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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

12 ways to build a great relationship with your child’s teacher

Teacher and pupils in classroom
We all want the teacher to love our child (and us too!) so Lucy Dimbylow asked them to share their top parenting peeves, along with the things that parents can do at school and at home to make their job easier. Teachers’ pets, us? Yes please!

1. Don’t ambush the teacher during the morning rush

If you have issues to discuss with your child’s teacher, arrange an appointment to talk to her after school. This allows you both to focus on the issue at hand, and teacher's normally have a lot to during the school day – especially first thing in the morning! 

2. Do try to resolve problems with the class teacher

Sometimes things happen in the classroom that are upsetting for you or your child, but try to keep some perspective. ‘Recently a colleague mispronounced a new child’s name, and the parent went straight to the head to complain,’ says Jodie, a Foundation Stage teacher. 

It would be much better to discuss problems with the teacher first, if this is possible. Mistakes will happen but most teacher's will be open to listening and correcting the problem. 

3. Don’t forget to mark correspondence clearly

Year 2 teacher David points out that receiving envelopes with no name/date/relevant information on them (for school trips or lunches) can be quite confusing. Try to be as clear as possible with your correspondence. 

4. Do accept that your child may be different at school

Kids can be more boisterous at school than they are at home, and often interact very differently with other children and adults. Try to keep that in mind when your child's teacher wants to speak to you about their behaviour. 

5. Don’t expect part-timers to be psychic

If your child has job-share teachers, try to address questions and comments to the right one. For instance, if your child left something at school one day, address the teacher who was working at that time to try and help. The other teacher will probably not have a clue! 

6. If you can pay, please do!

‘Some parents never pay for trips or swimming lessons because we have to write on the letter that contributions are voluntary,’ Steph explains. ‘Many schools have budget deficits, and if parents who can afford to contribute won’t pay, these activities can’t go ahead.’ This advice doesn't apply if you are struggling financially. But if you can comfortably afford to, then it helps they school a great deal. 

7. Do foster independence

Rather than trying to teach your child to read and write before starting school, it’s more helpful to teachers if they can get dressed, put on their shoes and open their lunchbox himself. The little things go a long way and help everything to run more smoothly. 

8. Don’t be a pushy parent

It's fantastic if you're keen for your child to be doing more and confident on their capabilities, but teachers know what they're doing and there are important steps they need to be taken towards building certain skills, like reading and spelling. The teacher will do their best to go at the child's pace, so try not to panic and push for more. 

9. Do reinforce the school rules

It pays to familiarise yourself with the school’s behavioural policy before you object to any punishments that are doled out. There may be some things that you tolerate at home that are not accepted by the school. 

10. Do encourage good housekeeping

Children learn best in a tidy environment, so encourage your child to do their bit. At the start of the day, make sure your child puts their coat and bag on their peg by themselves before class begins – you'd be surprised how much this helps create a nicer learning environement. 

11. Do label uniforms

If you don't want to spend much of your life pestering school staff and hunting for missing items, be sure to label everything! Things will still go missing but at least you will get them back much quicker. 

12. Don’t forget about parents’ evening

Remember that teachers are staying later to talk to you about your child, and if you can't make then try to let the school know as soon as possible.