Emailing Head to praise teacher

[CobwebKate]

My DD got her GCSE results yesterday and got a 9 in Geography, which I don’t think she could have acheived without her Geography teacher taking the time to show her how to write these top level answers. I would like to email the Headteacher to let him know how much I appreciate her work. Is this a done thing or would it be a bit weird?!

Also, DD said it was the most disruptive class she had ever been in, many of the students didn’t even bother turning up for the exams and she saw others who didn’t even open their papers. The teacher must have some terrible marks from that class, so I just want to try and offer a balance to that. Should I mention to the Head that she found time for my daughter whilst having to deal with all of that, or would it sound negative that she couldn’t control the other kids? I don’t want to drop her in it. It is only her second year of teaching and my DD says she has had a really hard time, it is quite a rough school and has recently been downgraded from Outstanding to Requires Improvement by Ofsted.

[User24689]

As a teacher - absolutely do this! Often teachers only hear from parents when there is a problem and it can be a thankless job. I'm sure your email would be really appreciated.

[Wallabyone]

Definitely send the email thanking and praising the teacher's hard work-it would really be appreciated

[elephantoverthehill]

Go for it! It is lovely to hear some appreciation.

[User24689]

Also - well done to your DD! That is an outstanding result :)

[SophieHattersStick]

Yes. It is definitely the done thing. It will be very much appreciated by the head and the teacher. Please do send the email.

[Cauliflowersqueeze]

Yes. It will genuinely make that teacher’s year.

[MozzieMagnet]

I don’t think she could have achieved without her Geography teacher taking the time to show her how to write these top level answers. I would like to email the Headteacher to let him know how much I appreciate her work.

Send this bit don't mention the rugrats
It will be lovely for her and potentially could be used as part of going through threshold at a later date. Well done your DD.

[CobwebKate]

Thank you. I have to say, the only times I normally contact them is with an issue or complaint It shouldn’t feel odd to contact them with praise, but it does!

[elephantoverthehill]

CobwebKate sometimes it work the other way around. I try to equal my complaint, nagging e-mails to parents versus my praise ones but I am ashamed to say that the positives are often outweighed by the negatives .

[Cauliflowersqueeze]

Oh don’t worry about it. Schools are used to dealing with 99% complaints and 1% praise. It’s soul-destroying but I guess that’s what happens. People notice the bad before the good.

[Malbecfan]

Please do send it. I tried to resolve an issue between a colleague and parent of one of my tutor group. Sadly, the colleague's communication skills were lacking and the parent went to the Head. However, she copied me into the message and put in the line: "We are very grateful for Malbecfan's efforts to resolve this.." In his response to which I was also copied in, the Head replied "Thank you for your comments about Malbecfan. I am very grateful for all her efforts this year..." I was on cloud 9 for days

[LockedOutOfMN]

Yes, please do that! As well as contacting the Head, please contact the teacher herself to express your gratitude.

[BewareOfDragons]

Please do it. It would be much appreciated i'm sure.

And congrats to your daughter.

[RollonSeptember2018]

This is without a doubt the best the best thing you can do for a teacher. You will make their year.

[DanSullivan]

Oh please do!

[AppleKatie]

Do it but don’t make any comment about the disruption!

[5000KallaxHoles]

I made a point of doing so this year for my own kids' teachers who have all (well one half of a job share was less awesome but 2 out of 3 were beyond awesome) been bloody amazing. Also made a point of "accidentally" getting caught by the Ofsted inspector out on the playground getting parents' viewpoints to get my 2p worth in there as well - and the staff know I think they're bloody amazing.

Seriously seriously jealous of how good DD2's teacher was last year - she's incredible in front of a class!

[Usuallytootiredbuthappyanyway]

100% do this, it is entirely appropriate and rare enough that it will be very special. I had a couple of e-mails from my students after results day this year and they meant the absolute world to me.

[Rachie1986]

Yes yes, that's a lovely thing to do and will be so much appreciated!

[CognitiveDissonance]

Do it! I was going to do the same thing with my DDs year 1 teacher but ended up speaking to the head directly at sports day instead. It's really lovely to communicate how much you appreciate what staff have done for children