My child is ultimately my responsibility. It's up to me to take the initiative to make sure she is happy and progressing in her learning at school.

To me, children's education (this includes learning and socialisation) is a partnership. It doesn't begin and end at school. Both teachers and parents (and the kids too for that matter!) should be working together to achieve the best outcomes for the child. I honestly can't imagine not having a working relationship/partnership with my child's teacher. It would never even cross my mind not to meet them within the first couple of weeks of the school year.

I am a working parent. I have always been a working parent. But nothing is more important to me than my child's education. If I worked every single hour the school was open I would either fake a sickie to go into the school and meet the teacher, or phone the teacher to introduce myself and establish lines of communication. At the absolute least, I would email or write a note.

After all, why should my child be interested in her education if I can't even go and introduce myself to her teacher?? What message does that send about how much I value the importance of her time spent at school? How otherwise does she know I care about what she is doing with the bulk of her time?

Olive is totally correct. This is how schools work. Even secondary schools. Parental involvement is paramount to successful education.