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...

It could perhaps be that some parents have a bottle of wine then rant on an email to the teacher??

I'm a teacher and if I need to email my children's teachers i do it after 5pm because until then I am at work. What time of day they reply is entirely up to them.

Incidentally, when I was at school during the 80s, there was no such thing as email. So if a parent needed to speak to a teacher they would do it at drop off, or call the school office. I would imagine that parents have higher expectations these days, but I can imagine that teachers would get a lot of unnecessary emails

Replying to emails is done in undirected time.

As a teacher, I hate this rule - if emails can only be sent between 8 and 5 then replying in a timely manner can be impossible. Email sent at 8, you finish teaching at 5 ... then what? You can't reply until the next day when you might have the same teaching pattern. It's ludicrous for both teachers and working parents.

Ours is a bit more reasonable - 'if you send an email after 6pm in the evening please don't expect a reply. That applies to both parents and staff sending emails to other staff.

I have been questioned a few times by SMT about sending emails very late at night/in the early hours. I understand that it looks bad to parents and would never send an email to anyone other than a colleague after midnight but I find it's the only way that works for me. I do have a work-life balance but my 'life' but tends to be between about 7 and 10 when I am out doing hobbies/ more often ferrying my children to their hobbies. After 10 I will then do the work that other people did after school.

As long as no reply is expected I think it would be far simpler for those who don't want their evenings disturbed by emails not to check them than it would be for others not to send them.

but why does your need to do your correspondence at 11pm trump a teacher's need to have an evening free of communication from parents?

I fully understand as I run my own business so get emails 24/7. But teacher's aren't unique and the teacher is in control of their own phone/device. If they don't want to receive work related emails, it's up to them to change their phone/device settings. You can choose different email programs, one for personal, one for business, and only view the personal program if you don't want to view business ones. That's what I do. I have 2 email programs set up, so I can choose when to view business emails as they don't show up on the personal email system, and as others have said, you can set the device not to ping with notifications.

I think it's a good rule. You're only paid to work between certain hours, so you shouldn't be getting anything work related outside of this time.

And just because you do it in the private sector doesn't mean teachers should. It's not a race to the bottom.

Once or twice i sent emails when i thought about it so 9pm on a Sunday night

Both times i got a reply virtually immediately

Felt so guilty i didnt do it again

However, i would assume that teachers are perfectly capable of ignoring emails until working hours and some people (not me) would be unable to send an email until the evening or weekend

I do think it would be unreasonable of a parent to expect a reply immediately or even in the next few hours

1 school email address and filtered by admin is the answer. Suggest that to the school.

I wonder how many teachers would be happy if they weren't allowed to send emails outside office hours to their plumber, builder, solicitor, estate agent, hairdresser, etc?

It should be all about teachers not being expected to respond outside normal working hours. But to actually ban people actually sending an email outside working hours is completely bonkers and really could only have come from the teaching profession due to their love of bossing other people about and being convinced that they're such a special case.

This thread is an ideal illustration of why a lot of people have an attitude towards teachers and why teachers don't get the respect they feel they deserve.

Funnily enough when I once responded to a school email I was told that other parents dont have access to emails during the day so dont get back immediately.

The class teacher doesn't provide the snacks nor does s/he decide on the school rules regarding snacks. Contact the school office, not the teacher about this.

If your DS is stuck with his phonics, direct the query at his teacher.

Teachers are not paid to only work between certain hours.

But definitely what paxillin said re point of contact. The class teacher will not be the one choosing the timing not the nature of the snack.

Someone i know was sort of hounding a teacher by email and wss told all her emails had to go to the Head.

Heads would do better addressing their own demands on teachers re workload than this, which is frankly a minor issue. Although I do certainly recognise that a late night ranty email when you have just finished marking can tip you over the edge, it isn't the email that brought you to the edge.

In my school it is very easy for students and parents to work out your email address.

This rule was introduced by a member of SLT for staff at one point. It was less than 48 hours before the headteacher had to change the rule. It is ridiculous rule designed to reduce work load pressure (without getting rid of any work) but reduced our availability to work flexibly.

And it also gives a distorted view to parents about the workload we have to manage. As do references to personal time outside of directed hours. We need to do ourselves a favour re our public image.