It’s 10.30pm on Sunday. My phone buzzes: it’s an email, sitting there like an unexploded bomb. It’s from “that parent”. The title? “Urgent!”
Opening it would lead to stress, and then forming and reforming a reply in my mind. Not reading it could mean missing a serious complaint. What if they ambush me at the gate tomorrow morning? Either way, my stress levels are up and a good night’s sleep seems unlikely.
Alongside teaching 30 children, and ensuring that they all learn and progress happily, teachers also have to deal with a mass of unscheduled responsibility: emails from colleagues, parents, the senior leadership team and school admin.
Where I work now, we have a centralised contact point between home and school - the school office - to better track communication and ensure that emails from parents are dealt with promptly. All parents email the office, who deal with the enquiry themselves if possible. If the message requires more specific support, it’s sent on to the form tutor or subject teacher.
But this requires office staff to have an intimate knowledge of what teachers do during the school day.
Three years ago, I was a Year 9 form tutor. It wasn’t unusual for form tutors to receive about 10 emails a day about lost belongings. It was maddening: I’d see Johnny for about 10 minutes in the morning but have to deal with his PE kit left in reception.
Leaders, it’s worth considering the example you set. You may be working late, but your NQT might not be - don’t send them an email late at night. Type it up and send it in the morning. It’s not fair to expect your colleagues to be “plugged in at all times”. When it comes to emails, the whole school should have good routines, clear expectations and respected boundaries.
Natasha Skinner teaches key stage 3 at the British School of Bucharest
