My father has written a letter and it's a stinker!!
To the Chairman of Governors
Dear
Re DD
The situation of our daughter in relation to her schooling and the events of the last two days have left us with no alternative but to make a formal complaint about the conduct of the School.
We have for a substantial period complained to the School that DD was being bullied and harassed by a small group of school children, with a particular child identified by DD as the leader of the group. Because of a concern about her progress we have had DD examined by a specialist in dyslexia and, informally advised the school that he could find no underlying defect in her capacity and that she was, in his words “bright, bored and bullied”. The root of the bullying must, at least in large part, be racially motivated. Specifically the phrases, “I don’t like Indians.” And “you’re black and ugly.” have been quoted.
We accept that there appears to have been little in the way of corroborating evidence but this is hardly surprising when the complaints made by us have been brushed aside. Given that DD is easily identifiable as from a different racial group it must be obvious to professional teachers that the risk of some sort of bullying based on race would exist and we would have expected matters to be most closely monitored and suitable protection provided for DD.
In fact, firstly DD has been castigated as anti-social for avoiding play with her tormentors and secondly her obvious unhappiness has been quite directly blamed on some dysfunction within our family unit.
The reported bullying incident yesterday involved not only DD but also her best friend in the school and suddenly we have a tentative admission that there might be a problem or, at least, something worth investigating further.
My daughter is not unaware or stupid. She knows that suddenly she is being asked to talk about her position and that this coincides with another child being involved. We can articulate her feeling now much better than she can – “bullying matters only when it’s a white kid being bullied.” DD blames the school for her position and she now clearly blames us as well. The child feels let down by all the adults in her little world and we feel shamed for not having acted sooner and in a more assertive way.
What can we do now? There are real practical difficulties of moving her to another school with the complexities of 11 to 16 versus lower middle and upper schools, which inevitably means a single term in a new school. In any event moving a bullied child just pastes a label on them and invites further trouble. Leaving her at XXXX in a school that has so evidently failed her is not a comforting prospect. We have severe doubts as to will and capacity of the school to manage the situation, either in relation to DD herself or in the failure to spot and act or, worse, passively tolerate children’s adoption of parental and family prejudice.
In response to this formal complaint we have expectations. Firstly we expect that this matter is referred for the most urgent action to appropriate expertise outside the School itself. Secondly that until such time as those persons are in command of the situation that the school simply accepts one little girl’s belief that she has been and is being bullied and manages her time at school in a way that both protects her and works to rebuild her self-esteem.
I trust that this matter will receive the most urgent response. In the event of a delay causing any further distress to out daughter we will withdraw her from the school and repeat our complaint to higher authority.
Yours sincerely
cc The Head teacher
Sorry it's so long Thank you for listening...what do you think?