Straw poll: do you have your DC's teacher's email address?

[Escolar]

I have DC at two different primary schools (for complicated reasons).

At one, the class teacher gave parents her email address (obviously her school one, not her personal one) at the start of term and told us to use it if we needed to communicate with her. At the other, we were told not to email the staff directly.

I just wondered which is common practice? I'm not someone who is constantly in contact with the teacher (in fact I've never used the email address I was given), but I do like the idea of being able to if I need to, without having to make an appointment or communicate via the school office.

Dd's Y2 teacher gave out his email address - not sure if that was to all parents or only some (it was at parents evening).

I didn't ask for it and have no reason to need it but its nice to know he's committed, interested in the kids and trusts parents to behave like sensible adults and only contact him if necessary, rather than automatically assuming they'll be a nightmare.

There ARE parents who will behave like an utter nightmare though - one of my kids has been caught up in just some low level nonsense today which they've been told off by school for, and I'm absolutely fine with that, backed school and agree how it's been handled and that it was something just bloody stupid to be doing... but the parent of the other child involved is absolutely raging at her child being told off and going to the head tomorrow to complain about it there.

So I fully understand why schools DO withhold email addresses and screen stuff via the office and I'm dreading being tried to be dragged into it tomorrow when I agree with how school have acted Cos a couple of glasses of wine tonight and this person would be going thermonuclear on the poor teacher's inbox! (The parent in question is actually a good friend and a lovely person but very very adversarial and quick to anger where school's concerned)

We are in Scotland. We do not have the teacher's email address. The teacher never emails us directly. Messages are filtered through the school office if it's "don't forget that P6A have gym on a tuesday" or all school announcements about events. If the teacher wants to communicate individually with a parent, you'll get a call and arrange a time to go in.

Yes, we always have their emails and are told to email with any concerns or questions. We also have an app we use, but we can't communicate back through the app (it's one way from school to us), so we email if we need to reach them.

Yes, all teachers are firstname.surname@schoolname

Philomena It's not quite that simple.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
... and that's just non-academies.

Academies have all sorts of address formats.

Yes, we always had class teacher's school email address

My email doesn't contain the school name and I rarely check it so much quicker to contact the office if it's important.

I just meant for my DC's school BringOn.

[email protected]

We don’t have the teachers email address.

Just the email of the school secretary. Emails go through her and have the teacher’s email stripped out.

I have them for the primary and the secondary school. But that’s because I am a very reasonable and appreciative parent and they know I won’t act like a nutter

Sometimes I send them emails telling them how great they are and copy them to the head teacher.

I am a teachers pet.

Old school - not allowed the teachers email. Massive PITA, you had to rely on the school office to pass messages on and you never knew whether they would remember. Equally teachers had to rely on office to pass messages on. We were constantly getting last minute requests for this and that, or last minute notice for parents events.

New school - you have all the teachers emails. Very handy it is too, especially for working parents who can’t hang about the school waiting to waylay the teacher in person. When minor things went wrong at his old school it might take weeks for a working parent to find out or to resolve. Now I can send a quick email and it’s sorted the same day. No need for the teacher to stay late and me to leave work early for a meeting.
I am sure there are a few people who overuse and abuse emails but teachers should not let that stop the vast majority use them sensibly.

DD has long left Primary but it was email (or fax) or phone the office.

Tbh personally I really feel the teachers do enough work without having to respond to emails.

Yes. It's an independent.

Yes.

I have 3 dc at 3 different schools - mix of primary and secondary - and have a full email list for each school, so not just class teacher’s email, but whole staff list.

For dc1, I have daily contact st the school, so don’t need to email so much, although it is useful for filling in background info.

Dc2 I have used a lot - I do have daily contact, but have needed to email other teachers I don’t see every day.

Dc3 I don’t have daily contact at school and have to email any concerns I may have. I have emailed at least weekly so far this term, some initiated by me, some by class teacher.

All schools encourage regular contact, and all respond where appropriate (ie I may not get a response to an email informing of change to pick up time for yr2 dc3, but would get a response if one was needed in any way)

We do (DCs all at primary) and they are up on the school website. I've only emailed them a couple of times though, but I drop off and do pick up so can generally catch the teacher with any minor concerns I have.

In fact the only time I have emailed the teacher is (1) to query the date of a trip which was different on the letter than on the website calendar (2) a major issue concerning DS that I wanted to cc the HOS in on (3) a video holiday project DD had done (4) to let them know someone else would be picking up as it was straight after half term and I'd forgotten to tell them before the break.

Interesting thread! DD at state primary and everything has to go through the school office. Even when teachers have asked me to email them (i.e. presentations/extra-curricular successes) it's always to the office, not a person, and I never get an acknowledgement.

Even when the deputy head has called me to discuss assemblies, it's from a private number! They do not want anyone contacting teachers direct.

Yes, it's published on the school website and given out again to parents at the beginning of term. It's only used rarely by the parents though - usually people just write a small note in the reading log book (even if it isn't related to reading) or have a word at the beginning or end of the day.

Yes all teacher email addresses are on the school website

I have my DDs' teachers' e-mail addresses. For DD2 who is still at primary school, I use it once in a blue moon - perhaps to say DD2 is going home with X from the other class today. DD1 is at secondary school and there is a staff e-mail directory on the school website. I have e-mailed the head of KS3 a handful of times to request authorised absence for performances and once to consent to a trip because the letter had been mislaid/eaten.

I'm a primary teacher and find it incredibly useful to know that parents can contact me by e-mail (and vice versa). It's a useful way to let a busy parent know that X has been hiding his sandwiches again because it's a filling he doesn't like, or to say that although Y was sobbing when dropped off, by 9:07am he was fine. E-mail communication can also be useful for supporting behaviour issues in that it's very often the case that parents are contacted by phone when something goes wrong but rarely with good news. Parents can become very embarrassed by these calls and screen them out or switch their phones on to silent to avoid colleagues etc. finding out. A brief e-mail to let a parent know that X has had a wobbly morning, or to say, "Y has worked brilliantly so please ask her all about the fantastic things she's done in maths today" is worth the few moments it takes as it helps build the relationship between school and home. It can also be very powerful for the child to see their parent being e-mailed with the good news, knowing that it'll pop up on their phone or work computer.

I have an auto-reply on my school e-mail that thanks whoever for contacting me, says that any message requiring a response will be replied to after school and within a few days. It also gives the school phone number and asks the parent to telephone the school office with any urgent messages. I've been teaching for 16 years and so far, have never found e-mails from parents to be problematic - at least it means messages get to me!

I have the teachers’ email addresses but I do my best not to contact them very often.

Primary - no e-mails until 3rd Head then got Head's e-mail and later senco and teachers. Secondary publishes a list of all teachers e-mails, bet they love that! Had the teachers' personal e-mail for year 6 but didn't realise it was their personal one until I cc'd them once but they gave it to me. We had a general school e-mail and used to e-mail FAO teacher re child's name.

I do, it’s not common practise in ds school to give them to everyone but they aren’t secret. I regularly have to email the class teacher and other staff members due to his SEN.

I would find it an absolute pain to not have parents email me. I can sort things out far easier instantly and it saves me time having to ring back.

Often means the problem can be sorted or the email replied to before the child comes to school the next day.

This evening two parents have already emailed me. One to thank me for trying to sort a pastoral issue and to give me more info to follow up on back in school on Monday. The other about a vandalised bag. I couldn’t imagine doing my job without emails from parents. A tiny minority are sent too late at night after too much wind, but most are perfectly reasonable!

I can nip things in the bud and it means they don’t become big issues that become complaints.

Too much wine, not too much wind! 🙄