Parents’ out-of-hours emails are ‘causing anxiety’ among teachers

PARENTS have been told to stop emailing teachers outside of their working hours amid fears the contact is fuelling “anxiety”.

The Mill Academy Trust, which runs two schools in Witney and another one in Finstock, Oxfordshire, said it had taken action because its staff faced an

“increasing expectation for almost instantaneous reply” to emails.

The trust issued a two-page guide about home-school communication which was sent home before the end of term. It said emails should only be sent during school time and will be acknowledged within 48 hours of being received. A response will then be sent within five working days, the school said. In the letter, seen by the Oxford Mail, parents were told: “Our staff go over and above every day and we want to keep them in a profession they are fully committed to.

“Even Ofsted have acknowledged the increasing demands on teacher time and the impact that this is having on the profession.

“On any one day a teacher will have a plethora of demands on their time. Teachers cannot and are not expected to monitor and manage their inbox during lessons or at other times in the day, when they should be planning and preparing lessons, assessing student work or carrying out school duties.”

In September, Ofsted said school leaders will have to consider whether they are doing enough to monitor staff workloads as part of a new inspection framework.

The academy’s guidance added: “We would ask that emails are not normally sent outside of a member of staff ’s normal working hours.

“Mobile phones and other electronic devices that enable staff to access their school emails when away from school can make it difficult to ignore a message from a parent, leading to unnecessary worry and anxiety on the part of the staff.”

Teachers who received aggressive or harassing emails could raise concerns with senior members of staff, but such instances were described as “rare”.

The letter continued: “A great many staff are working extremely hard in trying to help our children achieve well.”