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??

OP, are you coming back to this thread ?

but then again to me, fact acquisition is something you can do anytime, it's skills that you need to learn in primary school.

I couldn't disagree more and I think this is a deeply worrying attitude to be honest.

Kids of middle class, well-educated parents who get read to and taken to museums and libraries and extra curricular activities and educational days out learn plenty of facts (and vocabulary). Kids who spend much of their time out of school in front of (non-educational) screens and haphazardly babysitting each other while parents work multiple poorly paid jobs, and who barely have a book in the house, don't tend to learn a lot of facts or vocabulary.

School is supposed to fill in these gaps. That's why it's important for each country to have a standardized curriculum which specifies content. Otherwise it creates yawning disparities between the kids whose parents take knowledge acquisition for granted and those who do not. If the curriculum is not standardized, schools in poorer areas with less educated intakes are easily tempted to make their curricula "more relevant to our students' lives and experiences" etc., which tends to translate as "poorer kids get dumbed-down and less academic curriculum content." The gaps inevitably get bigger.

And learning "skills" is something that should grow out of learning content (i.e., the students learn a lesson about a unit in history that they are supposed to be covering, including lots of facts/knowledge, and as part of that process a skill like note-taking or holding a class discussion gets incorporated into the lesson as well). You can't teach skills in the absence of content--it's like trying to teach someone to juggle air.

OP, I agree with you on every point.
Previous posters claiming such attitudes/policies by schools are 'normal' doesn't make them right.
As a parent you need to be able to ensure your child is doing the best they are capable of and help when/where needed with areas they might struggle. Sadly schools won't have time nor inclination to make that possible.
I feel you pain

Nope we aren't allowed in with our children - it is too much to let the parents in & making the children go in alone encourages independence, we see the books at the 2 parents evening & once a year our school hosts a STAR day where parents, relatives etc are allowed to drop in and the child brings all their books to you & you are allowed to sit in the hall with them & look through & discuss all their work - the children absolutely love STAR day and get very excited about you dropping in to see them - the entire event is totally child led too - no teacher standing over them, it is an amazing day & I love that our school does it. We complete a sheet with the child throughout were they talk about their feelings and likes/dislikes