WhatsApp Groups - Do you have them?

[good96]

Hi all,
We recently had a staff meeting and it was mentioned by a colleague about the possibility of having a whatsapp group for all colleagues to receive instant information that may need to be known…
The standard practice at the moment is work email accounts- but urgent messages aren’t always picked up…
We have one for the SLT to communicate but all who is on there is myself, my deputies, my assistant heads and the school business manager.

I am dubious about having 150 colleagues on a Whatsapp group for a number of reasons but just wanted to know what is the most effective tool you use?

We have text messages sent out-does mean needing to check them though headteacher feels it is most effective way-staff aren't encouraged to use email app dye ti eirk,ludd balance .

Yes we do
Our Head sends out brief points of briefings etc for staff that work part time.
Nobody abuses it

We have a department one that we set during covid but since there is no phone reception is huge parts of school, and staff aren’t supposed to be on their phones in corridors a whole school one wouldn’t be much use.surely email is better for such things?

I currently teach abroad in a school which does all school admin through WhatsApp (no emails). I really resent having work stuff on my personal phone because it always going off but I can’t mute it in case it’s something important. I don’t want 300 WhatsApps about work on the weekend and it’s part of the reason I’m leaving the job.

We had one set up during Covid and kept it going. We had a TA chat and a teacher chat which helped but only put important dates or reminders.

I’ve had them in my teams but never the whole staff. They shouldn’t be necessary IMHO. If the HT regularly needs to communicate urgent messages outside of working hours then there is a bigger problem with communication. Even during Covid it was rare that we needed to be contacted out of hours and in genuinely unforeseeable situations we received text messages from Parentpay.

I'd decline the opportunity.

We have a department one but mainly to share funny memes - I don't think it's appropriate for school to contact staff out of hours on their personal phones! Email is def the way forward or maybe a text for an absolute emergency like a school closure.

We do and it's ridiculous because policy is we can't look at our phones in the classroom. I frequently miss things but nothing terrible has ever happened as a result and I've a reputation for being organised nevertheless. Definitely one of those things once you start people think it's impossible to live without.

We have now changed to an app for all parents and staff

My current school has one, but as we are new, the staff is fairly small, so the group is relatively small. It isn't used for important or official messages though, they come through the staff briefing or email.

I recently left the group as, to be honest, I found it quite intrusive, especially at weekends. Each to their own though.

I can't imagine it would work with a large staff.

Think about your staff well-being. They should not have school related things on their private phones! Look at communication in general and help people to cut down and prioritise. If important messages get lost then there is probably too much going on.

I left school WhatsApp groups because I prefer a divide between work and personal time. I have a school email for work so that should be enough. It’s worked out well - I don’t get countless reminders or messages which actually are not that urgent and I could easily read in an email.

We have one, but I often miss messages as we aren't allowed phones in classrooms, and I'm usually in school by 7.30am and miss all the urgent morning messages (often to do with staff absences, swapped duties, cancelled assemblies, last minute changes to the day etc). I have brought this up with SLT but no solution yet.

Creating a WhatsApp group for colleagues to get instant information sounds great. Colleagues at my work use WhatsApp to communicate, and it's a great way for us to keep in touch. However, you might consider team communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams. These platforms offer organized channels for different topics, allowing you to communicate effectively without overwhelming everyone with a large group. Try them out and see which one works best for your team. However, I think WhatsApp is the best for communication, and you may want to try WhatsApp business api as it has more benefits and features. Good luck!

Sounds hideous. Email should be adequate. People can put work email on their phone if they're scared of missing things. WhatsApp isn't professional.

We have one that only SLT can write on so it’s used for day to day stuff (but not often. Once or twice a week?). There’s no option to reply via the group. We also have an informal chat group. Both groups are optional and we have a policy that clarifies appropriate usage.