School WhatsApp groups never disappoint...

[SausageChipsBeansAndGravy]

I'll start...

Our rather overzealous PTA informally announced that if children didn't bring in a raffle prize donation, they'd have to wear school uniform on non-uniform day.

One mum decided to send her kids to school in full uniform in protest, announcing it to the WhatsApp group. The group was silent for a change, with people not knowing quite what to say.

I could see what she was trying to do, but it seemed a bit harsh to inflict it on her own kids, especially as everyone knew the school wasn't actually going to enforce the rule.

Do your WhatsApp groups have any stories?

Well that’s a dick move from the PTA. Good on the mum for siding with those that can’t contribute.

Yes the bloody mum who has to screenshot every email we fucking get and post it on the group … we get the same fucking emails! Plus she inserts herself into everything - stuff she doesn’t know about she’s happy to give an incorrect answer just so she can answer!

The list goes on with her …. She’s hard work

Ahahaha. We have one of those too. Insane. Seems to think they’re the only person school sends emails to.

Is her name amanda? 😆 🤣

Ours are managed by the school as it’s an international school abroad.

We have the dad who has to take issue with every little thing and pick it apart and air every little issue with the school in the group chat. So tedious.

And the mum who messages the group every time her daughter is going to be late. Which is very regularly. Sometimes she sends photos of parked cars as “proof” she’s stuck in traffic.

Oh and a couple of weeks ago at a birthday party (nothing to do with the school) we had a parent complaining very angrily over several irate messages that her child had hurt himself (it was a tiny scratch, from the photo she sent everyone) and demanding to know why had no one looked after him? But he hadn’t told anyone, and she had dropped and left a 6 year old, who did she think would look after him?! The mind boggles!

And bizarre because the PTA don't make up the rules. Did no one point this out? What children wear has absolutely nothing to do with them, regardless of whether the school is helping them raise funds/donations.

From what I gathered, it was more of a comment from a member of the PTA rather than anything official from the school. It was an overreaction from the protesting parent, especially with the dramatic announcement!

Does the school reply on the group or take it up with them privately? I think people like to make a show of things infront of other parents, but with the school running it that way they are asking for trouble.

I stay silent apart from screen shooting the emails but do that because many parents regularly posted “when’s xyz” “oh no it’s non uniform tomorrow” all the time, clearly having never read the emails, which was really annoying.

those same parents still post claiming ignorance about these things even after I’ve screen shotted the emails though…it’s now just comical.

i wouldn’t call myself an Amanda, I don’t think you should criticise the screen shotters!

I stay silent too, there is a separate one with a few football parents so I ask on there if I need anything. The thing is if people don't read the communications then its on them, I'd leave them to it or leave it to school to remind them.

Well, I guess that's one way to ensure your child never gets any more invitations.

I can’t get irritated at the screenshot brigade (and even do it sometimes). Emails genuinely seem to get lost in the post at my school - we recently had some issue were none of the emails for new reception starters reached their intended recipients, despite the poor admin woman’s best efforts - and EVERY single thing announced by email will be followed up by a parent question weeks later - do we collect them after sports day (it’s in the email), is everyone invited to x thing (it’s in the email), when does school finish on the last day of term (it’s in the bloody email).

i love the screen shotters! saves me reading all the emails.

There's a mum on mine who seems to never get the emails as she is constantly like "What are they swimming this week? No one told me? What's a nativity?" So a lot of time is spent explaining things to her.
I think she's just a bit overwhelmed but I think it's a bit "I'm not like other mums I'm a cool Mum" to be above the WhatsApp group or scathing of the pta like some posters are on mumsnet. That said the PTA mum in this case is obviously on a power trip!

There was some real nastiness in my DD1s class WhatsApp group during covid and people finding out members of households had tested positive and were sending their children to school (they were the rules).

The ones who never know what’s going on even though a rep summarises everything for the forthcoming week each Sunday

and we are 4 years in. Yes, Sports Day will be the same format as last 4 years

yes PE kit today because it’s Wednesday and they have PE every bloody Wednesday

What day is PE?
It's been on Tuesday every week since September, it's now July. You should know by now.

I don't know how these people hold down their well paid jobs. They don't know their arse from their elbow.

On ours (y8) we got the dad (PTA) who administers the group and thinks he's the BOSS. He answers everything as if has personally responsible and you can say he's dedicated but his sense of superiority clearly slips through..
And another one - also a dad! (And there are way more mums on the group but no problem with them) who tells people what they should and shouldn't ask. Like one mum asked about a schedule change and another mum told us she had called the school and got x information. This turned out to be false so the dad wrote a long message about how people should stop sharing false informations on the chat. I called him out and said that she had the information from school, wasn't making things up and was trying to be helpful so no need to berate her for school mixing things up. Then the PTA dad got involved tagging me in the group saying we shouldn't take up space for these kind of comments and only write school related stuff. But it was perfectly fine to criticise a mum trying to help out?

So in my experience the dads are the worst. They think that they are so fucking important and know best and are entitled to tell everyone how things should be.

are they finishing early on the last day of term?

no! They never finish early on the last day. Never have ever

the school would have mentioned it and the rep would remind you

but sure, ask that silly question you attention seeking annoying woman

We have one who is forever sharing warnings about dangers she perceives locally.
"Saw this dodgy van parked outside the school yesterday, keep an extra eye on your kids!"
"Unknown man wandering the high street looks suspicious. Told the police but they were interested but you can't be too careful." "Someone was mugged 4 miles away, drive
to school this week if you can"
"New scam I've been alerted to - don't click on this if you receive it"
And so on, as infinitum.

Our school WhatsApp causes me endless entertainment.

The class had a trip this week, to an outdoor place. The one request related to this trip was that the children wear long trousers. Didn’t have to be school trousers, but had to be long so they didn’t get scratched by plants or bitten by ticks or whatever.

Two mums in the group were in a complete tizz because they were not going to be doing school drop off that morning as they were at work. And they did not believe that their husbands would remember this simple instruction. One of them asked her friend (on the group) to please text her husband that morning to remind him. The other mother then chimed in “oh yes can you please text mine as well, he’ll never remember otherwise”
Why these women couldn’t text their own waste of space husbands and felt like they had to ask another mother to remember to text them I’m not sure. This was all discussed like it was a hilarious “ha ha ha What are they like”. Lazy twats is what they’re like. And you married them, so you bloody remind them.
I’ll also add that one of the men was on the group, and also thought his complete lack of brain cells was funny. He didn’t seem at all embarrassed that another woman was being asked to text him so that he remembered, and agreed that without her text, he’d definitely forget.

Since when do PTAs have the power/authority to impose such a diktat?

Oh I still remembered the paint debacle. Kids painted at school. Paint got on their shirts. Cue rants and complaints about stains. The worst offender was a dad who said he’ll demand the cost of new polos from the school. He never did laundry a day in his life. He also accused a teacher of calling his son a r* because during parents evening she told them about things he struggled with.

For those moaning about the screen shots etc, surely that is the point of the class WhatsApp. Reminders about school events. Anything personal should be in personal WhatsApp groups