Very rude school admin, not sure what to do

[Notbeinfunnehbut]

The school admin at my child’s school is known for being quite abrupt and at times quite rude,
In fairness 80% of time she’s ok it’s just that 20 % where she’s out of line

I rang up a day late for sorting something, I did say sorry I didn’t see the message till this morning
I had a sick child off the previous day which she’s well aware of and genuinely didn’t see it
i got, no I did send it I sent it yesterday and I sent one Tuesday , I responded I didn’t suggest you didn’t send on those days I’m simply saying I didn’t see it until today, if no slots are left it is what it is,
i got told she really could have done with me ringing the day before as now it’s caused a lot of messing about for her and all the teachers ( my child only has one teacher? 😐)
and maybe I should have a think about what im
doing and actually bothering reading my messages and making sure not to waste other peoples time because I haven’t made a point of checking my messages? I said at that point very restrained (was furious 😡)
your perfectly aware I had a sick child yesterday and I apologised for the inconvenience
Continued to rant at me in a very patronising and rude manner , I did say thankyou , which I’m annoyed at wish I’d stood up for myself more
I’m not great at it , there’s parents she wouldn’t have dared do that too,
However it’s still bothering me, I can’t really complain phone or email, either as I have to get passed her first to speak to school (which she’s obviously probably aware of) so I’m just stuck with all this rage with nowhere to go,
it’s obviously indefensible behaviour I’m so angry that I apologised and the inconvenience was minor it was typing my name into an excel spreadsheet into an already available slot ,the unprofessional behaviour took up more time that the action itself , but I apologised and said thankyou I’m so annoyed at myself aswell.

Im not sure how to proceed with this, it’s not ok to speak to people like that.

Change school - you’re obviously not happy with that one .

I know this is nothing to do with the OP, but can I just remind people that school clubs (if this is an extra curricular thing) are not actual childcare in the way that a breakfast club would be. Often they are run purely on goodwill by a single member of staff doing it for free. Those staff are human beings and have lives of their own and shock horror, sometimes, their lives outside of school impact on the ability to offer the club one night and they might have to go home at lunchtime and so the club that night is cancelled with only an hour or two notice.

If you've booked your child into an extracurricular after school club you should always always check at the time you'd normally leave to pick your child up (or the childminder would) that the club is running as normal. (lesson learned from when my own kid was doing one and I didn't bother to check my messages and went shopping instead).

I know what you mean, but it’s a shame when the shit is returned in a direction from where it didn’t come - easy target isn’t a good look.

I would do nothing.
She was needlessly rude and you missed a date. Neither are great (obviously hers was worse than yours) but I wouldn’t dwell on it.

It is a shame, but not something to act on.
It's like someone cutting you up on a roundabout, beep your horn and move on. Probably not worth taking it any further.

Thankyou for your response

no one is expecting chummy cheeriness all the time but basic bare minimum professional is expected and it wasn’t met here, she wasn’t at the pub her

conduct doesn’t reflect well on the school

oh well only on mn could I start a thread “this admin is well known for rudeness” and the conclusion is it’s all your fault

I apologised for inconvenience, I didn’t say anything rude

bringing things I’ve posted about senco etc that are in no way relevant to this thread is obviously disgusting

thanks for all the helpful posts

I find it funny that a member of school admin is both known for being abrupt/rude, but is actually fine 80% of the time.
It sort of sounds like the 20% of the time they're a little abrupt is the 20% of the time that they need to be assertive and not roll over when someone hasn't read umpteen school communications and then thinks it's someone else's job to jump.

It's always amuses me that the people who make a big deal about not being a doormat, not being walked all over get quite annoyed if someone else is assertive with them.

I take my hat off to our admin staff. They do more than answer the phones and I'd not want their job.

In my experience, only parents with real and serious complaints go to the trouble....

Or those that are deluded...but at least they get to see that...officially.

Yes, probably. Sometimes though if she keeps giving people shit, she will choose the wrong person on the wrong day.

I haven’t given anybody ‘shit”

i was extremely polite considering

😕

Not you, the receptionist!

So.. OP... have you decided what you're going to do? If anything.

something will no doubt crop up next week that will piss her off about the school and usurp this issue.

I had this at my dc's old primary school and most of the parents put a complaint in the Yr 6 exit survey. The head was apparently 'stunned' to find out that the admin was difficult. Some of the parents had younger children in the school so reported that the admin was replaced by Christmas!

I would reply that not everyone sits on their phones all day

I get this when people say. I tried to ring you!!! I'm like yeah and?!? I often spends days not looking at my phone as I don't like being contactable constantly.

It's the truth and to think there are people otherwise is silly.

It takes a few seconds to see if you have any messages from school. I check daily. It's really not that hard. Saying you don't look at your phone is silly. If you know school contact you in this way you check for messages, it's not hard and it's far better than when we got letters crumpled up for nthe bottom of bags or lost.

Oh I am so sorry

apologies

im considering mentioning it at a parent’s evening coming up soon , I don’t think it requires a more formal complaint

So now I know why I get so many answerphones when I ring because your child is unwell, or hasn't been collected, or cracked their head open in the playground. We always wonder what the hell would happen if we were calling about something really serious. Little tip, if the school is calling we're not doing it for fun.

School admin types especially the “boss cat” are invariably rude, abrupt and unpleasant. They remind me of the variety in GP surgeries and in dental surgeries. I’m fascinated by this phenomenon. Lol

As for school admin types saying it’s a “stressful” job, how hilarious! They should try teaching!

If you’re unhappy with their interaction, report them.

What do you expect the teachers to do? None of them are in a position to speak to the admin.

I think the poster will know you report an officious ogre like the woman in the office to the head.

It’s got absolutely nothing to do with your child’s class teacher, for heavens sake don’t dump this on them. Parents evening is a very short time to discuss your child’s learning, don’t waste it on this.

Either calm down and forget about it, or if you feel that strongly, complain properly - complaints policy will be on the website, probably it should be addressed to the headteacher. It’s not a school governors issue unless you’ve exhausted the earlier stages of the complaints process.