Serious anxiety about my kids going back next week

[OnTheRoadToSomewhere]

I hate my kid's school and I can feel the anxiety in my stomach already. Don't get me wrong, my kids are having an okay experience - their teachers have been genuinely good and (not in a braggy way) my kids are ahead of their age groups in terms of their learning and abilities. Though that being said, they are ill all the time. People send in their poorly kids and laugh about it in the playground whilst my son has no immune system to speak of so.... thanks a lot. They also do forest school and just give them a baby wipe at the end to wash their hands - not like proper soap and tap handwashing?!

But honestly the experience for me as the parent is horrendous. I feel like nobody in the admin staff knows what they're doing. Communication is bad, it's either pointless spammy stuff or they make huge mistakes in useful info (they got holiday dates wrong and didn't even correct themselves last year!)

The headteacher left during the summer holidays last year unexpectedly and they were scrambling for a replacement. She's only just been appointed at the end of last school year so hopefully she can make some change.

The building is dated, everything in there is dated. The nursery toys my daughter is playing with seem like they've been there decades. There are no up-to-date books.

Parents are pulling their kids out in droves to other schools in the area and being very vocal and snobby about it honestly. And not to mention Ofsted gave them the lowest rating possible in their last report (though I take Ofsted's opinion with a pinch of salt because it was largely due to inadequate leadership ie, the headteacher leaving everyone up sh*t creek)

We can't leave, we can't move. We're just not in a position to do anything about it so my anxiety is going mad.

I can't figure out whether to get really involved and try help? But like who cares about one random mum's opinion, it's not like I'm qualified? Or whether I should just drop them off, pick them up, dissociate unless my attention is needed.

I care so much about my kids education, it makes me so sad that we're in this position. I look back to the primary I went to and where it is now and damn, it's a tightly run ship.

I guess I'm just venting, not sure any advice is applicable since we can't go anywhere else, but I had to vocalise this otherwise I'd be a coiled spring by the time we go back next week!

There’s a lot in your post and a lot of valid concerns, some of which are tricky to fix. But one thing that jumps out at me as a bit more immediately tractable is the toys/books etc being old. Is there a PTA you could join and do some fundraising to get new stuff?

As far as I'm aware there's no form of PTA at the school. I've been looking into who the board of governors are because I know sometimes that can be made up partly of parents and it's all like... local CEO's and university deans 🤔 so I'm certain they're not actually meeting up and spending time on the school.

A lot of what governors do is looking at more of the business side of running the school so those backgrounds do make sense, they should have some parent governors as well though. Might it be worth talking to some of the governors about your concerns?

Yes get as fully involved as you possibly can. There aren’t enough adults in school, and there are too many children. More adults means things like hand washing can be monitored properly. So yes, if you can do a few hours in school, it would really help.

About the illness - good indoor air quality matters. It won't cut transmission totally but it reduces viral loads in the air, important for airborne viruses like flu, COVID, RSV...

Share this TES article with the school administration and follow up with them about it - what are they doing about ventilation for example? https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/general/attendance-focus-shows-why-good-ventilation-schools-still-matters

Yes, when I talk about 'getting involved' my mind was thinking about speaking with senior staff and governors. Hence my doubt because in their eyes - who the hell am I to start sticking my oar in. But I really don't see any other parents doing it either so if not me, who?

Unfortunately I wouldn't have the time to give them my hours. Anything I could give would be outside of school/working hours. 😕

Thankyou! Yes, I've been wondering about this ever since they went back into schools full time. This resource is helpful, thanks 😁

A new head teacher s a good opportunity to see about a PTA. If you sit around waiting for someone else to take the initiative then you will be sitting waiting for ever. Start the ball rolling. I know a school which does a “ community day”every so often, parents come in and tidy the school grounds, paint things that are looking scruffy, scrub down things that are looking grubby. Makes a difference and gets people introduced to each other. Start small, aim big.

And ask at the school office for a copy of the Governing Body meetings, ask who is responsible for each area of the curriculum, this is public information, most schools have GB members listed on their websites.

This is great and has given me a bit more confidence, thanks. As has your other message about asking for the Governors info.

With respect, you have no reason to be going in commenting on things to SLT. What opinions do you think you can offer that they aren't already aware of? The governing board sounds about right in terms of mix. They don't get involved in day to day operational matters, they are strategic.

I think the involvement you want is more PTA.

Also wrote to your MP about school funding. That's why the toys and books are old.