Stupid rule about sending school an email

[Winebomb]

So preparing to write an email to my sons school about snack times (see my other thread) but just remembered we got a newsletter the first week of school stating:

"If you want to email the class teacher it must be sent between the hours of 8am and 5pm, any emails sent outside of this time will not be responded to"

Now I get there are some parents who are batshit, and think that if they email the teacher at 11pm they will have a response personally at the school gates the following morning, when they drop off their precious little snow flakes.

But isn't sending emails like writing a letter. I will write it at a convienient time, it may have been written at 11pm at night. But I am not batshit and expect it to be read either the next working day or at least the next working day afterwards after it's been delivered.

I work in the private sector and receive/send loads of emails post 5pm, and the same rules apply. Who are these parents who are just being bonkers???

All I can think of is writing my email and timing it in Outlook to be sent within the allotted time. But it just seems pointless.

Sorry probably answered my own AIBU and this is turning into more of a rant! But really!?!? Who are these people...

1. In the message, on the Options tab, in the More Options group, click Delay Delivery . 2. Click Message Options. 3. Under Delivery options, select the Do not deliver before check box, and then click the delivery date and time that you want.

Thanks @RainyApril I’ll investigate that tomorrow. Every day’s a school day! 😃

Thank you, Rainy

Whoever wrote that ruling is illiterate - probably the Curriculum Lead for English - and not only because they ended a sentence with a preposition. What I think they mean is that

"Class teachers will not respond to emails except between the hours of 0800 and 1700. Emails sent outside these working hours will neither be read nor answered before 0800 or after 1700. Emails will be read and answered in the order of their reception, but parents who habitually send emails in the very late evening or very early morning in the hope of jumping this queue will find that their emails are very soon pushed to the back of it. When the Government pays my teaching staff a salary entitling parents to a twenty-four-hour service they will receive one, but not until then."

Read everyone's comments whilst having a giggle. If the school cannot get the wording right, it beggars belief how the children are going to turn out. Seriously teachers should have school related emails sent to a specific email address that they turn off at a specific time (I am sure this is possible).
However, saying that I have clients contacting me until late at night and weekends, and, some of those are teachers, it's my job. it may not be sociable, but hey, I can always prioritise my replies. Yes my clients think I am at their disposal, and, they believe they are my only client. Good luck to you all on this matter.

I think that's perfectly acceptable. Lots of teachers have their work emails streamed onto their smartphones. They don't want to receive emails about your kid's lost coat at 10 o'clock at night. Occasionally parents email after a couple of glasses of wine in the evening, and teachers have received fairly abusive emails followed by grovelling apologies the next morning!

Whoever wrote that ruling is illiterate - probably the Curriculum Lead for English - and not only because they ended a sentence with a preposition

There's nothing wrong with ending a sentence with a preposition. I suggest you update your knowledge.

I have lots of clients who email me for advice - I let them know that I only REPLY between 9 and 5 (weekdays). Easy. Then I turn off notifications when I don't want to be reading client emails... um... this stipulation is nuts!!! The head should figure out how emails work and then support staff in self care (Stressed out by work emails out of hours? Don't read work emails out of hours)

They may want access to work emails. They just don't want emails from parents . Not sure why people can't grasp that a) they're not the same and b) one is likely to be more stressful and annoying than another.

Emails are like letters. The huge advantage of email is that you can send it when it's convenient for you, and the recipient can deal with it when convenient for them. If the time of sending is a problem for the recipient, it's because they haven't set up their technology correctly.

No one can email teachers directly at our school. The only way you could do it is if they specifically gave you the address and asked you to. Otherwise even if you figured it out they wouldn't reply. All emails go through the general school address and are passed on as necessary.

If some parents have unrealistic expectations of when emails will be read, then that problem needs to be pushed back to them, not dealt with by invalidating the premise of email for everyone.

In addition to making sure notifications don't fire out of hours, teachers could have an auto-respond rule that send an automatic reply saying how/when emails will be dealt with.

Whoever wrote that ruling is illiterate - probably the Curriculum Lead for English - and not only because they ended a sentence with a preposition

A preposition is a valid type of word to end a sentence with. Where did that rule come from? I don't know what you are talking about.

(look up the dangling/stranded preposition)

As crazy as it appears, I can understand why they have this rule. As a teacher myself, I often need to go on my emails during an evening or weekend in order to access something that has been emailed earlier in the day. It is hard enough as a teacher to maintain a good work-life balance and it's even more difficult when on a weekend I have opened my emails and received really unpleasant, personal and attacking emails from one particular mother. I now make a point of not opening up emails from parents on the weekend or evening, however just the sight of one in my in-box is enough to put a dampener on my weekend.

Ridiculous and I say that as a teacher. My NQT has his email notifications going to his phone. I told him he was mad and to take them off. I don't look at my work emails until I'm physically there. I have a life!

An email to a teacher from a parent IS a work email september. It has to do with that teacher's work.

The issue is with the school's systems. If it's too stressful to receive an email from a parent out of hours, the head should care for their staff by not giving parents staff email addresses... or insisting emails from parents come via the office, as someone else suggested.

You don't get to stipulate when someone sends you an email! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

I work in a sector where I am expected to check and respond to emails pretty much 24 7. It is very stressful. I suspect the new rule is to establish that teachers have set working or contact hours. Also if people have to wait until working hours they may think twice about emailing and it may prevent teachers having to deal with a backlog of emails at the start of every day.

And I agree with the pp that sometimes you can't just not look at your emails out of hours but it would be good if you could know that people would only email out of hours if it was urgent.

I am so confused here - there are tons of jobs where stressful emails are part of the deal. Surely that has to be managed by individuals or by the organisation (the school). There is no other sector where this conversation would even be entertained...

It is so they don't receive emails from pissed parents

Very few emails need to be sent to the teacher anyway.

Little precious' snacks or role in the school play or lost jumper are ridiculous email subjects.

Something up with which we shall not put...........

In France the unions have been trying to have the law changed so that work emails will not be sent after 5 (I think they all go to bed with each other's husbands between 5 and 7pm in France and then start their 3 course family meals).

The rewritten version above is better. Parents who work during the day can hardly be expected to email during that time. Most of us accept an email is like a letter and a response will be given in due course. I do check my emails before bed and as soon as I get up for work as it means money and if I do not respond clients go to a different lawyer but that is my choice and I do earn a fair bit more than most teachers.

if it were the schools email address then i'd expect any emails sent later than 5pm to be responded to the next school day NOT all parents have access to a computer or mobile with internet access during school hrs. or an issue might not come to light till the childs bedtime .

Parents can still email the office at their convenience, at any time.

The school would prefer you to avoid emailing teachers directly outside 8-5pm.

What's the problem with that arrangement?

My phone pings with every school email I get. I suspect it's so the teachers don't get disturbed in their own time. If it was an issue they might feel obliged to deal with it straight away. It strikes me as just good manners.