Does your DC’s teacher say hello to you at drop off/pick up?

[daffdill]

My DC started reception in September and his teacher never says “Good morning” “Hi mum” or even acknowledges me when I drop him off/ pick him up. She will always say good morning to him but I find the lack general manners very rude. I’m so used to my sons previous nursery staff being so lovely and friendly so maybe I’m just expecting too much is this just how it is at school?

Yes, it's normal and exactly how it should be. She sounds great. She's actively welcoming your child and saying hello to him. He's the important person in this setup. She's encouraging him to speak for himself and create a relationship with her.

Do you start by saying "Good morning Mrs X" to her? If she literally ignores you after you've said that, then yes I would find that slightly rude, although not enough to get worked up about.

School isn't like nursery, you are not the customer anymore. Your child is the student.

They are there for the children not me, I dont need to interact with them unless I need too

Do you not say it then? If the teacher said good morning to my child I’d also answer and say good morning? I would take it as it’s aimed at both of us

DD's reception teacher does. The school considers it to be good modelling of manners. DD started off being too shy to say good morning back, but after seeing me and her teacher say good morning to each other, she sees it as normal now and has more comfortable with it.

Teachers have a million things to think about. They’re focusing on saying hello to the kids and getting them settled rather than the parents- as it should be.

My DDs just went into the classroom and the teacher was waiting. They just saw her without me. Perfect!

Here we go again. Another parent confusing a state-funded service with a consumer product. School is there for our children, not for us.

As a former teacher I would absolutely expect to acknowledge the parents - it’s basic good manners and is the basis of building positive relationships with parents.

DD's teachers say good morning to all the children and when there are 30 kids all rushing in the door, this is quite the big task! I certainly wouldn't expect her to then welcome all the parents too!

Our Reception teachers greeted each child warmly by name with a good morning. They opened the door with a smile and a general good morning to all parents. In KS1 the teachers don’t greet each child, let alone the parents.

Thank goodness our kids just lined up in the playground before they came in to school. I'd have a thousand other things to think about rather than greeting parents.

I say hello to the child first, ask how they are and then do a quick handover with parent... however I am in a SEN class, so slightly different.

Ds's reception teacher never said hi to parents unless she needed a chat. I was just amazed she knew all their names at the beginning of September 😂

@onlyoneoftheregimentinstep Do you have 30 parents milling around the classroom door then? My DCs just walked into the classroom and no parent went on school premises. Dc went through a gate and used a path from pavement to classroom. If you needed to see a teacher, you made an appointment, attended the parent assembly, curriculum evenings, parent evenings, and open evenings plus numerous pta events. Plenty of contact with the school in an appropriate way. Dc thrived with responsibility of taking off coat, hanging it up on their hook, taking the book bag to the teacher and settling down with their activity and not needing mum around at handover. I rarely saw a parent go through the gate!

It's a bit much to expect a teacher to greet 60 people before getting started on the day's work. Nursery would have been fewer children/parents, and possibly not all arriving at the same time.

You may well find that after Christmas they'll expect the children to line up in the playground, and you won't even be near the teacher.

I agree @OhDear111 Ours are dropped off in the playground then the parents leave. There's no such thing as "drop off". When the bell rings each class lines up and the teacher leads them in.

If parents need to ask the teacher something they phone or email the office.

They just say morning, either aimed at both of us or morning (childs name). I say morning back. I don’t see the problem.

I don’t think my kids’ teachers would know which parent goes with which kid. They line up and go in, nothing to do with the adults.

I don’t even see my child’s teacher in the morning. I drop my child off School once the yard opens about seven minutes (as does everyone ) that’s before the teachers come out and they play in the yard. I don’t even get out of the car now. Theres usually a member of staff walking around though.

on collection I will say hello and so will they yes…

I’m an ex early years teacher. I always said hello or smiled and engaged with the children. Sometimes the parents need to pass something on, yes sometimes it’s not relevant but sometimes it’s important and if the DC has had a rough morning before school or was worried about something then a smile or hello might make it easier for a parent to pass that on.

I'm a primary teacher (7-8 year olds) and I always say hello, good morning etc to anybody at the classroom door in the morning... and probably spend five minutes or so outside the classroom door in the afternoon chatting with parents / grandparents at pick up time.I usually have a few toddler brothers and sisters popping into my room after school to look at our fish tank whilst I have a quick chat with the parents. I am so fortunate to have a lovely group of parents, I really enjoy quick chats with them at pick up time.

When I taught in primary I learned quite quickly that if you made eye contact with the parents then you would be stood there for twenty minutes while they told you about every lost jumper, runny nose or friendship issue. I didn’t mind it at the end of the day, but there was no time in the morning.
I like that my DS school speak to him and not me. They aren’t welcoming me into the school they are welcoming him.

The teacher is welcoming the children. They sound great.
With all due respect school drop off and pick up times are not about parents. Teachers work ao hard. Parents can help them to focus on their job by being independent/ self contained/ not so needy. Xx