School WhatsApp Group Self Awareness Quiz!

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Just for fun 🙂 ... choose all options that apply, then tot up your score to assess your understanding of school WhatsApp group etiquette ...

1. You need to know the dates for half term. Do you:

a) Text-search for the term dates on the school website?
b) Text-search the school WhatsApp group to find the answer from the last time someone asked?
c) Ask your school WhatsApp group where to find the school term dates on the school website?
d) Ask the school WhatsApp group when half term is?

2. Your child has lost their pencil case in school. Do you:

a) Commiserate, loan them some spare essentials from your secret-stash, and remind them that they can use their pocket-money to pay you back if they don't find it?
b) Advise them to check the classroom where they last saw it, suggest they ask the teacher of that lesson whether they noticed a pencil case left behind, and, if no luck, check Lost Property?
c) Ask all the parents on the school WhatsApp group to ask their children if they've seen it, and check their bags in case they took it by mistake?
d) Express frustration on the school WhatsApp group that the pencil case is missing and/or that the pencil case had your child's name on it so should be returned to them by a member of staff.

3). Your child clicked on a link in the homework app, but got an error message. Do you:

a) Try to help them and, if no luck, encourage them to check if their friends are having the same problem?
b) Encourage your child to message their teacher (or politely message them yourself via the school office) to let them know the link doesn't work, then post a brief message to the school WhatsApp group to warn other parents?
c) Ask all the parents on the WhatsApp group to check and see if their children are having the same problem?
d) Tell all the parents on the WhatsApp group that your child is really stressing out about not being able to do their homework, and add an emoji to emphasise how frustrated you are?

4. You are having technical problems accessing the online parents' event. Do you:

a) Politely email the school to explain the situation and ask if you can book alternative appointments and/or be sent a copy of the presentation slides?
b) Double-check the instructions to see if you're doing something wrong (having left yourself enough contingency time to do this), make sure your Wi-Fi is working and, if that doesn't help, post a brief message to the school WhatsApp Group with details of the problem to see if others are experiencing the same.
c) Warn all the parents on the WhatsApp Group that the parents' evening link just doesn't work, and express your frustration with an emoji.
d) Use the WhatsApp Group to start a petition against online parents' evenings.

5. One parent on the WhatsApp Group keeps asking questions that make you suspect she is not receiving or reading messages that the school sends out to parents. Do you:

a) Ask her if she is receiving messages from the school and, if she says no, advise her to contact the school office to get help.
b) Post a copy of the relevant message to the WhatsApp Group, and tell her when/where it was sent, hoping that she will check her inbox next time.
c) Ignore her - someone else can deal with it.
d) Say something sarcastic to let her know she's being a pain in the proverbial behind.

6. A parent that you know posts something you find amusing/interesting on the school WhatsApp Group, but it's probably not of interest to most of the other parents. Do you:

a) Attach an appropriate emoji to the comment you're reacting to?
b) Reply privately to continue the conversation?
c) Follow up with a comment that is equally funny/interesting to continue the conversation in the school WhatsApp group?
d) Post an emoji as a new comment.

Results
Mostly A's and B's - Well done. You are the sort of parent who uses your school WhatsApp Group judiciously, and has the common sense to use other channels when appropriate.
Mostly C's and D's - Hmm, maybe pause before your next WhatsApp post, and ask yourself: "can I find this information elsewhere?" or "Is this constructive, or am I just creating WhatsApp clutter?"

More questions welcome. 😁

As an extension to Q1 - and do you find yourself doing this every single term, every single inset day and every single special event where parents go into school? If so, maybe put a calendar on the fucking fridge, because 29 other people privately think you're too thick to have children.

Avoid school WhatsApp groups completely.

Managed to get now adult dcs through school without WhatsApp.
Don't have one for the other 3 either ( seniors down to infants)

I cant be arsed with it. I don't care If little Johnny has lost a jumper. Or how upset Alice is that she didn't win a coloring competition.

I feel very lucky, but 2 different primary schools over the years and never had a school WhatsApp group. Current school (youngest is Y2) does have a Facebook chat, which took us some difficulty and false starts to actually set up, but that probably says a lot about the demographics of the parents. We’re probably too old to have been sucked into lots of WhatsApp groups. There really is no foolishness.

A significant portion of mums are very practical farmer’s wives sorts who have been up since 5am doing the milking and frankly don’t have time or energy to care about messaging about a pencil case. People do ask for help with things from time to time and people very graciously offer all sorts of help. Someone needed an inflatable green alien for some reason last week and remarkably someone had one. 😂 I could not cope with any of this bollocks though and would have to swiftly exit!

7) You're annoyed about some aspect of school uniform, or a petty school rule. Do you:

a) Decide whether it's worth challenging and, if so, write a polite email to the Headteacher, explain why you think it is wrong, and what you think should be done?
b) Ask your child what they and their friends think of it and have a laugh with them about silly rules you remember from your own school days?
c) Complain about it on the school WhatsApp group and, when you get a few likes and a couple of people agreeing with you, email the school to tell them what "everybody" thinks?
d) Post the text of your email to the school WhatsApp Group and encourage all the other parents to send the same message, because if everyone does that the school will have to listen?

8. You've turned notifications off for the annoying school WhatsApp group, but now you need to ask something. There are a few dozen unread posts since you last visited. Do you:

a) Skim read them to see if you missed something important?
b) Text-search to see if your question has already been asked by someone else?
c) Just post the question?

Q8 - I think this question is actually "does it occur to you that there might be messages you did not post".

I like to forward on the answer from 3 or 4 messages further up, but it's probably wasted on people so self absorbed.

These are my thoughts...
Q.1 Definitely a) - I always check the school website first.
Q.2 I'd go with b) - get them to retrace their steps and check with teachers. Though I'll admit, I've definitely been tempted by option C in moments of desperation!
Q.3 b) for sure - try to help first, then let the teacher know and give other parents a heads up. No point in everyone banging their heads against the same broken link.
Q.4 b) again - double-check everything first (usually it's something silly I've done wrong!), then alert the group if it's a wider issue.
Q.5 a) - I'd probably have a quiet word to check if she's actually receiving the school emails. Sometimes they end up in spam folders!
Q.6 b) - take it to private chat! Nobody else needs to see us discussing whether Mrs Smith's new haircut looks like a pineapple
So mostly A's and B's for me - phew! Though I suspect we've all been guilty of the odd WhatsApp faux pas.

Speaking of class WhatsApp group etiquette, I came across this helpful blog about parent WhatsApp groups - it's got some great tips on navigating the whole class WhatsApp malarky! Really made me think about my own WhatsApp habits! https://www.twinkl.co.uk/news/how-useful-are-parent-whatsapp-groups#:~:text=Now%2C%20many%20parents%20are%20invited,source%20of%20stress%20for%20parents.