School reception was rude to me

[Avalaura]

Do I have the right to be angry?
My son moved school and today I forgot to give him some money for a stall were they will be selling buns. So i went to recpetion to see if anyone could give the money to him because they always did at the other school. And she just said " I haven't got time for that I'm afraid I've got other things to do " and then when I walked away she said to other people in the corridor that she has other things to do not bother with that. Then I waited for the reception door to open because it's a lock one. Then she said the other woman that she said she could take it up for her but she can't bother with silly things like that. Im so angry should I complain?

If you think the school receptionist was rude, whatever you do, don’t go to the GP surgery!

@surreygirl1987 👍

Personally I'd let it go but I think she was rude. My DS's school has around 1000 pupils in it, they still managed to find time to locate him and give him the pasta cutter for ravioli that he forgot to take recently!

Not only do you complain; you lodged a formal complaint and you detail how she spoke to you & her indiscretion at discussing you wth other staff; then you get the name of the governors, the Head and Head of Human Resources; you email them & make sure you copy the email to each of them.
I did that and it made them do some essential housekeeping. Not only do they now have continuity and professionalism in the reception area; they’re very respectful now. It wasn’t my intention but I think the person that was rude almost lost her job. She’s very nice now. It was as if everyone pulled their socks up. The reception is crucial point of contact and where ppl form their first impressions of the school. No one should take anyone for granted let alone their job & as long as you’re respectful & polite yourself, there’s no excuse for that kind of tardy treatment of anyone.

Given you've had to do it at both schools as you have forgot, then maybe rather than moan about the school you could have used the time to set reminders for future events so you don't do it again.

To be fair, you can imagine the sheer volume of (more important) things that are asked to pass on. Inhalers, coats, homework etc. That must be bad enough. But money so Timmy gets a bun...come on!!

Really bad attitude. Not just refusing to help, but talking about you. I'd complain, personally.

This!! ☝️ Not to mention, safeguarding, ordering of everything, budgets, recruitment, wiping snotty noses etc, calling to absentees who’ve not rung in, calling home for PE kits or lunches. It’s a non-stop job!

I am a school office manager and I would have obliged. However, I think people massively underestimate the school office tasks and think it’s just a bit of reception and answering the phone.

Forgetful parents are the bane of my life. However, I manage it with a smile as that’s what we do. She was being rude, but you don’t know what she had on her plate that day and you’ve probably just caught the tail end of it. A bit unprofessional, but then who’s perfect?

I think it’s really mean, it’s penalising the kid. Wouldn’t want my kids to be at a primary like that.
Fair enough not taking the piss, but the child can be asked to go to reception to collect it.

Equally, parents often have so much on their plate that they forget stuff. Most of us would rather not bother reception but as schools won’t let us go in to find our kids we’ve got no choice but to ask reception.

No need for her to be such a rude cow.

Black currant
Invigilate 🤣🤣

Buggeroffandfooddaytoyou!

Yes your post is spot on. The ‘receptionist’ assumption - even for people who are receptionists (who do so much more than perceived) really pisses me off.

We need a documentary on the life of a school office. It would open lots of eyes I’m sure!!

😂

This would not be an issue at dd school. The receptionist would just call up to the teacher and either the teacher would come or she’d send the pupil up to collect it. It don’t see the big issue. She certainly shouldn’t have been rude though. I wouldn’t complain, just let it go

Receptionist was rude and bullying. She could have dealt with it nicely ‘I’m sorry, we’re a big school I’m too busy here / we’re a small school there’s no cover if I leave the desk / it’s school policy you would have to speak to the Head ‘ or whatever. Or she could have just been nice and helped out a new child whilst explaining that she can’t do it routinely. TBH, I think that is well within the role of a receptionist at a primary school - it’s a very different job to front desk in a city bank or something.

Yep. Rude. It's not your kids fault that you forgot the money. The receptionist should have taken 2 minutes to sort this out!

I would say this is absolutely within the job of a school receptionist, dealing with lost or forgotten items is part of life with kids. And even if she is too busy at that moment she could have asked you to put it an envelope with his name on to be passed on later. There is no need for rudeness.

How is it hard for the receptionist to be polite - I would have thought it was rather a pre-requirement for a school receptionist. The OP didn't ask her to hand over her life savings and lie on the floor, she just said can you give DS this. She's a receptionist in a school FFS, I imagine occasionally this means to you have to speak to parents without throwing a strop.

Maybe if we didn't do this stupid defending of every single thing schools do, even when its entirely batshit, then basic stuff like polite receptionists would be par for the course and we could move on to really looking at the hard stuff like budgets and pressure on teachers etc.

My children have been to schools where both of these situations have been the norm (i.e would or wouldn't give the forgotten item to the child).

I'd far rather send my children to the school where they actually care about the children enough to prevent them being upset and missing out.

Sarahtancredi what the feck are you talking about. Please read the post again slowly very slowly 🙄

Get a grip. Shes having a bad day we all have them. Parents that complain all the time over silly crap get right on my teets. Take the verbal and move on winger

Ahaha busy working on school reception my arse. They dont even answer the phone at dss school anymore you have to leave a message. Theyre not that busy. Yes, theyre front of house, "customer facing" theyre the face of the school and if even if they think its a waste of time they need to suck it up because thats part of working on reception surely.

Passing on a PE kit, inhaler, medication etc is reasonable. If they're busy then it's not their job to pass on spending money for stalls I'm afraid.
They were a bit short which isnt ok in a front facing role, but then again maybe they get a bit frustrated with parents endlessly stopping them doing their job by ferrying forgotten things. Our admin team includes doing attendance and absence and it takes a while. It would be much harder to do that properly if stopping every 10 mins due to a forgotten jumper, money for a stall, forgotten lunch box. People have off days. I certainly wouldn t complain.

I find this post sad! I am a Secondary School receptionist and have never ever refused any requests by family or guardians or anyone (within reasonable requests of course) - I PA the child (if at recess or lunch break) or ask a teacher to deliver whatever has been handed over (monies, school books, clothing or food tech containers etc)! Politeness is the key to a happy day! How dare that receptionist be so blatantly rude to that parent of a student! Reprimand by the Principal or business manager should have been the outcome if the parent had complained to head of school!!

I have been a senior school receptionist and a college receptionist for many years and it has ALWAYS been part of the receptionists job to assist parents and pupils/students in this way. The clue is really in the job title. OP your request was perfectly reasonable and this receptionist was really rude

Wow. That’s not even close to what happened 🙈