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.

For what it's worth I do think we need to value teachers more, improve working conditions, reduce workload, protect them from abuse from idiotic parents etc. I don' think the way to do this though is to treat teachers like their job is so insummountably difficult that they can't function like normal professionals.

Ridiculous and wouldn't be practical for many. If I was to email in the evening I certainly wouldn't expect a teacher to reply back to me there and then just as I wouldn't if I sent an email to anyone else in any other profession.

Have I just read that teachers can't be expected to set up an OOF because they don't work in offices?

Even though if using Ms office (hardly niche software) that's what it's called in their outlook, and is the reason it's become the name generally used for that functionality?

This thread is awesome.

No one emails the school about a missing child because a. The email wrong be read until the morning because it's it of hours, b. If school is first thought then calling the office is what you'd do even though most would have answerphone out of hours and again message won't be heard until the next day and c. Missing child = police once you've checked with their mates etc

I think the ??? is because so many people are online for work all the time and learning to manage that is a skill many are trying to get to grips with.

I'm a teacher and I also think that's silly of the school to have this policy. At my school, we have separate staff email accounts and we are just told to answer emails during working hours. Its not that hard to ignore late emails or turn off until the next day (don't have them linked to my phone).

Its useful to me to be able to deal with admin on my own time (i.e. leave early some days then work after my children in are bed).

I'm really trying to think of something that would be so urgent to require my immediate response but that the sender decided to email it instead of calling... the missing child example would surely be a police matter, wouldn't it? I don't think we would be able to give out another child's last name to a parent in any event.

Just schedule the email for the next working day. It isn't difficult.

I don't think all email things can do that.

I've never seen it on yahoo.

Sounds very odd. It would be unreasonable for them to say that teachers will only respond during working hours... but not everyone has a job where they have easy access to a computer or laptop so the only chance they get to e-mail teachers will be before or after work.

Weird.

*11:32julietteb18

@LindaEllen

@buddyrunis not ridiculous here. Do you not understand how teachers work? they do go online because shockingly their workload extends, DH is up til 11pm most nights and over the top parents emailing late aren't going to help. It's human behaviour to read it and then think about it.*

I'm aware that a teachers day isnt 9am-3.30 pm however if you see your DH is so busy hes still working at 11pm, why is it not feasible that some non teachers also have very long and pressured working hours and they too might not get a break until the evening to send their email?

@AramintaLee

Sounds very odd. It would be unreasonable for them to say that teachers will only respond during working hours... but not everyone has a job where they have easy access to a computer or laptop so the only chance they get to e-mail teachers will be before or after work.

Weird.

wouldn't be unreasonable

Have these people any experience outside teaching??!! The way email works is, you send it anytime you want. Then the receiver can read it anytime they want. I understand the point they don't want to deal with email out of hours. The solution is for them to just check emails in working hours.

@ancientgran

I don’t mind getting emails from parents in the evening. I didn’t reply unless it was a safeguarding issue or a quick reply though. It waited until the next day. But you'd only know it was a safeguarding issue if you read all the emails.

Yes, I would have to read them. I’m ok with reading them. As you can see in my post, I said I don’t reply to them unless it’s safeguarding or a quick reply.

(Apologies for my first post. My tense is all over the place. I’m blaming baby brain...)

I agree with @Mistressiggi

I am guessing that one (or many) parents are emailing out of hours and weekend and expecting replies. Then maybe sending multiple emails when they don’t get a reply. I think the school are trying , kindly, to ask parents for a bit of thought on this. Just because it’s convenient for a parent to send an email - PP are right - the recipient does not have to reply BUT the sender should not expect a reply. However, we all know people who send us an email and then expect us to have read it and respond in a nano second! These people will not modify their behaviour for school staff, they will just continue in the same vein and this in itself is stressful.
Its a letter, either respect what they are asking, write an email and delay the send time or write a note for the child’s school bag instead.

The only role in schools that I could see as getting urgent contact that would require immediate action would be HT, Caretaker, Building manager, safeguarding (think I've missed something off, and the order is random) and email in the hopes that notifications were switched on as no contact number available.

They'd be better off advising the staff to turn off email notifications (if they use work email on their phone) or turn off laptop after 5:30.

@NiceGerbil

I don't think all email things can do that.

I've never seen it on yahoo.

I really really really hope that there isn't a school in the UK that is using any form of webmail.

Quite aside from the security implications, what would happen if Yahoo went bust. Or were hacked ? Or simply stopped providing an email service.

I do find this odd. An email setting expectations that staff won't be looking at emails out of office hours, and encouraging staff to turn off notifications on their work email out of hours, would be much fairer for everyone involved. Meanwhile in lockdown, our teacher would only tell us the work to be marked at 4pm on Sunday and it had to be with them for 8am on Monday, which involved scanning and all sorts! Thank god they're back at school for now!

I agree in principle but then again it’s easy to just save the email and press send during working hours, or do a delayed send.

If it’s primary I’m impressed you have teachers’ emails at all, as we only get the office one, and they forward them on if necessary. I did pick up a few direct emails along the way though...

Secondary we get some direct emails which seems exciting!

I work in one of the state top schools in the U.K. The DFE have used the school as an example of how to run a successful school.

All email is switched off from 7pm until 6.00 am and at weekends for everyone, including staff

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince Sounds great. Normal parents can email whenever they like and insanely demanding parents can't complain about a lack of response because the email wasn't available at that time.

I see this from the other side. I get emails from parents at all hours. I receive them on my phone. The apps we use for contact don't allow me to mute just that app meaning if I want some undisturbed time I need to switch off my phone entirely. Not practical. Getting emails over the weekend or at midnight isn't great. Sorry, I agree with protecting the time of the staff for their own wellbeing.
Let's not forget the parents that expect immediate replies and email again and again......

Yet again this thread is full of teachers who think they are some sort of special profession
Thanks. I already know I work in a special profession because it's one that confers magic-corona-avoiding status that means it's fine for me to work in crowded indoor conditions with multiple people and no face coverings. I don't personally have to worry about parental emails because unless I've emailed them first they have no way to email me. I think schools should keep all parental emails to their office account in the first instance.

I really really really hope that there isn't a school in the UK that is using any form of webmail.

It's quite feasible that a parent would have Yahoo though, which I think is the point NiceGerbil is making.
Example : parent works in a canteen and doesnt have access to their phone due to hygeine regulations. When they get home at 6pm there is an issue with their child they feel they need to email the teacher about it. Their Yahoo account doesnt let them delay sending it.....are they not allowed to ever email the teacher?

That's absurd. I don't tend to email school during the day unless it's something urgent, because I'm at work .

Emails come in to my (and presumably most peoples'!) work email from all over the world at all times of day or night. I read and reply during working hours. The teachers I know are perfectly capable of managing their time in this most basic of ways. An email isn't like a WA where you expect an instant answer.

Delete the app then Eddie if you cannot restrict notifications in your phone settings.
You have no obligation to have your work email on your personal phone.

DG rosetti I'm talking about the parents. Who have been told to do a delayed send on the emails to the teachers.