Schools demand national campaign against parents who are abusive to school staff

[noblegiraffe]

A survey suggests that 30% of classroom teachers and 75% of headteachers have received verbal abuse from parents this year, a marked increase on before the pandemic.

The North East Schools network would like to see a national NHS-style campaign to highlight the issue and to say that abuse against school staff is never appropriate. Given that there are many public places that have signs up saying 'abuse against staff will not be tolerated' it always surprises me that this is not already a thing in schools.

Interestingly the article notes "While most interactions with parents were positive, there were small groups of parents “willing to be abusive towards school staff” – including complaints straight to external government agencies.
These bodies, such as Ofsted, the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency “should only get involved once the school has completed their complaints procedure”."

Perhaps all those on here who rush to write 'complain to Ofsted' about some school incident should take note that they are part of the problem.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-demand-national-campaign-against-abusive-parents/

This is wild. Do you want to take a breath then calmly explain what allegation you think I have made against you? Perhaps I can help clear something up?

Please don't patronise me.

This is what you have claimed The one you are suggesting seeks to blame parents for speaking out when children are brutalised and to smear people who use legitimate avenues for complaint as abusive.

It's utter bollocks.

Perhaps teachers should give some examples of when parents have been abusive to them and the posters who are insistent that it is because schools are terrible places might have to reassess their opinions.

For example I once got a really, really abusive email because I'd moved a kid away from his mates in a lesson because he kept pissing about.

Another time I had a parent have a go at me because I told her child to stop looking out of the window.

No abuse towards any school staff should not be tolerated.
I can understand why parents would go to ofstead instead of school, based on previous interactions.
E.g our primary school is brilliant and I trust the head if I had ANY issues as previous issues I've had have been resolved.
Secondary school though the head is useless and issues aren't responded to never mind dealt with, so I'm much more likely to go above the school ofstead etc with the Secondary because I don't feel they would do anything. Might not be the correct procedure but what other choice do I have?

Might not be the correct procedure but what other choice do I have?

But Ofsted will just bat you back to the school because it's not their job.

Well we can obviously agree to disagree on the campaign, but perhaps you would withdraw the claim that I have made disgusting allegations against you as I clearly haven't? Misrepresenting people who disagree with you as abusive is at the core of this.

I'm not going to withdraw the claim that you have made a disgusting allegation against me because it's literally what I quoted.

Perhaps you would care to apologise, but I suspect not. You're not the type.

Sad things have come to this, but it's a waste of time. The entitled people won't realise they're the problem

His mum won’t let us send him to alternate provision to get the help he needs and we can’t make him go. And the evidence to exclude him is vast. We have to keep him and try to police him until we can gather enough. It is almost impossible. She also won’t let us give after school detentions and often refuses exclusions.

Schools can direct pupils off-site short term with the aim of improving future behaviour rather than as a punishment. Parental agreement is not required. Formal suspensions also can’t be refused and consent to detentions is not needed. Of course, if you are meaning unlawful informal exclusions the parent is right to refuse.

For those lacking the energy to read the trail, I have commented on the campaign and said nothing about OP.

@Titicacacandle

Your argument is that we should be whipping posts for all the anguish of parents and kids. How do you expect people to volunteer for that.

We are down three members of pastoral staff because they have been signed off with health/ mental breakdowns. One has had a heart attack from the stress of dealing with serious incidents and the fallout.

In a school of 2000 kids it is not just you venting at staff, it is many calls a day from parents having sweary angry tantrums because their child has broken a school rule and they don’t want them sanctioned. Or they want an exception made. If we made exceptions for everyone who wanted it then there would be no rules.

I do think that campaign is lazy as fuck. It's like people sat around a table to ask, what is the very least we could do to build trust between teachers and parents?

"The one you are suggesting"

I had a parent shout at me at parents evening because I wasn't making her dc read.. at home.

I had an abusive email accusing me of bullying a child because I pulled them up on a racist comment they made.

A string of abusive emails because I confiscated a phone after child was caught filming tiktoks in the toilets.

Again shouted and screamed at by a parent because I wouldn't let a child walk out in the middle of the day without pre-approval.

This is primary. Not secondary.

I was accused of being racist because I wanted to put in place some intervention for a child who struggles with reading.

@spinningplate

That is not the case if the child has an EHCP and mum is point blank refusing to take them to alternative provision.

@Ratsoffasinkingsauage we have the same situation at the moment.

The AP which is costing a small fortune and you've had to sell your soul to access?

Us too.

For those of us that have read the thread, we know that you are wrong.

I’ve read the thread and I don’t agree @FrippEnos

@Desecratedcoconut

Possibly start a campaign of your own then. Or perhaps starting treating teachers as human instead of using them as emotional punching bags.

And yet the poster in question has made several comments about the OP not just the campaign.

@Sherrystrull Teachers have no control over SEN funding that's true.

They do have control over SEN support, and if they choose - or not - to provide it as they should including looking at an EHCP and saying 'nah, that's inconvenient, I'm going to do X instead' or 'X child has this set resource just for them becusse that's what the professionals agree that they need...but it makes my life easier to do X with it with A B and C children - so I'm going to do that instead'.

I see it, daily, in my job!

Some are fantastic. Some are not!

Off-site direction can still happen when the pupil has an EHCP. The school has to notify the LA as well as the parents and the LA has to be invited to reviews of the off-site direction. And the LA is still responsible for the SEP in F.

Detention and suspensions can still happen if the child has an EHCP too.

Do please cite them here then.

I am interested in the public policy issues raised by this thread and have engaged exclusively on those points, saying precisely NOTHING about OP. To suggest that I have is incorrect and disingenuous and a very good example of how legitimate discussion is being closed down with bogus accusations of abuse.