Should we be allowed to see what work our children do at school???

[SchoolMum66]

Wondering what is done at other Primary schools???...There is always a feeling at our school that the school staff do not like parents having transparency. There is a generally hostile/defensive stance towards parents. The latest thing is a change to morning routine. My children are in year 1 and 2, and we could previously come into the cloakroom and the classroom for drop off btn 8.40 and 8.55. This was invaluable to us as we got a few minutes to see what work they were doing - seeing stuff up on walls in classroom etc, and because their worksheets from previous day with corrections to be done were on their desks, so parents could see (a) what they were doing each day (as anyone knows if you ask a child what they did at school they say "nothing") and (b) more importantly see what they were struggling with so we can follow up at home. Perfect! Now we are not allowed into the building at all (staff guarding the door). The official reason is along the lines of 'safeguarding' (laughable in a rural school of 80!) and independence. None of us believe this is the real reason.
So what I want to know is what is allowed in other schools??
And what feedback parents get in other schools?? We have two parent/teacher meetings per year, stopwatch put on as we walk in the door for 10 minutes. And one 1/2 hour per year where we can come in to see the children's workbooks (30 children + parents in the classroom at once so can't talk to teacher, just a quick flick through). Other than this we never, ever get to see their work. The only information we have about what they are doing is the brief summary of the year on the curriculum page, but not detailed or specific and not scheduled. And NO feedback on our own child, except 2x10 minutes/yr.
It is made clear that we are never allowed to speak to the teacher, at drop off or pick up. We are told instead to write a message/question to the teacher and send with child. I have done this a handful of times and more often than not it is ignored. Are you able to speak to teachers at other schools??
So I am trying to get an idea about what other schools do, and if we can reasonably expect to know/see what work our children are doing??

God, imagine 30 odd parents cluttering up the cloakroom every morning because they want to see a few paintings or whatever

The feedback you receive is standard for nearly all schools. My dc school also doesn't allow parents unsupervised access to the school after one grandfather exposed himself himself in the boys' toilets. So I don't think the school's safeguarding concerns are laughable.

I can understand why the school don’t want all the parents in the classroom - our primary school (100 pupils) is a small village school and wouldn’t fit all the parents in!
We arrive at school around 8.40, the kids play until the bell goes at 8.50 while the parents get to have a 10 minute gossip and then the kids go in and we go off on our day. I can’t remember the last time I went into the classroom! My two are in reception a Y1.

What you have described is normal, with the exception of contacting the teacher out with the set parent's evenings. Our school have a policy of calling the school to arrange an appointment to see class teacher at any time, as long as there's prior notice, not just turning up at drop off or pick up. Do your kids not get work sent home at the end of the year?

We aren’t even allowed in the school gates with the children, never mind into the building.

Jottters and a folder of work is left out for parents to view before going into parents meeting (twice a year).

Occasionally the teacher will send home a note/ email saying ‘this terms project is castles and kings’ or ‘you can help your kids with multiplication by using these web resources’ but not much else.

I’m pretty happy with the level of involvement.
Do you feel like you need to see more than you are getting currently? If you have specific concerns, couldn’t you pick up with the teacher?

We get a weekly email with topics for the week.
I see the books 3 times a year - 2 parents evenings, and they get sent home at the end of the year.

We have the same. All children left at the door to allow routines to be followed. Actually Settles the children more quickly. We had the usual ones who kicked off and wobbled their heads for a while but even they can see now it makes for a smoother start to the day. They do have an open door policy tho so you can go and talk to the head and also visit and walk around if you need to.... obviously by prior arrangement. When the open door policy was literally an open door policy parents would harass staff in the morning to talk about their child when they were doing things like setting up their classroom or photocopying last minute resources. My children’s school are also happy to send their books home for you to read through if you can’t make a parents eve so long as you give them a little
Notice

Sorry, in answer to your other questions we are allowed to talk to the teachers, the class teachers bring each yeah group out at the end of the day and if we wish to talk to the teacher we can. They kids also have diaries that are looked at daily so if we have any messages we can put them in there (these are generally used to put comments about what reading has been done at school or home that day.

Maybe home schooling would suit you better.

We get a sheet every half term telling us what they're studying in each subject. Homework books come home weekly so we can see how the previous week was marked and read comments. Teacher is available for very quick queries in the morning and will talk in more detail in the afternoon or if it can't be dealt with then we can make an appointment. I am very aware of how busy she is and will only ever chat to her if absolutely necessary, most parents are like this as far as I can see. I think this level of communication gets it just right. The only time I ever felt dissatisfied was when my dd was going through diagnosis for autism and I really felt kept in the dark about what was being done for her. A very frank meeting with her teacher and school inclusion manager soon sorted that though. I don't think being kept out of the classroom/cloakroom is anything to get worked up about, that's normal but it does sound like communication could be improved. I think ours gets it just right, we are a big inner city school just for comparison.

At primary school we got 2 parents evenings per year with a folder of work left out to glance through as we were witing for our appointment. Then an annual written report at the end of the year.
Parents were only allowed inside on the first 3 days of reception class. From then on the children lined up in the playground.

Same for us we are not allowed into the building which I think is good as you would get parents loitering around and getting in the way.

At parents evening we can see our childs books in the corridor before the meeting.

The teachers have enough to do without over attentive parents getting in the way and taking up their time.

All the parents coming in in the morning sounds like a nightmare!
We get the standard school report, looking through books at parents evening.
Can talk (briefly) to the teacher at the beginning and end of each day though.

Seriously? You were wandering round the classroom, and checking marked work on the teachers desk?

That's not normal, extremely annoying for the staff, and I'm not surprised they put a stop to it.

At our primary school the teachers come out to the playground to collect their class. Years ago parents used to be able to go inside but I think it was a nightmare for the teachers. Children couldn't get to their pegs or trays because of all the adults in there. Some parents were hanging around after the bell had gone, and others would wander off around the school.

The teachers are happy to have a quick chat if it's something relevant to that particular day, eg parent will drop off the forgotten PE kit/reading book at the school office in a few minutes. If a parent wants to talk about progress, school work, behaviour, or anything personal then they would be expected to make an appointment to see the teacher at a different time.

School books don't come home (except reading books) as it would be a miracle if they made it back to school again. We get an overview of the latest class topic.

There are usually a couple of meetings or workshops during the year for parents who are interested in particular areas of the curriculum but those are a general overview of what is being taught and not specific to a particular child. Some will include a short classroom visit.

I think they get the balance right. Parents may think of it as "But I'm only asking for 10 minutes of the teacher's time" but what happens when every parent wants 'just 10 minutes'?

That's a big chunk of the teacher's time taken up when they already hardly get a break during the school day.

The official reason is along the lines of 'safeguarding' (laughable in a rural school of 80!)

You can’t seriously think that safeguarding is only an issue in certain parts of the country and when there are a certain number of children present? Please tell me you aren’t that unaware?

That must have been such a nightmare for the teachers having all the parents in the classroom and cloakroom first thing in the morning!!

At my children's first school parents were not even allowed in the playground. At their current school we are allowed in the playground, but i think that's to do with the pavements outside being so narrow and it would be dangerous having them crowded with parents. We are not allowed in the building though.

We drop ours off at the door. For the first half term in reception you are allowed to take them in if you want and it was utter chaos.

We get to have a look at their school books before parents evening and that's it.

We do get newsletters with things they will be doing in all their subjects for their year though every term and can have a quick word with the teacher on the door in the morning or after school if we need to.
Some classes do have the seesaw app as well which is great.

Ours has a very open door policy - can catch staff for a quick word before and after school (anything longer and we're asked to just make a quick appointment for after school). Not generally going into the classrooms (Reception do until they've settled down into the routine of hanging coats up etc) - although on an evening I often do have to go in to help my youngest go in on her 3rd return trip to retrieve whatever else she's forgotten (there are SEN reasons for this... and it's OK with the teacher for me to do so if she's struggling to get her stuff together after the other kids have gone out).

They do meet the new teacher sessions at the start of the year in all the classes for the class teachers to introduce themselves and explain class routines and the like - and we get half termly newsletters about topics etc - and a weekly(ish - it gets forgotten a bit toward the end of term) summary of what's going on in terms of what's being covered in phonics etc goes on the classroom doors. Homework usually comes home with a little explanation of what's been done in class as the leadup to the homework task - and anything really new and obscure (these flipping part-whole models in maths for example) gets explained to baffled parents at parents evenings etc as well.

Very little comes home in terms of work done - just endless endless oversized junk models where DD1's teamed up with her mates who've all helpfully declared it's DD1's turn to take the model home this time. Cue much screaming and trauma when its leg invariably falls off three times before we're out of the school gates!

Oh yeah and the head's quite often at the school gates chatting to parents, sorting out minor queries and keeping an eye on everything as well/grabbing any new babies for a quick cuddle session (which I sometimes suspect is the real reasoning behind it all!)

We've never been allowed in the classroom at DDs school. Not even Reception, but I never feel like I don't know what's going on at school.

On Parent's Evenings all the books are out to look at, and there's often a display board out at pick up time to have a look at different things the children have been up to.

We can talk to the teacher any time, etc.

It would just be a nightmare having all the parents in every morning!

We get a news letter every term outlining what topics they are doing what sort of homework they will get etc. Two parents nights a year one about near the start one near the end where we are encouraged to go to the classrooms where the dc’s trays are laid out with all their work and have a look around the stuff on the walls. In May there is an open afternoon where parents/grandparents are invited in to be shown around by our children and see what’s going on in the school.
Teachers let out at the end of the day and can be grabbed for a chat and appointments can be made for anything that will take more time or is more private.

It is a larger than yours but still fairly rural school where every knows everyone. We don’t go in to the cloakroom in the morning and can see that being an utter nightmare don’t blame them for stopping it.

Safeguarding is a very valid reason actually however why do you need to see your child’s work daily.

If there is no issue then you really don’t need to be picking up issues every day . That’s the teachers job .

Also you need to rephrase your questions . What was the best thing you did today ? Who did you play with at lunch? What did you do in maths . What did you do today never gets an answer

We aren’t allowed in without a teacher at any point. You can request to see the teacher after school. As for seeing the work you can see it three times a year then can request to see it other times too. For my son I’ve seen it three times this term as there are Sen issues.
As for it being due to safeguarding I think it is a good idea.

I think reception you can go in until Christmas but I tried to avoid it as I am so clumsy I was at real risk of falling over pushchairs

Wow we must be lucky. DD year R. We have stay and play twice a month and during this time can see what's going on in classroom and look at folders. It's a nice way to keep up to date but I wouldn't worry if I didn't get to see anything. We have 2 parents evenings a year plus weekly email updates and can chat to teachers am and/or pm if need be.