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Original poster

Can’t contact teacher directly, is this normal?

82 replies

ggmom87 · 27/08/2022 23:06

We’ve just moved, and our children are starting at a new primary school. I just learned that there is no way to contact class teachers directly, we’re not given their email address. All communications to teachers must go through the office and be forwarded onward. The office has a fairly bad reputation for not responding to emails / taking weeks to respond etc. I’ve already experienced this firsthand. So this whole arrangement makes me feel quite cut off from their teachers. Is this normal? At their old school we could email teachers with questions and concerns.

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ggmom87 · 28/08/2022 11:23

Mammyloveswine · 27/08/2022 23:58

Ffs teachers aren't even back yet and the abuse is starting..,

Do you pick up or drop off your child?? That's contact! If not leant a message for the office asking teacher to contact you!

How is asking a question about standard methods of communication considered abuse?

OP posts:
JanePrentiss · 28/08/2022 11:51

Seafretfreda · 28/08/2022 08:46

@JanePrentiss - you sound like you shouldn’t be teaching. Jaded, burnt out, pissed off with the children and parents already! No wonder parents feel they need to contact you/the school if that’s your attitude. Children aren’t stupid and can sense your disdain for them. Parents too, come to that. Too many teachers believe they’re untouchable, that they’re always right and parents are always wrong. Not true! But on here, just like with the NHS, the profession can do no wrong.
It is perfectly normal to be able to contact your child’s teacher via email, OP. Good schools, with a good ethos, encourage an active home/school partnership. If this is their attitude from the get-go, I’d be questioning if this were the right school for my family.
And before anyone starts, I’m a teacher too (but a nice one, and I do reply to emails!).

Haha, who said I'm a teacher? I could be a caretaker, a data officer. The IT support, a SENCO without a class, the music support.... If that list sounds like so eone who doesn't like their job that's incorrect - that's an objective list of weekly queries.

Sounds shit? Well, get teachers to fit that to their working day and it becomes clear why such queries need to be triage, if you like, by office staff. As another poster pit, office staff deal with this so we can get on with the actual job of teaching. Yes, parents can come to talk face to face, they can raise a query and ask for a response or a meeting, but someone intercepts that to do the donkey work for teachers.

Kite22 · 28/08/2022 14:08

Excellent posts by @JanePrentiss on P1

Kite22 · 28/08/2022 14:11

VioletToes · 28/08/2022 03:17

Within 72 hours, so 3 days??

Honestly, each time I read threads on here about schooling in England I'm so glad to be out of it. The parents poor behaviour, the teachers who are so burnt out they're like bloody zombies teaching, and yes the office dragons.

It's a terrible system that is just not fit for purpose.

I'm not in the UK anymore. I emailed my DC teacher last week because they are having a hard time at school. I got a call back that day after school and an apology for not replying sooner. We worked out a plan on a 10 min phone call to help dc2.

I do school drop off and collect but that's not really a good time to catch the teacher, or have these types of conversation 🙄

If I had to wait 3 days for a reply to my email about my upset and almost school refusing grade 1 I'd think that was pretty shit.

Badly behaved parents have ruined a perfectly good system of communication between parents and teachers.

Dc1 had 8 teachers in year 1 when she was in school in London. It was an absolute shambles, just a revolving door of teachers.

Show quote history

But the policy isn't
"We won't reply until after 72 hours"
It is that you will receive a reply in that time frame.

If there were some urgent concern, I have no doubt that the staff would make every effort to get back to you on the same day.
However, if you read JanePrentiss's post on P1, you will see there are a considerable number of parents who e-mail about all sorts of things that are not urgent or are not really anything to do with the teacher or even the welfare of the child

CoffeeWithCheese · 30/08/2022 13:04

It's varied among the schools I've had the kids at (and worked at) - even between class teachers in the same school. Some heads want to control everything and read ALL messages themselves, or have lovely office staff who are really on the case for the stuff that doesn't need a class teacher ("Johnny is getting picked up by Wayne's dad cos I'm stuck at work" type messages).

Sometimes I have teachers who email only from the generic school office email to make sure that parents don't have their individual emails, or ones where I've had to email via the office to immediately get emails back from the teacher's individual email address... some are fairly open on giving it out. I just roll with however they indicate they want to handle things - I'm not a habitual emailer with triviality, but having a child with communication difficulties does mean that sometimes you convey communication on both sides clearly. As long as I know I can get a message to the teacher if required via whatever means needed - I'm not bothered.

The one time it was an issue was when it was a school where the head screened all emails personally and the school office had a 10 working days response to messages sent to school... that was pushing it a bit!

Lonelyplanet · 30/08/2022 16:37

ggmom87 · 28/08/2022 11:05

What makes you think I am trying to contact the school during the summer holidays? What a weird a assumption. I’ve been in touch with the school since February, toured it in March, applied in May, received a spot in June, and they’re starting in September. I’ve had months of back and forth communication and it’s been slow and painful, and other parents at the school who I know agree that office communication is very poor.

In my experience of state schools parents have minimal contact with the school until they start. Parents usually ask for a tour of the school where any questions are answered, apply through a county admissions process and then receive the offer of a place with any essential information. If there are any specific special needs requirements or adjustments necessary you may have some communication with the SENDCo. Months of back and forth communication is very unusual.

"When did I say I was unhappy with the school? 🤔"
In your first post you said "The office has a fairly bad reputation for not responding to emails / taking weeks to respond etc. I’ve already experienced this firsthand.”
You also said "it’s been slow and painful"
That doesn't sound like you are happy.

As others have said not having a teacher's email is very usual. You won't need it. Most primary teacher's are available to talk to at the end of the day. Emailing through the office protects both teacher's and parents because it creates a 'paper' trail. It (usually) makes everyone consider their tone and frequency of communication. It also, as others have said, acts as a filter so emails get directed to the correct place. It ensures that rude or obusive messages aren't received when teacher's are about to teach a class of children (as you might imagine the best teaching doesn't happen when a member of staff has been reduced to tears). Teachers don't have time to write lengthy emails - it is so much better to have a quick conversation at the end of a day.

Lonelyplanet · 30/08/2022 16:41

Sorry about the apostrophes. My autocorrect has gone into overdrive and I should have proof read!

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