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Original poster

How to challenge this secondary schools terrible bullying policy

57 replies

theprincessthepea · 21/10/2023 22:35

My DD started secondary school. It is a decent school, however the comment (from parents) that made me reluctant to send her there was that it has an awful policy towards ongoing bullying.

THE VIDEO
A video was circulated of a girl being beaten outside of the school in their uniform. We (a whatsapp group of parents with children attending the school) were concerned. A member of the group asked the parents of the girl directly what the school is doing about it (as the parents of the girl being bullied were vocal on social media). The parents reply was something like this:

PARENTS RESPONSE
"My daughter has been bullied for 4 years, since year 7. After the video was taken, her bullies bashed her head against the wall and she came home and she was taken to A&E with serious injuries. We have reported to the school over the years and despite them having medical evidence and other evidence they have done nothing"

OUR RESPONSE (AS PARENTS)
When we, as parents in the whatsapp group, who are concerned about the fact that an incident like this can happen for several years and right outside the school gates - we asked the headteacher, have sent emails and the schools response has been: this was a "minor incident" so they do not need to intervene.

As parents we think this is a weak response and want to challenge how they tackle long term bulling.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
What would you expect a school to do in this situation? Is this something to raise with Governors. I know teachers are stretched but an intervention at least!

Interested in hearing from teachers and general tips if a child attends a school with a horrible attitude towards solving bullying. Can we as a group push for change?

I know a few people will comment with an "it's not your business approach" but I would hate to think that our children are unsafe or nobody looks out for our kids anymore because everyone is too busy minding their own business. Resulting in - nothing ever changing.

OP posts:
LondonHOPDad · 21/10/2023 23:55

I think ideally the parents would report to the police - but I guess that's up to them and their child. In this circumstance, with it going on for years, I would have, and possibly changed schools.

This makes me mad that it is being batted away by the head - I'm trying to avoid thinking as that poor child's parents. It's unbelievable it's been called a minor incident, and things have been allowed to go on for so long. Some Heads are just cowards and will need to be pushed into action.

So as a group, I would nominate 2-3 people to go in to see the head for a meeting, I'd demand it. Do they have any regular meetings you can attend?

I think you need to be sensitive to what the girl and her parents want in the public domain (I'm not sure how public the assault is) but I guess some options might be, if you get no response:

  1. Local press
  2. Social media posts can get schools attention
  3. Request to see the governors / meeting
  4. Can you report to Ofsted?
  5. Ask to meet with safeguarding team
  6. Standing outside school with placards

Good luck I would push and push.

cestlavielife · 21/10/2023 23:49

What does the school behaviour policy actually say?

WhiteHorseSpirit · 21/10/2023 23:46

What do the police say? Ofsted? Board?
Parents need to escalate beyond the school.

felisha54 · 21/10/2023 23:44

I would expect parents would report to police and lee them take the lead.

Neolara · 21/10/2023 23:13

And I would expect the parents to make a complaint to the school, following the complaints policy which should be on the school website.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 21/10/2023 23:09

I would have expected the girl's parents to report to the Police tbh.

BCCoach · 21/10/2023 22:56

I would expect the school to cooperate fully with the police investigating the assault and to ensure that the victim and the suspect were never in the same classroom while the police investigation proceeded. This is what our school do.