Question for KS1 parents. What are the arrangement for your Y1 and Y2 child entering the classroom in the morning?

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The arrangements at DDs school are chaotic. All 4 classes have to line up in a space that isn't big enough to accommodate a line of 30 pupils and there are up to 120 parents crowding around this cramped space. The teacher blows a whistle and then each line is led into a shared corridor so the pupils can hang up bags and coats and then they go into their classrooms via the internal door, off the corridor.

DD started school at a different school and the arrangements were much better. The pupils entered the classrooms via their individual (exterior) class doors. They did not have to line up but were able to stand with parents, outside the door, until the teacher was ready for them to come inside.

I am wondering what is the norm.

now they are in year one we drop off in the playground

a lot of parents wait until the bell goes and watch them line up

i dont see the point because a) once in the playground the kids cant escape
b) when i work ds goes to breakfast club and is just let into the playground
and more importantly
c) it is soooooooooo dull standing around, being in the way, boring for dd who i need to take to playgroup anyway

There is no norm really. It very much depends upon the physical set up of the school.

In some schools, each classroom will have its own external door where children line up. In others, there will just be one external door where they all line up and enter one line at a time. Other schools may only have room to line up one class at a time.

Why are the parents crowding in there too? When school rings the bell do parents not leave/move back? If it's already crowded, parents squeezing in too won't help.

Our norm is the latter. We stand outside the classroom with the kids until the doors open and then go in. It is still a little bit chaotic when all the kids try going through the door at the same time, but the ta's usually keep them in check!

DS2's infant school has the same routine for all 3 YRS (R-Y2)

The gates to the playground open at 8.45 - they go into the playground and straight into the building (minus parents - although a few reception children do get taken to the door into the school for a while), then I think they go and put lunch boxes in the hall and go and hang their coats up and go into the classrooms.

At the Junior school the playground is supervised from 8.40 and they hang around in there (minus parents obviously) until the whislte goes, line up in classes and then get taken in class by class.

all of the pupils line up in classes then the teacher leads them in a class at a time starting with reception and ending with yr6.

there is plenty of room though its a big yard, and the coats are kept in the classroom.

Its not at all chaotic the children stay in line, they are very well trained

They line up, file into the cloakroom class by class, and go into their classrooms after they have finished in the cloakroom. It's normal.

They go into yhr classroom with or without parents , then go out to play.Someone rings a bell and they stand in lines by year group (about 7 or 8 in each yr) then when instructed walk (infants) charge (juniors) into their classrooms.
They might be changing it though as many parents find the lining up business is apparently too degrading and military style for their PFB

sorry that should have begun they go into the classroom with or without their parents to hang up bags and coats

Wait in the playground.

Bell goes.

Children line up in class lines.

Teacher leads them into classrrom (via external doors).

If it is raining we take them straight to the classroom door and they go straight in.

It's very civilised.

dd1 is in y1 but a blended reception/year 1 class. Bell goes, no lining up, kids and parents pile into the corridor, outside the classroom, chaos ensues. I try and keep out of the way, let dd1 do as much as possible by herself, say goodbye outside the classroom in the corridor.

From (I think) y3 onwards, parents aren't allowed into school, they just say goodbye in the playground when the bell goes.

I work in a Y1 class.

• School doors open at 8:40am
• Children and parents come into classroom.
• Book bags into drawers, lunch bags on rack in class, water bottles in tray by sink, coats on pegs just outside classroom
• activities out on each table, plsu role play areas and book corner - children and parents choose where to go
• 8:50am bell goes
• teacher class children to the carpet for register, and parents leave

At DD;s school when she was in Y1 and Y2:

• 8:15am - doors open
• Parents and children put coats and bags on pegs downstairs
• take message folders, homework, reading book upstairs to classroom and put where they belong
• unless raining, outside to play
• bell goes at 8:30am, where children line up and go in
• parents can leave from 8:15am, when there is a member of staff on playground duty

We now leave ours in the dining hall where they do the whole lining up thing (year 1) and the pfb moaning about this has been enormous.

I for one dont want all the parents roaming around taking their dcs to the classrooms - surely its a child protection thing.

Ds is in Yr2.

The main door is opened 10 minutes before the official school start time. The children go in without having to line up first. A teacher or TA waits at the door to make sure there are no problems. Parents don't go inside as it would be far too crowded.

It's very easy at our school. All the KS1 classrooms have external doors so we wait in the playground until the bell goes then the Ds's wait outside their classes and go in alone.

From Y3 onward parents leave their children at a different gate and children go into the playground and wait alone.

all class doors open out on to the playground. Parents wait with their children (who tend to run off and do their own thing anyway) until the doors open then the children go into class on their own.

I think generally it does depend on the layout of the school as to how things are done.

I think tbh that often the chaos is caused more by the parents than the children - it's amazing how quickly they fall into line if it's just staff controlling them, without parents jumping into the mix.

At DD's school (Yr 2) they line up when the whistle goes, and then file in starting with Yr R. Yr r & Yr 1 have separate doors and cloakrooms, and Yrs 2-6 go in one year at a time through the main door to the main cloakroom. The teachers (apart from the one on playground duty) wait in the cloakroom to supervise the mayhem!

Is the problem at your DD's school that the parents are also crowding into a small space, or that you're unsure about the whole lining up thing?

I think, then, that the problem at DD's school is the lack of space in the KS1 'playground'. Knowing that there is not enough space to form a straight line of 30 children, they tend to line up as soon as they go into the playground - the whistle marks the point when stragglers rush to line up and the teachers are ready to lead them in. This means parents tend to loiter in the lining up area. There are 2 entrances to the school which means there are also parents hovering around the side of each end line. Seems it would be better if the rule was not to line up until the whistle blows.

Thanks for your responses.

The main problem is that it is not very pleasant for the children to have a mass of parents crowding around them. Especially as the school has a 3 term entry and the summer born Year 1s will only have done one term in cuddly Reception (where parents can take the children into the classroom).

DS is in Year 1 in a lower school so five classes (reception/nursery to year 4). All classes line up in their designated part of playground, teachers come and take children to their classroom. Hasn't rained yet this term but when it does we will take them to the door where they go in.

Process is speeded up a bit from last year as teacher used to come down the waiting line to see if we had any problems/things to talk about.

geoffkates - can't see how it would be a child protection issue to have parents going into school. Teachers and support staff are always present, and no parents are going anywhere isolated with pupils.

In DDs school it works fine as the classes are so small. But even in the class I work in it is fine. We have the room all organised with things to do so it kind o dispells the parents a bit and takes the chaos away from the cloakroom.

we have to drop the kids at the gates and they make their own way to the line. Parents of the new Primary 1's are allowed into the playground for the first few weeks but after that no parents are allowed to enter the school gates. Do the parents really need to be there with the children?

I actually think it is nice, where it is possible, to have that daily contact with the class teacher, both from the point of view of a parent myself, and as a member of staff. A quick chat, a hello, etc. to help build up some form of relationship between home and school. It can also benefit the children to see this too.

Dd1 is in yr1. School doors open at 8:50 and you can either go in to the classroom and read until 9:10 with your child or dump them and run! It is a small village school. This is the routine for the whole school - reception-yr3.

i just assume the teachers dont want a quick chat, they dont come into the playground until the bell goes
if they wanted a chat and get to know us better they could mingle ten minutes before the bell goes
its all about strict if you want to talk to the teacher book an appointment

Playground with parents. Bell goes. Kids line up in classes. Kiss bye bye. Teachers takes them in. Parents leave playground. Ta Da !!!