School WhatsApp wildness…

I have never once been added to a WhatsApp school group, how do these things even come about ? Not that k want to be part of that but I feel a little offended 😆

This. I honestly feel like the groups are just feeding the people who can't be bothered to sort their admin/diary out. Why bother to make a note of anything yourself if you know that you can just get all the other parents to run around telling you when things are happening and what you need to do.

I think it depends on whether there is one.

If there is one, and you’re not in it, you could very easily not get the whole class invites when they’re starting out in reception/year 1. We’ve had invitations to multiple parties that have just come through the WhatsApp, and I doubt the parents hosting have gone through the list on the WhatsApp group, cross checked it with a class list, and found another way to invite any missing children. Maybe they did. But I doubt it.
Less of an issue as they get older and choose a group of friends to invite. And definitely not necessary in secondary school!

If there just isn’t one (and there wasn’t at my DD’s previous school before we moved), then it’s fine.

198 people on our Y13 WhatsApp group..all very civilised though!

What sort of secondary school do your children go to that their parents are sending out invites on WhatsApp??

I am currently actively dodging the new year 7 whatsapp group. I am on the Facebook group and I can already tell that if I join the whatsapp I'll lose my mind. A bunch of year 7 parents on the facebook not knowing what uniform, what time etc. I just can't get my head around it. I mean, sure, as they get established at high school, you get a bit more casual, don't pay as much attention to the details from the school but in year bloody 7? Take note of the dates, and the uniform, and the equipment.

Oh ffs. Come off it NOW. senior school does not need a WhatsApp group. Everything you need to know is on the website, and if you have a query, ask the school office. Homework is set on dojo, so there is nothing else you need to know.

I refused to join them.

We survived for decades without needing them, I see no point in adding more drama and admin to my life than needed.

Party invitations can be given out in class as normal. People can organise themselves and get a calendar to remember dates.

The primary and junior groups are the worst and on GCSE results day they all happily emailed their children's results (this group had been dormant since year 6!)

I actually found the secondary group I was on a lot more useful and seemed to be more about what was actually happening logistics wise and a lot more fact based.

I have a year 8 and year 5 and there has never been a class WhatsApp. People talk as if they’re necessary and they’re really not.

Definitely leave the group. The only people who post in these groups are attention seeking nutters.

The school app has most of the information. I doubt the schools support these groups as they cause trouble, they’re full of misinformation and gossip.

I got lucky with my the WhatsApp group at my daughter's old school. Someone would post the weekly news letter up for anyone who had been absent. Other than that the only thing that went in was class updates and events because the schools communication was crap. I couldn't cope with a chatty group 😅

Oh yes we get endless complaints about how the school doesn’t communicate.

”They never told us this!!”
It was in the newsletter..

”why didn’t they remind us of this”
It was in the newsletter!!

”they could have mentioned it!”
It was in the sodding newsletter like all the rest of it you idiot

I’ll go against the grain and say I like being in them. Maybe ours are different to normal ones? There isn’t any bitching and most people seem to be relatively sensible. 🤷‍♀️

Mute the group. Archive it. Only use it when you need help with something.
They are a cesspit of negativity. Life is too short for that nonsense.

But the OP is talking about a secondary School WhatsApp- not 5 year olds who rely on their parents to facilitate meet ups

There must be another way for the school to communicate this stuff though (like class Dojo or something). Loads of parents don’t make the school gate and the school shouldn’t (and probably don’t) rely on other parents to send messages out.

🙄 we all know how people managed it - but that isn’t how it happens these days - if your kid is waiting for an invitation at reception or year 1 age, they won’t be getting one in most cases.

It sounds mad! Didn't have them in my day, just got notes from the school like the term dates which i pinned to the kitchen noticeboard the old fashioned way. However one of my friends has a five year old and she filled me in on some of the more off the wall messages on her school Whatsapp. The school had a change of uniform and the Whatsapp as you can imagine blew up and a huge row developed. My friend did not join in, she just read it for entertainment

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

Someone asked on our group earlier this week “I know it’s allowed in the uniform to wear them this term, but are other people sending their girls in in summer dresses? I can’t decide”

You’re (presumably!) a functioning adult! Look at the weather forecast, let your child pick, don’t waste my time with this question.

I was on it for a bit but I was quite involved with school and knew how hard they worked/ considered some of them friends. I eventually felt compromised by seeing some of the posts and wanted no part in that.

As an FYI, when you leave a WhatsApp group, the ONLY person that sees it is the group creator. No notification cones up for anyone else, so no-one will know you’ve left essentially.

You can always wait for a busy burst of chat and leave during that. If the host does spot you left and asks you why, you can just say that you were struggling with the notifications at work so you’ll rejoin later in the school year when it shortens down… then don’t bother.

On ours people just post helpful reminders like ‘forest school today’ or ‘bake sale tomorrow’
Yours sounds awful, I’d mute it and just check it once a week!

I’m on a Senior school one - it started in Reception in the Prep school and then just grew as the years went on and more children joined the school. It’s pretty good though - it’s a supportive lovely bunch of parents (mainly mums, but there’s some dads too), and as the kids are older it’s become much less about the school and is now more of a local community group. So posts arranging nights out, coffees after drop-off, asking for electrician recommendations etc, Some peoples use it to ask if someone’s teens want to earn some money for pet-sitting over the holidays etc.

Those who don’t want to be part of it just leave!