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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

letters from school

116 replies

agnesf · 30/03/2014 08:34

Is it unreasonable to expect schools to get into the digital age? I don't know anyone who hasn't either got a home computer or smartphone yet our school still persists in sending home a printed out newsletter which gets scrumpled up in a heap at the bottom of the bag.

Even more annoying are important additional letters such as those needed to book appointments at parents evening/ get tickets for school concerts ("donation" of £3 required). These have often not made it home or even worse not even been given out by the class teacher.

Is mine the only school that still thinks its in the 1970's. Its really annoying plus in these days of increasingly short resources seems to be really inefficient.

OP posts:
RachelWatts · 30/03/2014 10:09

DS1's school uses ParentMail2 so we get everything on email. We don't have a printer, though, so the reply slip for the last parent's evening was written out in crayon that morning as I couldn't find a pen!

mrsjay · 30/03/2014 10:10

we get texts and a thing on facebook that is a PITA to log into letters are fine not everybody remembers to look at the email I think a physical note makes sure ALL parents have the information

Bunbaker · 30/03/2014 10:11

"People should read their emails. If they have given school their email address they may just get emails from them."

I agree. I have a friend who has a daughter at the same school as DD. She is always complaining to me that the school never tell her anything. I just tell her to read her emails. Her excuse is that it never occurs to her to read them, so I said she shouldn't have given the school her email address.

The school is in a "naice" area, so the number of households without internet access will be minimal. However, a small, but significant proportion of parents aren't tech savvy, and never check their emails regularly.

I have mine synchronised on my phone so I know instantly when I have received an email.

So the school communicates with parents via email, text and letter depending on the type of communication.

slartybartfast · 30/03/2014 10:17

at dc's secondary school everything is email now. which i agree can be annoying if you dont check everyday. and as for printing out to agree to trips etc., i just email to agree, if they want to save paper, then so do i!

we even have onlne parents evenign booking - which i think is great but apparently the teachers don't as they dont have any control over, fair enough.
i think by the time they are at secondary pretty much every thingis internet based and if you dont ahve the internet you are in trouble.

Picturesinthefirelight · 30/03/2014 10:19

I prefer paper copies. I have problems with printing & I like to put things up on the notice board

I haven't given school my email.

RustyBear · 30/03/2014 10:21

Anything important, such as school evacuation and parents would be phoned before the (centrally sent out texts) are received anyway

I don't think so - do you really think the school secretary's going to sit in a burning building or surrounded by rising floods to phone 250+ parents? And how long do you think that would take? They will obviously attempt to get in touch with parents who aren't on the text system once they are in a place of safety, but a centrally sent text is the first recourse. There's various levels of text, emergency ones are sent at once (and would certainly get there before 250 phone calls had been completed) -routine ones may arrive at 3am. Of course, some systems are better than others - snow days tend to sort the sheep from the goats as far as efficiency of the competing systems is concerned, when many schools are requesting emergency texts at the same time....

Whathaveiforgottentoday · 30/03/2014 10:26

we get emails for most things but still get letters when you have to send back a slip.
Most parents check the email but don't always have access to a printer to print out the reply. Seems a good compromise to me.

mrsjay · 30/03/2014 10:29

we always get reply things on a paper copy which i prefer if my dd was still in primary i would still want letters home so i could pin them up and remember whats going on , secondary there doesn't seem as much to remember

capsium · 30/03/2014 10:33

Rusty yes it has happened. The centrally sent texts were slower and weren't received till after the call.

RustyBear · 30/03/2014 10:36

Then either the system the school uses doesn't have an effective priority system, or someone forgot to click on it!

capsium · 30/03/2014 10:36

Maybe it is just our area.....

capsium · 30/03/2014 10:39

Rusty quite possibly. The parents would not be told this, though. Grin

There have been a few 'IT' issues...

slartybartfast · 30/03/2014 10:42

schools often use local radio for snow days.

mrsjay · 30/03/2014 10:44

schools often use local radio for snow days.

yeah they do it seems to be more effective than text they list the schools that are off,

RustyBear · 30/03/2014 10:44

It's actually interesting to compare the speed of the various ways of communicating - when we had to close early due to snow, we sent a ParentMail text and email, rang the unregistered parents, tweeted and attempted to put it on our website. The ParentMail went straight through, the website (with an external provider) had a hissy fit and refused to allow us to update the main page for hours, but the twitter feed which is also on the main page updated straight away. The last child to be collected belonged to parents who were phoned directly, but who weren't answering their phone.

RustyBear · 30/03/2014 10:46

Oh yes, we also informed local radio, but they didn't list us - they listed the linked infant school (which has a different name) and 'assumed' parents would realise that both were closed...

slartybartfast · 30/03/2014 10:47

and the schools go through the council council, for snow days, who sent out emails too.

capsium · 30/03/2014 10:48

Ah all are texts are with an externally run service here, ditto changes to website. Not sure about the tweets. The school do the phoning.

mrsjay · 30/03/2014 10:50

I dont understand how the texting works Blush i am assuming the office person doesn't sit with a mobile and does a send all to hundreds of parents

Hoppinggreen · 30/03/2014 10:51

I don't mind getting letters from school but I wish they would have a system that recognizes that I don't need 2 identical letters (one for each child) I also wish they wouldn't send me the letters about after school clubs in my Reception child's bag when they are for year 1 and above.
Would save them quite a bit of money I imagine

slartybartfast · 30/03/2014 10:52

i once got three phone calls, one after the other, from the class spokesperson, telling me there was no school due to snow that day, one from each child's class!

slartybartfast · 30/03/2014 10:53

some email systems can send texts. mrs j

mrsjay · 30/03/2014 10:54

OH i see ok I have never asked that before i feel such a tool for not knowing how it works

mrsjay · 30/03/2014 10:55

that used to get right on my wick 2 sets of calls letters when both mine were at school such a waste of time and paper, they should think oo siblings lets just send out one copy/text

Rexandralpf · 30/03/2014 10:57

Ours school communication is dire. Paperwork always left in the kids pidgin holes or not given out at all, always last minute, not everyone receiving the information. It's a standing joke with the parents who have to constantly ring round to find out what's going on. I actually don't know any computer free parents at all so it would be fine to email and give paper copies to those who prefer paper. I know a school that does twice weekly emails on a Thursday and Monday. These emails contain every bit of information needed without using half a forest.