hurt in the cloakroom. The parents and others should not be there if they were asked not to be. As another poster suggested, someone at the door could take in the child, pass it backwards to someone else and say, "Have a Nice Day!" to the parent and allow the child to start a new life.

Actually there are plenty of options:

Staggering school times for the first week.
Being met by teacher outside the cloakroom and having children led in by TAs.
Allowing children and parents to enter in small groups, letting parents see the peg and the classroom before being ushered out by TA for the next group.
Having an assembly line outside the classroom so that goodbyes are said before children go in.

Not having enough space is not a good enough excuse.

If some parents decide that they "can't" follow the rules then surely it is their responsibility to contact the school and get a dispensation or whatever? I'm quite at any parent justifying their disregard of the school's rules on the basis that they can't obey them!

TheRhubarb my ds's school did all that! Staggered start for first three days, allowed to go in to find peg with them on day one, and then lines in playground with teachers while we wave goodbye from a slight distance. We've also been invited in for lunch with them one day prior to them starting full days.

Another option would be to send parents several letters asking them not to enter the cloakroom and outlining the reasons why i.e the cloakroom is too small, it is unsafe etc.

They could also have an open night where parents are invited in small groups to visit the school with their child and see the cloakrooms, meet the teachers and help their child make their coat peg sign. They could if they really wanted to give the contact details of the SENCO and the school liaison officer and ask parents who have genuine concerns regarding their child's first day to contact them to discuss this. They could then expect grown adults to read and process this information and follow the rules accordingly.

Oh hang on, that's what they already do.

But yes I agree the school is also at fault for not enforcing their own rules, but really what chance have 2 teachers and 4 TAs against that many parents and children and grandparents? It's a school, not a nightclub, they shouldn't have to hire bouncers to guard the doors.