The words “school” and “rules” kind of go hand in hand don’t they? We can all remember the various things we were told we should and shouldn’t do while we were in those four walls.

In fact, many of them extended to time outside of school too. I remember my own principal regularly reminding us that we were “ambassadors of the school” especially while wearing the uniform.

Without rules, a school simply wouldn’t function properly. The syllabus would remain incomplete, there would be no structure and our children would be running wild. As parents, we hope that school will instil some of the morals and values that we hope our child will adopt. At the end of their time at school, we want our children to be educated, confident and respectful human beings. Rules definitely play an important part in making sure that this happens.

We could all probably list a couple of rules and regulations from our own time at school but do we recall them affecting our parents in any big way? Now that the tables have turned and we are now the parents of school going children the perspective has shifted a bit. The school rules at your child’s school affect the whole family in many ways.

Here are 8 popular school rules that might just surprise you

1. How many days your child misses really matters. Sickness is one thing but if your child is missing school due to family holidays or too many duvet days you might just hear from TULSA. There is a cap and it’s surprisingly easy to exceed.

2. There is usually a healthy eating policy in place. Many schools will not allow crisps, popcorn or any kind of chocolate spread on sandwiches or crackers. It is usually outlined from the beginning but you might have to re-think the lunch situation.

3. Many schools do not allow birthday party invites to be circulated within the class. Some schools will help distribute them if all children are invited but more often than not this is considered to be an out of school activity so you might be handing invites our at the school gate.

4. At schools where there is no formal school uniform there will be a dress code of sorts. No flip flops or clothing that demonstrates a slogan that could be considered offensive for example.

5. Tip-ex is not allowed in certain schools and, believe it or not, there are even schools that do not allow erasers. Let’s hope our children don’t make mistakes so...

6. No mobile phones allowed at school. OK so this one might seem obvious because, of course, our children can’t use them during school but this may be a logistic nightmare for parents who need to communicate with their children after school.

7. No speaking without raising your hand and being signalled by the teacher to speak. We all remember this one but it is a surprising one for our children to accept when they start at big school.

8. Arriving late to school is treated seriously. Many schools will have a system whereby after X amount of late records your child will receive a note or punishment (secondary schools usually – typically detention) so make time-keeping a priority for their sake.

Tracey is a happy mammy to four-year-old Billy. She is a breastfeeder, gentle parent and has recently lost five stone so healthy family eating is her passion! You can find her at www.loveofliving.ie.