Home visit by school teacher

[K2012]

Hi there

I need some advice. My son will be starting school in September (reception) and the school has said they’re coming to our house for a visit. They said his teacher will be visiting everyone from his class.

I didn’t grow up in the UK so I find this a bit strange thing to do. Is this normal here?
What to expect? What kind of visit is it? Do I need to prepare anything etc.?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

It's not necessary, it's just a nice thing to do and generally the teacher, parent and child benefit from it.

Definitely not normal where I live (Wales), however you do take them into school to meet their teacher and have a look around before they start.

looks like it’s totally normal everywhere else though, so ignore me.

Well, nice for some people perhaps. Very unnecessarily intrusive for others! And none of the teachers I know would be thankful for the extra workload away from school - or want to go traipsing into people's homes!

I'm just not sure what benefit there could be that wouldn't be achieved by a casual private meeting in the classroom - the place that the child will be interacting with the teacher in future.

But like I said, if it's not mandatory, then anyone not keen on it can just skip it!

The main benefit is the child gets to meet you somewhere they are comfortable and it starts building the foundation of that relationship, they often have that as a cherished memory "Miss remember that time you came to my house and I showed you my guinea pig?"
It also gives parents a space to discuss things they might not feel comfortable doing in a school environment.
And also it can identify significant safeguarding issues, so can be a chance to really help a child or family in need.

I never found it extra workload as days were set aside for it - and never met a teacher that resented visits.

Scotland is the same as Wales - no home visits Sounds like it's just a thing in England.
Our teachers visit the pupils at their nursery just to introduce themselves then the children visit the school after school once or twice from 3.30 to 4.00 to see their classroom and meet the other pupils.

There's just no need for children to meet teachers at their home. From what some pps have said on this thread, their child got nothing from it at all - and I'm sure giving the child a friendly tour around the classroom and playground with their parents would do just as good a job. And parents who can discuss an issue in their living room are perfectly capable of discussing it with a teacher in private at school.

But yes - as you've said, it's clearly also an assessment of the child's home life. That's the only aspect that can't be achieved via a friendly, one-on-one meeting at school. I personally think that's very intrusive - I think most people I know would find that kind of visit off-putting - and I think it's a little underhanded the way that aspect is downplayed and dismissed.

I agree with you @OtterlyAstounding . Our pupils manage perfectly well without it. As a former teacher I can think of nothing worse than having to traipse around pupils' homes.

A lot of the people on the thread who are very strongly against it seem to be people whose schools don't do it. A lot who did have it found it positive.
It's not compulsory so people can just say no if they'd hate it

I worked in a primary school, and also had children who went to that school. When it was my eldest’s home visit day, I’d just given birth to my youngest 2 days before, I had pjs on when they arrived & had totally forgotten! But yes, it helps massively to meet a child in their home environment, and gives staff an insight into their relationships with adults & other children at home. Our school was in a generally deprived area & some of the visits could be upsetting but at least those children were identified early as potentially needing more.

Yes that's quite an interesting correlation 😂

Yes, it's normal. Our school visited most of the children at nursery instead and it was only the ones who didn't go to nursery that got a home visit.

@LooLooT There might not be any dc at home to relate to. I don’t think it tells anyone much other than talking, or not, to a stranger. It says nothing about getting on with other, non family, dc, following instructions, getting ready for pe, gross and fine motor skills, recognising their name and all the other skills dc can learn. Observation at nursery is far better. It’s much more like a school environment.

DC had this 10 years ago. I’d never heard of it, but it was a nice way to meet the teacher and TA. I know lots of people who find going into school as a parent difficult as they had negative experiences of school in their own childhoods. I think this can be a really good way to start a positive relationship with the teacher- for the child, but the parents too

Infant schools that I taught in during the 80s did pre-Reception home visits!
Schools try to work in partnership with parents, rather than judge them. It's good for the parents to be able to feel in control of the meeting because it's on their home ground. Many parents feel stressed going into school, where it is obvious that the staff are in charge. This is especially true if the parent had a poor school experience. No-one wants that to be cyclical.
And most Primary schools have fairly small catchment areas, so no-one is 'driving all over town".