Working with parents

You should be free of fear of abuse from parents at your school. There might be instances when you encounter aggressive behaviour or harassment from parents. This could be at parents’ evenings, receiving abusive emails or phone calls, angry parents at the school gates to even parents posting negatively about you on social media.

There have been various news reports of the impact that WhatsApp groups set up by parents can have on teachers and school staff. Issues can range from playground politics, misinformation, to false allegations about teaching staff.

You may already provide private tuition or are looking into offering private tuition while employed by your school. Many teachers already do this. It could be an effective way to supplement your income or to teach another subject you are passionate about by offering music tuition or sports coaching. In this article, we outline factors to consider when offering private tuition and how to anticipate any difficulties you might encounter with your school.

You might receive gifts from parents and pupils during the Christmas period or at the end of the school year. While it can be nice to receive gifts you will want to make sure you adhere to the rules outlined in your school’s gift policy if it has one.

Virtual parents’ evenings seem to be becoming more popular due to the social distancing measures which schools must have in place. There will likely be the requirement as part of your role to attend parents evenings, even as part of a new virtual format. 

You will most likely encounter a parental complaint during your career in teaching. Sometimes complaints will either come directly to you or be reported to a senior member of staff or the governing body. Your school, by law, should have a complaints procedure which outlines how complaints should be managed.