School asking parents to only email teachers during working hours

[cautiouscovidity]

We've had a message from DCs' (primary) school respectfully asking parents to only email the head and class teachers between 8:30-5:30 on school days and not during the evenings / weekends / holidays, for staff well-being reasons (they deserve protected downtime etc.).
AIBU to think that this is ridiculous? I work in a job where I don't always have access to a phone / computer during the working day and so, on the rare occasion that I need to contact a teacher, I tend to email in the evening at home or first thing before I get ready to leave. Obviously I don't expect them to reply out of working hours, or even to read it there and then, but I had never considered that it would be intrusive. In my job I get loads of emails at all times of the day and night and they just sit in my inbox until I am working!
Surely if it's impacting on their downtime so much, then they should just not check their emails in the evening and turn off notifications etc.

unless they are 5 years old, why do you care if the kids are up at midnight. In the middle of a lockdown 🤦‍♀️

Not sure what this means...my older kids are 10 and 8, I'd be horrified if they were up in the night on a device without my knowledge... lockdown or no lockdown. They're in bed by 2015 regardless and no screens until the next day.

@SachaStark

Seriously? We had 11-year-olds messaging teachers and trying to use the call feature to get through to them in the middle of the night.

You’re telling me that’s not some shitty parenting right there?

Unless they don't tell the kids not to do it again once you let them know, you are being ridiculous and precious.

The lockdown in the background being the context here!

If you have some kind of weird set up allowing anyone to call you at any time, get your IT team on the case, don't blame the kids.

You’re telling me that’s not some shitty parenting right there?

That’s neither here nor there. Communicate school policy that teachers will not be responding outside of working hours. I take it these children don’t have access to personal phone numbers.

Some of this is about location etc then and individual school culture then.

I see my kids work and talk to the teacher once a year at parents evening. Other than that I don't have any contact.

I'm not saying that's good, but it's the norm around here.

Other parents who do pick ups have a chat at pick up for primary I'm sure so that opportunity is there.

@IndecentFeminist

unless they are 5 years old, why do you care if the kids are up at midnight. In the middle of a lockdown 🤦‍♀️

Not sure what this means...my older kids are 10 and 8, I'd be horrified if they were up in the night on a device without my knowledge... lockdown or no lockdown. They're in bed by 2015 regardless and no screens until the next day.

Mine aren't 🤷

I would find it absolutely ridiculous to push them to bed early, during the first lockdown so in spring/summer, during the hottest and longest days of the year, but each to their own.

Mine wouldn't be calling their teacher I give you that, but if one wanted to do some work whilst we were doing work too, why not. Not everybody was furlough or even working 9 to 5 during the lockdown..

Kids giving the freedom of later evenings when they exceptionally didn't have to get up for school, with no end of the lockdown in sight, sounds like the chance of a lifetime to me! How sad to have wasted it with ridiculous routines.

The inconsistency in our state schooling is very interesting.

I had no idea that teachers would drop a mail saying they did some good work out whatever! I mean that's lovely. But totally way past anything I would even imagine could happen, let alone expect!

We would have the odd late night on the beach, or in the garden yes...but staying up unsupervised just for the hell of it? No. We used to home educate, even with no need to be up for school they had a bed time. Kids need a decent amount of sleep, if they are going to be woken up in the morning by parents getting ready for work etc then they need to go to bed at a sensible time.

Kids giving the freedom of later evenings when they exceptionally didn't have to get up for school, with no end of the lockdown in sight, sounds like the chance of a lifetime to me! How sad to have wasted it with ridiculous routines.

A lot of children need routine. Maybe yours don't but mine had a bedtime this entire year. Only exceptions are New Years, Christmas, birthday and seeing the northern lights.

IndecentFeminist

good for you.
other kids didn't have to be woken up in the morning, got more than enough sleep, and don't need ridiculous routines. There's no lack of countries with different routines to prove that kids thrive just as well if not more despite staying up later.

I am curious why you'd think that children would be less supervised at 10pm than they are at 6pm?

If a child decides to work alongside mum and dad by doing homework at 10pm, it's quite good actually.

@MrsTerryPratchett

Kids giving the freedom of later evenings when they exceptionally didn't have to get up for school, with no end of the lockdown in sight, sounds like the chance of a lifetime to me! How sad to have wasted it with ridiculous routines.

A lot of children need routine. Maybe yours don't but mine had a bedtime this entire year. Only exceptions are New Years, Christmas, birthday and seeing the northern lights.

A lot of children thrive by being allowed to make the most of the warm and lighter evenings instead of being forced in bed ridiculously early, when it's too hot, when the neighbours are still outside and missing out on the best part of the day. Again, each to their own.

I have emailed DD1's school tonight. I've put 'Safeguarding concern' in the subject line, then my first line says 'I understand this won't be read until Monday morning....'

From my point of view, it's important that the school receives the information before school starts on Monday, so that they can deal with it in their daily briefing, if necessary. It's a special school, so they have a daily brief of issues within the school.

DD1's school only opens the phone lines at 8.30am and She starts school at 8.45am, so I am driving when the lines open. I think it's reasonable to send an email that on a Friday evening, that can be read on Monday morning.

My dilemma in those situations is whether to start with 'Good evening' because I'm writing it in the evening, or 'Good morning', because I'm not expecting them to read it until Monday morning...

I'm only responding because you seemed to imply that unless a child was under 5 it was crazy to think they might be in bed at midnight during lockdown. 🤷

@NiceGerbil

Some of this is about location etc then and individual school culture then.

I see my kids work and talk to the teacher once a year at parents evening. Other than that I don't have any contact.

I'm not saying that's good, but it's the norm around here.

Other parents who do pick ups have a chat at pick up for primary I'm sure so that opportunity is there.

This more depends on what happens with your child, surely?

@IndecentFeminist

I'm only responding because you seemed to imply that unless a child was under 5 it was crazy to think they might be in bed at midnight during lockdown. 🤷

not crazy, but unreasonable. It only seems British kids need to be put to bed at 6pm, very odd.

A child, or anyone, trying to call your landline which they haven't got obviously outside of a 10 to 4pm window would be wrong, and rude.

Calls to a mobile are borderline, there's a silent function for a reason.

Someone sending emails or any kind of internet message at any time is using the facility right.

I think teachers need kids as alert as possible so my son goes to bed at a decent time to make it easier on them.

I know there are parents who will say 'my little darling can go without sleep for 3 weeks and be a perfect angel because their teacher calls me to tell me how wonderful they are'

I am not testing the theory so normal bedtime it is

I'll check my work emails sometimes in the evening and usually respond if I need to. Anything vital would go via our Exec Head and she'd message me if it was urgent.

Otherwise it's when I turn the laptop on in the morning - why would it make any difference what time the parents chose to email? It doesn't disturb me till I check my inbox.

Developmentally they need a certain amount of sleep for all the work the brain does during the night. If they're the type to lie in in the morning then that is one thing, mine never have been. Maybe when they're teens 😂🤞

@seayork2020

I think teachers need kids as alert as possible so my son goes to bed at a decent time to make it easier on them.

I know there are parents who will say 'my little darling can go without sleep for 3 weeks and be a perfect angel because their teacher calls me to tell me how wonderful they are'

I am not testing the theory so normal bedtime it is

my kids couldn't go to school for 6 months...

Right intent from the school, but wrong implementation.

They should have said to parents that teachers will only be expected to reply between 8-5pm and that queries will typically be answered within X days.

You're very reasonable OP, like most parents. Sadly there are some really rude and entitled parents who think nothing of:

• emailing at 10pm asking for help with their child's homework because you've 'failed to give them help when asked' (child had a week to do the homework and messaged on the online platform 9pm the day before)

-emailing during the day when you're teaching only to have rang the office 3 times by lunch wanting to know why you hadn't replied to their "urgent" correspondence, which wasn't actually urgent.

• emailing the head to complain about the fact their child's teachers 'couldn't be bothered' to help with a situation because the teacher hadn't replied whilst they wet teaching
• emailing late evening demanding their child is moved seats in every subject because a horrendous bullying incident has happened, only to email again by lunch the following day (after the head of year has started a bullying investigation and tried to get seating arranged in the hour before school), saying that their DC no longer needs to be separated from their friend. Suddenly the anxiety and mental health concerns vanished within 24 hours.

Some parents have a knee jerk reaction to send an email because it makes them feel better and like they're doing something, only to be arsey when their non-urgent emails aren't a priority.

@JalapenoDave

I think the email from the school must have just been worded badly, surely? I don't see the harm in sending an email at any time of day and the teacher simply picks it up when they log on.

Nope. It definitely said that they "respectfully request that should parents need to email teachers, to only do this between 8:30-5:30 and not in the evenings, early mornings, weekends or school holidays." It qualified this by saying that for teachers' own well-being, they are all entitled to time away from work and as some of them have access to their emails on their personal phones, receiving emails out of hours compromised their downtime.

This thread is going way into other things. Interesting!

I have one kid who needs routine and one who doesn't

The older one (routine) has never needed much sleep to the point I've been lying about her bedtime to other people for 10 years

you don't see anyone in any other job requesting that people only email them when it suits them No indeed, what many jobs do is not allow you to email the person you want to communicate with directly at all. I can't email my GP, any hospital doctors, my dentist, my physiotherapist, my child's speech therapist. Yet I could email my child's teacher or headteacher any time of the day or night. Why don't all professions crack on and allow "clients" to email them? I never hear anyone complaining about this

...and nothing good happens after midnight

Why don't all professions crack on and allow "clients" to email them?

my GP, dentist etc.. have all an office email address, you can "email" at any time of the day or night. The access they have to their working email is up to them.

It's not the teachers 'private email you contact, it's their school one. It doesn't matter if the address is [email protected] or [email protected] - it still is a work email.
If a school gives away the [email protected] private address, there are more serious concerns than the time people uses it!

*Politeness - eg Dear Mrs Smith, LittleNat is unwell and won’t be in today (so she knows and doesn’t have to phone the office)

Logistics - eg Dear Mrs Smith, LittleNat is going home with OtherChild this evening (so she doesn’t have to phone me for safeguarding reasons when Mrs OtherChild comes to collect her)*

I am shocked that your school doesn’t have an admin office and the admin is being directed to the teachers for completion. This is truly shocking.

Admin is certainly not part of my job description and under no circumstances would I be doing an admin based task. I have enough of my own work to complete thank you.

If I got an email asking me to input non attendance reasons for a child, I’d return it to the parent and suggest they contact admin/ the attendance officer or even the head of year.

For the most part I refuse to engage with parents via email. If I want to contact a parent I do so using the whole school letter format. It’s professional, copied and consistent with what other members of staff send out. If a parent wants to contact me, they can arrange a time to see me through the correct channels and I will have another member of staff present. I refuse to put myself in a position where messages can be misconstrued, unless I deem it to be absolutely necessary.