Parents' evening

[Notthissticky]

My school have been doing digital parents' evenings since January. The expectation is that this is done from home, but if we asked, we were allowed to stay at school. However, we've just been told this is no longer possible due to server problems. Is this common? SLT seem incapable of understanding that for some people, it is not possible to WFH from 4pm until 7pm. I have two small kids in a tiny flat with no spare room. 5-7 is bath/ dinner/ bedtime.

Would you be able to get a babysitter and explain to the sitter that you had meetings? What would you do if you were working from school?

My school told us for the first remote parents evening last year that we all had to be in school. That caused problems with internet speed. We are in a rural area and the meetings kept pausing. In the end it went to you can either do it from home or from school. We had to tell them where we would be doing it. Most went home but SLT set the rule that we couldn't have interruptions from family members and couldn't be while we sat on a bed as it was unprofessional. I chose to stay in school and get my parents to babysit. Those of us that stayed in school had to all be in one area of the building so the caretakers could lock up the rest and make it a quick getaway for them too. Most people chose to go home and there were no more than 10 that stayed in school each time. There is no way I could do parents evening from home as I have an open plan living area and two bedrooms (mine and my son's). If I was in your situation I would send a polite email explaining your living situation and stating that you need to stay in school for parents evening. Then ask whether that would be possible. If they come back to you saying no, then explain that you need them to find another solution otherwise you won't be possible to do the parents evening in this instance.

We are expected to stay in school for ours.
I would definitely kick back against this and tell them everything you have told us, that you cannot conduct a professional pe from home and you need to be in school.

Just to clarify: my husband will be looking after the kids (3y and 9m), but will be juggling dinner and bedtime. I would have to sit in our bedroom but I don't think work mind. However, all our rooms open onto one hallway, so it's really easy for the toddler to burst in when my husband has his back turned or is focused on the baby.

I suggested a café but was told this wasn't acceptable due to confidentiality. I then said I would ask our neighbours if I could use their spare room and from my manager's reaction you'd have thought she was doing me a huge favour 🤦🏼‍♀️

I'm tempted to just do it from home and let it all go to shit. Not sure how to get them to listen to me otherwise. Their attitude seems to be that it's my problem to solve.

We have to be in school for ours.

Do any of the SLT have children?

I'm finding that people are being promoted younger and younger and I don't always feel they understand how family unfriendly teaching can be.

Two men have children, but their wives do the majority of childcare, to facilitate their careers. One woman is currently on maternity leave with her first baby. None of the others have children. So no working mothers on SLT atm... My line manager is awful for not understanding, as she seems to think she knows what it's like to work and have small children because she has nieces and nephews🤦🏼‍♀️

It is down to them to find a solution. It is your home and not your workplace. I find a polite email explaining the issue and asking for their preferred solution works best. Dont apologise for having a family.