staff meeting moved to wednesdays till 5.15 and i'm the one who does pickup

teal_trail_709117 Jun 2026

new term new timetable. our weekly staff meeting used to be friday after school, now its wednesday 3.30 to 5.15. my daughter's school lets out at 3.30. partner does mornings and has clinic till 6. today was the first one. partner moved a patient to get her, cant do that every week. how do others handle one fixed late day a week. aftercare one day a week? a classmate's parent? or is it worth asking to be excused when everyone else has to sit through it

4 comments

teal_camera_949717 Jun 2026
A classmate swap worked for us for a while. One family takes Wednesdays, and you take their kid on a weekend morning or whatever day they get stuck. Ours fell apart when their timetable changed, but it bought us a whole term. Ask in the class group which families stay near you 🙂
lemon_notebook_658617 Jun 2026
speaking from the side that makes these timetables: ask. early in the term, in writing, with a plan for what you'll miss (minutes, a catch-up with your hod next morning). most of us would rather excuse one person for pickup than have them watching the clock for two hours. no promises, every school is different 🤷
ochre_wave_238818 Jun 2026
I teach DP too and had this exact clash when my son was in class 2. What I did: left at 3.20 on meeting days for one term and read the minutes the next morning. My coordinator agreed because I asked before the first meeting, not after the third. After that term we found a neighbour's helper who walked both kids home. The guilt about skipping goes faster than you'd think.
cobalt_lantern_641218 Jun 2026
Is the meeting the full hour and three quarters every week, or does it vary? At my partner's school the first part is announcements and the second is department work. If yours is similar, you might be able to do the department part at another time in the week. Has anyone at your school done that before?