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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

I had a lovely phone call from my DDs secondary school last night

23 replies

MyballsareSandy · 30/09/2014 08:10

Thought I would share as we are all quick to point out the negatives with schools and teachers, also it's not something I'd mention in real life to friends.

Unfortunately I was at work so she left a message on our house answer phone.

She introduced herself as DDs English teacher and went on to say how well she is doing in her lessons and how impressed she is with the quality and detail of her work, and could I please pass on her congratulations.

I just think that's lovely that she took the time out of her busy day to get in touch, particularly as most school phone calls involve complaints about my other DD, although she has been improving this year.

OP posts:

Sephy · 30/09/2014 08:26

Lovely. And well done to your DD. Both DDs in fact.

Boysandme · 30/09/2014 11:51

How lovely. Would love that sort of phone call!

hesterton · 30/09/2014 11:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RaisinBoys · 30/09/2014 12:03

That's great. Always lovely to hear good news...especially from school!

Well done to your DD.

mummytime · 30/09/2014 12:07

My DCs school does that, its a real honour to get one. We also get postcards home to mark good behaviour. Its so pleasing to get communication about something good.
congratulations to your DD

minkah · 30/09/2014 12:07

Extremely lovely!

ChillySundays · 30/09/2014 13:31

That brilliant! DC's old school did that

Leeds2 · 30/09/2014 17:17

Well done to both DDs. You obviously had a good summer holiday!

Coolas · 30/09/2014 18:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pointythings · 30/09/2014 21:00

Our secondary does this too, we get letters home when they've done something particularly great. It isn't just academics either, DD1 has had one for helping a fellow pupil whose bag had been hidden by bullies as well as for doing particularly well on Shakespeare. It's lovely.

JustADadHere · 01/10/2014 15:57

When I was a secondary school teacher, I would always end my (seemingly endless) negative calls home to parents with one good one - always made me feel better about the job I was doing to know that at least ONE kid was lovely, did their homework, behaved in class, etc... It was always great to call the parents of a kid who normally gets negative feedback and tell them how little Jimmy helped me out that day.

Preciousbane · 01/10/2014 19:13

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mintyy · 01/10/2014 19:15

I think my dd's school has this policy. We get phone calls and even letters from time to time. It is much appreciated!

Dwerf · 01/10/2014 19:19

I usually get texts saying the same things , it used to be postcards. This week I got a phone call. Wish they wouldn't do it in school hours though, my stomach dropped through the floor when I saw the number come up, my first thought was having to schlepp all the way up there for something!

BackforGood · 01/10/2014 19:46

That's really nice.
I wish we'd get the odd call or e-mail.

When dd started there, they used to send out postcards, which was nice, but I can understand it must be both time consuming and expensive, which is why I can't help thinking that maybe an e-mail would be nice occasionally ?

BertieBotts · 01/10/2014 19:49

One of my teachers did this once and to this day I feel proud when I think about it. It's a really nice thibg to do.

balia · 01/10/2014 21:48

That's really interesting, BackforGood - we do postcards home and letters and 'student of the month' awards at my school (much coveted)but I always feel very hesitant about using email unless I have asked if it is ok to communicate that way first. Am I being over-sensitive? (don't use email that much myself).

Sorry for hijack!

lougle · 01/10/2014 21:54

Dd3 got a 'star of the week' award. It said 'Dd3 had settled so well into year 1and is a delight to have in class. She always does her best with a smile on her face. A pure delight.'

We've had to move her to another school the week after she got that card, but we will treasure it. It's such a lovely thing to know that a teacher saw the heart of a child, rather than their 'grades'.

BackforGood · 01/10/2014 23:37

balia - sorry, re-reading my post, I've missed out the rather crucial information that they have brought in a new system of "Praise Points" which no longer includes postcards or letters home.
The pupils all have a 'log in' so if they were motivated by it they can log in to see how they are getting on, but, as parents, we don't get to know anything about it, unless they choose to come and show you where they 'are' , when they are logged in. Even then not that they ever do, but once I got my Yr7 to show me what it looks like it is just a number of Praise points - a 'score' if you like, but of course it doesn't mean anything when you don't know what they were for. I feel it really keeps us out of the loop, whereas the postcards were a really, really, really nice thing to get occasionally, because you knew they must have really impressed someone for them to take the time and effort to fill out the card, sort out the address, etc.

I would LOVE the odd e-mail saying dd1/dd2 did this/that today - I was really chuffed with her, and I think it shouldn't be that hard to do occasionally (I'm only talking about a teacher sending one when a pupil did something they were really impressed with, not regular reports or anything). The beauty is, it could be anything - yes, it could be an academic achievement, but for another pupil, it could just be arriving on time for a week, or not getting any detentions for a week or something - it could be SO personal, it would be lovely.

clary · 03/10/2014 01:23

Inspired partly by this thread I phoned two parents of students in a challenging class I teach to say how pleased I was with the work they had done in their lessons this week.

Mums both sounded so chuffed, it really brightened my day too

BackforGood · 03/10/2014 11:49

BackforGood · 03/10/2014 11:52

Another thing I think is a bonus of a phone call, over some praise systems in school, is that it doesn't piss off the other pupils when you make a big fuss over a more challenging child being rewarded for not misbehaving for a day or whatever - that can really irritate some of the pupils that always behave, but it wouldn't be known to them that the teacher has phoned / e-mailed the other pupil's parents over an achievement that is a big achievement for that pupil.

threepiecesuite · 03/10/2014 20:36

I always make a couple of positive phone calls on a Friday night, I hope that it might get the weekend off to a great start for some families.

Tonight, I called a boy in Year 7's mum. He'd made a bit of a shaky start, missed a couple of homeworks and gone to the wrong room twice. He has massively improved since then though, now that he's got to know me, boundaries have been tested, homework caught up and we're all back on track. He has distanced himself from a few other daft boys and found his feet. His mum was overjoyed. She said her heart sank when she saw the number but she couldn't be prouder.
Made my weekend too

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