One day on there is already a WhatsApp group

[MrsCremuel]

And it’s already intense. We only found out yesterday. God help us all.

I have been on one for my DD for the last couple of years and like some PP, mine is refreshingly (or disappointingly depending on your viewpoint!) free of drama. It is mostly just helpful reminders about PE days, key dates, the occasional "my little Bobby has lost his coat has anyone taken it by mistake" that sort of thing. Also sometimes whole class party invites are put on there but those are getting much less as they get older.

I'm kind of sad my kids are too old for WhatsApp groups. Random Facebook posts along the lines of 'Does anyone have a Cinderella dress we can borrow for dress up day' never invited the same kind of drama.

We had a brilliant group for DTs class from R through to Y6, the class rep was worth her weight in gold with reminders / sorting presents etc.

Now they are in Y7 I have four, one for each form, one for the PTA and one for the whole of Y7 that was set up before they started. They're all on mute, DT1s class if literally dead, no messages at all. DTs is really busy, one mum likes to organise socials for the kids etc and the whole y7 is just batshit.

We don't have a full year or class group on WhatsApp, but I am part of one with several other parents whose kids happened to get along in Reception (now KS2). Luckily, they also happen to not get involved in any fuss (or they don't chat about it if they are), so my experience is it's been helpful for catching up on info or missed school messages, and was a great support group during lockdown.

They are very useful. Even more so for secondary school when your kids never told you anything and also don't know what's happening. My DC1 has facebook group and DC2 has whatsapp. (I think it's the age of the parents, facebook is for older people). I have relied on the Year 7 facebook group to tell me where the county music service lessons are, how to get a locker key, where is the school bus stop, where are lost properties. These are all things the children presumably are told? Or that they are things the parents learned by having older children at the school. But Year 7s are lost without this. There has been no drama in either groups.

What kind of arguments do people have in these groups?

Feeling anxious at the thought

Same here

Yes that’s been my experience too. My kids are almost all out of primary now but I’ve always found it really helpful to be able to share info with the group about schedules and reminders. When they were little we would have informal meet-ups and using WhatsApp meant nobody was excluded. You seem to almost want there to be drama OP.

What do you mean by setting out stalls? I know what the expression means, I just can't imagine what people are doing in this context?

There’s always an alpha mum rushing to set up a WhatsApp group! Love it 😅

Although when my PFB started Reception there was only a Facebook group… or so I thought. Later found out there was also a WhatsApp group that only the class clique were allowed to join. Playground mums FFS.

Has anyone mentioned leavers hoodies yet?

😂

the class rep was worth her weight in gold with reminders / sorting presents etc.

WTF this can’t be real.

I will never leave our school Whatsapp group. School disco tickets go on sale this Friday, which means they'll have sold out by 6.01pm as fucking Isla's mum thinks it's a good opportunity for a night out with all her mates. Wouldn't miss it for the world.

As a school governor we have had drama with parent WhatsApp groups, but obviously no power to intervene. Parents discussing particular children, their behaviour etc.

Ours was colonised by a few gobby, dominant and frankly silly mums. They would constantly berate everything the Teachers did and basically take the piss.

I got out quickly - thankfully. As there has been some major problems at the school with parents and teachers.

Don’t you think some other parents in the class might really benefit from being part of it as wel, though?

• Sorry about my terrible grammar!

Cross posted but yes, this is exactly the kind of issues we were trying to deal with.

Oh I would have found a Whatsapp group so helpful when dd was little! I was sooooo ill and nothing would stay in my head, I'd forget non-uniform days, early finish days, the lot. I was living in a nightmare of an unknown world where I could get NOTHING to stick in my (up until then very efficient) brain, and poor dd would have to deal with the consequences from the age of 5 onwards.

@Justalittlebitduckling Frankly: no. Now our kids are older and in smaller social groups, everyone has their own other convos with other parents if the children are best mates etc. We did add 2 other mums to the group chat who are v friendly at class; one was new to UK and said she was struggling with the school stuff, but they don't chat or come along on evenings out (a couple times a year, nothing crazy). Which is obv fine, prob have us on mute lol, but the group has stayed as it is since then.

There are actually 2 FB groups, one an official school account and the other run by parents... I worried I would be missing things by not being on FB, but after looking at what was being posted on the pages, I'm quite alright with that.

Granted my son is only year 2, but the WhatsApp group is very useful to remind you if it’s non uniform day or to ask if it’s PE that day etc. Or for someone to say their child has chicken pox or similar.

And the class rep (PTA) posts if there’s a cake sale or to ask for volunteers for the fete or to do the collection for the teacher present etc. No drama whatsoever!

I don’t know why people find it so odd, it’s useful and can be ignored if you want!

Teacher presents surely? Why is that weird? We sort those through the class WhatsApp, it’s great. Someone sets up a collection fund, someone else sets up a Kudoboard where any parents who want to can post a message for the teacher and photo of their child. Minimal effort required. Teacher gets nice messages and some vouchers, maybe flowers, for Christmas and end of year from the class collectively.

Sorry that was responding to @Riapia

That's ours too. It's useful, certainly not overused, and features people helping one another out with screenshots of forgotten homework or reminders about forest school about 97% of the time.

I'm not in the UK and we have a WhatsApp group for DS's class. What an odd assumption...

Ours is very quiet. The parent rep might put a reminder or there's the odd question about special days.