To ask , as a parent , what are your pet peeves about school?

[SteveAs]

Inspired by the teacher and the school child thread

I will start

Schools closing at 2pm on Wednesday every week , such a pain

Great school, but an email at 2pm to say after school club is closed, pick your children up at 3.15 isn't great for parents who commute. 1 hour 15 minutes isnt long enough to get to the train station, catch a train and walk from station to school. In the same vein meetings with 1 day's notice allow no time to make arrangements to have an hour off work in the morning. Assemblies at 11am. Classroom visits at 2pm. All without notice. Everything is very much on the basis that one parent doesn't work and you live round the corner and can just pop in and out at the drop of an email. Makes you feel very guilty for working.

The assumption that you are a mind reader. They only ever tell you when to pick up your child, but hardly ever where (and when they do, it's so cryptic you haven't got a hope of knowing where they mean - I don't know the individual names of all the sports pitches). The school site is huge, and has multiple entrances. Pick up is not always from the same place. You just have to wander around the grounds until you spot a group of kids who are approximately the right size. Especially difficult in the winter when it is dark. Drives me mad.

I’m a SAHM and most of this stuff pisses me off too tbh. I don’t sit at home waiting for school to tell me at a moments notice that my child needs to bring XYZ into school etc. I have another young child at home and going to stay and play days, assemblies and other functions with little or no notice is often not possible if I can’t get anyone to look after my youngest (which I normally can’t, which is why I don’t work anymore!)
Also there seem to be a lot of really horrible parents of the children in my daughters class

Oops didn’t finish before posting. They are often standoffish with me as I am only 1 of 2 SAHP in the class and they take umbrage at this for some reason. One mother who I barely know and whose child does not play with my daughter suggested I look after her for the summer holidays, in my house, for free as it would give me something to do and save her struggling to take time off work. Wtf is wrong with some people?!?

Today- north west. Both schools in same borough.

Primary open and secondary closed!

Dd is going mad as her big brother gets a day off.

Primary school - there were a few unpleasant parents and kids in dd1's year. Dd2's year is ok.
High school. Not a lot really but a sudden concentration of homework over half term can be annoying.

Parents evenings being all about results and academic stuff and not mentioning the basic things you worry about such as friendships behaviour etc
Also teachers thinking they don't have much to say to you if your child is fairly able and well behaved
Selfish parking by parents
Favouritism of certain kids in the school plays
Mean kids

I hate the force feeding of Christianity. It's not a church school. My DD started Reception with no concept of religion or god, but within two terms was asking if she could go to church and be a Christian.

They have a "schools ministry" person come in and do assemblies, who leads prayers with "and if you agree, say amen". And since young children are sheep, of course they say "amen".

The fact that the pupil premium money that my child gets is NEVER spent on him.

Generally I love Ds school, the teachers are fantastic, communication is great.

I loathe the dojo points system though and wish it was better thought out.

Points given out seem to be random depending on the teacher. Ds regulary gets 10/10 for spelling each week, which is his strong point, no dojo points. Other dc might do better at a maths quiz and get umpteen dojos!

Let’s either work the system out so it’s fair or scrap it altogether (which would be my chosen option).

Domino I think you can ask for a breakdown on how it is spent. I don't think schools are allowed to spend Pupil Premium money on pupils who aren't entitled to it.

That when my child is sick and I keep her home, a note from me is not sufficient and it's still considered an unexcused absence unless I take her to the doctor. Absolute bullshit.

Lack of communication, constant dressing up themes and requests for money, homework that is to be completed by the parents and not the kids really. Homework that is out of reach for most kids for Example most year 1 (5-6 year olds) cannot research a list of dinosaur names A-Z and write them all down to take in. 7 year olds being asked to research the Romans and Celts conflict when the Romans invaded Britain primary school research homework's have been the bane of my life!

I'm finding secondary school much better, but bugbears with primary were always communication and expecting parents to be mind readers, not dealing with bullying and the HT making it crystal clear that she hated most of the parents!

Honestly on the whole really happy, only mild niggles, my DC have some amazing teachers and they do the best they can, they are underpaid and undervalued. I am a nurse and I constantly get bashed so I know it's good to praise the good points, we are all too quick to complain, that said, the teacher thread did wear a little thin yes they are human but we don't need to hear it, if I aired the same views as a nurse people would be really offended and rightly so.

Wrt donations you don't have to do it and no one expects you to.

Lonicera, I think schools have autonomy on the disposal of pupil premium funding. If anyone could tell me different or point me in the direction of evidence/guidelines of how schools are meant to spend this money I'd love to know. A couple of years ago I even started looking at other schools and made quite a fuss. The upshot of which was they kindly gave me a copy of the maths syllabus book they were working from that year!? From £5200 worth of funding he has had 6 Lego therapy sessions and a book!

Has anyone got a link to the teacher thread?

As a TEACHER I agree with all of this!

Fucking dress up days. Xmas jumper day (don't even get me started).

Last minute decisions which mean last minute letters go out, last minute risk assts etc (it's a fucking nightmare). We go tearing through the year, organising all sorts of bloody special days etc because so many teachers have been given different roles and responsibilities, delegated certain events etc and it's all written into their performance management so they feel they'll be judged for not pulling it off and worst case scenario, fail performance management targets.

I've begged for School to sit down and decide a diary for the year but no.

As a teacher I'm guilty of all these things; it reflects the chaos of knowing wtf is happening each term.

Homework is my biggest bugbare; no evidence it benefits at primary level, if anything it can have a negative impact beyond reading and maybe spellings (though I had to set those to be practised within School as parents didn't do them at home),

It was communication. Poor grammar and syntax in letters didn't inspire confidence in teaching.

Speaking to parents as though they were 10 rather than as adults.

Hearing constant raised voices.

Heavy handed TAs who a generation before would have been dinner ladies.

Lack of notice - Johnnie needs red and green clothes for the christmas show - sent home pm Monday for Thursday. Er some parents work full time. Give a weekend's grace.

The teacher who insisted in yr 4 on every puece of homework having decorated coloured borders. Why? It was petty and a complete waste of time. Style over substance.

Favourites

Bitches in the olayground yapping. Human and canine.

I've begged for School to sit down and decide a diary for the year but no

^^This. Our son's school seems to be incapable of organising anything, even a parents "evening" (aka afternoon), more than four days ahead - which is hopeless for those of us who work and have to give a minimum week's notice. One year the KS Lead got it sussed, organised all the parents evenings, stay-n-plays, etc at the start of the year and sent me a full calendar. She left after about six months, obviously too good for that school.

Sending my son home when he has a sniffle, because there's an unrelated reason you cannot keep him in class. Last week it was because you were short of staff due to the weather. Fine, send him home because of the weather - don't lie and say it's because he's distressed and unsettled.

Which then leads me onto Attendance awards. Heck, you are the ones who keep sending him home, it's not me keeping him home with a slight sniffle or cough. He's never going to have full attendance - and it's wrong to reward those who do, giving out the message that being sick is deliberate non-attendance.

Leaving work super early to time and time again watch the same children (oldest in class) perform like good little monkeys at assemblies and christmas concerts, whilst DD (youngest in class) is hidden at the back.

Teachers saying "we was"

Teacher assuring me that 10+5-3+2=10

School sending timetables home and informing me that 0*1=1