A former deputy headteacher has revealed the 'ridiculous' emails from parents - ranging from banning homework to bringing alcohol to sports day - that helped convince him to quit the profession. Ian Timbrell spent 17 years working in schools before leaving, citing the 'abuse' and treatment he received during his career.
One daily annoyance was the number of emails he received from parents making 'outrageous' complaints or 'bizarre' requests. "Every hour spent dealing with an unnecessary conflict is an hour you're not spending supporting a child," said Ian, from Cardiff. "You go into teaching because you want to teach children and make a difference. These stories are funny now – but each one potentially meant emails, conversations and senior leadership time."
Wildest complaints revealed
Ian, who worked as a deputy headteacher for five years, has now been shedding light on the reality of the job. Some of the wildest emails included numerous parents asking why they couldn't bring booze to a school sports day. "There were some absolute classics. One parent insisted their child would only eat chocolate spread sandwiches for lunch, despite the fact we'd been cooking with the child and they happily ate the food we'd made every single time," he said.
"Another parent was genuinely disappointed to discover they couldn't bring alcohol to sports day. One of my favourites was a complaint that we hadn't told parents we were taking the reception children, age 4, swimming. That sounded quite serious, except we weren't taking them swimming – the child had gone home and made the whole thing up. The swimming one probably sums it up perfectly."
Social media exposure
Since leaving his role as a teacher, Ian has started a social media account exposing the hilarious stories from his career. His latest clip racked up over 180,000 views sharing a number of funny complaints, from parents asking for sports day medals for kids who lost to asking teachers to measure the amount of water their child was drinking throughout the day.
While making light of the complaints, he revealed that they were just a small part of the reasons he decided to stop being a teacher. "The parent complaints weren't the sole reason I left teaching. They were a small part of a much bigger picture about how I felt teachers were increasingly being treated. I ultimately left because of abuse I received on social media connected to my work as a teacher," Ian explained.
Continuing passion for education
"That was the point where I decided I couldn't continue. But it came after years of feeling that teachers were working incredibly hard while sometimes being given less trust, support and respect in return. Teachers absolutely should be accountable, and parents should raise concerns when something isn't right. But sometimes a very minor issue could become a lengthy email, a complaint or hours of senior leadership time, when a quick conversation would have resolved it."
Despite turning his back on the classroom, Ian has continued his passion for education by becoming the founder of More Than Flags and Rainbows CIC, a diversity and equality education and training organisation that focuses on supporting schools to become a more inclusive space. "I still get to work alongside teachers and school leaders, and I see every day just how hard they are working. I really want to stress that the vast majority of parents I worked with were brilliant. This isn't a parents versus teachers story. Schools work best when families and teachers trust each other and work together," he said.
