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Primary education

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Original poster

Bit 'meh' after visiting our first open day

73 replies

LoisLittsLover · 13/11/2018 11:24

Dh, dd (4) and I visted our local village primary today and i'm just a bit disheartened.

The morning was advertised on the wdbsite as 9:30 - 11:30, turned up at 9:40 to see that we had missed the main meeting. Tours were underway, led by year 6 pupils who were very confident and articulate but not able to answer some questions about reception homework etc. Reception classroom was in full flow of a usual day so no chance to speak with those teachers, and head had a huge queue of perspective parents so didn't like to bother her. The school is small (1 form entry) but hugley popular so over 150 families trying to look round, so spent ages queueing.

The classroom was lovely etc and sure dd would do okay but if (and i know it is an if) will future poor organisation at events drive me mad? I work closley with schools and understand the pressures etc but both dh and i could see really easy ways that the morning could run smoother

OP posts:

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megletthesecond · 14/11/2018 06:40

I went to one led by the year 6's and with no opportunity to talk to teachers. I really didn't like it as the year 6 children couldn't answer any questions. I decided against the school as I wasn't optimistic about the lack of communication. Others who did moaned about not being able to speak to the teachers when needed.

Go and see if they have an open evening to see the teachers. But it may be that if they're over subscribed and don't need to attract people they won't do it.

Wednesdaypig · 14/11/2018 06:54

I'm aghast at 300-odd people milling around a small school for 2 hours during the school day! Dread to think of the rampage if there was an emergency

Yumyumbananas · 14/11/2018 07:04

This is where schools cannot win! We hold an evening one. Plenty of time to ask questions and speak to the teachers. But some people are not happy and want to come round during the school day. We offer two slots per month for this (a morning and an afternoon) but often get told that people cannot make these specific times due to work. It’s unreasonable to expect a school to free up the head and teachers to suit possible tens, hundreds of prospective parents.

You should have been on time at 9.30am. Or you should have telephoned to ask.

As for reception homework.... send an email and ask about it? I expect it’s the standard of reading books and some word cards.

Oblomov18 · 14/11/2018 07:19

You are being overly harsh. You are not understanding how schools operate if you think it is drop in, it's not, it starts at 9.30
But you might not of known that. You do now! Being a school parent is quite a steep learning curve actually!

Avegemitesandwich · 14/11/2018 07:23

You are not understanding how schools operate if you think it is drop in, it's not, it starts at 9.30

Eh? I am a primary teacher and our open days are always drop in, otherwise there will be billions of parents there at the same time!

OP, I would have assumed the same as you if I had seen 9:30 - 11:30. Apart from anything else, it doesn't take 2 bloody hours to look round a 1 form entry village school! And if there was a meeting at 9:30 that should have been stated.

Quickerthanavicar · 14/11/2018 07:32

I doubt they only have one open day, go to the next one, the Christmas Bazaar etc and be on time.

Valasca · 14/11/2018 07:41

I went to about 6 open days and every single one started at a specific time with a general introduction from the head. In the small group (2-6 parents), the head took us around for a tour. In the large groups, 20-100s, we were divided into groups and given tours by older children. None of them were drop ins. None of them included teachers stopping their lessons to chat with parents and answer questions.

NotCitrus · 14/11/2018 07:45

Go to their Christmas fair. You'll get a much better idea of what parents think and get to chat to some staff.

Quartz2208 · 14/11/2018 07:49

School open days sound a lot like you describe - the idea is for you to get the feel of the school, see the school day in action, get the opinions of the children who are there and see how happy they are.

There seems nothing wrong in the organisation - the teachers cannot stop teaching the reception to answer questions and the head presumably gave a quick talk at the beginning and then was available for questions at the end

Your questions I suspect would be answered once places have been given out and then there would be a talk arrange in July to tell you these things. with further meetings once started

Knitwit101 · 14/11/2018 07:50

I would have assumed it was a drop in too if that was how the invite was worded.

RedSkyLastNight · 14/11/2018 07:52

In defence of the OP, if the open day was of an "introductory talk followed by general look around" format, the school should have made that clear.

I've been to many open days (2 children, 3 school changing ages) and they were all of the drop in variety, with the time of the head's talk (if applicable) being clearly advertised. A small school does not need 2 hours to walk around so I think it was reasonable for OP also to assume this was a drop in type.

1099 · 14/11/2018 08:39

We've been to about 4 Open days recently, every single one has said they'd be happy for people to contact them if they wanted to visit again during a normal school day, so apparently no they don't have other things to do which are more important. Also I think it's reasonable to expect, when visiting a primary school, that most of the parents will be looking for a place for their YR child so maybe the Yr6 guides should have had a handout they could give which had relevant info on it.

FredFlinstoneMadeOfBones · 14/11/2018 09:26

The school is over subscribed that should speak for itself. The teachers cannot show you around or speak to you during the open morning as they were teaching.

This is actually not true. Schools in naice areas often get good results and are over subscribed without providing an excellent education. Personally I do think it's important that the school is willing to make time for parents when needed.

RedSkyLastNight · 14/11/2018 09:35

The school is over subscribed that should speak for itself.

It tells you that according to local gossip, this school is good.

This may or may not bear any resemblance to reality.
In particular, it might suggest that the school has a naice middle class conformist intake and can't cope with children who are square pages in round holes.
Or it may mean that the school used to be very good and gossip hasn't yet worked out is now on the downward trajectory.
Or the school may actually be very good, but whether or not it's right for OP's DD is another question.

MissWimpyDimple · 14/11/2018 09:37

If it's so oversubscribed will you even get a place? I think it's pointless viewing schools that you won't have a hope of getting as it just makes you see others badly.

But you were late. They weren't disorganised!

Dawsonforehead · 14/11/2018 09:44

I would also have interpreted "open morning" to mean drop in, especially if no info was given beforehand about the Head giving a talk.

Gileswithachainsaw · 14/11/2018 09:50

I would also have interpreted "open morning" to mean drop in, especially if no info was given beforehand about the Head giving a talk

Do people really think that just go in and wander around?

How can you expect organisation. Ie information gaining and group tours, then show up at random times?
I can't understand how you can hold thise two conflicting thoughts in your head at the same time.

RedSkyLastNight · 14/11/2018 09:54

How can you expect organisation. Ie information gaining and group tours, then show up at random times?

You arrive at front door. You are greeted by an adult (who might be the head, the deputy head, the school receptionist or someone else depending on school setup). You are given handouts. You are assigned a person to show you round (possibly you have to wait for other people to arrive to make a bigger group). Or you are given a school map and told to wander round on your own.

At least that's what every school open day I've been to has done.

HauntedPencil · 14/11/2018 09:56

I would have expected to miss some being late.

As far as the year 6 showing you around I'm not sure how much actual detail is expect them to know but I think it's nice to get them involved.

If you have unanswered questions I'm sure they would be happy to follow up.

It's a huge thing and you are probably feeling nervous etc but I think maybe writing it off over this is rather unfair.

Dawsonforehead · 14/11/2018 09:57

To be fair I would not have expected talks and tours on an open morning. The 2 schools where I have been to an "open morning" parents were shown from the office to the Reception classroom and there was no tour. It was just drop in and we could look around the wall displays, talk to the children (it was free flow time) and the teachers were walking around talking to parents. So it does exist in this way in some schools.

TuckMyWin · 14/11/2018 09:57

Giles- people don't show up at random times. They show up in the 2 hour timeframe given. I too have been to a number of open mornings recently for schools. They are drop in. It does not take 2 hours to visit a primary school. Presumably the school recognise that 100% of parents may not be able to turn up at 9am on the dot on a given day, so they provide a 2 hour time window. Some provide multiple slots on more than one day. Some do evenings to accommodate parents that can't take time off work in the day. And some don't do open days, and do appointment only. In my experience, they have pairs of year 6's waiting to take parents round. So you turn up, you get introduced to a couple of year 6's, and they show you round. When they've finished showing you round, they go back and meet another set of parents. It's not hard.

Notso · 14/11/2018 09:57

I've never been to an open day. When we were looking all the local primary schools did open evenings. I'm quite pleased there's not a hoard of parents and children traipsing round while my kids are learning tbh.
I wonder what you were expecting from the session. It's pretty obvious the school is busy during the day and that there are going to be lots of parents all wanting to ask the head questions. It's a shame you misinterpreted the timings and missed the meeting as maybe that was when your questions would have been answered.

Isitme13 · 14/11/2018 09:59

Whilst I do think the OP made a couple of mistakes (which she has acknowledged, and learned from), I do also think the school is at fault.

Clearly there was not enough readily available information about how the morning would be organised, and seemingly not enough staff members around able to answer the questions that all parents will have. It sounds poorly organised, and would have me questioning whether I wanted to send my child there.

But then I’m one of those parents - I expect to have any queries answered, and I don’t like being treated (me or my dc) as though we are an annoyance if we need to know something

Gileswithachainsaw · 14/11/2018 10:00

I've never been to one that's not involved a presentation, question answering opportunities, and tours.

Dawsonforehead · 14/11/2018 10:02

OK so there are clearly different ways that different schools run "open morning". The key is in the communication and if there are talks involved that should be made clear. It should not come down to the parents interpretation as this thread now shows, we have all had different experiences.

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