AIBU or is the school.

[Flirtbertandgert]

School has always had an open door policy in the mornings you can go in and sit with your dc at breakfast club or sit with your child reading outside the classrooms you can also use this time to chat with the teacher of you have any problems (This is how school has always done it since I started taking my dc there almost 8 years ago).Reception also ask that parents help lo's into pe kit one morning a week.

However since going back the head has decided to ban parents from anywhere apart from breakfast club and has also banned prams from anywhere in the school you are not allowed to use the main entrance to come into school and now there is a very unwelcome atmosphere on at the school it is like trying to gain entry to a vip nightclub not your childs school.

The pram issue is very unhelpful as apart from the main entrance everywhere else has steps she is also asking parents to leave the prams outside if you do come into school so imagine if you need to speak to a teacher you have to remove your baby from a warm pram carry it across a wet/cold playground possibly carrying numerous lunchboxes /homework folders because the little buggers children have run on ahead then get up numerous sometimes slippy steps with loads of children barging past you and your baby when before teachers would be around and you could have a quick word in the breakfast club .
Now if you do want to see the teacher as a lot of parents do at the beginning of terms you have to go in to the class when the bell goes and stand with other parents to talk about possibly private stuff and also disrupting the start of the school day.
The HT is refusing to consider that her new rules are a bit daft she is the type who always wants to win a battle and won't back down.
From what I can see most of the staff think it is mad and don't know whats going on .
It hasn't been thought through .
I am not a helicopter parent in fact dp takes them to school most mornings I just do not like the unwelcome atmosphere and been barked orders at by members of staff who when asked to go through the new rules with me haven't got a clue what to say .
Lots of parents are not very happy with it all it just seems very silly.

BTW (am trying to give all info so not doing it by stealth) the breakfast club was started by the head for in her words "parents teachers and children to have a good start to the day" and has often mentioned to parents in passing about joining us at breakfast club tomorrow .Oh and before anyone says it is awful to have parets milling about the school in the morning there is a system (her idea again) breakfast club starts at 8.30 am at 8.50 am a bell goes this was a signal for anyone who wants to have a chat with a teacher or children who needed to get ready for pe 9.00am another bell goes this signals start of school day all chldren to assembly/pe and parents OUT always worked so if it ain't broke why fix it?.

Can I ask a question, as I have only ever been in my DCs school in the UK, is it common practice to ask parents to stay and help changing the DCs for PE? I had never heard of it. Also, if you have another DC/baby to take care of, surely it is not compulsary to stay and help dressing/undressing your child who is in school and therefore should be taken care of by the school's staff?

It's quite possible there was a reason for the change - at our school we have an entry system so everyone has to come to the office first, but until recently we used to allow parents in if they wanted a quick word with the teacher before school. We changed it after an incident with a parent who started yelling at a teacher, in front of some of the children - now they have to make an appointment, though if it is urgent the teacher may be able to come out to speak to them. We obviously couldn't give the real reason, so have just said that teachers are very busy at the start of the day (which is true)
You do have a point about slippy steps - this is a health & safety issue, so you could bring that up.

I just find it amusing that giving birth to a baby suddenly makes you incapable of normal action/interaction such as walking up steps and handing out t-shirts and shorts!

Perhaps people who are this dissadvantaged by having a baby should just have one?

I thought Op said they had to stay in to help children get ready for PE,not just hand the PE bag to them? If so it is unreasonable to ask a parent with a baby to leave the pushchair outside and help getting the childen dressed for PE .I am a bit puzzled by this TBH as presumably, DCs of school age can dress without too much adult help. But for the sake of the argument, she cannot leave the pushchair out ANd dress her other child for PE, it would mean that she has to leave the baby somewhere on the floor while doing it? non?

Ok DMC I'm sorry that I find it hard to help a 4 year old to change or heklp with buttons on coats (and yes I am sure the staff help when I am not there but I can hardly stand and watch a 4 year old struggle when I am there can I ?) while holding a very wriggly dd no 5 .

Or I could do a bit of stealth and let you know how hard it is to hold said wriggly baby whilst helping dyspraxic dd1 who finds it impossibe to get gloves/coats on or off without getting in a muddle and is so clumsy she leaves a trail of stuff following behind her .

There could have been a possible incident and like I said I understand it is up to her o make the changes if she feels a need to but it would be nice if she could explain the rules more instead of been told you can't go anywhere apart from breakfast club and then a class teacher asking why the children are not ready for pe yet .

The H&S issues have been mentioned and her answer was the school was there before her and she can't help the design which I suppose is true .

Leave a baby on the floor for other four year olds to trip over stand on ?

No I can not leave my alone baby in the yard either .

It is only a problem once a month anyway and thinking about it I can see it has probably been done for a very good reason therefore IABU I thank you for helping me to reach that conclusion .

That is my point gorionine, most of the children will be able to dress themselves so helping would/should consist of handing the appropriate piece of clothing the right way round so the child can put it on. I would expect to be able to do that with a baby in my arms without too much difficulty.

If a child has particular needs then, yes, I would expect a teacher/TA to help out a bit more, especially if you are holding a baby. I don't see how that can be a problem as there can't be so many children needing extra help to a class that there are not enough staff to go around.

However, as you said you already send her in her gym clothes and it is not even you dropping them off but your dh I am truely failing to see what on earth you are complaining about! It really comes across, to me, as you just wanting to have a moan about it!

OP, I think you should have given these details at the beginning of the thread. Now with a better understanding of the actual situation you might not be that unreasonable after all.

From what you had said so far, I imagined that the school was asking every single parent who drops a child to help with PE preparation so the staff could drink another cuppa get on with more pressing school matters.

I really don't get the bit about parents being compelled in some way to assist with changing for PE.
What do parents with more than 1 child at schoold do? Which child gets the help?
How do the children with working parents manage?
What about the children being dropped off by childminders or other carers?

I would have thought that the school should be aiming to have all children changing themselves (more or less independently) within a few weeks of starting school

Ok, just a quick question - this is bugging me...

If you cannot walk up the steps when they are slippery with your baby how do you get your buggy in? I would have thought dragging a buggy up slippy steps would be worse... or do you have a ramp? In which case why can't you walk up the ramp with the baby?

Confused...

OP ""Leave a baby on the floor for other four year olds to trip over stand on ?"" you might have misunderstood me , I was also pointing out how ridicoulous the idea was.

I am a grumpy old cow with children unable to dress themselves and a baby who wriggles too much .

I just thought it was a bit odd to change the nice system to such a strange one where half the staff didn't have a clue but I suppose all new systems have teething problems and you are right I have been awake on and off since 4 am with a 6 year old who didn't want to go to school and have her hair pulled again by the class bully and I promised to tell her teacher so she would keep an eye on it today and dd would feel a bit reassured then I was shouted at in the corridor I suppose I was just a bit pissed off but we all have bad days .

Sorry Gorionine

DMNC, My understanding is that before the new rules OP could use main entrance which was buggy friendly and that with the new rules she has to use impractcal steps with her baby in her arms, not in the buggy. OP correct me if I am wrong.

YABU

The school is not. It sounds like sensible normal policy to me.

At my ds's school there is no way you could get a pram in anyway, it is too small. Parents leave them in the playground if they need to go in.

You used to be able to leave your pram in the area with the comfy chairs it is a bit like a conservatory but huge and get your child ready there and then send them to classrooms. Also before this new system theer was very little need to go up the stairs if you needed to speak to the teacher as they were usually in the breakfast club /reception area .

The number of times i've nearly broken my neck tripping over somebody's pram is not funny, babies do not attend school, their needs should not be catered for, buy a snowsuit and a sling if you're concerned about bubs getting cold or dropped. But really how often do you need to go into the classroom ?

Sorry for typos my wriggly baby strikes again .

Crossed post, ignore

Aaaah you are sleep deprived. Toy poor thing. I get very irrational when I'm sleep deprived

sorry You poor thing, not toy

It would never have occurred to me to take a pram inside a school. Prams are for outside use. It's like expecting to take your bike through the school.
I took a sling backpack, or just carried younger sprog if I needed to see the teacher about the older one. I rarely did that on a morning though as I found the class teacher was more willing to chat and had more time at the end of the day rather than the chotic morning.
Once a month sounds alot to be going to the school with concerns about your kid. I was there once a term at most and very rarely after the first couple of years.
Schools are for children not parents. Sounds like some parents have too much time on their hands.

Sounds normal to us too,only entry to our school is through the office,with an appointment.

I never got asked to help with changing for PE. That is unusual. Definitely part of teachers/ classroom assistant's job although I would expect a school age child to be able to dress themselves unless they have fiddly buttons. Our primary uniform was just polo shirt, sweatshirt and elasticated skirt or trousers.

We have this system now and I am quite glad TBH. Whilst yes it's very nice to have plenty of access to the teacher it is a total pita for other parents. Our school bell goes at 8.50. We used to be able to wander into the classroom and chat to the teacher at will. The result of which was that any teacher who didn't have a very strong will was kept chatting for ages and frequently came out to pick up her line late . PITA if you needed to be somewhere else (ie work) or if you had small siblings to keep an eye on. Not a great start to the day for the class either.

Now we are not allowed into the classroom before lessons and if we need to speak to someone we can leave a message with the TA or make an appointment to see the teacher later. There is always lots of time after school.

Prams...hmmm. I can see both sides. If there isn't room there isn't room. They can be a nuisance tbh.