To think that dcs school is totally inappropriate

[Lillyrosey]

AIBU to think that's my kids school is completely an utterly inappropriate and unprofessional in assuming I will get information about dressing up days, phonics sessions times and other important information that I need to know for my kids to settle into school nicely!??

So there have been a couple of things that I have missed sincd children have been back to school and I was quite upset over one in particular Tha was my daughter's first phonics session with parents. Now I check the newsletter and my emails all the time. It wasn't on it at all.
Then there is a fancy dress thing this Thursday my son has announced to me to which I reply well no there's no fancy dress thing as I haven't been informed! Double check the newsletter yet again nope nothing on there.
I couldn't work out what I was missing??! Nows the time to add that I do not do social media.
I Merion this morning to my daughters teaching assistant how gutted I was to miss her phonics session and she turns to me and said well then you should of been checking our facebook and Twitter sites. But I'm not on Facebook or Twitter I reply. I suggest you join she replys and walks off!!
I left the school raging to say the least but didn't show it to kids.
Drive off and thing hang on a minute it surely is the school's job to inform parents of important things through the school newsletter? And not bloody Facebook!
I'm going to phone to school tomorrow as Im not dropping kids in the morning. I just want to check your opinions before I phone up about this

SM is not appropriate communication to parents. Its good for the SM stuff, that's what it's designed for.

But letters, reminders, etc should be by other means. My DS'S school uses email and the Schoolcomms app.

SM is not secure, no matter how private you make your settings. And as OP said, it only takes one parent to try and friend you, or start sharing stuff, and security becomes nonexistent.

As as former parent governor, I would feel the school was being stupid if they relied on SM only.

I've not yet read the whole thread but the first thing you should be doing is contacting the head teacher about the way the TA spoke to you - the TA was rude and dismissive and shows no understanding that there are very valid reasons why some parents don't have social media. Make sure you tell the head that you were advised by the police not to have FB etc
Then point out that FB and Twitter are not compulsory and shouldn't be the main method of communication that schools employ - it is entirely reasonable to be sent home a letter or be emailed about events concerning your child.

SVRT stop being a twat. You are just highlighting your own ignorance regarding the security measures that some people have to take in order to keep their family safe.

aderyn
To be fair, the OP doesnt need to give any reasons to the head at all.
Their communication policy seems to be a mess.

Maybe I'm a bit hard line on this but the bottom line is that a child's education and parental contact should not be negatively affected by use of social media or lack of.

No she doesn't, but it might help them to know that sometimes there are really good reasons and then they can train their staff appropriately, so the TA doesn't speak to parents the way this TA did.

I see your point. It does highlight the potential seriousness of it.

I can't help but feel that they should do thinks properly because it's the right thing for all children and parents though.

Yes they should. And I do agree that the OP might not want to share her personal situation with the school.

Maybe, you could say something about security reasons in general, rather than be specific about your own case. If they've never come across it before, they should be made aware that there are people who have left domestic violence situations or children who have been adopted and shouldn't be traceable by their birth families. They need to train their staff to be aware and sensitive.

I would check out the school website to see if they have any formal communication policy.

I would then go into school and ask to see the head of safeguarding and ask what their communication policy is - in general terms and specifically for those people who need to not be on social media for safety reasons.

If they reply with a breezy ‘oh everyone uses SM’ or similar, as to see their risk assessment for only using SM for people that are at risk and can’t use SM. I’m assuming that the school will have some sort of form that they allow you to opt out of photos and ensure that you/your dcs are never in pictures where they or the school can be identified (and I’m assuming you’re signed up to this as it fits with what you’ve said) so they should be aware of the importance of these provisions.

Depending on their reaction to you, I would tell them that you’re raising this as a formal safeguarding complaint (and cc in the chair of the governors, the governor responsible for safeguarding and the safeguarding contact at the local council). Discuss with them what you need from communications from school and see what they suggest and ask themto get back to you within a week with practical implementable (and implemented!) changes to the communications with home as well as the new policy updated to reflect the new risk assessment.

Then make sure you send it all in writing and cc appropriately so it doesn’t get forgotten.

And see what happens. Safeguarding aside they shouldn’t be organising things with such short notice.

Twitter and Facebook are great for reminders, to give timely updates on trips (we’ve arrived safely! We’ve just spent an hour in a traffic jam coming home so we will be at least an hour late getting back after the trip to the castle! Congratulations to the y6 football team for winning their match today! Remember to dress up warm for fireworks night display on Saturday! Etc) but not as a main source of info.

Remember to point out how badly it reflects on the school if their website is so lacking in info on dates too. And whilst there will always be new opportunities that pop up at the last minute, it is reasonable to assume that they will do the nativity play, the Easter bonnet competition, sports day, summer feteetc as they do every year so those things should be there from the beginning of the year. Most sensible schools put in a couple of reserve dates if things aren’t completely firmed up or may change eg waiting for confirmation from the touring panto company, extra dates reserved for sports day in case it rains or is too hot...

Get other parents to also complain in writing about the lack of notice re the phonics evening.

See what happens and keep on at them every time they exclude you by giving too little notice and/or only using SM.

If that is how the school communicates then that is how the school communicates. A parent could just as easily say they dont use email, so its unrealistic to say a school has to communicate in your preferred method.

You can look at Twitter without an account.
You can look at FB without an account, if its a private group you can sign up with a fake name and ask the admin to add you. You can even do it on a VPN so your IP address is blocked. Put the security settings to maximum and dont use it for anything else.

Its very common for school to use numerous apps to communicate with parents, a paper newsletter seems very out dated and were quite unreliable as often got lost en route. Most parents like being able to look at a list online to make sure they dont miss things.

My daughter's school no longer send home paper copies of the newsletter. All done online.

Thoigh I think school sm pages can be useful I try to stay off sm as Iget sidetracked and lose too much time when I go on it. Also, many people can't use it during the working day.

So I would email the school to ask them to consider another form of communication - such as utilising their newsletters effectively.

If that is how the school communicates then that is how the school communicates. A parent could just as easily say they dont use email, so its unrealistic to say a school has to communicate in your preferred method

It's not about wanting communication in a preferred method. It's about the school having a sensible and reasonable communication approach.

Most schools have a communication system and then they send letters just for those who aren't on the communication system. Often the key dates will also be on the website.That's the sensible thing to do to ensure information is easy for parents.

Expecting parents to go through different social media platforms for basic information is ridiculous.

Given how MN is too often quick to demand OPs report the school to Ofsted or have teachers complained against for expecting their child to follow rules, I'm astounded how many parents take the approach of "I'm alright and use social media so stuff everyone else they should get with it because the school have no obligation to ensure a reasonable system is in place".