Ps & Qs: This week: playschool etiquette

Putting your little ones in the care of others for the work day can be tough, but if it has to be done, it’s best to stay on the teacher’s good side.

She – for it is mostly a she – arrives early to plan the day ahead, not so you can make it to your breakfast meeting by dropping your child off half an hour ahead of time. That's annoying, but not as annoying as having you insert yourself into the classroom ahead of time, looking for a progress report. Save it for the parent-teacher evening, when all your questions will be answered, just as long as you're prepared to sit in the mini chairs.

You might like your child to be best friends with Max whose Dad is something big in IT, but it’s the height of crassness to social engineer from the sidelines. Never ask a teacher to arrange the seating to satisfy your own social climbing.

Don’t ignore the lice note. Just get the stuff and start combing.

If you want to dress your child in head-to-toe Petit Bateau, that’s your prerogative, but don’t get upset if a jumper goes missing. The teacher has better things to do than scour the classroom, while you huff and puff about the price.

They’d also appreciate if you’d hand over the the fiver for that outing, and the permission slip on time, so as they don’t have to badger you for it a month later.

Finally, when end of term looms, be generous. Teachers get very fed up of boxes of Roses and dodgy scented candles.