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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect to be able to directly contact teachers?

146 replies

Fallingrain · 10/10/2020 22:55

Just that really. My school doesn’t give out email addresses or phone number. If we want to get in touch, we have to send a message to the school office. They pass it on then inevitably we get phone tennis because I’m working when they try and call back and they never arrange a fixed appointment to speak. I understand why they do it but in this day and age, I’m not sure that shielding teachers to that extent cuts it any more. I don’t know any other profession where that happens but I wonder if there is some half way house. How do other schools deal with parent/teacher comms?

OP posts:
Hercwasonaroll · 10/10/2020 22:57

We can't give you phone numbers because we don't have individual phones.

Email is good BUT some parents abuse the facility. Particularly at primary level.

Nicknacky · 10/10/2020 22:58

I don’t have email addresses for my kids teachers but I rarely have to contact them so it’s not an issue to call the office and leave a message when I need to speak to them.

Chanteuse · 10/10/2020 23:01

We don’t have work phones at our school. The easiest way ime is to leave a message and give a time that is convenient to call you.

We do have a separate email address for students/teachers to email us on though.

VillageGreenTree · 10/10/2020 23:02

Why don't you put in your email the times when you are available?
Lots of parents would abuse the system if they could contact the teacher directly. Going through the office is a bit of a protection for teachers.

MountainMert · 10/10/2020 23:02

DH is a teacher - he's not a Head of Year or Head of Subject or anything like that. Today is Saturday - I've just asked him to count and he's received 44 emails from parents today. If he had a work phone (I don't know any teachers who do) then it would be ringing off the hook.
Some schools have a greater problem than others and the school has made the decision that parents contact too much and unnecessarily, so they're filtering it.
It sucks for you but when some parents can't filter themselves all parents suffer because they lose the contact rights.

Playdoughbum · 10/10/2020 23:05

I have parents email me at 10pm, over the weekend, during the hols. Maybe that’s why some schools keep to this?!
Yes I could turn my emails off but actually sometimes need to be able to access them.
Some parents will always want 24/7 access I’m afraid, so the rest of you lose out.

Shizzlestix · 10/10/2020 23:05

I have a voicemail direct messaging service but we are asked not to contact parents directly via email. Trouble is, can you imagine how many children we teach? I have 10 classes (obviously secondary) so the amount of potential messages/contact could be insane. Even in primary, often up to 30 children per group, all it takes is 3 messaged a day and it just isn’t possible to manage.

I made a call to every parent of children in my form last week (30 in the class) then got call backs from parents who are nc with each other who had asked me to call them too. It was a crazy week!

Hercwasonaroll · 10/10/2020 23:06

@MountainMert That is ridiculous. What type of school is he at?

Parents can get our email addresses and they're pretty easy to guess.

FubsyRambler · 10/10/2020 23:06

Most schools have that system.
Can you think of reasons why it’s necessary?
After many years as a teacher, I can.

TooTrueToBeGood · 10/10/2020 23:06

Think about how many emails teachers would get if the parents for all of their students had their email addresses. When would you expect them to deal with them all, especially when it would inevitably be the most neurotic and unreasonable of parents that would email them the most? Every other parent manages, as did all those before email was invented.

M0mmyneedswine · 10/10/2020 23:09

We email/phone the main office and have done with all 3 schools mine attended. Never had a teachers email address amd assume they dont have work phones

MountainMert · 10/10/2020 23:09

[quote Hercwasonaroll]@MountainMert That is ridiculous. What type of school is he at?

Parents can get our email addresses and they're pretty easy to guess.[/quote]
He's at a secondary school - a large one in an affluent area with an outstanding Ofsted rating (if that makes any difference). He's supposedly received an email from one parent of a child in his form to say their washing machine is broken so they won't have a clean uniform for Monday (I'm not sure what they think DH can do about this?), one parent's complaining that their child has seen people coughing, one parent wants to know when half-term is (it's on the website)...

WillowB · 10/10/2020 23:11

I'm a teacher. Parents can contact us directly through an app called Class Dojo. To be honest I hate it.
Some parents will message at 10pm asking if Johnny needs his PE kit tomorrow or something equally mundane or worse try to start an argument about something I've done that has aggrieved them (e.g forgotten to change their child's book)
Yes I can choose to ignore the messages but parents treat it like Facebook or sitter social media & expect you to be able to respond 24-7.
At least phoning means a little bit of professional distance and is only likely to happen in working hours.
I do sympathise though. Since Covid I haven't spoken to either of DCs teachers as we aren't allowed onsite to collect them. I think email would perhaps be a happy medium in the current circumstances.

StripyHorse · 10/10/2020 23:12

If you leave a message surely the teachers call back when they can?

If you email, it will be forwarded.

Why do you need a direct email?

Remember, unlike many professions, there are only small windows of time that teachers are working and available to speak to you, especially now due to covid
teachers are usually supervising at lunchtime and most break times.

Adventurewillresumesoon · 10/10/2020 23:13

At my primary we give out all the teachers email addresses and encourage parents to contact them via email as we only have a couple of phone lines and you can’t call out externally from a classroom. We do tend to get the same parents messaging a lot.

As a parent on the rare occasion I contact my daughters teacher it will have to be at night or the weekend as I’m at work during school hours, but I don’t expect a response back straight away.

Bridecilla · 10/10/2020 23:16

I teach in FE. I’ve had 12 emails and 19 Teams notifications last weekend. Some from my adult students, some from 16-18 students and some from parents. I don't work Mondays (and have my Out of office on) but lots email again on Mondays when they've not had a response over the weekend 😑

Lots of "I think my answer to q5 was right but Teams has marked it wrong and it's not fair" type stuff

BackBeatTheWordisOnTheStreet · 10/10/2020 23:16

I can understand trying to deter parents emailing the teacher directly with petty stuff all multiple times a week but there should at least be a system whereby once it's established you actually have a valid concern that needs addressing you can actually message each other directly.

FubsyRambler · 10/10/2020 23:17

I once had a threatening, hysterical phone call at home from a mother convinced I’d been experimenting on her daughter with electric shocks.
Threatening violence, retribution from father...

Cheap nylon carpet.
Daughter was a fidget.
Static electricity.

Parents can be demanding, needy, dangerous, manipulative and scary.
So having a level of filter and protection and awareness from others is useful.

SomeHalfHumanCreatureThing · 10/10/2020 23:17

Primary or Secondary?

Primary? No. Would be chaos.

Secondary it's useful for the students to be able to clarify homework etc.

BackBeatTheWordisOnTheStreet · 10/10/2020 23:18

My DC's primary gives us their email addresses and the teacher has always said we can email if we need to discuss something. I've never actually needed to email either of my DC's teachers but it is useful to know I can if there's a problem.

FubsyRambler · 10/10/2020 23:20

I think part of the problem is that you are all reasonable people with reasonable friends who would use the system appropriately.
Not all parents are like that.

Biancadelrioisback · 10/10/2020 23:20

It's early October. How many times have you been needing to speak to your child's teacher between September and now that this is a problem you are having to vent about online?

WeAllHaveWings · 10/10/2020 23:22

@SomeHalfHumanCreatureThing

Primary or Secondary?

Primary? No. Would be chaos.

Secondary it's useful for the students to be able to clarify homework etc.

Secondary, the students should know the homework, be able to ask the teacher themselves in school hours, ask friends in same class or take the consequence of not knowing what their homework was.

I would never contact a teacher for a mundane thing like that.

MountainMert · 10/10/2020 23:25

@SomeHalfHumanCreatureThing

Primary or Secondary?

Primary? No. Would be chaos.

Secondary it's useful for the students to be able to clarify homework etc.

It's funny how they'll always clarify the homework the night before or morning that it's due!
ZigZagToTheBeach · 10/10/2020 23:25

@Playdoughbum

I have parents email me at 10pm, over the weekend, during the hols. Maybe that’s why some schools keep to this?! Yes I could turn my emails off but actually sometimes need to be able to access them. Some parents will always want 24/7 access I’m afraid, so the rest of you lose out.
@Playdoughbum do you feel that you are expected to respond at that time? I email my children's teachers at those sort of times but certainly don't expect them to reply outside of work hours! I also work and my employer would be pretty unhappy if I spent work hours emailing my children's teachers so I have to do it in the evenings and at weekends. I also tend to ping off an email when I think about it rather than wait to forget to email in work hours. Maybe I need to make use of the schedule send feature 🤔