Parents not allowed in school?

[KittyMcAllister]

DS's school has just introduced a new policy whereby Key Stage 1 children (apart from reception) will be met at the school door by their teacher instead of being dropped off at the classroom. It's apparently in response to new safeguarding regulations that unauthorised adults can't be on the property - although it also coincides with the arrival of a new headteacher. It's caused a bit of an uproar amongst the parents but I'm in 2 minds- I'm sure I was just dropped off in the playground as a child! I'm curious to know what other schools do?

I also think it's an ofsted tick box for safeguarding

Ours changed similarly to yours recently OP

Can't ever get to talk to teacher now. Don't need to often thankfully. But when you do, it's annoying.

My two are both in secondsry now but their orimary school was parents allowed in the classroom on the first three days of reception only. Then it was leave them in the playground.

At Key Stage 2 parents wernt allowed in the playground so we dropped at the entrance to the path.

If you needed to speak to a teacher at all you had to go in via reception (buzzer entry) & sign in.

At my daughters school we still dro off at classroom and many people actually still take them into the classroom. School is designed so each classroom, has its own external door.
At my school the parents drop at the main door and are not expected to come in unless they need to speak to a member of staff urgently.
I think it's more common to drop off outside. Mornings are chaos enough without 20 plus parents wandering around as well.

The arrival of the new HT, will highlight changes that should have been made many years ago - this is one of them!
I've worked in schools, had dc in different schools, and had this conversation (when it's come up on MN before) with various friends at different schools and never come across a school where parents go in to the building / classroom to drop their dc off.

First day of reception parents are allowed inside the classroom, first term of reception to drop off at the classroom door, thereafter at the school gate.

At my DD's school, we are actively encouraged into the classroom to drop them off, and go and change their reading books etc. There are early morning activities set up for us to share, or they can show us any work that's on the wall etc. They were inspected in June and it was highlighted in the report as a strong feature. It is an infant school and each class has its own outside door (and outside space) so no traffic jams and the classrooms are on the large side so unusual in that respect.

I like it, there's a nice cut off between parent space and school space, there aren't a thousand buggies coming and going blocking the corridor and making even more mud on the floor at this time of year as well. My favourite bit is that if I can't go in neither can any random that may not actually be allowed to be there, safeguarding is there for a reason and I like it.

Our primary allowed considerable parental access to the nursery and reception classrooms at drop off, but this was a result of the school's layout as they were quite separate to the rest of the school.

From year 1 (after the first (part) week of the school year) parents would go no further than the playground.

I would much prefer at least the option to not go in. I have 2 dcs and am expected to go into both classrooms with them, help them hang their coat up, sort water bottle, fruit, reading book etc - all while 29 other families are doing the same in a different order....I hate it and think it's reduces the dc's sense of responsibility for their belongings and makes separation messier than needs be.

I think it raises safeguarding concerns as I worry that if I leave dcs earlier than other parents then they could wander off without anyone knowing I've already left. A clear handover of responsibility and clutter free classroom would be better I think. We can always email teachers or request a phone call or meeting, or arrive much earlier or say after if we need to speak to a teacher.

At our school all classes open more or less direct to playground.
Fantastic layout.
I didn't even regularly go in to nursery.

It shouldn't be necessary for parents to go in to classroom after the first week of reception. Makes for unnecessary crowding and a chaotic start to the day.

I think this has been common practice long before safe guarding concerns were an issue. The school should be set up so that it is easy for a reception age child to calmly walk in, find their peg, know where to put their bag and get on with the first task of the day. Adding parents and siblings into the mix just makes the start of the day chaotic.

I think that if a parent needs to help their child get organised at the start of the day, the school are dropping the ball.

I remember being terribly worried how the kids would cope first day of the second term in reception, when parents were no longer allowed to come in to organise them. You can see the classroom doors from outside so I watched it. It was a rainy day, so wellies off, school shoes on, all sorts of macs and brollies to hang up, reading books out of bags... Children with parents used to take 10 minutes at least. Kids alone were in in 3 minutes flat and the TA then helped the 3 kids who struggled.

Who would have thought the absence of 30 parents, 8 toddlers and 10 buggies made things easier . Almost all 4yo can do this alone and the few who can't will be spotted without this huge crowd.

Classroom door also has 1 teacher welcoming the pupils rather than Ms Superworried, Mr Pfb, Ms Tigermum and Mr Patronising harrassing the teaching staff and stopping the kids from entering by blocking the doorway.

We are not allowed in school and are meant to make an appointment if we want to speak to the teacher. I'm found it makes the school a bit of a 'black box' that you are not part of which I didn't like. But you can get round this by being a parent helper (in a different class) and volunteering for school trips. I don't think it would be a good idea for parents to go into the classroom and at a school full of pushy parents like mine it could be quite intimidating for the teacher.

at the DC's school they line up in the playground from the second day, and parents don't go in.
TBH I think I prefer it - not for safeguarding reasons, but as a gentle introduction for the DC to being responsible for organising yourself and your stuff. They forget things a lot to begin with, but learn fast. And it means no parent can monopolise the teacher, which I think might be a distinct possibility for one or two individuals if they were allowed to mill about for longer.

This might be being publicised as a safeguarding issue but in my opinion it is not.
Ofsted will not bothered whether the children all line up outside or are escorted into the classrooms. What they are bothered about is that when school starts at say 0900 that there are not loads of parents milling around in the school, which then disrupt the teacher from starting. And that is what the new headteacher is probably concerned about. It is annoying that rather than say this is to make sure we start on time they have wrapped it up in the all-encompassing excuse of safeguarding.
If parents are let into the classrooms and are then able to wand the corridors of the school after the start of the school day then that is a potential safeguarding issue as the school does not know who is in the school uninvited.

I am sure the school just wants to stop the congestion of how many parents bustling about in the school. No need for parents to go in once they have been in R for a year, surely?

admission Would you not say the lack of clarity over when the parent has handed over responsibility for the child counts as a potential safeguarding issue? (interested, not nitpicking).

So if parent has gone in with child and child wanders out, is the parent responsible or the school?
If parent is in and child goes off to loo with parent's knowledge and parent leaves then unknowingly child follows to give parent a hug, who is responsible then?

At our school, school becomes responsible the moment child steps over the threshold past the on duty teacher/TA.

We drop ours at the closest door. Infants doors are close to classrooms (reception are dropped at the external classroom door) juniors all go through one door. No one allowed in the school. TAs are on each door for messages. Same system in reverse coming home except juniors come out of 3 doors rather than the 1 they go in.

Parents used to be able to come through the classrooms to drop children/coats/bookbags off and then continue through to the office. Unfortunately that meant they were able to roam through the school. When we found one parent in a classroom looking through OTHER children's books we had to put a stop to that! Now children line up on the playground and parents who need the office have to walk round to the front entrance!

We have to take ks1 children to the classroom. They complained recently in a letter home that not all parents were doing so and said it must happen. I'd love to drop and run myself, school is a congested chaos between 8:40 and 9 am due to the rule that parents must come in.

Our school stopped this the other year except for reception children - adults can go into the cloakroom then leave. It's a big old squish.

The children are fine with going in alone, it's the parents who struggle - miss that having a quick word with teacher!

There's been a few children who have struggled with separation but it's been handled really well and looked at on an individual basis.

The result is extra teaching time as the class are ready for registration much earlier and less chaos in the class in a morning.

Though the lost property box is now vast.

My YR child (4 years old) changed her own reading books with a parent helper manning the "Reading Book Cottage". She chose her own library books and got changed for PE without help. No parents allowed in the school or even the playground at our infant school. The playground was only accessible via the school and there was simply no space for 60 parents to deliver children to the Reception classroom, or any classroom. We could take our child into the cloakroom for the first week but I did it for the first day only to check she could find her peg amongst 60 pegs. A few struggled but most children were very happy. I rarely heard a complaint from the parents. We rather liked the fact that our children were capable!

My DD2 attended a small independent school for a bit. Parents everywhere. Even in Y1, Parents and children still crying at being separated. Parents waving at the windows and peering in as the teacher was trying to settle the children. Thankfully we shipped out to a school where the parents and children were more robust! If I needed to ask anything, I emailed.

Wow so glad I don't have to take dc into their classes. Not even sure how is I'd do it with 3dc in 3 different classes.we wait in play ground and teachers come to the door and see them in. Ta helps in coat area with little ones.