I recently read an article online with the headline “Headteacher asks parents to stop doing school run in their pyjamas” which really caught my eye. The article was all about a school in Darlington where parents were picking up and dropping off children in their pyjamas and on some occasions, their slippers! The headteacher of the school has written a letter to the parents making a complaint about the growing number of parents doing the school run in their pyjamas. I was extremely fascinated that parents would do this. I have worked in a primary school for over two years and I have never come across this before. I then went on other websites to look into this more and came across some twitter posts that people were posting about what the letter the headteacher sent out to the parents. Most of the posts that I saw completely agreed with the Headteacher, explaining that it doesn’t take much effort to get changed into daytime clothes to pick up your children. I completely agree with this and think that if the parents are coming into the school then they should, at least, get dressed. Most twitter feeds had the same reaction, that it’s just laziness. However, one I found stated that the Headteacher “obvio doesn’t have enough to be doing at work. Who does she think she is? She needs to get a grip and shut up.” This post was one that stuck out the most for me. Headteachers have a huge workload but I can completely understand why they have been asked to dress appropriately to pick their children up from school. The point that the headteacher is trying to get across is that the parents should be setting an example to, not only their own children, but others who attend the school. The headteacher feels that some parents will continue to wear their pyjamas to school to make a point but hopefully this will not be the case.
It was stated that “there were some parents turned up in pyjamas to see their children in the Christmas performances and even for parents evening.” I believe that is extremely important that parents are role models for the children and they should not attend events like this in their nightwear. There was a lot of positive feedback from parents expressing that they are happy that the headteacher has noticed and addressed this matter. Unfortunately, there has also been a lot of negative feedback about this issue. Mostly from the parents who wear their pyjamas to pick up their children. Headteachers across 11 schools requested that mums and dads show decency and respect when attending school premises.
On this issue, I completely agree with the headteacher. Parents should be setting an example for their children and other children attending the school by wearing appropriate clothes when picking up and dropping off their children. It is important that parents should set a good example about what is appropriate and acceptable in all aspects of life. The headteacher is not asking them to make a huge effort by putting on makeup and straightening hair etc, but only to dress appropriately. I hope that the letter that was sent to all parents will make an impact and people will start dressing appropriately to do their school run.
