To think many schools forget that lots of mums work?

[malificent7]

In primary school it was almost a given that they scheduled things in the school day which is understandable but a bit sad that when i was teaching myself, i couldn't get time off for sports day etc.

In secondary school I was chatying to a mum friend who was asked to go to a meeting during school time. She can't...she works! Not a huge issue i guess and not sure how it can be solved. As an ex teacher I wouldn't have wanted to meet parents outside school hours.

Some parents work different hours and will be able to attend these day time things, I fail to see how it's showing disdain to working parents.

Pre-school children tend to go all day to a nursery or childminder if their parents are working. It might be expensive, but it's actually logistically very straightforward for parents.

Finding childcare around nonstandard school hours is practically impossible unless you have family help...I know, I've tried and am willing to pay money for it. Agency babysitters won't do drop-offs and pick-ups, childminders won't usually do non-standard pick-ups (if you could find one, they're often like gold dust) and nurseries clearly no good either. The only real solutions are either family help (which many including us don't have) or a temporary nanny until the full-time hours start, which is financially impossible for most families. My DH and I took time off work until our DC started full-time hours, but luckily was only a week or so for him.

Chocolate hippo, surely it depends what area you live in

So many parents don't read this kind of communication.

That might be the 1 in 5 who leave primary school, unable to read and write properly (in 2018 per the DFE per The Observer 3/3/19) for a start? 9 million adults in this country were functionally illiterate per the same article! Excluding children with learning disabilities, mainstream schools didn’t do such an amazing job with the rest, did they? Then, there’s the people, who can’t comprehend formal letters and/or don’t have the organisational skills to deal with them, like those with ADHD. Then, there’s probably some doing three jobs or working all hours on NMW in physically demanding jobs, just to pay the bills, and don’t have the time or energy ….?

So what affordable childcare would you suggest organising to cover a child doing part-time school hours? Genuinely intrigued...

It would be far easier for us to have refused to send DC to school until full hours were being offered and just kept up our nursery place.

As a child my mum never attended any of these things as she worked and was the main breadwinner...it was always the same sahms that attended. I never felt hurt as a child over it, loads of kids were the same and tbh the kids whose mums did come in never got much attention from their own muns as they were busy helping look after all the kids.
My mum was a fantastic mum who spent a lot of time with me in mornings, evenings and weekends and didn't need to be at every school event to be so. Those were clearly school events in my mind not family time.
I think igs awful that mum's are made to feel guilty over things like this

Both me and dh have attended various daytime events over the years depending on work allowances - It's not a case of parents time not being valuable, it's not the schools responsibility to make it work for working parents, I see it as my responsibility to make my life work around having kids - it's my choice to have a family and work

I agree short notice is a nightmare. Our Primary have another issue too. They don't specifically say 'the dates of x have moved' they send an 'updated calendar and leave you to work out what changed. Recently they've done this with half term week (moved for the jubilee weekend) and secondary school transition days. It's hard enough keeping up without trying to spot which tiny colours squares have moved and re arrange everything

Send them to nursery!? Expensive but straightforward and cuts out some of the riduculous juggling.

Out meetings are usually offered as during or after school options. One of my kids can't attend camp this year due to medical issues and I was asked if I could drop them each day and collect them 45 minutes away so 3 hours total travelling morning and night for 3 days...I'm not sure how I do that around full time work. I've said no but it's like they think we sit and do nothing waiting for pick up time.

So yes I think many schools think parents do nothing themselves while kids are at school.

I'm sure they don't think that

In my school at certain points in the year, we have multiple evening events in addition to the full working day. I hate it and feel as if I may as well live there. Yet I still miss my own kids’ sports days, assemblies etc.

I am an ex teacher and the primary school where I taught went out of its way to fit in with parents. Parents meeting were rarely in school time. So every term we would work 2 or 3 evenings until 8 pm. For single parents we had a creche, for shift workers we did before school or a telephone call. I had my own kids. They often had to stay with me in school until husband could collect. I couldn't do my own kids events often but my husband did. I memorably was not allowed to go to London to see my kids awarded a poetry prize which also benefitted the school financially. I was told it would be unpaid. I used to try to arrange cover for other teachers to attend their child's concert etc when possible, when I became more senior. It seems no one expects teachers to have their own children to consider.Things seem to have changed. Dd s nursery have arranged an event which lasts 2 hours costs 6.50 you need to take your own child there and back some distance in London, supervise them, siblings can't go and the nursery is closing for the day! What about working parents, parents with other children, parents short of money.? Accessibility and equal opportunity seem to have gone out of the window.was also very short notice.

it starts much earlier than school. I remember being told off for not bringing my 6mo old to health visitor weekly checkups. I'd had to go back to work, who (understandably) didn't want me vanishing for half a day every single week after I'd just gone back.
I remember asking when the weekend or evening sessions were and getting told there weren't any.

So how do working people attend doctors appointments?

My GP is open until 6.30 five days a week, and offers phone appointments. Additionally, I go less than once a year.

My point is attending an appointment with a 6 month old is akin to attending an appointment for yourself, whether you work or not

Lol, so the person who freely admits that their school communicates events months in advance (enabling her to put things into her diary), doesnt understand how, other people can't do the same, when they are given 24 hours notice instead.

Having always worked full time, I request a half day off to attend things like a nativity or sports day, as does my kids' dad. Occasionally he or I have had to miss one or two of them. It's sad to miss one but that's life!!! If you're a working parent.
Covid has helped a little in that our kids' parents' evenings are now done via Teams/Zoom, so instead of having to leave work early I just attend the meeting online for 10 mins. Better!

I just want NOTICE!

We found out last week that sports day has been booked for next week from 1.15pm.

I am booked up with work meetings now for June, had I known a couple of months ago I could have blocked the date out in my diary. These arent meetings I can just skip out of either.

Star of the week awards used to be on a friday morning, and we got a text on the Thursday lunch time telling us to be in school the next day. Many parents complained so now we get a weeks notice, still too short for me usually and sadly I missed my son getting his but more understandable.

However big events, why cant those be booked months in advance and with sports day maybe a back up date notified.

I'm lucky my job is very flexible, but it isnt that flexible.

What a shitty post. Primary schools are constantly being appraised for how they engage with the community, increase parental involvement and encourage partnership.

Whilst there could be a case for better organisation and communication, there isn't any way to please 200-600 parents that all have different ideas. Some parents email regularly asking why no open afternoon, dress up days, mother's day/ father's day lunches, homework project displays, picnics and trips. Emails and calls all the time. Other parents are like people on here - not particularly available, see it as outdated and overly involved and complain about being asked to get involved. Not enough homework/ too much homework. In person meeting/ online meeting - no one is happy.

Schools and teachers cannot win - they just get abused for not doing enough or doing too much.

I think our kids must go to the same school, ours did exactly the same recently!

Also letting us know on Thurs last week that sports day is on Tuesday and parents can attend this time. .. little bit short notice for working parents!

DS school also recently announced that they are having a summer fayre this month so bacuae of that school is closing at half 1 so another last minute half day off work .. does get annoying trying to juggle all these last minute things.

Yanbu. I completely understand re parents evenings etc - I'm not expecting parents evening to fall outside working hours for teachers etc.

It's the 1.30 finishes at the end of term so they can do a register after lunch to claim full attendance, then sack off early.

The two week "phased start" at the beginning of reception, when 90% of the class have come from the nursery class and the other 10% from full day childcare.

2.30pm sessions to go through the curriculum, with a PowerPoint that could simply be shared with parents via email. Nothing said that wasnt on the slides.

It's all well and good saying "but that's what annual leave is for" but there are 12 weeks of school holiday a year. Thats 60 days. Dh and I have 50 days leave between us, do we are already short, and using a whole half day of leave for a 30 minute meeting is such a waste!

Teachers are there to do a job between set hours, just like any other employee.

Yeah because professionals never have to work late, finish a project on Sunday night or check emails of a weekend.... oh. Wait. They do this all the time.

Schools need to get smarter about how PPA time is used to create flex for both teachers AND parents. Eg - allow teachers to use ppa for a late start or an early finish once a week, and allowing the teacher to do the ppa work when it suits them, might be an evening or weekend.

But teachers also need to acknowledge that most working professionals don't completely disappear outside their contracted hours - almost all jobs require that you occasionally catch up on things outside hours

When have teachers not acknowledged that?