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.

"So wherever you work, you are happy to be in work at whatever time your customers / clients want you there, and don't work any set hours? And why should female employees be more flexible and be available when parents want them to be? Teachers are there to do a job between set hours, just like any other employee. Your work or home life or preferences have nothing to do with that. It's astonishing how anyone whose work is related to children seems to be classed more as a servant than a professional doing a job of work."

@Jalisco it is only teachers who think like this. In all other professions people routinely work late or on weekends.

Both DH and I are teachers so we are very rarely able to attend events. As others have said, enough notice to organise something/someone else to attend would be the best thing. My children's primary have gotten much better at this over the past year.

There also needs to be a way of supporting children who don't have anyone attending these events. I don't know how this would work but I have bitterly disappointed children because "everyone else's parents were there". I know that's not the case but it seems that way to my kids.

I also have an issue with them advertising things to kids before they've checked they have enough parent helpers and then having to cancel it, again leaving disappointed children who blame their parents for not being available.

Our primary had a jubilee picnic with an ice cream van and stalls but only kids with parents who could take them to the field at 2:45 were allowed to go. It made me sad that my kids had to watch others be collected and taken down for the fun stuff while they had to remain in class. This should have been a whole school event in my opinion.

@ClocksGoingBackwards unpaid parental leave is not always guaranteed and often strict criteria has to be met. If I want unpaid parental leave it has to be taken in blocks of one week applied for weeks in advance or for genuine emergencies which meet specific criteria such as emergency medical treatment ... can't ask for unpaid leave to cover last minute school activities as it would leave the rest of my team in the lurch!

Are you really saying you don't get this arguement?! Perfectly clear what the writer was saying!!

Me and my husband have over 40yrs teaching between us and I have literally never heard of a school asking for parents to do this! I get why they do , the coach costs for any trip is astronomical but what happens if a parent can't? Shocking!

Was just posting to say the same. Schools have to phone in order of the list given.

But so many schools phone the mum first even if she is not the first point of contact.

I work set hours in private company.

On top of re-adding my phone number that I'd asked them to delete, then phoning me first when we asked them to call DH , my DCs' school started sending all emails only to me. DH and I set up a single email address that copies to both of us specifically for school stuff. The school stopped using it and started using only mine; we didn't realise until I asked DH about a school email and he said "what?" I had to send the school office a shirty email to get them to go back to using the email address we'd given them.

So wherever you work, you are happy to be in work at whatever time your customers / clients want you there, and don't work any set hours? And why should female employees be more flexible and be available when parents want them to be? Teachers are there to do a job between set hours, just like any other employee. Your work or home life or preferences have nothing to do with that. It's astonishing how anyone whose work is related to children seems to be classed more as a servant than a professional doing a job of work.

That is what being a professional means! I can’t believe @Jalisco that you need to be told this! Admittedly, of all the professionals we trained with, and worked with in the last 40 years, men and women were treated equally! Women weren’t expected to be more flexible! People work 70 - 100 hours, whatever it takes to get the work done within the budget and the deadlines!

I totally get that parents can't expect teachers to schedule everything in work-friendly hours, they are also working parents. And that parents have to accept that it is necessary sometimes to take time off work.

The thing I find difficult is the lack of notice and the frequency. Our primary school frequently schedules important parent meetings with three or four days notice. My work requires me (in theory and usually in practice) with a fortnight's notice. And I'm a single parent so there's no backup for me.

Everyone gets that its part of our jobs as parents to factor the need for school support in but its the assumptions that schools sometimes seem to make that get my back up. The assumptions scream that they basically take as read that there's always a non working (or part time working) parent around to jump at all this all the time.

It's a bit different from actually taking time out from the office to go to a school event though! Funnily enough, I can type this WHILE AT THE SAME TIME see that a little yellow envelope has appeared in my work inbox signifying that I have received an email, and therefore need to deal with it. Or can stop typing if my phone rings.

However, if I was on a field watching a sports day it would be somewhat more difficult. It is obtuse to think otherwise.

Not as obtuse as suggesting schools should rearrange everything to suit working parents. If you have kids and work, juggling events and responsibilities becomes part of life.

Yanbu.

Our infant school was so incredibly bad for this. It wasn't just the odd occasion, where you could take leave from work. Every week there was some sort of request to come to a meeting or help out during working hours. Often there was very little notice. Sometimes, just a message at the gate at pick up or info spread through word of mouth. It was definitely an assumption about working mums - case in point: they scheduled the mother's Day lunch during the school day but for father's Day held a breakfast, explicitly stating that this was so dad's could attend before work. I'm not sure this true of all schools, it may be that ours was particularly shit.

Junior school has been much better: giving proper notice for events and only organising things maybe once or twice a term. Actually, communication is better at this school in every way.

Yes this

It's the lack of notice that annoys me. We frequently get texts asking us to bring such a thing, wear this colour for such a charity with only a few days notice. Events like sports days/class assemblies we are only informed of when it's too late for me to book any time off work to go.

I'm not sure its so much they think mothers dont work. Its more that you cant win.

If you organise things after school hours, plenty of parents cant then come as they have no childcare or its tea and bedtime for a younger child or thats when they are on the volunteer rota at brownies.

We've had to accept that activities within the school day are ones we can't attend - grandparents go if possible, but DD soldiers on.
The one that gets me is after school clubs. I KNOW these are voluntary (the teachers giving up time to run them) but in order to attend, I have to cancel after school childcare for DD. Then, the after school club gets cancelled (regularly, the teacher running it seems to be perpetually unwell) and I am left with no way to collect DD, no after school childcare and no club. This has happened on the day before - text at 1.30pm to say club (3-4) is cancelled. It's infuriating! Surely that teacher was sick from when they called in at 7am? Let me know then! Not with 90 mins to try and organise childcare!

Since DS started school I feel massively disadvantaged as a working parent.

I live in a deprived area- the school described the parents as “most don’t work”.

I can’t go to the PTA meeting, I can’t attend “coffee mornings”, I have to take a whole day off for assembly, schools meetings etc (I commute 1.5hrs each way to Work). I get 28 days a year annual leave.

On top of all that I have to cover 12-14 weeks a year holidays.

the school has no wrap around childcare as it’s “not needed”

As a working parents a I am sick of being excluded by the education system.

At our school, events like sports days are put in the school calender early on, usually communicated to parents at the start of term via something like an emailed newsletter. I put everything in my diary straight away. So many parents don't read this kind of communication. Schools do a difficult and amazing job.

Dragons mother, surely some of these are choices you have made? 3 hours travel a day is a lot.

You do know that you don’t actually have to answer the call?
If I need to speak to a parent I ring the first contact. If they don’t answer, I ring the next one. Simples!

Surprise surprise, schools are not set up for the benefit of parents!

I think they absolutely forget or they just don’t care. They started my child on reduced hours as was youngest in the year so part time 3 hrs per day so I couldn’t work… and kept saying ‘I know it’s tricky’ and ‘I bet you’re looking forward to getting out and chatting to people again’ 🙄 no it means we will actually be able to eat!! Also they schedule things almost fortnightly in the school day. ‘Art work day’ etc… also weekly meetings on Mondays at 2.00 to teach us how to teach our children stuff they should be teaching them tbh.
we live in a nice village area and the distain shown to working parents is unreal!

Pogostick - so three hours a day meant you couldn't work? What do you think people do when they have pre school kids? School is not soley childcare so you can wor