To think a hard boundary should be drawn with teachers?

My school is generally pretty good about this - parents are not supposed to email teachers directly and school staff are strongly encouraged not to email each other out of hours. However, I've just been responding to students asking me to look over GCSE and A Level exam papers while I was away on holiday abroad.

It seems from a recent thread on here that primary school teachers are expected to go in and arrange their classroom for the new school year and re-do all the displays in the holidays, because there is no time to do this on the INSET day(s) when they go back. This kind of expectation is totally unreasonable imo.

I've done shedloads of work this summer holiday and been into school twice. For me, the problem is the sheer workload encroaching into evenings, weekends and holidays tbh, not really the communications with parents and students.

Absolutely agree. I have had a few parents complain if I haven't replied within less than 24 hours. Equally annoying is receiving an email at 9am asking to come into school that same day, as if I'm just sitting around twiddling my thumbs in anticipation of a last minute meeting.

However I also agree that it doesn't do anyone any favours when some colleagues do respond out of hours, because while I know that's realistically the first opportunity they've had all day to check/write emails, it creates a culture of expectation and gives the impression that those of us that don't email after 6pm are avoiding contact or slow to respond.

There should be a rule that email to teachers is for emergency only, and emergency should be clearly defined to parents.

All other enquiries and information should be sent by letter.

That would stop 80% of the rubbish from parents.

Email and texting is too easy.

I was getting tired of the "in crowd" at my school, well in socially with the school secretary who had two of her own children at the school, when one night I got the deciding phone call. This was back in the day when ex-directory numbers were a thing, but of course I had given the school my contact number.
It was a footling organisational detail concerning an upcoming concert, but one of the "musical mummies" decided she needed an immediate answer.
The school secretary did not remind her that I had a private life, or indeed that I had expressed a desire for privacy out of school hours, merrily handing over the telephone number with the cheery reassurance that "I'm sure Miss TwoSheds won't mind!" and I was called at 20 to 10 on a Friday evening.......
Miss TwoSheds did mind; it was the last straw, and helped me to decide whether I should hand in my notice or not.

I think its all very blurry these days and people generally have very unhealthy expectations of constant availability. I saw a complaint from a client at work recently that we had taken 3 days to respond and it wasn't good enough. Initially I quite agreed, until I realised they emailed in at 4 o clock on the Friday and were shouting down the phone mid morning Monday that their email hadn't been replied to.

When I email someone in an official capacity (teachers, NHS staff etc) I always add in a caveat now that just because I am emailing at 4 o clock in the morning because it suits me, I am not expecting an out-of-hours reply from them.

There's no such thing as office hours for most teachers. They'll be teaching all day, except for 1 hour in ten at work.

It doesn't happen to others in the same way.

If I submit a repeat medication request online to my GP at 16:59, it obviously doesn't get dealt with until a day or two later and I have no way to question/chase/complain. Same if I log on at 17:01 and it's physically unavailable.

If I email my solicitor about my house move with a straightforward query, her assistant responds during his working hours and posts what I need in his own time. (ETA: own time, meaning when convenient, not during his non working hours)

If I want to cancel a dentist's appointment, I have to wait until they're open to call.

If a parent of the 200+ kids I teach decides they want something from me when their kid gets home, they often expect a reply before the kid has to come back the next day, will badger the office, will accost me, or will send the kid in with a bad attitude and criticism.

Most parents are going to email the school, if they need to, when they're not at work themselves, either because they're busy at work or because the issue only becomes apparent after they've picked their kids up.

So it's unreasonable to expect parents not to send "out-of-hours" emails.

It would be unreasonable for parents to expect an instant response, but I don't think most do. Most reasonable parents would expect teachers to respond at a time that suits them, maybe within a few days, provided that the matter is not urgent.

If schools are putting pressure on teachers to respond to parents out of work hours, then that's a different matter entirely.

You will always get a few unreasonable people, whether that's parents, school management or teachers. I've had my child's school get a bit shirty with me that I wasn't immediately available when they called to ask me to pick up my unwell child (who turned out to be absolutely fine 🙄). I did call them back within 10 minutes of their call, which I personally thought was ok.

I had no idea that parents have access to teachers in that way. I find that a bit concerning.

Absolutely agree. I will be making a concerted effort this academic year to be less "available". I went into my new job very eager to please and I was responding to parent emails in bed at night. Ridiculous!

Of course. Like all other jobs, turn off your emails or don’t reply when you’ve left work. If anyone complains ask if they work when they’re off duty.

What does that even mean?

I love that you think this is so.

Parents have always had arse holes amongst the cohort - my dad retired from teaching in 1999 after years of harrassment including threatening calls to our house phone and a father having him up by the throat at the primary school gate because Dad had sent his son out the class the day before. The kid had repeatedly stabbed the girl next to him with a compass.

Shoddy parenting and abuse to teachers is not a new phenomenon but it's far worse with the "Amazon next day delivery" expectations people have about everything in life these days. And access to emails and social media.

yes the messages to teachers should be triaged and only the urgent should go through that day

My dd school won’t give teachers email to parents. You have to email the office and then the teacher calls you

I've got three boys with SEN so I've sent my fair share of emails to teachers. I don't usually send them until I've finally got a chance to sit down at the end of the day - often after 9pm. I've had a reply that same night more often than I haven't. I've started to make it clear on my emails now that I don't expect a response outside of office hours. I don't expect teachers to be remotely effective when they are answering emails at all hours.

My children’s schools - primary and secondary have both removed ways to easily contact teachers. I don’t mind as it’s really rare that I do but my child’s secondary used to allow the kids to email the teachers directly through Teams and unfortunately it was misused so taken away.

Given the question was asked about teachers I inferred - I think not unreasonably - that it was considered acceptable for others.

The Amazon instant generation.

But that’s the same for all professionals - people are likely to deal with personal matters out of their own working hours. Tho I’d also not unique to teachers.

Most professionals find it irritating but get on with it. Of course it is open to all professionals not to answer emails/pick up the phone out of hours, unless urgent.

I once saw my sons' Maths teacher at a music event where we both had children playing. (We had actually known each other very vaguely through the music activity before my sons started at her school).

I asked if I could sit next to her as long as I promised not to mention Maths. I saw her visibly relax and we had a nice chat about the kids' orchestras.

This isn't just a school thing. Certainly for a long time, certain professions are expected to be on 24/7, and post COVID and with the idea of flexible work, I've found the expectations to be available and responding to work matters have grown significantly. And the more you try to meet those expectations, the more it becomes the norm and people aren't even grateful for you working at midnight/holidays/at your child's wedding (a horrifying call I had this week, when a colleague announced how someone had taken important calls during their son's wedding, and how this just showed they were committed to the organisation's cause - and there was barely a murmur of thanks).

Personally I refuse to have emails on my phone and try to be disciplined with my holidays. People use email at a time that suits them, but that doesn't mean an instant response is possible or even merited. Management needs to protect staff against the truly deranged, but sensible personal rules should also be put in place to prevent burnout trying to be a superhero.

Nobody said they were.

I agree, it's all a bit OTT in some nurseries and setting up unrealistic expectations for the future.

I always go with the theory that no news is good news. If your child was struggling then you would certainly have more communication with the school I am sure.