what the most hilarious and groundless parental complaint you've ever fielded?

And actually - the whole idea that teachers are providing a service to parents underscores what a previous poster said about how in the past, parents supported teachers and reinforced punishments etc at home, but now parents seem to see teachers as their own public servants.

I think this is terribly sad and goes some way to explaining why dd is having a bloody miserable term so far because a core group of 4 or 5 kids in her class are intent on making the teacher's working life a misery and disrupting lessons at every opportunity. Teacher can come down hard, and the parents will complain. Or can try and carry on, and I feel cross on dd's behalf. Can't bloody win any more.

Similar behaviour (vicious note writing, swearing at teacher, throwing stuff) would have resulted in suspension and parental wrath when I was at school. Now it elicits complaints from parents of swearer/thrower that their child is being picked on.

Well I'm really not interested myself but I absolutely don't see the problem with showing parents the cvs. What are you all so ashamed of?

I'm not a teacher but seem to be a magnet for a very intense mother of a child in ds's class who made the very suggestion re: distribution of teachers' CVs last week.

We've got a new teacher and she said parents hadn't been told enough about his background.

I said I thought it was a rubbish idea and that I would be horrified if it was introduced. Also (wickedly) suggested that if she was so keen, she should take the idea to the head.

Agree with Magdalenebaby and Feenie R.E. Bessie123

Don't be ridiculous. You are providing a service to the parents, teaching their children

No - I am providing a service to the children.

Who's being ridiculous?

We all have to have fairly similar qualifications to teach. Reading a list of BEd or BA, PGCE would be rather dull .

I think you'll find that KS1 teachers do remind children about washing their hands from time to time. That's a completely different thing from standing over them every time they do it and not what the OP was talking about.
Mixing up just one year group in a school where it is not the usual practice - upsetting many children and therefore completely unreasonable.
And my cv, dear Bessie, is none of your business. I don't see what,
other than having their curiosity satisfied, a parent has to gain from having access to it.
I note you don't address Charmingbaker's other points.

Bessie
I am not a teacher, and would be pleased if my kid's teacher had contributed to a humorous thread such as this. Charmingbaker posted that the parent wanted staff to supervise children to ensure they were washing their hands. I think you have misunderstood.

She was not objecting to reminding the children to wash their hands, but to supervising them.

I don't need to see the CV of my kid's teacher. Why would I? I presume that the education authority was satisfied with the qualifications of the teachers.

Because teachers are answerable to their Head and LEA, not to every parent Bessie! A friend had a fairly low paid job for years, dropped out of teacher training once for personal reasons and eventually qualified with a 3rd. CV doesn't read well but she is an amazing teacher.

And why would you want to read their cvs? Really? Would be quite boring.

Don't be ridiculous. You are providing a service to the parents, teaching their children. They are not providing you with one. Why shouldn't they know about the people teaching their kids?

Reminding children every few days to wash their hands would be a compromise though. And what is wrong with circulating cvs? I think that is perfectly reasonable. Where I work, clients see the cvs of client-facing employees as a matter of course. At my dd's school, classes are mixed up every year. I can see it would be traumatic for a child to be the only one moved away from all her friends in her class; it seems to me that the parent was making a reasonable request that the school should consider.

Bessie123 You have GOT to be kidding, right?

Moominsarehippos Mon 11-Feb-13 09:09:38
(Am a 'creative' so only have to deal with clients throwing toys out of their prams).

Moomin: Now you have me really curious if you work with people under the age of three(or so), or not... as the case may be.

Surely you cannot be serious Bessie?
Permanent staffing of Reception toilets?
Teacher's CVs circulated to parents
Child collected 10 mins late every day.
Two entire classes mixed up to accommodate one family.

All that seems fair enough to you?

We had one parent who managed to get into the school, evading reception and went into a classrrom where his child was, and started laying into the teacher who was in the midlde of delivering a lesson!

Or the one who had a go at me for marking her child down in exam, as the child had bought it home, and her husband thought he could mark it better

angelico he doesn't want people to know he's going to the loo...

End of the thread, stupid iPad.

Wow charmingbaker I'm glad you're not my kids' teacher. I haven't got to the m&d of the thread yet but pretty much all your examples seem fair enough to me.

Helles

Heh heh candr I like the sound of the falcon mum :) And lol at child's version of poor dad's weekend!

I got an email yesterday from a mum who wanted her 14yo son to be able to leave the classroom when he wanted because it was embarrassing and degrading for him to have to ask a member of staff for permission.

Had a sharing assembly where parents attend and a LO read out her 'what we did this weekend' piece that had not been vetted by the teacher. LO tells the school and parents that daddy lay on the sofa with hands down trousers farting till mum made him have a bath cause he was smelly and mummy and daddy got drunk and were naughty together. Parents version called out rather hastily was daddy had tummy bug ad was poorly so had sofa day, mum had a glass of wine then they both ate ice cream but left the spoons etc on sofa (which is naughty) and were found by LO in the morning.

Had one child write in my class that 'mummy likes a tipple of port', she peed herself laughing when she saw it on the wall.

Had more than one parent Tell me to let their child win races on sports day - they all got ribbons anyway!

Loved having parents on school trips though and got on great with some though had to shush one mum (while trying not to giggle too much) at a falconry day when she made jokes about bondage when they put the little leather cap on the falcons head

I think we should have a thread about the real crap / abuse we put up with alongside this funny one - won't spoil this one with my rants though!

I used to teach primary - had a y2 mum rant at me on parents evening because her dd couldn't tie her laces or fasten her coat. Had to explain that these were mainly ' learn at home' skills.