Teacher hand delivered certificate usually given out in class.

[howmanycorners]

I don’t know what to make of this, dc is in primary school and every week someone gets a certificate.
Suddenly I saw my child’s teacher walk past the lounge window at about 8 pm and post a certificate through the door.
Aibu to find it a bit strange and wonder why she did this having had to look up our address and purposely drive to our house when all certificates are handed out in school and she would see my child in the morning?

Sounds to me like a teacher going the extra mile as many do in a whole range of different ways. But despite being kind and making an effort to ensure your child get their certificate, you are choosing to create some other narrative. Unless there’s something you’re not telling us, why on earth do you think a teacher would be wanting to check where your child lives? Honestly, this poor teacher, trying to do something positive to support your child.

@howmanycorners ignore all the people who think you're the problem here.

Unless you're in a tiny village school, then I think this is overstepping a boundary here. It's intrusive and creepy.

Those talking about the home visits done in some schools prior to starting school - yep, those are overstepping and intrusive too and I don't know why people accept this level of intrusion into their lives.

But remember, there are plenty of sheep who welcome state intrusion into every aspect of their lives, and these sheep are the ones calling you paranoid, purely because you have perfectly reasonable boundaries.

@WearyAuldWumman you have to meet them to know the deep and terrible unreasonableness of some people, don't you?

The rest of us would automatically assume that something was the right/sensible/nice thing to do, because it was, but not them. IMO it wrongfoots the universe.

Well said.

State intrusion? Sheep? Really?

A teacher put a certificate for a child in their class through the letterbox. If you want to conflate that to the actions of the Stasi, I feel a sense of proportion is lacking somewhere.

In some ways it's quite sweet that some posters don't realise how spiteful / aggressive some parents can be and, equally, that not all teachers do things for good reasons.

I will reiterate that it really sounds like in this case the teacher just dropped something off because she thought it would be easier / better, but any number of things could have happened that are nothing like chance encounters at the shop with families:

• Anxious / truly paranoid and aggressive parent captures teacher on ring doorbell footage and posts it on social media claiming teacher is stalking them. There is no record of the visit and no urgent reason for the visit either.
• Aggressive parent sees teacher on drive (as OP did), opens door and directly challenges them, in a hostile way that upsets the teacher.
• Someone uses safeguarding guidelines which do reference favourism and logs "low level concerns" about teacher.
• Teacher is snooping (much more rich info than Google Earth) and tells everyone in staffroom that the garden was horrendous, or she thought she could smell weed (an allegation that is impossible to prove and yet will stick). Teachers are not absolutely beyond making things up, even though it is exceedingly rare. Teachers have done bad and/or random things before.
• Primary school child is playing in front garden, teacher comes over and has unsupervised chat with child. It is not the same as meeting in a shop because the teacher has planned to visit this house. Child could recall this conversation in any way.
• Perfectly sane parent, for their own reasons, didn't want their address data being used this way for something that was unexpected, unnecessary and not the intended use of her data. Her child is upset they didn't get their assembly moment. Parent puts in a complaint (perfectly within her rights to, even if others wouldn't be bothered) and there's now a minor incident that would not have happened had the teacher spent 30 seconds calling beforehand.

Yes none of this happened, but it's not absolutely impossible. Maybe it is a sad world we live in, that spontaneity is lost, but that is the reality and in some ways we are all better protected.

I thought I'd read some batshit on MN in the past but this thread has revealed certain users with a whole new level of batshittery. Who'd be a teacher? You're either invisible staff or the Stasi.
I actually like the teachers that I know and have been known to have a friendly, normal conversation with some of them if we bump into each other.

I would email the Headteacher to complain immediately, then once she's been severely reprimanded for her sheer audacity you'll be able to sleep well and feel smug having shown her who's boss! You may rest assured that the next time she wants to do a kind thing she won't be bothering you at all.

When I went to school in the 90s, this was sort of normal? I twisted my ankle once so was off unable to walk and the student teacher brought me some worksheets round at lunch time, my mum made her a cup of tea. Another time in yr 7 i left my housekeys at school and my form teacher dropped them off that evening. Once I left my front door unlocked and a teacher drove me home at lunch to lock the door! My brother was getting bullied and a teacher came round to talk to my mum and brother at home as she was worried he hadn't told anyone about it and thought that the conversation would be less intimidating for my brother in his own home. If the teacher is a millenial or older this could have been their experience when they were in school themselves. Why are we so afraid of someone who we are trusting our children with for 30 hrs a week coming to our homes? I think it's weird that it's all seperate and that so many things are communicated through apps, emails and meetings instead of real life conversations and informal chats. So impersonal for a child, they are human children not a business transaction and more humanity has to be celebrated

I think we all remember that Stasi training film Der Briefträger Pat. Think on.

I was just going to say this....

She cares about your daughter. You are just being odd if I’m perfectly honest. Maybe she drives past the end of your cul-de-sac.

I have had staff from my children’s nursery and school drop off things to my house unannounced quite a few times. Never thought it was anything but really kind and thoughtful.

Nobody on here can tell you why she did it, the only thing that is certain is that you sound like an ungrateful arsehole

That was very kind of the teacher

What a lovely teacher, going out of her way. Kudos.

Imo you sound unreasonably paranoid which perhaps says more about your reaponse rather than the teachers actions (unless there was drip feed info I havent read) Hopefully you have the reassurance from these responses that this was likely a kind gesture.

Is your reaction based on fear that the teacher is checking up on concerns? Or do you have a suspicion of education/services from your own life experiences that might be making you feel this way perhaps? I always think self reflection is helpful when we respond strongly, it is usually telling us something.

love this!
was er im kleinen Dorf enteckt hat, war wirklich erstaunlich.

I would also find this weird.

I’m a teacher. That’s just odd.

I think it's a sweet gesture, but I would also wonder why. No way my dc's teachers would do that because they don't automatically know where we ilve (as we're in a city, not a village)so unlikely to know if they were passing by etc

I also think people might be misunderstanding GDPR significantly. GDPR isn't just about access to data, but about the fair, timely and proportionate use of it. We all have access to all sorts of data, but it doesn't mean we should use it. Postman comparison is useless because the postman needs access and entry to a postbox to do his job daily. A teacher doesn't, as delivering certificates is not a part of their job role. It would be reasonable to access the data for medical emergencies, say, but a certificate is hardly an emergency. Still, it's probably just a kind gesture. One which I wouldn't do because it could be seen as a data breach.

I have only read half this thread, but is no one else reminded of Uncle Vernon nailing up the letterbox so that Harry's school letter can't be delivered?

God I'd love it if I had so little going on I had make up a massive stress out of my kids teacher wanting to ensure they got their certificate. What a life 🤣

Fuck me if she'd knocked on the door the op and several people on here would have raised a lynch mob...I mean its bad enough telling a parent via a certificate that their child is doing well. Don't tell them fact to face ... that is just pedo behaviour

I’m really protective over my kids and only 3 people are allowed to child mind them for me my mum and my in laws. I don’t let them near my mums boyfriend etc but I think this is really sweet of the teacher. She obviously was trying to make your child feel special as they would wake up to the hand delivered certificate. Don’t see any issues with this as teacher didn’t even knock or disturb you in any way just simply posted a certificate.

I often wonder if it is only in the UK people get so worked up/offended over every little non event. I was in an accident as a child and can still remember clearly my teacher popping by with a card signed by my classmates and thinking how nice it was for her to take the time to do it.