School Expects Emails during Business Hours Only

cuteseal on 03/02/2025 - 10:06
Last edited 03/02/2025 - 14:57 by 1 other user

This one is quite baffling to me - our daughter's high school just sent an email to all parents and students, basically instructing everyone that emails should only be sent to staff members during work hours (8.20-4.20pm Monday to Friday). At first, I thought they meant that staff are only expected to respond to emails during work hours which is a fair and reasonable request. But no, they literally say "if you email a staff member, please ensure you schedule send it, so they receive it during work hours."

I remember last year when my daughter sent an email request for assistance to her maths teacher over the weekend, she was received a stern reply in the email to the same effect as above. That time I gave the teacher the benefit of the doubt (maybe she was having a bad weekend or whatever) but it looks like this is their policy.

I am all for work life balance, nor do I expect teachers or staff to be working outside of hours. But working in corporate where people work in different time zones, or basically fire off emails from their phones at all hours, or those night owls that squeeze in an hour of work at night so they can leave an hour early for school pickups etc. - the usual expectation is that email is an "offline" medium and the recipients are free to respond during their usual working hours. It would be ludicrous to inform my customers and suppliers to please schedule emails so I receive them during MY working hours.

Anyway, just wanted everyone's thoughts… has the world gone mad?

Edit: has anyone seen this kind of policy in other schools or unis?

I've pasted the communication below.

Communication guidelines for parents
Dear Parents/Guardians,

We value open communication between our staff and families within our School community.

The demands on schools are ever increasing and it can be difficult at times to put in place work boundaries. We have developed communication guidelines for our school community in an attempt to find ways to support staff wellbeing and sustainable work practices. We are seeking your support with the following guidelines:

If you email a staff member, please ensure you schedule send it, so they receive it during work hours (8:20 - 4:20 pm Monday - Friday). Staff may choose to respond to your emails outside of their work hours, but you should not expect them to do so.
A response within 2 working days (if a staff member is not absent) is the expected time frame. Staff members will activate an ‘Out of Office’ message if they are absent from work, so that you are aware their response may be delayed and it will direct you to where you can seek assistance for urgent matters.

We have also communicated this to students.
A copy of these guidelines will be on the parent portal for future reference.
Thank you for your assistance with this.
Kind Regards,
xxx xxxxx
Acting Principal.

Poll Options

  • 896
    Emails should be able to be sent/received any time
  • 26
    Emails should only be sent during working hours
  • 2
    I have misunderstood/misinterpreted the guidelines
  • 23
    Yawn, where's the bargain?
Education & Work

Comments

      • andrew229 on 06/02/2025 - 23:24

        I dont think teachers are paid overtime, and everyone deserves work-life balance. Why cant students write down their questions and ask their teacher in their next lesson. Thats what i did when i was in school.

    • Nillionaire on 03/02/2025 - 15:55
      +1

      Yikes, which generation are you from?

      • Poor Ass on 03/02/2025 - 18:15
        +3

        boomer

      • shaybisc on 03/02/2025 - 19:14

        The use your own initiative generation.

  • Benoffie on 03/02/2025 - 11:48
    +11

    These rules have to be set hard and fast because of the following reasons:

    • parents email 24/7 when a brain fart occurs to them
    • teachers have their department email on their phones (something I dont agree with but try arguing that with relevant Principals and state education authorities)
    • large portions of emails are abusive
    • answering emails off premises means they cannot be copied into the LMS for FoI and reference by other staff (emails are still FoI)
    • teachers tend to reply hastily when at home and without appropriate supports, leading to escalated contacts
    • new laws (not just right to disconnect but changes in EBAs and assault laws making teachers a protected class) means limiting contact with external stakeholders

    Within 12 months, youll see nothing but out of office replies outside of those times.

    If you want to communicate with a staff member, do it appropriately via the LMS. This way, the record of communication is permanent and can be seen by everyone. Email really is staff to staff and schools need to stop giving it out. I am aware in SA, that policy has started to roll out this year - no more email, no more phone numbers. Call the school or LMS only

    • djsweet on 03/02/2025 - 12:39
      +6

      What century are schools operating in where emails need to be manually copied into the LMS. Jeepers.

      • Benoffie on 03/02/2025 - 15:49
        +1

        Hence why you dont email teachers - send via LMS

        Welcome to state government systems. Everything in triplicate, manually.

        • johndoh89 on 03/02/2025 - 18:39

          Hey a bunch of them do it automatically, but somehow copy the wrong information so you have to fix it manually when you find out.

    • pegaxs on 03/02/2025 - 15:13
      +3

      parents email 24/7 when a brain fart occurs to them

      That's fine… It's mail, not a phone call. You open it on work time and not out of hours. They can send it whenever they like, it's up to the receiver when they want to open it.

      teachers have their department email on their phones (something I dont agree with but try arguing that with relevant Principals and state education authorities)

      Teachers are not exempt from the "right to disconnect" legislation. They are entitled to disconnect as much as anyone else is. They are under no obligation to receive, look at, respond to or answer any communications outside of work hours.

      large portions of emails are abusive

      Then dont reply, or set filters that send abusive messages to the bin and alert the sender that the message has been discarded as being offensive/abusive. Let parents and guardians know that if they are abusive in any email correspondence, that their ability to have emails received will be blocked.

      answering emails off premises means they cannot be copied into the LMS for FoI and reference by other staff (emails are still FoI)

      Simple… Dont answer them. Dont read them. Dont open them, until such time as it is an appropriate time to do so. They are emails. They will wait.

      teachers tend to reply hastily when at home and without appropriate supports, leading to escalated contacts

      Then the rules should state that teachers ONLY reply within school operating hours, not that people should not send emails outside these times, just that staff will not be available outside certain hours.

      new laws (not just right to disconnect but changes in EBAs and assault laws making teachers a protected class) means limiting contact with external stakeholders

      Ok, so it makes it even easier to apply a block on opening emails outside certain times…

      The onus should NOT be on the parents/guardians of children at this school on when to send emails, but on the staff to put in place protocols that deal with when and by whom these emails are opened by.

      This is just laziness on behalf of whatever school this is coming out of. They are putting the onus on outside forces instead of making internal protocol and policies and educating their own staff.

      Within 12 months, youll see nothing but out of office replies outside of those times.

      Good. This is the way it should be now…. "Sorry, you have contacted the school out of hours. We are unable to action your email at this time and will endeavour to get to your correspondence when we reopen. Thank you, School Name."

      • Benoffie on 03/02/2025 - 15:52
        +1

        Yeah I dont disagree. I think it's a poor roll out expecting parents and caregivers, who struggle with boundaries and communication anyway, to adhere to such terms. It should be an IT thing backed up by HR.

        But this is what happens when top down policy occurs and they leave it to schools to implement.

        Instead, it should all be managed centrally by the state

    • Miami Mall Alien on 04/02/2025 - 13:42
      -2

      @Benoffie

      These rules have to be set hard and fast because of the following reasons:

      parents email 24/7 when a brain fart occurs to them
      teachers have their department email on their phones (something I dont agree with but try arguing that with relevant Principals and state education authorities)
      large portions of emails are abusive
      answering emails off premises means they cannot be copied into the LMS for FoI and reference by other staff (emails are still FoI)
      teachers tend to reply hastily when at home and without appropriate supports, leading to escalated contacts
      new laws (not just right to disconnect but changes in EBAs and assault laws making teachers a protected class) means limiting contact with external stakeholders

      FFS… spare us the special snowflake sob stories. It's the only industry that gets 10-12 guaranteed calendar weeks of leave per year, every year. You make them sound like they're firefighters risking their lives or something.

      Do you know how many other industries have it even worse than teachers in regards to ridiculous expectations of availability and response time?

      You ever been in a job with on-call 24/7 requirements for a week or more?

      I'm not saying a lot of parents aren't overly obnoxious and precious when it comes to their expectations of communication with schools but teachers definitely can be just as bad, if not worse, in the opposite direction.

      • jackspratt on 04/02/2025 - 20:47

        No-one is forcing people to work in industries with onerous expectations of availability and response - including 24/7 on-call.

        Well, not since 1972 that is.

      • Kandrew on 04/02/2025 - 23:08

        spare us the special snowflake sob stories. It's the only industry that gets 10-12 guaranteed calendar weeks of leave per year, every year.

        I take it that you have not been a teacher, nor married to one.

        Teachers may have 10-12 calendar weeks away from face to face teaching, but they definitely don’t have 10-12 calendar weeks of leave every year.

        Every single school holiday we were in and out of school bookshops, school resource centres, and who knows what else my (ex) wife would think about going to. And that’s saying nothing about the hours that turned into days that turned into weeks that she would spend at school (during school holidays) cleaning up her classroom and then preparing her room for the incoming students.

        And she taught K-2!

        Imagine what a secondary school teacher could spend their holidays doing.

      • andrew229 on 06/02/2025 - 23:28
        -1

        sadly, people with attitudes like you are one of the reasons we have a teacher shortage.

  • soan papdi on 03/02/2025 - 12:07
    +4

    School can simply set up an auto reply that says when replies can be expected (within 2 business days, only during school hours, etc). Not that hard. They're being silly.

    the usual expectation is that email is an "offline" medium

    IMO the better word here is asynchronous, not offline.

  • brad1-8tsi on 03/02/2025 - 12:09
    -7

    Public School? Fair enough.

    I think it's really rude to contact the teacher outside the normal m-f work hours

    • DiscountForThee on 03/02/2025 - 19:01
      +4

      Why would it be rude to send an email? Can you explain how this would impact any teachers?

      • brad1-8tsi on 04/02/2025 - 08:00
        -2

        OP says that the daughter sent the maths teacher an email on a weekend and by all accounts expected an answer during that weekend period.

        I know 5+ school teachers and they all do plenty of work outside of normal school hours. The expectation that they are available 24/7 via email is ridiculous.

        • DiscountForThee on 04/02/2025 - 08:11
          +2

          by all accounts expected an answer during that weekend period.

          This is an assumption and a "you" problem.

          The expectation that they are available 24/7 via email is ridiculous.

          Can you point to the part where they are expected to be available 24/7? It's an email, not a Sunday night phone call

          • Assburg on 04/02/2025 - 08:22
            -1

            @DiscountForThee: Sounds like it's an "op problem" now.

            My god you people are insufferable… "that's a you problem" are you Jeff Bezos?

            Guess what—the bigger entity that makes the rules set their own policy because teachers didn't want it to be their problem. Sorry Jeff

            Why does anyone even think it's acceptable to message a school teacher for help at any hour? Contact the school. Leave the teacher alone to teach.

            • DiscountForThee on 04/02/2025 - 08:43

              @Assburg:

              think it's acceptable to message a school teacher for help at any hour?

              Do you know how emails work? They kind of just sit there, until you have time to look at them. They're not interrupting anything, and it doesn't matter what time they're sent. I feel like you, and the school, are struggling with this concept?

              • Assburg on 04/02/2025 - 11:43
                +1

                @DiscountForThee: I am well aware of how emails work.

                I also understand many people feel a creeping sense of pressure to check them when they're not at work.

                I'm not one of them, but, many lovely and intelligent people do succumb to the pressure. If they're going to check, it's better that the inbox is empty.

                If you implement a rule on the server to hold emails sent outside those hours then release them to employees that's great but it doesn't solve the real problem, which is:

                When people can send an email any time their solution to the problem to send the email. They use very little of their own brainpower to attempt to solve a problem.

                • DiscountForThee on 04/02/2025 - 13:25

                  @Assburg:

                  people do succumb to the pressure

                  This is a them problem, then. There is no reason to demand senders to change

              • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 10:33

                @DiscountForThee: I was going to ask if you knew how courtesy worked. My bad.

            • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 10:32
              +1

              @Assburg: Spot on, but the entitled parents have swamped this thread.

          • brad1-8tsi on 04/02/2025 - 15:36
            +1

            @DiscountForThee:

            This is an assumption and a "you" problem.

            Not my problem at all. Couldn't give a fig.

            I'm one of those people that would leave an Out of Office message while on leave and any emails I received in that period I deleted when I started work again.

            The level of entitlement in some of these posts is deplorable.

            Can you point to the part where they are expected to be available 24/7? It's an email, not a Sunday night phone call

            OP seemed quite upset that his child received a "stern email" (how would one know that was the intended tone?) saying to only contact during school hours.

            • DiscountForThee on 04/02/2025 - 16:46

              @brad1-8tsi:

              The level of entitlement in some of these posts is deplorable.

              Agreed. I can't believe anyone would be entitled to the sender needing to adjust their sending times. Crazy.

              OP seemed quite upset that his child received a "stern email" (how would one know that was the intended tone?) saying to only contact during school hours.

              This thread is about the stupidity of the policy, not an "expectation" of any availability. Does that makes sense, or are you able to point me in the direction of the expectation of availability?

              • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 10:36
                +1

                @DiscountForThee: It's about parenting, or rather lack thereof. Teachers do most of the heavy lifting these days.The reason kids struggle enough to need a hug on Sunday has more to do with social media than poor teaching methods. The first port of call for help with homework is parents. Or wait till the next school day and (are you sitting down?) ask the teacher.

                • DiscountForThee on 05/02/2025 - 11:13

                  @Protractor: Are you suggesting no emails to a teacher ever? Or no emails outside of work hours? Because both statements are stupid, but for different reasons

                  • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 11:26
                    +1

                    @DiscountForThee: Stupid? Mmmkay.
                    I'm suggesting to have seem to a bright red aura of entitlement like most helicopter parents and their expectations demands.
                    Emailing teachers should be a last resort. And frankly AH or on weekends is rude BS. If you don't need a response there and then, send it friggin' later.

                    • DiscountForThee on 05/02/2025 - 11:46

                      @Protractor: Just to be clear, are you suggesting both don't ever send an email, but if you did, the sending time matters? Or am I getting mixed up?

                      • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 11:47

                        @DiscountForThee: It's office hours. Email the English teacher at your offsprings school and seek translation.

                        • DiscountForThee on 05/02/2025 - 11:52
                          -1

                          @Protractor: I think you've got a misunderstanding on how emails work. Could you explain how an email being sent is an instant demand for a reply on a weekend? And could you point / quote the section where people in this thread are demanding a reply outside of working hours?

  • shaybisc on 03/02/2025 - 12:20
    -1

    What kind of a maths problem requires weekend teacher involvement when ChatGPT will answer everything from arithmetic to algebraic geometry and calculus?

    • Leiothrix on 04/02/2025 - 08:00
      +2

      Because a lot of problems that school teachers write require some mind reading ability to know what they actually want.

    • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 10:38

      Welcome to the teachers are pinatas party

  • vorsprung on 03/02/2025 - 12:48
    +9

    I'm assuming the problem is: Outlook is on personal devices, causing notifications after hours that teachers can't (won't) ignore.

    If they also receive departmental emails on that address and the school wants them to read and process them after hours, perhaps they should have two email addresses and not add the parents/students mailbox on their personal device. Rather they check this one during the day at the school.

    School is going about solving the issue backwards IMO.

    Good luck getting thousands of parents and students to abide by your silly rules. Every year cycle in a few extra hundred fresh parents and students.

  • tsunamisurfer on 03/02/2025 - 12:50
    +2

    Next they will be expecting all mail correspondence to be done using 80gsm paper and without using whiteout on the typewriter.

  • life is suffering on 03/02/2025 - 13:01

    Sound like they need a lesson on mail client tags and organisation . Must be missing emails

  • Bruceflix on 03/02/2025 - 14:25

    I'll send an email whenever I please. I don't expect it to be read or responded to outside of school hours though. What a crazy school.

  • Subere on 03/02/2025 - 15:34

    "sustainable work practices" lol
    So inform your teachers to not have their work email on their phones and only check emails on their work laptop during work hours.
    The onus is on them. Early have nfi how technology works and how to balance their own schedules.

  • Davo1111 on 03/02/2025 - 16:03
    +1

    Just ignore it. But don't expect a reply until the NBD

  • interlocal on 03/02/2025 - 16:22
    +10

    If they do not want emails to be delivered to teachers' mailboxes outside of working hours, they need to contact their IT department and raise a change request or whatever to create such a rule on their mail delivery system.

    If I don't want to get deliveries when my baby sleeps, I just put a note on the door to not knock and leave things on the porch, instead of telling every person in Australia not to knock on my door during that hour.

    • cuteseal on 03/02/2025 - 17:47

      Haha good analogy!

  • ripesashimi on 03/02/2025 - 17:03

    They are outsourcing their IT work to you. They can definitely set up their system for emails to arrive during work hours. Or better, prevent their staff from accessing emails outside work hours.

    Dont do it unless paid.

  • sam-1966 on 03/02/2025 - 17:18
    +1

    When my sister was on classroom (state primary school), she actively encouraged parents to email at any time - particularly if they were up in the wee hours with a vomitous child - she said it was better that they emailed then that have to wake up (on the off chance that they got back to sleep) to email to say the child would be absent.

    She also said she never wanted to teach in the private system as some INSIST that teachers be contactable by phone until 10.00 pm each day to speak to students if they need assistance as well as work each Saturday with school sport.

  • Freitag on 03/02/2025 - 17:30

    Pretty stupid, but you can use the send later function and have it sent at 9:20am the next day.

    • mattmel96 on 04/02/2025 - 17:11
      +1

      Yep but if you are using a computer based program such as Outlook, you then have have the computer left on or it doesn't send.

      My work email has the following footer "I am sending this email at a time convenient to my work/life schedule. There is no expectation that you will respond outside of your normal working hours."

      Never had an issue since.

      • askbargain on 04/02/2025 - 17:24

        but if you are using a computer based program such as Outlook

        unless you're hosting your own email, I doubt this.

        • mattmel96 on 08/02/2025 - 11:07

          Doubt all you want.

          I don't host my own email, I use gmail via Outlook. If I set up a delayed send email using the Outlook program, it will not send the email if the computer is not turned on at the planned time.

  • LVlahov on 03/02/2025 - 17:47
    -1

    School teachers and administrators are full of self-importance with regard to their roles and have outsized expectations of what they can actually require of parents and students.

    If they kept in mind how to talk to other adults who they have zero seniority over, rather than treating every communication like that with a child, they'd do so much better.

    We push back on all of it.

  • onceupon8 on 03/02/2025 - 18:03

    My suggestion: try and send a link to this thread to many higher ups at your school including the IT staff. You may want to use an anonymous email address to send it from. Hopefully the smarter staff can get the dumber staff (acting principal) to understand how emails work.

    • vorsprung on 03/02/2025 - 18:17
      +3

      We don’t know what time their mailboxes are ready for inbound emails though.

  • madseason on 03/02/2025 - 18:13

    You should really respect the sanctity of 4:20, they are a progressive school

    • cuteseal on 03/02/2025 - 18:55

      The did have a “Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony” on their first day back, so you might be on to something…

  • gromit on 03/02/2025 - 18:45
    +3

    It is actually becoming quite common in enterprises. The practice is meant to help support work/life balance as many people can't help themselves and believe everything has to be read and actioned immediately, which while cool for the sender, it has a detrimental effect on the receiver long term.. Just use the Send later functionality.

    Personally I don't care for me, if I am not working I don't feel a need to respond. However I do work with people that can't stand even a single email in their inbox that hasn't been dealt with. me I have 8,000+ unread (most crap which I will get around to when I have the time).

  • samcro on 03/02/2025 - 18:52
    +1

    All you parents should schedule your emails to arrive at precisely 4.19pm. That'll show em how silly their rule is!

  • johndoh89 on 03/02/2025 - 19:00
    +6

    Someone has misunderstood the new Right to Disconnect policy, assuming NSW.

    The Department even sent instructions for setting timed notifications and is actually against staff using personal devices for work communications due to security risks.

    NSW teacher union fought for a stronger version of the right to disconnect stuff that got put out nationally to prevent our direct supervisors from spamming us with work outside of hours and to ensure our bosses couldn't bitch about us not answering parents who spammed us at night and complained to the principal in the morning. The supervisors aren't allowed to message us.

    TLDR: Their bosses aren't allowed to message them and must use schedule send. This school applied that to everyone.

    • DiscountForThee on 03/02/2025 - 19:12

      This makes sense as to why this came about. The school is still dumb for their misinterpretation, but I'm glad there is some backing behind their thought.

    • mountaineer on 03/02/2025 - 20:27

      so in short, this is to manage parents complaints?

      • CodeXD on 03/02/2025 - 20:39

        The school wants to make sure there is someone available to delete the email when it comes in

      • johndoh89 on 04/02/2025 - 19:52
        +1

        It's to manage dipshit managers who think they own their employees 24/7.

        The complaints themselves weren't the issue, it's that the manager wasn't saying "(teacher) is under no obligation to reply to you outside of business hours" when those complaints were made about it.

  • hasher22 on 03/02/2025 - 20:24
    +2

    Send/receive emails anytime, up to the receiver to read and action it within business hours….. how is this not common sense?

  • bulletbill88 on 03/02/2025 - 21:21
    +1

    Emails aren’t urgent and no-one should have an expectation they are responded to immediately and/or out of hours. It’s surprising how many people don’t understand this. Maybe they should teach it in schools?

  • Muppet Detector on 03/02/2025 - 22:25
    +2

    Have you asked the school why they have this policy?

    Could it be something to do with Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) (and contract law) an email is said to received when it enters the recipients mail server (their inbox) whether or not the recipient has read it at that time or not?

    ("Postal Rule) covers traditional mail where acceptance is considered upon posting).

    The implications of the ETA are that should the nature of the electronic communication be time sensitive or activate a count down or time limit, the clock starts at whatever time the teacher receives the email (even if they don't read it).

    Thus, if the contents of the email have a 24 hour time life expectancy, if an email is received at 4:30pm Monday but the teacher only reads it 8:00am Tuesday, they have already exhausted 15 1/2 hours of the available 24 hours.

    Time sensitive issues are a big thing in the world of contract law and performance, so this isn't a new thing, but buggered if I can imagine a scenario where this may be of a concern within the communication framework of a teacher.

    A new EBA condition that all correspondence must be addressed within 48 hours perhaps?

    Is it schools trying to get ahead of potential litigation issues by being proactive about when a time sensitive matter will occur?

    • cuteseal on 04/02/2025 - 11:22

      No, but as other commenters have pointed out, I believe it is aligned with the Right to Disconnect:
      https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/right-to-disconnect/po…

      I don't have an issue with the intent - no one should be expected to be working outside of their work hours.
      However, their interpretation or implementation of it is a bit skewed.

      People should be able to send emails whenever, and the staff can respond during their working hours.
      Guidelines should be given to both staff and parents regarding the expectation that email communication will have a response time of 2 working days, and if emails are received outside of working hours, they will be attended to during the next working day. Problem solved.

      • Protractor on 05/02/2025 - 11:30
        -1

        What standover person stopped you from clarifying this egregious inconvenience to your life, before posting this thread?

        It's my opinion that is you do send an email AH to a teacher you have already said I could not give a shit about your down time outside school hours. This thread amplifies that attitude.

  • AustriaBargain on 03/02/2025 - 23:29
    +3

    Might have been better if they said in their email that all staff including teachers won't even look at their email until work hours at the soonest. Which is how it should be for all workers.

    But I bet these teachers are do have to accept important emails outside of work hours sometimes, emails about all sorts they might want to know on the spot even on their own time. So I bet that these teachers can't turn off notifications for emails without missing those potentially important ones, and are suck of being bombarded with all sorts of nonsense and having to spend time deciding what's nonsense or not.

    Most email services will let you delay an email until a certain time. It is perhaps good etiquette to use these features and not unreasonable to enforce them. But it'd be better maybe to give the teachers an email alias that is given to parents and students to use, and teach the teachers how to silence notifications for emails to that alias outside of work hours and have a sensible auto reply in those hours that tells students and parents that the email probably won't be seen until their next shift.

    I think you'll never convince the school to be reasonable and you risk being seen as problematic if you complain, and queuing up emails to send at 9am on the dot takes just one extra click, a fraction of a second. So just do that and put it all out of your mind. You really shouldn't be contacting employees of businesses you deal with outside of business hours anyway.

  • OzzyOzbourne on 03/02/2025 - 23:42

    According to teachers they work late every night which is why they deserve 4 times more holiday than normal people, so those times must be wrong.

  • lachhelix on 04/02/2025 - 01:57
    +2

    One of the stupidest things I've ever heard - what a ridiculous school/policy.

  • halo9 on 04/02/2025 - 03:01
    +6

    “Staff may choose to respond to your emails outside of their work hours”… I beg your pardon. I must email during certain hours and you can respond whenever, I think not. I’d add a note to my email saying I only receive replies Tuesdays and Thursdays 10am-10:15am and 2:30-3:00pm, every third Wednesday of the year between 9:00-11am and every blood moon from midnight to 2:00am. But that’s cos I’m facetious.

    • Assburg on 04/02/2025 - 11:48
      +1

      For the teachers it's a job, for the parents it's parenting.

      Do you think the latter invokes a little more sense of around the clock responsibility?

      • halo9 on 04/02/2025 - 15:54
        +1

        Did you miss my last sentence? I’ll help you out.
        Facetious;
        1 - joking or jesting often inappropriately.
        2 - meant to be humorous or funny : not serious.

        But I’ll answer your question anyway even though it was a joke. Absolutely No. As many have pointed out, if teachers don’t know how to use technology to mute notifications or cannot manage their off time to ignore emails, then they should do what they are good at and learn how to. I work 45-60 hour weeks plus have primary school aged kids. From 6am to 9-10pm I am working, cooking, cleaning, caring. After 10 I finally get to read and respond to things and get some time to myself. I am also a treasurer on a school board which is a volunteer role and usually gets attention between 10pm and 1am. On top of that teachers get 12-14 weeks of leave a year, where I get 4 and have to take 8 weeks of unpaid leave to manage holidays. Muting and leaving replies until next business day is not hard.

        Where is the sense of parents workload from others when all they have to do is learn to mute notifications. I manage just fine and never get woken up or disturbed when I don’t want to be. This is a ridiculous request from the school and should be treated as such.

        • Assburg on 04/02/2025 - 16:12
          +2

          Why didn't you become a teacher then?

          • halo9 on 05/02/2025 - 00:17
            +1

            @Assburg: Haha, being the treasurer and seeing all the salaries it definitely has crossed my mind, at least in WA where the pays are good in education. Though I used to be a trainer and assessor for about a decade in mining. Teaching adults was enough for me and I’m modest enough to say I’d be out of my depth with kids. Suffering from major anxiety, I know I wouldn’t have the patience. I tip my hat to the teachers that do it though, it can be a tough gig.

        • andrew229 on 06/02/2025 - 23:36

          when i email teachers i use the email settings to delay them until work hours.

  • nobro25 on 04/02/2025 - 06:37

    Thing is if you allow one child's parent to do it. What doesn't stop all other parents from doing it. Before you know it you'll have 30 emails that you need to attend to on your weekend.

    • DiscountForThee on 04/02/2025 - 08:58

      Before you know it you'll have 30 emails that you need to attend to on your weekend

      That's not how emails work, they don't expire over the weekend lmao. They can be replied whenever suits the teacher

    • haemolysis on 04/02/2025 - 13:09

      Before you know it you'll have 30 emails that you need to attend to on your weekend.

      Not sure how that became a weekend duty.

      You have 30 emails to attend to during business hours.

      • nobro25 on 06/02/2025 - 20:36

        What's the point of sending it on the weekend when they're not gonna respond to it. Just send it on Monday morning.

        Sure the email doesn't expire but those earlier emails sent will be at the bottom of the list and be tended to later.

        I'll work from the Monday emails first.

        • haemolysis on 06/02/2025 - 21:04

          Well, “early emails on the bottom” is not some sort of rule. Whilst it’s true many non-productive people work that way, many prioritise their work effectively, and many businesses even use ticket systems so it really is quite often first in first served.

          That aside… you do realize we don’t ALL share the same business hours?

          You’re asking someone who may NEED to “work out of hours,” to pay a pointless courtesy to someone who… does not.

  • 82norm on 04/02/2025 - 07:43

    Oh well, they scammed pupil free day, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. Just draft the email and set delay send in outlook for 830am.

  • Oz em on 04/02/2025 - 08:01
    +1

    My kids primary school did this but it just said teachers so I started emailing the principal instead.

    • cuteseal on 04/02/2025 - 08:28
      +2

      Haha, big brain time. Unfortunately in my case the policy says staff and teachers.

  • Bob Svargis on 04/02/2025 - 09:43
    +4

    If the teachers can't help themselves and don't know how to disable email notifications outside of core business hours, that's their problem. What a bunch of numpties.

  • sauce2k on 04/02/2025 - 10:37
    +2

    This school is cooked

  • V2L on 04/02/2025 - 11:28
    +2

    I always schedule send my emails to accountant/RM at banks/REA etc - it increases the likelihood they will respond promptly if they see it come through business hours and also nice to give them time to switch off as a lot of them have work email alerts on their phone and it's still an intrusion even if they don't respond.

    having said that, a "stern word" to demand email is sent is a bit precious, if you want to switch off, just don't check your email.

  • AnophthalmiaCervidae on 04/02/2025 - 11:32
    +3

    Should reply to the email from the school with "My work hours are 8.00-5:00pm Monday to Friday and I am unable to receive your emails during this time. Please schedule all of your emails to me to to arrive outside of these times".

  • Emli on 04/02/2025 - 12:02
    +1

    Working in education (but in a different state), I find the school’s actions strange. The topic actually came up at a staff meeting a few years ago. There had been a complaint by a staff member that parents were sending emails at 10pm. The response was 10pm may be when some parents have finished work, dishes, homework etc and finally sat down for the night and have the chance to compose an email. Teachers need to get the email app off their phone which pings every time they get an email. They can open the emails during “working hours” and respond within two business days. The priority is delivering quality teaching and for the most part of the day, opening or answering email can not happen during teaching time,

    Building healthy relationships with schools is not helped by the school’s policy, the site’s perception that teachers do not work hard (three hours evening is very common) and by fighting fire with fire. Some logic, possibly delivered through the school board, would help.

    And yes, I have had an email sent at 10pm and when asked about it at 8:30am by a parent, the parent was unhappy that I had not read it. Or an email at 2:30pm to tell their child to go home with child xyz as there has been a change in pick up arrangement. There needs to be logic on both sides.

    • V2L on 04/02/2025 - 12:10
      +1

      I'm all for right to switch off but the school needs to arrange a workshop for their staff on how to silence your notifications from work email as they clearly has not grasped the concept

  • xrayed giraffe on 04/02/2025 - 12:37

    Send the school your family's email policy outlining the rules the school must abide by when emailing you

  • haemolysis on 04/02/2025 - 12:38
    +4

    Unfortunately this is a growing trend even outside of schools. I have seen people stating as good office etiquette as well for the workplace. Nonsense. Simply turn off your notifications if you don't answer after hours. Not a difficult concept.

    • V2L on 04/02/2025 - 12:49
      +2

      you'd be surprised at the number of people in highly trained professional roles that can't work out how to turn off the notifications..

      • Gongxifachai on 04/02/2025 - 13:44
        +1

        And how petty has the world become?
        "oh someone sent me an email during weekend / late evening.. my weekend / evening is ruined.."

  • Gongxifachai on 04/02/2025 - 13:42
    +1

    If teachers are responding to emails during school hours, then whos doing the teaching in classrooms?

  • Davelovesdealz on 04/02/2025 - 15:27
    +1

    what a waste of time - the time the email was sent means nothing as long as there isnt an expectation to respond outside of work hours. Id carry on sending emails whenever I felt like it and would possibly be difficult and schedule them to send at 2am…

  • dlhiro on 04/02/2025 - 16:24
    +1

    I wonder what time did the Acting principal sent that. I hope it was within acceptable hours for the parents.

  • SuperMid on 04/02/2025 - 17:04
    -1

    First it was they thems and now its time restricted emails, whats next

    • askbargain on 04/02/2025 - 17:25

      tipping in email

  • Ramrunner on 04/02/2025 - 17:35
    +2

    Change schools - you can't have poeple like this educating your children.

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