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?

the teachers didn’t stick to appointment time

As Pixels has pointed out, it's rarely the teachers who are responsible for that. They're unlikely to want to run over-time with successive appointments, or they'd be stuck in school until 10pm, although that would be par for the course in the St Yellowfish Free School.
With many years of practice, I have almost perfected the art of winding up consultations bang on time (summing up sentence, standing up, smiling and if a parent persists in talking expressing false regret that we can't chat longer but to make an appointment another time if it's very urgent, and then walking to the door and opening it) but there are STILL some who are harder to shift than sh** on a blanket. Or turn up 8 minutes late to their 10 minute appointment and sliding in just before you call the next parent in and expecting their full allocation. You'd have to be pretty hard-faced to say, "no, you're late, you get 2 minutes."

I purposely started making separate appointments for parents evenings when our school decided to do the parents evenings in the school hall

Then you're the exact type of parent this HT's letter is aimed at.

If you can't make it don't go. I don't see why you have to go unless your child isn't doing well. I never went to any of my kids as I knew they were doing well. So didn't see the point. They all left school with good grades, some went to university and they all have decent jobs.

I’m a teacher and would love to work at a school where the head is so considerate. It’s true we are overworked and underpaid and to top that I’m constantly addressing needs at the class door as well during pick up and drop offs. If sufficient notice is provided I don’t see why it should be a problem. Of course if it’s an absolutely dire situation then I’m all for making an exception.

It's perfectly polite and gives a get out.. Write to head. Simples

Not rude, it's a wide enough time slot that most people given enough notice could make.
Even if one parent couldn't make it would be unusual that neither could get that time off.
For people who really can't there is the option of contacting the head so it's just weeding out chancers who want the teachers running around to their schedule rather than people who genuinely can't make it.

It's not rude, but it's not true: I frequently work/travel for work between midday and the early hours.

havingtochangeusernameagain
If there is a reason why you cannot meet on the designated parent consultation, ...., then please write to me
Did you not read that?
She makes it perfectly clear. Nothing rude there. Teachers are over-worked. She wants to make sure her Staff are protected. A good Head Teacher.
You can write and explain the type of job you have and how the journey time precludes you reaching the school within those times. I am sure she will allocate a time that will suit you and your child's Teacher. She has said to let her know. What more can she say?

I think it's abrupt and thr kind of thing i would expect to receive as a student, not a parent. Also who has the time to write, surely an email. Very silly of the head to assume that all parents finish work and get home by 7pm, he has discounted nurses, care staff.....
Sounds like it was written in haste to me

teachers can also carry out marketing, admin and events events management tasks that they wouldn't have the chance to elsewhere, so they can really develop their skills

Hahahaha I did all this a nursery nurse. Your husband isn't doing them a favour by making them do extra jobs for free.

I was also paid more as a nursery nurse than your husband pays his qualified staff. That's without my employers telling me for one month a year I can't have a private life, that I'm to be available 24/7 for parents via Skype and that I'm to visit parents at their home in my free time too.

Your husband sounds like a couple I used to work for who owned a private daycare, paid the staff pennies and expected the world while the husband swanned in out in a suit and tie once a month and would say shit like "we'll offer free snacks from now on and then fuck off to another business he worked in and expect the nursery nurse he said it too to source the snacks and arrange for some to prep them while not doing it in her working ours and making sure having a person make the snacks doesn't cost him anymore in wages.

I'm in the north and our wages can be lower than the south but even then your husband pays his staff poorly for what he expects. He should be ashamed of himself.

It is poorly worded imho.

I work 12 and 1/2 hour shifts. I wouldn’t be able to make this if My child attended here. I am also unable to request specific days off that far in advance. I value being straight talking but there are many parents who have shift work jobs, also lone parents who may have other children etc would not be able to attend. I would say for a headteacher she doesn’t have much of a clue about differing roles in society and I would be questioning why.

If you'd heard the number of people requiring appointments outside of parents evenings due to shift work or high flyers, you'd write that too! Poor teachers having to stay all that time though.

@serendipity123 could be worse, you could work for YellowFish123 s husband

That letter is incredibly rude and presumptuous and tells me that the Head is struggling in his/her role.
I wouldn't be impressed if I received a letter like that but our school Head is lovely and very accommodating and would never dream of communicating with parents in such a poor way.

No it's not rude. The majority of people can fit in one of the timeslots available. Its rude of parents to expect teachers to bend over backwards to accommodate them.

Not rude. Completely untrue though.

Like some others have said, blunt rather than rude. However, it could have been phrased a lot better and still assumes that no one works shifts or lates.

I think it’s rude and presumptuous. I would say something, although if that’s their baseline attitude you won’t get far. They can’t just say you aren’t allowed to talk to the teachers at any other time, though. They could have made the same point more nicely and probably achieved the same result.

I’m with the head here I don’t think it’s rude at all. With 6 months notice you can juggle things/book time off to make sure you are available! That’s quite a wide window ours is only from 3:45-7 so less time to squeeze everyone in.

I do understand the issue for the teachers but it’s simply not true that whatever your job you can make those times. I spent a few years with a long commute leaving the house at 6.45am and getting home at 10pm. It was hideous as a mum and I hated it but had to do it to keep the roof over our head. I got really really fed up of school staff’s inability to understand that not everyone has the same hours as they do.

Billben
I see you too are complaining about the Head's sentence:
"We start at 1.30pm and finish at 7pm so whatever job you have, you can still make the consultation."
But, it would appear, you are unable to comprehend the sentence further on:
If there is a reason why you cannot meet on the designated parent consultation, ...., then please write to me
Did you not read that?
She makes it perfectly clear.
Some people just like to complain and show everyone they are different. And special. You are just another parent, same as the rest. You will get treated the same, the school will try and meet your special needs no doubt, if you can be polite enough to do what they ask in the letter.
I see that you are also too special to attend Parents' Evening in the Hall. There was a very good reason why it was changed from being in separate classrooms. However, you would not be interested in safety, and ensuring everyone can be seen, because you only care about what you want. The problem is Billben, your child is one of many others in his/her school. You are one of many other parents. The Teachers are working hard for all of them. It is impossible to treat everyone as a special case.

You are one of those parents I will never forget from my Teaching days who had this idea they were entitled to special treatment and not have to do what everybody else did. In my next career I learned that these people had the characteristics of Narcissism and even Psychopathy!

I would have literally zero problem with that. They are clear about the times, giving you plenty of notice, and telling you the rules. Vouldnt ask for more.

Good on that head teacher!
This grates on me so much. Parents evenings are marathons for teachers and when people can’t be bothered to turn up so leave us sitting there, and then expect us to give up more time on a different day to hold the meeting instead.
Maybe they should also invoice parents for failing to turn up for appointments.

Sounds to me like the teachers are complaining about doing the overtime to meet the parents needs for after work hours!!!!!!!!! Which is a bit cheeky considering they problem get the most paid holidays per year with the best paid sociable hours!!!!!!! I'm a single mother juggling being a full time student along with a full time job not to mention the dinner, housework on top of that ..!! Yeah I'd say it's a extremely rude!!!!!!! Try walking in the shoes of some the parents I'd say ...