To want to drop and run at school?

[Cuppaand2biscuits]

My dd is 6 years old, in year one. The school got a new head teacher in September who implemented a new morning routine that I just can't get on with.
Old morning routine = Assemble in playgroup, bell gets rung, all children into lines, teacher leads into.classroom. Parents welcome to follow if children requests or they wish to speak with teacher.

New morning routine = Everyone assemble in classroom. Some mornings we have to choose a book and read with our children for 5/10 minutes other days it's 'Wakefield Up Shake Up' where we have to dance along to a bouncy routine! Then the tambourine rings and we kiss goodbye and leave.
Obviously I don't object to the interaction with my child but there's 30 pupils in the class, each with an adult and lots with a younger sibling or 2. It's too many people, it's too hot when we're dressed for the cold. It's a bloody faff!
Anyone else successfully challenged this sort of shit?

I think you (and other hacked off parents!) need to be asking to seethe risk assessment document for these activities, including as many different scenarios as you can think of including things like if a parent trips over a pupil, or a younger sibling, or if a younger sibling is sick/wets themself in the excitement, if there's a fire alarm when doing the quiet activities, or during the noisy/dancing activities, etc etc, so it's a pain for them to answer or at least shows it up to be not very thoroughly risk assessed, ask to see the insurance document that specifically covers this activity - and if there are any ofsted or other guidelines about risks of having parents etc indoors as standard (sort of alluded to by many posters on this thread) then ask how they comply with xyz regs because from your understanding they don't.

Is this a primary school or an infant/first school? Curious because in primary I should imagine the older years (4/5/6) walk themselves to school?

My son school used to have Friday morning which was optional to go in and sit and read with your child or an activity that was out for 10 minutes. I can imagine everyday is overkill. And if you see the teachers that often, what do you talk about at parents evening?

Our school bought this in for reception when it was brought up as a safeguarding issue it was stopped so if you want it stopped that would be the avenue I would take.

THEY MAKE YOU DANCE AND SING?

Fucking fantastic

bwah hahahahaha

My local primary does this for reception nursery and yrs 1&2, the doors open at 8.30 so it's not one big rush(they do work sheets) you can talk to the teachers if you need to and most of the time your out in 5-10 mins it's no big deal

Oh man, that is weird! Surely the school must realise that many parents will have jobs they need to dash off to?

How does that work if you have more than one dc?

THEY MAKE YOU DANCE AND SING?

I feel the same., bloody hell! It's like having 15 minutes of primary school purgatory every morning.

If we had this I'd be late too.

Seriously? Is the head a total nutcase?
We can't even enter school with our children, there's a certain perimeter in the yard which parents shouldn't cross and it's just great. Kids can go into their class in the morning, leave their school bag there and play together before the school starts. I'd be probably recommending a shrink to someone who'd suggest I need to accompany my DD to her class and dance. What with the parents who are both working and need to just drop their kids and leave?

Our school was the other way round, parents used to be able to go into classroom with the children and they changed it last year so that they line up in the play ground. There was some moaning at the time but I couldn't wait to drop and run.

As you say there were too many bodies in the class room, younger siblings etc. I always found it stressful and I don't think it helped children to settle. Madness!

At ours we just go into playground then at 8.55am doors to each classroom section open, teachers come out, kids line up and go in.

If we time it right can do drop off in 2 minutes.

Suprised parents have not 'opted out'. Fairly certain my bosses wouldn't take shake up wake up as a good enough reason to be late.

I am going to make myself highly unpopular here. The DCs school has had parents in classrooms for 15 minutes since they started going, and I really like it. In Early a Years, parents are pretty much expected to stay, in Y1-2 they generally do, but not every day, and KS2 it's drop and run in the playground. The school day starts earlier, so everyone is out for 8.45 at the latest, and there are no compulsory activities, just books, toys, games and drawing stuff available.

It works very well in that school, and helps create a strong community atmosphere which is very popular with the parents. No-one has ever been injured, it helps younger siblings to settle easily into the school, provides opportunities to have quick chats with teachers, srrange PTFA activities, get to know the other parents and children etc.

Having said that, if I had to leave the house minutes earlier in order to do moving to music first thing, I'd probably be pissed off, too.

I would put in a complaint to the governors, that sounds ridiculous, I work in a primary school. Our parents would never entertain such a palava.

Just say no. Never heard of anything so daft. Must be chaos in the classroom

I do think that it's possibly a safeguarding issue and also if there was to be an accident where a non school age younger sibling injured themselves during the dance madness the school might not be insured. Our head goes batshit about siblings on school premises after school as he says they are not insured if a younger non school age child injures themselves on the school grounds.

" gets the body oxygenated ready for work."

My body gets oxygenated and ready for work through breathing. Through my nose and sometimes mouth.

What fresh hell is this??

Over about 13 years I saw three children through primary school and thankfully there wasn't this shit. There was other shit over those years, but fortunately not quite as batshit as described here.

I would bet that a few parents do just drop and go, especially those on their way to work.

Hell would freeze over before I would participate in such bollocks.

Just drop and go. If questioned just say you don't have the time. Then just leave. It won't be enforceable.

You need to get together with the other parents on this one. Surely if you all dance and sing in your own "unique way" you could collectively derail the whole thing? Insist upon every single member of the school staff to join in too. Every day.

What the fuck is this? What about working parents? Or actually, any normal person who doesn't want to dance around in their child's fucking classroom? What a dreadful idea

From my understanding there has been no change to the time that children are left it has always been 8.55. So people who have to go to work are not having to explain anything to their boss as the time they are allowed to leave the children remains the same. They just have 10 mins of fun dancing prior to that.

I am really surprised that parents are allowed into school llike that. This used to happen where I teach- parents would be allowed in with their children, who would then cling and cry. I just wanted the adults to bugger off, to be honest. the Head stopped parents coming in when two mums had a fight in the corridor while children were milling about!

I would hate this, it would induce massive anxiety in me. I'd stay on the playground, fuck singing and dancing with a load of people I've no real interest in getting to know.

You have to dance along to a 'bouncy routine'?! OP I seriously think this teacher has lost the plot.

Ok I must be the only person who doesn't see the issue with this. It's obviously not compulsary since some kids will be at breakfast club. I wouldn't personally want my child to be one of the few not having a parent to read/dance with them if I could avoid it. I bet there are some mums/dads who have to leave early for work who'd gladly swap with you! If it's hot take your coat off - it's a few minutes out of your day and I bet the kids love it.

That sounds heinous. We do stop and drop at school, which involves -slowing- stopping the car and throwing DS out at the gate.

Tell the head that stop and drop encourages independence and wakey shakey will only result in a period of disruption at the start of the school day.