To expect to have direct contact with DDs teacher?

[ComeToThePoint]

DD, in Year 2 Primary, has a new teacher who is covering for maternity leave.

Firstly, AIBU to expect the school to inform parents that DD has a new teacher?

Secondly, the teacher has contacted parents via the Class Representative, saying she will send any messages to the Class Rep for her to forward to all parents. She also prefers that parents send any questions/messages to the Class Rep who will forward them to the teacher. Private messages can be sent directly to the teacher if necessary.

I think this is all very odd. AIBU?

Schools usually tell parents when a new teacher takes over YANBU. But maybe the 'contact via class rep' thing is a deliberate move by the new teacher as a kind of triage? She may have been bombarded with trivia in the past and wants to keep the parents more at arms' length.

I've never heard anything like this... unless she means the class rep will forward messages to the teacher on maternity?

Any private messages can be sent to the class teacher (who is on maternity leave). The replacement teacher has access to that email address...

Sounds really weird, when I have been a teacher covering maternity leave the teacher on leave isn't involved. I would expect parents to pop in and see me if they wanted to.

Did no-one notice the teacher was pregnant? I would expect to be informed if my child had a teacher replaced. The maternity cover teacher is now your child's teacher and so you should be able to approach them as you would any teacher.

I think by private messages she means Congratulations etc but I'd probably go and clarify this with the deputy/head. The pregnant teacher is now on leave. I don't imagine her class is her priority right now.
You cover teacher is now in charge and you should be able to approach her direct.

Which teacher are you meant to be contacting via the class rep? The one on maternity leave? (in which case she doesn't really have to talk to anyone at all) or the cover? If she cover she should be contactable in whatever is the usual way for the school.

Maybe she isn't used to a system where parents can email her direct? We don't have this in the DDs school (in fact we can't even email the office!) and I can imagine the staff having kittens if they thought they were going to get emails direct from parents!

We have this system where the class rep passes on general stuff / requests / info etc, and then we can email teachers directly about specific academic/pastoral issues.

It works.

I'd never heard of 'class reps' til the other week when I read about them on MN

All sounds very strange to me. I'd bypass the rep and simply speak to whomever I needed to.

DC's school have class reps that are children - I hope its not the same thing here?

Our class reps organise: drinks/coffee mornings, presents for teachers and victims volunteers for the Fairs. Certainly not to liase between parent concerns and the teacher.
We also have kids who are on the school council, but that is totally seperate.
Did the class teacher have to start maternity leave early due to ill health? Maybe the temporary teacher has been overwhelmed with messages because of that?

Actually my first response would be to forward the email to the head with my concerns.

The one I was reading about the other week on here was an over enthusiastic parent.

I would ignore and approach the teacher direct. The school already appears poor regarding communication why add another link in the chain which does not need to be there.

If you dc has a problem with school or the classroom or you need to discuss something the only person I would be approach would be the class teacher (and if they weren't available the TA).

YANBU ignore communication with parents IS part of a teachers job.

Do you not have the opportunity to talk to the teacher face to face all teachers in the dc's school are available both before and after school to deal with problems, concerns messages. It helps hugely in forging relationships between the teaching staff and parents.

A new parent at our school wants a system of class reps to be introduced. The general response has been that parents don't want her "fancy London ways". Are class reps something that tends to happen in London.

We usually have direct contact with our teachers, who are there first thing in the morning to greet and at the end of the day when children leave. I would find it strange not to. General news is circulated through Parent Mail, ie e-mail, or in book bags. PTA ia active throughout the school.

Speaking as a teacher, I would just ignore and go and speak direct if you want to.

Thanks for your messages. I think the consensus is that IANBU though I´m surprised at Bramshott´s DDs school where there is no email contact with the school at all!

In my DDs school, the role of the Class Rep is to represent the class on the PTA. Parents can forward any questions or concerns they have to her for discussion in the PTA. This helps everyone. In this situation the Class Rep´s role seems to be taking over the responsibilities of the teacher IMHO.

DC1 has only just started in Reception, so it's all new to me and I may have the wrong end of the stick, but are you saying that all messages have to be passed through one of your dc's classmates? If so, isn't there a confidentiality issue?

The last thing I'd want is a message going through another child!

Sorry, but I am a class rep and would absolutely hate this. As ComeToThePoint has said, I am there to represent the PTA and am already heavily involved in things such as Christmas fair and other things. I'm also doing social secretary for the class, organising drinks/Xmas dinner. No way would I have time or want to be a buffer between parents and the teacher. Not my role in my opinon.

Angel, all messages should go through another parent in the class, the one who volunteers to be the Class Rep for the year.. Even so, I don´t see why I should involve another parent in my concerns or be reliant on them to even forward a message.

In my DDs school many children travel some distance to school on the bus. So parents rarely even see the class teacher.

You are being unreasonable on some points, but reasonable on others. As a teacher myself, there is nothing more frustrating than parents emailing/phoning/sending a letter over trivial things. I do think the school should have contacted parents to explain the new teacher and why she is there (i.e. maternity leave). With regards to using the class rep, isn't that what a class rep is for? Teaching isn't a 7-8 hour a day job - we spend so many hours outside of physical contact time doing our jobs. Give her a break, see how the triage system/class rep system works and then go from there.

Ah ok, with you now! We don't have one (maybe that will come a bit later on?) Even if we did, there is no way I would want to pass my private business through another parent.

If you want to speak to the teacher then you should absolutely be able to. YANBU.