do you have to make an appointment to see a teacher?

[tatt]

we have recently moved from a school where we just went to see the teacher if there was a problem - and got it sorted straight away - to one where we are expected to make an appointment. No-one actually told me (or if they did I missed it) before I went to discuss my child's severe allergy with her teacher, who is allowing nuts to be brought to a party for her class.

I teach in secondary and we expect parents to make an appointment. Partly this is because we teach large numbers of children (I teach about 200) and I might be teaching another class when a parent tries to talk to me about thei child's probelms. We also do it because of safelty regulations. It is not unheared of for parents to assault teachers in school. Sad but true.

That said my sons teacher will just have a chat with me in passing, but she only teaches 8 children in receptions.

Do you have a homework diary that you can use for this sort of thing?

At my dd's school, if it is a quick problem that takes a couple of minutes to sort out then the teacher does it at the gate at home time. If it is more in depth then an appointment has to be made. But also when I had I problem I left a message at reception, and the teacher rang me at home it playtime. I think strict appointment only is a bit strange! Hope this helps!

Our school have an "open door" policy, so you can just pop in and have a word after school ... though you may have to wait a bit if they're busy. (They discourage it at the start of school as it's disruptive, but a brief mention of something very urgent is OK).

In practice on the three occasions this year when I've "wanted a chat" it hasn't been urgent, and it suits me better to arrange an appointment. Then I know I can expect a reasonable length of time, and I can arrange for the children to be picked up by someone else, so I don't have to worry about them either.

primary school so one teacher per class and no homework diary. Letters to the school are clearly not always read - or if they are the message doesn't get through to the right person.

Can understand the health and safety issue since I felt very angry with the teacher this morning (but he was behind his desk and I kept at least 6 feet away excpt when handing him the letter). I still am - someone threatening your child's health does that to you.