[Ammi]

..I guess that (as well as having our own opinions..)..we can only go on our own experiences as well and in this school it could be a 'growing trend', but in ours, it's really just more isolated occasions that some parents sometimes wear pjs for the school drop off but it is only sometimes with those parents and only occasionally, not something that is an every day or regular thing...it's funny though, quite a few years ago we did have a parent who would do it more regularly/a dad...although it was commented on by other parents, it was commented on affectionately and in a jokey way...he was a very popular dad (very good looking..)..very charismatic, very charming etc and there he would be in the playground surrounded by mums all joking with him that he had his pjs on again and fluttering around him.....anyways, he had 10 children of all ages and had 3 school runs to do, plus pre school children as well..he also ran his own business, as did his wife/mum as well, she had her own business, both very busy people in every way...when it was his school run day, he (mostly..)...got the children to school on time, in his lovely pjs...when it was mum's day to do the school run..?...the children were often and mostly a little late but she was always fully and smartly dressed for work...there was a lot of criticism (from parents..)...that she could never get the children to school on time and yet those same parents, fluttering around her husband and joking that he was wearing his pjs again....hmmmm, can't win for losing I guess...


...anyways I'm probably biased in this because (again in my experience..)..I'm not a fan of academy schools, which this school is...for me, there just isn't the same ethos and family values/families working together..it's more about the business side...their website really bothers me for them to be a school who are making an issue out of this/focusing on it because all there is on the site are empty rooms...empty classrooms, empty halls, empty libraries...no focus on children and what the school has to offer and all od the happy, smiley faces of children doing activities, some of which parents participate in, as well as showing them in lessons...a website is not just for parent information, it's a 'showcase' of what a school offers for anyone who is new to the area or is looking to transfer their child to another school/for whatever that reason may be...so they're worried about parents wearing pjs as being a 'wrong impression'/bad example or whatever..if I was looking at a school to send my child to, I wouldn't care about parents in pjs but I would worry about the non focus on the children and their families...and it wouldn't be a school I would be interested in...I would want to feel my child is happy in their school environment would be the focal thing...

..the other thing is, the letter in itself...was the first communication with this..?..there are other ways of discussing this, we have a parent forum each term which would be the place to approach this and actually talk about it with the parents/discuss it and what their reasons are if it's felt that it's becoming a growing trend/a 'playground accessory'/type thing...the communication with this seems awful and definitely not what we should be teaching children/communication is everything so I think another thing that the school should be looking at themselves to handling something badly...no 'home/school agreement' that I'm aware covers a code of playground dress for parents, so nothing that can be attempted to enforce...with things like that, then there should be open discussions first, so was there those here..?..


...I just think personally that there are so many concerns in schools atm generally, really serious concerns that children are falling through gaps and those gaps are growing and becoming huge, children and families crying out for help because of behaviour issues, mental health issues, learning difficulties..children that are suicidal...the worry that many children will leave their school life, having virtually no education at all because of the lack of funding and the lack of help available/families being told no, sorry something serious has to happen first and then we'll see ...these are real concerns that will have an effect on a whole life ...so pj parties in the playground in the grand scheme of things and silly letters about that ..well go write letters to social services, to your local MP, to Mr Cameron himself, write them about something that really is a 'growing trend' and a very serious and worrying one indeed...