What is realistic re Communications in Secondary?

[river1]

Background is we have just moved to a new area specifically to attend a v well thought of secondary (in preference to an academic scholarship at DDs existing independent school). Responses from school to queries during application process and after were great and presentation to year 7 parents at beg of term stresses communication key and responses would be given to emails within 24hrs. There appears to be a central yr7 email rather than ability to contact teachers direct.

2 weeks back I sent a query addressed to the head of year asking for general clarification re if there were sets or not in year 7 as my daughter thought she might have been put in sets but was not clear. A few days later I chased to check I had right email and got a reply from admin to say this and previous email had been forwarded on to head of year. Still nothing...
After nearly 2 weeks my husband called to ask if we could have a quick chat/meeting with head of year and we were told request would be forwarded to him. Again no response. This is from the guy who spoke about the 24hr policy.

We are not sure what to do. We can see him for a 5 min slot at parents eve but it's not the place and the bigger issue now is that we are being made to feel our concerns/queries just don't matter. It has affected our trust in what we felt the school was and the choice we made - one thing being said but reality entirely another?

I know we are coming most recently from the private sector and this is different but I still find it hard to believe this is the norm? We were really excited about the school but this has really undermined our confidence in what would happen if we actually had a problem that needed to be resolved?

Advice please? Thank you

[Seeline]

this has really undermined our confidence in what would happen if we actually had a problem that needed to be resolved?

Could it be that at the beginning of Y7, the Head of Y7 might actually have a few problems that need resolving?

If it really is important ring the school and ask if he can ring you back, or ask to speak to your DDs form tutor?

[soapboxqueen]

If it was just a straight forward question that wasn't answered then I'd assume the HoY was off sick or there had been some major issues which meant your non-urgent query ended up at the bottom of the pile.



Either resubmit the query or email querying communications and lack thereof.

[river1]

Yes but resubmitted 3x as last time asked if anyone else could answer? Now request for quick chat also not responded to. I don't think our query was unreasonable!

We will query lack of communication generally but hard to know who to? Is this normal?

[Traalaa]

I'd just wait until parents' evening. I'm guessing you must have something soon that you can ask them at. Give your poor Yr7 head a break though - they'll have so much to sort and kids who need a lot of support have to take priority.

Just so you can compare, DS's comp only have a central admin e-mail, but if we mark the header for the attention of the teacher, it's forwarded to them. Or if we call, the office will put you through to the departmental voicemail and we can leave messages on that. I've only done that once, but someone called me back same day. I'm pretty sure there's also a weekly drop in for anyone to go with concerns and there's always a year head, or senior teacher there.

[MsJolly]

DD's secondary has heads of house rather than Year but normally I get a response within 2-3 hours with any email query (i.e. Half day) & he usually phones me.

I have also had a response from deputy head within the half day limit so I would say they are failing you and your DD at this point.

[Littledrummergirl]

In my experience this can happen with less urgent queries. Surely this is a question that your Dd could ask her form tutor though. Why do you feel her head of year needs to answer this query?
Have you looked at the prospectus or web site? I would expect to find your answer there.
At this point I would think the hoy is still settling in the year group, working out which need additional support and prioritising communication with those parents. Queries like yours I would expect my dc to speak to a teacher and let me know the answer as part of their development.

[elevenclips]

Are you saying you turned down a scholarship at the school she was already at

Anyway. Your query is general/non urgent and not impacting on your dd's day day schooling. I expect the HOY has major problems to attend to - if the intake is large like most secondaries, there will definitely be some kids who are desperately struggling in one way or another - academically, socially, physically or emotionally.

Could you dd not ask her maths teacher for eg: excuse me teacher are we in sets and if so which set is this?

[paq]

I don’t think this is acceptable. Can you take an hour off work and go into the school?

It may be a non urgent question but it would take 5 minutes to answer.

[schoolgaterebel]

This is not acceptable, at my children’s secondary school any email sent (to any teacher or form tutor) is answered the same day (either by return email or more often than not a phone call)

A request directed at head of year would be dealt with immediately (they often don’t have time for meeting but a lengthy telephone conversation often suffices)

[noblegiraffe]

God, just get your kid to ask!

Yes the school should be replying to emails and not leaving them for weeks but this is a pretty trivial query that your DD could find out for herself so taking time off work as previously suggested would be completely over the top.

[hertsandessex]

Made the switch from private to state for secondary school and you will need to get used to much lower of "service". You have gone from being a paying customer to a user of public service where resources are in short supply. That said I think you deserve a response to your query and in our school you would have got one by now. Tricky one though as if you keep pushing easy to get the reputation of being a difficult parent. I would wait until parents evening and save your firepower for really important issues. In the future if you face the same problem again then email the head.

[amaliaa]

It's just a point of information for your benefit. It's not an actual problem that needs to be resolved. Answering your question won't make any difference to your dd one way or the other, so it's a low priority.

My advice would be to forget about the HOY and try emailing the form tutor.

[brownfang]

My recent experience of (2 different) state secondaries is that they are mostly extremely responsive to emails, I've sent loads of queries & had quick replies (usually within 24 hours) from almost all. The office is very good at forwarding queries to right person, too. The exception can be math & science teachers. Math teachers are in high demand so they can do What-Feck they like & don't like. There's a math teacher at DD's school that famously NEVER comes to parent-eves. The kids love this teacher, though, say his teaching is great. I haven't tried to contact him directly.

Agree, just get your DD to ask, too. This is part of their baby steps towards independence. But if you don't like that, then phone the office & pester them to find out.

[river1]

Thanks everyone for your input - appreciate it

[CuckooCuckooClock]

At this point in the year I am managing parent expectations by deliberately not responding to anything I consider unnecessary.
I'm sorry if that seems harsh. I know it is, but the reality is that I teach over 300 different students each week. If every parent emailed me with every question, and I responded, I'd never get anything else done.
Unless your dd is very unhappy or has additional needs, please encourage her to be independent and ask questions herself about things like sets.

[Glumglowworm]

Just get DD to ask her form tutor! Which is what you should've done in the first place

It's not an issue that needs Head of Year to resolve.

It's not great they they're ignoring emails but it's such a trivial thing (and knowing won't change anything anyway) I really couldn't get worked up about it

[hertsandessex]

Cuckoo - but this is about getting a reply from a head of year. Individual teachers are indeed very busy which is why there is a head of year (plus somebody assisting head of year probably) and others with less teaching responsibility to deal with queries. I don't expect quick responses unless a big issue but I think I have always had a response when I have emailed asking about something.

[Fex]

First point of contact is almost always the form tutor. This query is really so far down the priority order that I'm not surprised you haven't heard in two weeks. Two very busy weeks.
I think you need to save contact with school for things that really matter. If your DD genuinely can't get the answer herself then mention it to the form tutor at the first parents evening.

[CuckooCuckooClock]

herts in my school head of year 7 is significantly busier than a classroom teacher and has no assistant.

[ReinettePompadour]

I would think you will find that information on the website or via your DD asking her form tutor.

At DDs high school its school policy not to reply to anything where the answer is clearly displayed or printed within the website or propectus. Theres 1600 children at the school and a significant number of children with additional needs who will get priority over your enquiry.

Students would also have information about setting etc given to them verbally in the first few days of term so if this has been done and your DD missed it then they will be less likely to respond to you.

I'd ask at parents evening if you're still wanting an answer. Movement between sets is very common in the first year at high school so its possible the school just dont think they need to respond to you.

[Piggywaspushed]

Sorry, I was a HOY for many years and I think it is unacceptable to ignore a parent in this way.

It is such a simple query that it should get dealt with quickly.

On the other hand... I'd be willing to bet the HOY has passed on your query to various subject leaders and THEY haven't got back to HIM.

Nonetheless, he should have sent you a holding reply.

Mantra of HOY - always keep parents on side!! Make every parent feel they deserve your time (within reason...) Making them cross about something they weren't originally cross about is just brainless...

I am waiting for a reply from a head of sixth form about teaching hours. It feels very rude. Even if it's not intentional;. And is , therefore, making me crosser .

[Piggywaspushed]

However, please don't just turn up at the school as someone upthread advised. That is not the done thing at secondary!

[CamperVamp]

They usually have a 'Meet the Tutor' or Parents Evening in the Autumn Term. Is one planned or scheduled? Look on the school calendar in the website if they haven't sent out an invite yet.

And I agree - certainly do not turn up at the school!

[CamperVamp]

My DC are at an Outstanding secondary, with excellent results and good feedback on the Ofsted parent thing.

They do correspond to resolve actual problems, but in general communication can be last minute, patchy etc. In the end secondary schools are huge machines, running on far too few resources.

[ASauvignonADay]

Does sound a bit poor to have not had a response in that time. Definitely don’t just turn up at the school. Ditto others it may be that they’re incredibly busy sorting out the new intake and all the new term issues (we are!). Sometimes your query might fall down the pile because more urgent or serious issues have arisen (yesterday I dealt with three serious child protection issues, and didn’t manage to call a few parents back and no doubt they’ll complain but sometimes you just cannot fit everything in in a day!). That said, three weeks is a lot longer than 24hrs!