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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Should I be annoyed about this letter from DDs teacher?

156 replies

MrsWinnibago · 12/09/2014 22:11

DD is in year 2...she's been having extra help for reading since year 1. we discovered she needed glasses at the start of year one and so had lost most of reception due to not seeing well at all.

So the extra help has been great and she's making progress.

I got a letter tonight, typed something like this

"Dear parent, SmallWinni is going to be having some extra reading practice with a volunteer named Tanya. She will cover x and y and z and the books will be different to the ones she fetches home. We hope that Elizabeth enjoys her extra reading time."

Confused

"Elizabeth" is actually a friend of my DDs so I assume she is also benefiting from the kind volunteer's time. But....isn't it a bit crap to make mistakes like this? For all the teacher knows, I don't want other parents knowing my DD has/needs extra help...and Elizabeth's mum might feel that way too.

As it happens I'm not ashamed of DD needing extra help so if the other child's letter includes my DDs name I don't mind but the letter COULD have had very personal info in it!

Shall I say something and what?

OP posts:
Pipbin · 13/09/2014 08:43

That'd be a one off letter done by a secretary in peace and quiet.

I have never had a secretary write my letters for me. They are generally done either after the children have gone home, during my lunch break, or at home.

Mrsstarlord · 13/09/2014 08:46

Really? At my kids school the secretaries write any of the more individual / one off letters.

BobPatandIgglePiggle · 13/09/2014 08:50

That'd be a one off letter done by a secretary in peace and quiet

Lol at peace and quiet anywhere in a primary school!

Pipbin · 13/09/2014 08:54

Never been the case at any school I've worked at unless it's a whole school letter. Anything for individual children I need to do myself. Anything that is for the whole key stage will be done by the key stage leader (trip letters for example). Anything just for my class, I do.

KittyVonCatsington · 13/09/2014 08:59

At my school I am a teacher when I write a letter, I have to forward it to the office team who will then check it against school policy and then send it on.
I had three instances last academic year, where the letters I wrote were changed by the office and included errors i had not made, such as changing my salutation from Yours faithfully, when I was addressing Dear Parents, to Yours sincerely.
When I send a letter home to multiple pupils, I will send the original letter with "Please send to.." and list the names at the bottom and the office staff are meant to complete the letter accordingly, before sending to each of the different parents.

My first thought when reading the start of this thread was, how can you be certain it was the teacher who wrote and sent the final letter in question, even with their name at the bottom?

FrancesNiadova · 13/09/2014 09:01

Actually, I have had a medical letter with someone else's name & address on it. I just phoned the hospital, clarified the appointment, forgot the name & address on the letter & shredded it. TaDah! The breast cancer nurse who handed me the letter does a wonderful job, she's run off her feet & guess what; she's human!

OP, I was concerned when you wrote, "It's not like I'm going to slap her anything!" I know that you were only joking, but I have seen parents being really aggressive with teachers & it's not nice. There seems to be a culture where it's OK to go in & have a pop at at teacher. We all have grumbles which need to be aired & I would let the teacher know,but not in an aggressive or condescending way.

FlossyMoo · 13/09/2014 09:04

YABU and hysterical and over the top. Try putting your energy in to something important like extra reading with your DD.

sandgrown · 13/09/2014 09:08

My bank has done this on.more than one occasion so what hope for a harrassed teacher who has barely got to know her new class yet!

Vagndidit · 13/09/2014 09:13

I'd be thrilled with any sort of personal letter at all regarding in-class practices for my DS.

If I'm lucky I might be told about the accommodations made for DS on parents night when I'm encouraged to sign an IEP. Otherwise it's still all very hush-hush what they get up to.

HmmAnOxfordComma · 13/09/2014 09:18

Okay - my error - I skim read "typed something like this" as "typed like this"...

Was "fetches homes" the teacher's use of non-standard English or OP's? She's remained quite quiet about it...

pippistrelle · 13/09/2014 09:23

I'd be writing to my MP, or demanding satisfaction from the Secretary of State for Education.

Oh, no, wait - I'd shrug and maybe enjoy feeling a teeny bit superior, as I do when I spot any spelling/grammar/cut and paste error, while simultaneously thanking God that I didn't do it. Not this time anyway.

Mrsstarlord · 13/09/2014 09:28

We must have been very lucky with our kid's school. General letters for individual classes were done by teachers, whole school letters by secretaries and individual letters regarding CAF meetings and the like were handwritten by teaching staff and typed by admin staff in relative peace and quiet.

I used to spend quite a lot of time there because of meetings re the kids and various other bits and pieces. Was quite often quiet enough to get on with things like that while the kids were in lessons.

To be fair the head teacher was very protective over his staff and using their skills appropriately so made some appointments to non teaching roles purely to free up staff to do their job.

Mrsstarlord · 13/09/2014 09:29

What pipistrelle said.

Marshy · 13/09/2014 09:33

*Franc in the bit of the nhs where I work, if you had highlighted that issue it would have been reported as an 'incident', the person whose details you received would have been contacted to inform them what had happened and senior management would be considering what action should be taken in respect of the nurse.

I too have a fab BCN and would have done something similar in your position

Confidentiality and information governance are taken very seriously in the nhs and quite rightly but it is a 'heartsink' moment as a member of staff when you have a momentary lapse in a busy day and then think 'oh hell, have I done something wrong there'

Re the op, this is a small matter but might be worth mentioning to the teacher if only to alert her to be a bit more vigilant in the future. Or maybe just rip.it up and forget it Grin

lordnoobson · 13/09/2014 09:36

Handwritten then typed up? Was this in 1950? Staff should not be wasting their skills as teachers doing admin

BobPatandIgglePiggle · 13/09/2014 09:42

Hark at you lot slagging off a teacher's tiny mistake at the very start of term when she's still learning up to 30 names yet are incapable of basic comprehension.

Mrsstarlord · 13/09/2014 09:43

I think you misunderstand me, a quick note which is scribbled at the end of a meeting says 'following our meeting we agreed these things.....' Handed over to a secretary with the words 'can you send mrs smith this and copy in x,y and z. Takes 2 minutes, all the typing, formatting, scrabbling around for addresses posting etc is done by a secretary so that the teacher can go back to doing what they are paid to do.

It's a very effective way of freeing people to do what they are paid for and as much as it sounds old fashioned it works well. And I say that as someone who has done the same job both with and without admin support.

noblegiraffe · 13/09/2014 09:48

Those of you pointing out how tough the teacher has it and how easily mistakes happen - would you say the same if they were sending home letters about a CAMH referral or something similarly sensitive?

Of course not. But the OP wasn't about a sensitive Camh referral. If it was, the teacher wouldn't have knocked off a batch of them so quickly.

Why make out that this is a slippery slope? Why assume that the teacher would be slapdash when writing an important document?

Incompetentteacher · 13/09/2014 09:56

I did something similar to this but in a slightly different context.

I was marking some home works after school one evening when the caretaker (let's call him Dennis) walked past my classroom to speak to a teacher further up the corridor. I really needed to speak to him as one of the blinds in my classroom was broken so it was stuck open and sunlight was flooding into my classroom, making my interactive whiteboard impossible to see. However I also really needed to get the homeworks marked quickly so I didn't want to stand around waiting for him either.

So I was marking the homeworks and saying to myself 'do forget to catch Dennis before he goes again' over and over.

The next week I got the folders back in again to mark and saw that on one little girls previous sheet there was a big red pen mark and an exclamation mark - I had written on her homework 'well done Dennis, don't forget full stops at the end of every sentence'! Shock Blush

I found the mum at the end of the day and she was fine about it, but I later found out she had put it on Facebook and told all the other parents and I was mortified!

I think lostteacher has hit the nail on the head with her 2.50pm letter request - that happens to us all the time!

I don't think you would be unreasonable to go in and just 'check it is for your daughter' but the way you are treating it as some sort of national security breach is a little OTT.

Pipbin · 13/09/2014 19:22

Staff should not be wasting their skills as teachers doing admin About 75% of what I do is admin.

HappyAgainOneDay · 13/09/2014 19:27

It's obviously a standard letter and only the first name was changed.

cailindana · 13/09/2014 19:32

Yes, definitely tell the teacher. She'll be very very pleased that out of all the extra things she does every single day to make her pupils' lives better her one mistake is what's commented on.

I am so fucking glad I am not a teacher any more.

sykadelic · 13/09/2014 20:24

Using mailmerge would have solved this problem :P

Sunna · 13/09/2014 20:32

Pointing out to people every time they make a minor error doesn't make you some sort of heroic crusader for high standards, it makes you a nitpicky arse who pisses people off.

This in spades.

fuckingpamela · 13/09/2014 20:45

Send the letter but....
The receptionist will pass the letter to the Head, the Head will show it to the deputy head, the deputy head will call in the teacher and they will all chat about how ungrateful and nit picky you are being. Mistakes happen. This was very minor and it sounds as if the teacher is doing their level best to support your child.