School WhatsApp wildness…

Because sixth form aged teens and adults (as the poster I was quoting refers to being in a sixth form parents WhatsApp group) should really be at the age where they are becoming independent and completing their studies autonomously. They shouldn’t need parental involvement with anything to do with their sixth form.

Their parents shouldn’t need or want to be involved in a “school community” for their 16-18yo.

oops sorry was not you

You made it to the Daily Mail....congrats

@SkinnyCigarette- lots of the schools round here - state and private- are all big on fostering a school community. Why is it so weird?

What were they doing that the head felt they had any authority over?

I mean, don’t get me wrong, if you say they were awful I’ll believe you. But surely any excluding being done by mothers was outside of school?

Ours is only ever mundane messages about things they need to bring in or wear, reminders etc. It's useful, minimal messages and zero drama. Some of these sound nuts.

Why do parents need to be part of a “school community” for their 16-18 year olds?

Sorry, but it’s weird, very weird.

Be ‘that mum’. My daughter removed herself from the school WhatsApp group when they started slagging off the teachers. Once she left, others followed. It’s bullying, because the teachers can’t respond.

Well, to be fair it is a school where some students are joining in the sixth form, and I reckon also a good proportion of the parents didn't grow up in this country. Maybe parents of kids who are joining want to feel part of the school community. My other DC has already been through the school so it isn't that important for me - I do wonder if there was a year group Whatsapp for his year that I just wasn't on, maybe didn't know the right people!

It’s only really used for parent social events and sorting rotas for School fairs etc. No ‘lost jumpers’ etc! And things like driving lesson recommendations and where to get the Men B vaccine!

If there had been one when my kids were in primary it would probably have been another outlet for the Queen Bee Mums to exclude others . It was a serious problem one year my DD was in . So much so that the group were asked to attend a meeting with the Head. Luckily I was completely out of any involvement because I had a life .

Yes for little kids when you go to the park with the parents etc yes great can see the value but not beyond 12 or even madder 16 plus 🙈🙈. Where does it end?! “Has anyone seen Jemimas shoe it fell off in the club when she was drunk”

Useful for party invites in reception/year 1 when there's a lot of all class parties but it does drive me a bit mad. DC went back on Wednesday, Tuesday afternoon "when is PE?" how would we know Mike? School isn't even open yet.

Schools don’t help themselves though. First time reception parent.

Multiple apps, one for PTA, one for the teachers, one for school lunches, one for the school newsletter etc

We were away for the (only) parent information session. I emailed afterwards to ask for the slides. I was sent a PowerPoint with empty headings.

School website has a list of uniform items and absolutely no indication of when it might be worn/needed.

It was only through asking a few mum friends with older kids that I found out what uniform actually got worn, what was needed on day 1, etc. Still didn’t know the teacher’s name until Day 1 nor where the reception drop off was on the school grounds. Without the Reception WhatsApp group we’d be totally lost.

I’m an extremely organised and conscientious person & trying to find out what I needed to do to ultimately support the school to educate my child was frankly far more difficult than it needed to be.

There’s nothing stopping schools from doing a basic FAQ on their website to parents to cover off basic information.

Mind blown by year 13 group chat! Dd would be horrified she’s practically an adult and is in many ways more grown up than I am!!

So glad this isn’t my experience.

Our WhatsApp groups are lovely. Over the summer holidays there were lots of posts of parents saying “we’re going to X today if anyone fancies joining us”.

During the term there’s lots of get togethers with the children organised via the app.

It’s a really lovely group.

I think with 100 on there it really won't be noticed that you leave - or even who you are

Thankfully it all stopped when the kids started secondary! But yes - I comforted myself it was usually one or two crazies!

Why do you need it ? We have never been part of any school related WhatsApp group.
We have the school app which sends me important emails. Updates and anything related to my children.

So very, incredibly grateful for my kids 3 messages a week school WhatsApp groups. It's literally just someone popping up occasionally saying "are they supposed to wear PE kit tomorrow?" Or asking if anyone wants a jumper that's gotten too small....

no there wasn’t an active one for my daughter’s secondary (she’s just gone into 6th form) and my son is just joining his secondary - I haven’t heard anything about a WhatsApp group and I really can live without one!

I was the chair of the PTA for three years and even I couldn't tolerate the class groups. I used to get a lot of questions and complaints directed at me about school admin. All I was doing was trying to raise money for a new roof!

i never signed up to the WhatsApp group at school. I get enough emails and random stuff as it is. I certainly wasn't going to bother with that too. What's the point of it? We didn't have it when my DDs were at school (thankfully) and we all coped. if you don't want to leave totally just mute it.
I used to work Monday to Thursday. The minute I left work on Thursday I muted it until Sunday night (just incase there was something important I needed to know)

Join it but stay silent in there and don't interact

please tell me most parents are also reading this shite thinking ‘how do these people function in their day to day lives’?!

Something I often wonder about reading many posts on MN! How do some people walk and talk at the same time.
Being a very old lady, we didn't all even have landlines, is it compulsory to be on these tedious websites? Do people not realise that lives were lived perfectly well without this constant nastiness that SM seems to create!