Headteacher and five staff suspended!

[Educationalshame]

Have name changed so not to out myself. My children go here :(
I received a letter and that is it. Teachers will not really speak about it to me. What do I do?? Reading the attitudes of the other members of staff "What are teachers supposed to do?" Does not reassure me. Advice? Thoughts? Anyone..

[Educationalshame]

Whoops did not even link sorry

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284735/Revoe-Primary-School-Headteacher-staff-suspended-restraining-aggressive-year-old-pupil.html

[piprabbit]

It all sounds very sudden and I would be expecting the Governors to issue some sort of communication to parents to tell you what the next steps are going to be.
Perhaps your next step should be to ask the Governors when they are planning to communicate - especially in respect of who is in charge of the management team at the moment.

[piprabbit]

Sorry - x-post with your link.

[Educationalshame]

I have asked in person on the phone and by email. They just tell me that I will be kept updated. I feel like my faith in the school has vanished I am so shocked and saddened by this. :(

[piprabbit]

OK - now I've read the article, I'm not sure that there's much you can do until the investigation is complete. It does sound worrying and I'm sure that there will be changes made at the school so that the children return to a safe environment. It sounds like the council are on the ball - perhaps they can reassure you that the school is going to be a safe place?

[Greensleeves]

Impossible to judge this on the DM article. I'd like to see a picture of the "cupboard", and read interviews with the Head and the parent of the aggressive 9yo.

[Educationalshame]

sorry i didn't post the link on the OP. The council do seem to be on top of it. What is scary though is the fact it took a surprise visit to find this out. God knows how long it has been going on. I just do not want to send my children in now.

[Mrsrobertduvall]

I am sure there will be a photo of said child and parents looking "sad" in the DM this week.

[Educationalshame]

It was on the bbc news tonight as well. :(

[Educationalshame]

The north west part.

[learnandsay]

It's sad and stupid. They should bring back the cane and expelling pupils whenever necessary. If I was the head of that school the boy would have been well and truly dealt with long ago.

[numbum]

LOL at the 'sad mum' face with her 7 year old! Have you heard of the 'naughty cupboard' OP? The school I work in has a room children can go to to cool down but they're always with an adult.

[learnandsay]

I could have a go, what were you looking for?

[Educationalshame]

It is not just one boy though. The one boy that is being talked about is the one they actually saw being sat in the "Naughty room" at the time of the surprise inspection.

As a parent I heard about the reflection/quiet room. But to my understanding it was not the bloody PE/storage cupboard,and the children were always supervised.

[lougle]

learnandsay you have no idea whether this child has SEN, whether they were on a behavioural management plan, whether physical intervention was in itself a trigger point.

The core principles of behavioural management strategies is deescalation. Any child in a rage is going to be further escalated by having their path 'blocked'. Putting a child in a hold must be a very last resort.

I don't know the details, so it's not for me to say whether the actions were essential or appropriate, but it certainly isn't just a case of 'dealing with that boy'.

[LaurieFairyCake]

This is why you're not a Head in a school. You think hitting pupils with a cane and expelling them is useful?!?

[learnandsay]

For sure, they'd get a whack and a warning and if that didn't work they'd be out. There would be no misbehaving in my school.

[piprabbit]

TBH it is probably safer right now that it has ever been - but I do understand your concerns. It must be a huge shock.

[lougle]

Hands up whose signing up for learnandsay's school?

....................

Thought not

[lougle]

it's not necessarily 'misbehaving'. SEN? Heard of it?

[LineRunner]

The LA is on top of it with emergency staffing.

Wouldn't be possible if the school were an academy, as academies are outside of LA control.

[tethersend]

It is illegal to force a child to be alone in a room of any size against their will (i.e. locking them in or holding doors shut).

If the child was aggressive and hurting staff, the head should have trained staff in positive handling and behaviour management and investigated other provision should mainstream have proved unsuitable.

[Redbindy]

No support for teachers trying to maintain discipline. Learnandsay is spot on, the posts under the original article are pretty reasonable too.