Is this school newsletter too rude?

[RudeHead]

NC as obviously outing to other parents. This week's primary school newsletter had the following from the head^^ about parents' evening...

Thank you for all the positive comments that teachers received yesterday. They all work so hard for each child in their class. Though I have noticed that there are too many parents not attending the parents meeting and making individual appointments with teachers before and after school This will not be allowed. We start at 1.30pm and finish at 7pm so whatever job you have, you can still make the consultation. I have to keep the workload down for our teachers. If there is a reason why you cannot meet on the designated parent consultation, which is dated in September, then please write to me.

AIBU that this is unacceptably rude? I feel like I should write in or something. I get her point but surely there's a better way to make it?

She’s wrong.
She’s incredibly rude.
She’s made an idiot of herself.

I’d be questioning her competency.

Well my kids have attended 3 different schools Kolo and dh is a teacher and the only school that gave out a paper diary at the start of the year was the private school ds attended for 2 years.

Well maybe it's the service not meeting the needs of the clients then. Perhaps it would be useful to dig a bit deeper into why 29 parents cannot make it.

most of them can, they just don't want to.

Could you offer 6 slots 3:30 onwards per day over a week perhaps?

May I suggest that some people consider private schools with a personalised service if the way an overworked teacher with too many kids in a class held in school with completely inadequate fundings and no support is not suitable to their needs and preferences as a client?

Sorry 4 schools if you include primary. We did get some letters from primary.

It is one evening and part of their job

It is never one evening. My job includes providing feedback to parents. It doesn’t include neglecting my own children to achieve that.

perhaps you missed the paper school calendar that’s generally handed out on the first day of school? I’d be pretty surprised if there wasn’t a years calendar available at all

My dcs primary school has never given out a paper calendar on the first day of term nor had a full years calendar available. I know from when I was a governor that they didn't even know all the dates of everything at the start of the year. Things were added during the year when they were confirmed, not necessarily parents evenings but events that parents attend.

Its not rude at all but could have said, 'as the date and times are announced several months in advance, the vast majority should be able to make arrangements for one parent to attend within these times. For those very rare occasions when this is not possible, please write to me.

Sad to think this is such an issue.

Every school I've worked in and my kids schools have this

But you haven’t worked in every school. I can categorically say, mine doesn’t do this. We”re lucky if we get more than a weeks notice of anything.

They're providing your child with the opportunity of an education.

No, the government does that. They provide the service which delivers it and they need to remember different families have different lives from them.

While obviously teachers have their own families to look after, I think it's disingenuous to suggest that parents evening is incredibly inconvenient. Every teacher knows when they start the job that they'll have to attend parents evening.

I agree with the pp who talked about the service meeting the needs of the client. DH is a headteacher and his school offers 'on demand' appointments over a period of a month to ensure parents find a time that suits them. Attendance is almost 100% and teachers know not to organise anything for evenings during this month, as they could be booked for a parents' appointment at a few days notice.

Schools are the only organisation in the world(maybe apart form NHS GPs) who will offer a service at a time that suits them rather than the client.

I be tempted to claim that I was a teacher with parents evening on the same day. See how she worms her way out of that one.

perhaps you missed the paper school calendar that’s generally handed out on the first day of school? I’d be pretty surprised if there wasn’t a years calendar available at all. What nonsense, these do not exist at our school. If you are lucky they tell you two weeks before. A bit like when they tell you what delightful outfit your child should wear for the play a week before the play!!!!

Oh and like when they tell your child to tell you it's non uniform day the next day, but by the time you see your child that evening, they have forgotten, and there is no official note in the bag!

Love it. This Head sounds amazing. School calendars are published well in advance, so if you need to request time off there is plenty of time to do so. If it isn't possible, then one parent could attend alone. If neither could then they have the opportunity to contact the Head. Brilliant.

It is one evening and part of their job

No, it's 5 evenings in my (primary) school, actually and many more for secondary colleagues. And anyway, no one is saying they're not prepared to attend those evenings; it's stretching it out across a couple of weeks to accommodate all those who can't/won't turn up on the designated evenings that's an issue.

And am I fuck service provider to your client!

We didn't attend our last parents evening because times were not convenient. We get a 10 minute appointment with a clock ticking down to remind the room when to change over. We never get any useful feedback. Teachers say "how do you think they are doing?" and then give very generalised feedback such as "I have no concerns". So what is the point? If the evening is to be for the benefit of parents then this should be the focus of the evening. If it is for the benefit and convenience of teachers then lets not pretend otherwise.

The “client” is the pupil, not their parents.
And keep every evening free for a month? Sod that for a game of soldiers. We have a big enough recruitment and retention problem as it is.

Every teacher knows when they start the job that they'll have to attend parents evening.

Have some posters missed that it is not the parents evening that is the issue but the many requests from parents to have appointments on other days at other times, at their wish?!

If it is for the benefit and convenience of teachers then lets not pretend otherwise.
You think we want to spend those hours (on top of a long and arduous day performing in the classroom) at a parent consultation evening? Hardly for our benefit! If you don't want to come and discuss your child's progress, then fine. That's 10 minutes earlier I can go home.

The “client” is the pupil, not their parents.

No, the the pupil isn't either.

Schools are the only organisation in the world(maybe apart form NHS GPs) who will offer a service at a time that suits them rather than the client.

Bollocks. Can think of plenty. How many do you know who operate outside of office hours

I’ve heard it all now.

Children are 'clients' not parents.

Children are bloody hard work and extremely inconvenient, yet the vast majority of us CHOSE to have them.

Obviously there will be some occasions when it can't be done, but then you write to the head. The newsletter is targeting the can't be arseders who don't want to put themselves out.

If it is for the benefit and convenience of teachers then lets not pretend otherwise.

It is for the benefit of the children for the parents and teachers to work in close partnership....

That benefit has to be weighed against the convenience of all other parties - both teachers and parents.

Sounds reasonable to me. There may be a few families where both parents work shifts, and neither can make a time between 1.30 pm and 7 pm. However, with 6 months notice it should be possible for at least one parent to change a shift, to plan to take a late lunch, or to take half a day's annual leave.

@MsRabbitRocks

Staff in every other industry have to adapt their working times to meet the needs of clients. If a project needs to be completed or a client wants to meet at 9pm, they do it.

Teachers should be no different- if a parent is only able to meet at 6.30 on a different night, then that's when they meet.

There is simply far too much inflexibility in much of the public sector- if it was a private business it would be closed within the week. And I'm sure teachers can cope being late home like ebony whioe thinking about their 6 week summer holiday.