to be slightly p***sed off with DS1's school???

[FAQtothefuture]

both DS1 and 2's schools were open today. Usuall on a Monday DS1 has choir after school until 4pm. I picked DS2 up from school and then popped next door to my old house to start tidying up and cleaning for 1/2hr rather than walking half way home and then turning round to walk back again (the schools are literally 3 minutes from each other)

I got up to the Junior school at 4pm to find it totally deserted bar a few teachers and the cleaners.

Turns out choir was cancelled. Apparently they tried to contact me on my mobile but I didn't answer (nonsense - I had my mobile in my pocket as I was expecting a call from someone else and no missed calls).

I then asked why they didn't contact anyone else on my "list of contacts"

To be told "well we didn't contact X (DH) as he wouldn't come all the way from N'ton".

I pointed out that he had moved and that he was actually the number THREE contact on the list (by agreement) and that if they'd rung my no.2 contact she would probably have picked him up for me as she goes to the school anyhow to get her DD (BF is number 2 contact).

Apparently there was "no need" to contact the other people on the list as he wss "absoutely fine" and they "thought I would come up to get him after going to the infant school" (ermm no why would I thought he had choir?)

Surely that's not the point, he was the only child sat in the school with the few remaining staff and I was totally unaware

Oh and there have been occasions when I've had messages passed to me from DS1's school via the infant school and the're quite happy to do that so why couldn't they do that????

YANBU. They should have given notice if they were cancelling. This happened once with my dd's gardening club, luckily I was picking up ds anyway and saw her waiting, but parents who didn't have other dcs at the school had no idea and turned up at 4pm in same circs as you. so not on, communication should be better than this.

To be honest, I expect the school didn't really think it was a big deal - we often have children whose parents haven't known/remembered/whatever that a clubs not running & we just look after the kids till they get there.

But I would just check that they actually have your mobile number correct, if they think they rang you & you didn't get it, and that they have updated your contact order.

I know the number is right, as they rang me on it in the Autumn when DS1 was unwell, and the contact order is definitely correct as DH and I had already split before I filled the form in. I distinctly remember putting the contacts down in the order

Me
BF
DH

with numbers next to each one.

I'm just annoyed that I sorted the stuff in the house by 3.40 so I was sat twiddling my thumbs with DS2 and 3 in a freezing house, when I could have got DS1 and got home by just gone 4pm.

maybe I just misunderstoof what th contact details are for......

I just assumed that if they couldn't contact me then they'd use the contact numbers on the ist - as DS2' infant school did a while ago when I'd worked a night shift, totally overslept and didn't hear them ringing me to check I was coming to get him.....

Especially given the weather conditions (The reason that choir was cancelled in the first place) were getting worse.

Poor DS1 thought I was going to be cross with him because I didn't know it was cancelled (so obviously not that "fine" - when he's worried it's blatantly obvious he worried(

actually what are those extra contact details for??

I've jsut thought of another instance when they didn't use them.

Near the end of last term DS1 and 2 had gone of to school, and I'd ended up at the doctors fo the entire morning with DS3 (nebulizer and then checking him afterwards etc) and was on the brink of having him admitted to hospital

I got home to find a message on my answer machine from 2hrs previously to say that DS1 had been sick and wasn't very well at all, could I come and get him, they;d then called an hour later and left another message saying the same thing. I then went and got him and he looked really poorly

By the end of the evening he had also had a nebulizer and was on the brink of being admitted to hospital overnight

They didn't call the other 2people ont he list then either

So what is the point of giving them other numbers to use if they can't get hold of you?? >>>

We had a phonecall today to say that cheerleading practise was cancelled. Wasn't that difficult to do!

YANBU

Well, I certainly would have used the other contact numbers in that case. But I'm not sure I would for the choir, especially if it was only for half an hour, and there were teachers there. It can be pretty frantic in a school office at the end of school - we had 11 parents in there at 3.15 today with various queries.

They should have called the next contact number - isn't that why they have them?

DD's after school club was cancelled today. School called to let us know around lunch time.

they apparently tried to call at about 2.45 0 and they had the 2 secretaries on today.

I don't think there were many teachers there, the head teacher had already gone home (he lives quite some distance away) and there were only 2 cars left in the staff car park.

surely if the choir was cancelled because of the weather then it would make sense for them to try and get all the pupils home sooner rather than later so that they can also go home? Certainly between 3pm and 4pm the weather deteriorated quite significantly.

Ho hum, guess I'm just pissed off because we could have walked home in slightly more favourable conditions than we did.....

Thing is, the usual response we get if we have to cancel a club on the same day is "Well I've arranged to pick up at 4 and I can't change it now'

I do think you might forgive the office staff for possibly being a little stressed today , if it was anything like ours - 67 calls from parents, either asking if the school was open or saying their kids wouldn't be in, before 9.15. The head was trying to get a message on the answerphone to say we were open, but couldn't because the phone wouldn't stop ringing.

Perhaps you could suggest the school sets up a system like we have - [[https://www.parentmail.co.uk/ ParentMail00 - where they set up groups (such as for the choir) - then the school only has to make one call, or notify ParentMail online and they send a message to all the parents in that group.

Sorry, forgot to preview ParentMail