Do your kids' teachers have individual email addresses?

[zajzaj]

Are you able to contact your kids' teachers by email?

People have been suggesting on here that parents might want to email pick-up arrangements or early collection for doctor's appointments. Not much help if the teacher doesn't see it until 5pm. And anyway, even if a parent tells me about a doctor's appointment on the playground when I collect the class in the morning, I still direct them to the office because I'm not allowed to authorise such things. Not saying it "wouldn't be allowed," but it has to go through the office.

stardusty5 most days I don't have time to pee never mind log on to read emails during the school day

I think people working with computers all day forget that when teaching you can't just quickly check emails. My laptop is connected to the large interactive board in the classroom- so if I tried to check on emails, they would be displayed for the whole class to read!!

( also wondering what prep time is )

I'm quite happy to read your emails when I get home but that would be too late if you wanted to tell me that your child would be late because you were taking them to the doctors or that someone new would be picking them up after school.

We cannot deal with emails during teaching time. It's generally better that the office screen them and pass a note to me (if it's about a child's pick-up routine) and I'll clock it and say "Susie, you're going home with Johnny, OK?" And carry one. Takes a bloody age to get online and check through emails and the kids are out at lunch and when they get back in you forget....

no I am not a teacher but my husband sees my daughter's teachers still working when he cycles past school at 5:30/6pm and they are there when he goes past in the morning at 7:30/8am too. I realise how hard they do work and they aren't sat at a computer like many of us in our jobs nor do they have offices where they can check a computer between clients/patients/customers/phonecalls etc.

If they were told they had to answer emails too then we all know what would happen, one of them would forget and then parents would complain. Fine if it is something that can wait a few days like a general query but if it is to inform a child is off that day ill as has been suggested above then if that teacher doesn't check it in time and then the office don't have it recorded properly and then contact the parent to ask where the child is then the parent will get cross saying 'but I emailed in' and so on. Opening up too many lines of communication can easily lead to problems even if it makes life seem easier in some ways.

I personally have no problem with acknowledging that if I need to communicate re something general (illness) then I phone the school and follow the 'press 4 for absence' and record a message routine. If I need to tell the teacher something relevant for that day I put a note in the bag or ring the bell and speak to someone before school quickly, if I need to inform about a medical appointment I put it in writing in the school bag and so on. Perhaps when the kids are older and are expected to find the notes and hand them in then yes things are more likely to go astray but the teachers still check bags for my DCs classes and so far 100% communication. perhaps I am just very lucky with my teachers so far.

Mrz i am a teacher too, albeit secondary school. I know how busy the days are. But email helps information sharing, in that you can check in and deal with stuff at an appropriate time. I get around 60 emails a day.

Mrz agree with your subsequent post. I would say that messages such as those are best directed towards office staff. Emails are not great for urgency!

No. No general email either. School is terrible at communication.

Sorry stardusty but in secondary teachers do have non contact time when they aren't teaching the same isn't true for primary teachers who are with their class all day every day.
I see most parents twice a day, at drop off and collection which is much better for information sharing than emails and urgent messages reach me promptly via the office.

No. The Head and the Office have email addreses, but not the Teachers.

pupils and parents are all able to email staff at my school but it is made clear and generally understood not to expect an immediate response. I tend to check my email first thing and then again at about 5pm and then about 8pm (when most pupils of secondary age might email homework queries).
It works ok, some people take the piss and expect a response straightaway but in general people treat the system with respect.
I don't think this system is widespread in primary schools though.

Yes, I email if its not something that has to be dealt with instantly or I want an immediate response. Just feedback really, not catch her at drop off type stuff.

I asked her, at the beginning of term. She was very grateful. I have a feeling some other parents think she is sat in front of it!

I would never expect to contact anyone with an urgent matter via email, only in person or by telephone.

My email correspondence is mostly of the "Boris has constipation again and has come home with a full water bottle and a full packed lunch drink, please can you offer some gentle reminders about having a drink during the day" type. Nothing urgent and just stuff the teacher should know in case it impacts at school.

Every teacher in our school district has an email address that goes 'Surname, first 2 letters of first name @ school district. com'

All our interaction with the teacher is initially via email. It's bizarre to me that teachers wouldn't use it!

We all have email addresses CoolStoryBro but we find it more effective to actually use our time to teach children rather than to read emails during the school day ... radical I know but we find it works.

At my school, staff e-mail addresses are not given out. We have a 'day book' system for notes between school & home. Paper does not get lost and notes are countersigned when read. Staff also have whiteboards near their classroom doors for the "Jemima is going home with Tabitha" type of messages.

At my previous school, some parents would e-mail but always to [email protected] and the office would forward it. We would reply via the office. It was useful for when we needed to carefully craft each word of the reply to how we would deal with the alleged bullying / lack of reading book / no I'm not searching for his jumper for the third time because you haven't put his name in it ...

I have never had a query about homework via e-mail.

To check my e-mails during the day I have to go to a password protected website that re-asks for the password after 20 mins. I check my e-mails before school and after school (and several times over the weekend, but that's a separate thread!). Teachers are not office-based people who are online all the time.

I do have email which I give to all the parents, but my welcome letter also states that I will reply within 2 working days and that I do not check emails during the school day. I generally get to sit down and do emails about 11pm at night. I generally respond to most emails the same day, or at least with a "I will look in to this/discuss with head/etc" then flag for follow up. Anything urgent such as changes of plans needs to go through the school office. I barely get time to pee during the school day, let alone constantly check email in case Johnny's mummy wants to pick him up early today.

We do not have individual emails for each member of staff. All communication. Of that kind goes thru the office.
We are a small school and everyone know everything about everyone tho so not much is missed! Parents would usually speak to me before or after school, we have quite an open door policy.
There is no way I could guarantee to read emails during the school day. Sending urgent messages that way would be a waste of time.

At DCs primary (and Infants) the emails of all staff are published, and we are encouraged to use it. All admin is done via email,so I send notification of illness and other absences that way (we have done a few school tours recently).
At the senior school the official policy is not to give out emails, but most teachers prefer you to email so give out their email (certainly for year 9 up).

I'm a primary school teacher.

Have never given out my email address, or been expected to by management.

Occasionally I've had parents write in thank you cards, "here's my email address, I know little Jonny would love to keep in touch!" As much as I've liked the child and the family, I've never responded to that request. I'm sure that family had good intentions, but it could very quickly get passed around the playground quite innocently.
"Oh, I need to contact Zingally about some homework."
"Here's her email address!"
And before you know it, all the parents have it.

I have an email which is used by staff only. We are strictly instructed not to give these out as the fear is that parents will misuse it, sending constant messages or even being directly abusive.

As other teachers have said, we cant reply instantly so its really not appropriate for 'X is away today'. Ringing the office takes 5 minutes max, not much longer than sending an email.

In terms of questions that parents dont have time for at the ends/beginnings of the day then yes it would useful, efficient and proffessional but unfortunately the teacher-parent relationship is more complicated. There's too much opportuniy for misunderstandings when its not face to face. Also, on the more extreme side, if a client sends you abusive message then you cut all contact, cancel any work etc. You can't kick a child out of your class because their Mum's not nice.

There's no point saying that schools should work like the 'real world' (otherwise known as, the office world. So completely forgetting Drs, nurses, bin men, farmers, vets, cleaners, shop assistants and the thousands of other people who dont spend their day sending emails) - school is just not the same.

PSBD - Please stop making out teachers don't understand jobs other than their own. I have had jobs that are not teaching, my DP has a job, my parents had them, my friends have them. It is a nasty teacher stereotype that damages our proffession. Secondly, I usually use my breaks to, you known, have a break. Definitely not reply to emails.

What? Why would you want to communicate with your child's teacher via email??
That is bizarre!
A phone call gets your enquiry dealt with so much quicker

I have 3 kids, 2 of them have left school, and have never heard of this

Secondary do and teachers are very good at replying, both to parents and pupils.

Primary never really got the hang of Email. We were forever asking for letters to be emailed rather than sent satchel post. We only had an office email address and part time admin so it was easier just to wander in an talk to the teacher.

Yes, there is supposed to be security, but at the end of school it's totally bypassed.