Police arrest parents who slate school on class WhatsApp

[noblegiraffe]

A primary school sought advice from the police after '“a high volume of direct correspondence and public social media posts” that had become upsetting for staff, parents and governors.' and the police response was to send 6 officers to their house to arrest the couple making the posts and put them in a cell all day.

Although the couple sound like an absolute pain in the arse who should pack it in, 6 police officers seems like a teensy bit of overkill, particularly with the amount of crime currently going uninvestigated. But with schools faced with spiralling numbers of vexatious parental complaints, something needs to happen. I think some unions are starting to offer legal advice and template solicitor letters for this situation.

https://www.thetimes.com/article/d8c8566b-99b1-45c6-814b-008042d74a3a?shareToken=6deab807d148cf7695ed4d9d3664c51e

Questioned about....

Completely ignoring the Peeler's mea culpa and 20 grand compensation. On the grounds that they should never have been arrested at all.

If they'd actually have kicked off on school premises, we would know about it and they wouldn't have been compensated.

Again, for the gazillionth time, the strongest slurs I found in that link were:

She doesn't understand anything

And

x is a control freak.

Hardly the stuff of abusing bullies.
Hardly the stuff which breaks character, or whatever other nonsense someone wrote earlier in the thread.

Are you aware of any insults stronger than these, yes or no?

Did you conclude they were bullies based on "control freak" and "doesn't understand anything", yes or no?

If you don’t think those messages were smug and bitchy then we will have to disagree.

And it wasn’t me that said that the parents were bullies. Please direct your comments to the correct people.

I hope I never cross paths with you in real life. You sound like one of those nasty, nasty individuals who make vexatious complaints and get offended for everything and anything.

👍

Aye, you don't seem to think that they were abusive bullies. You never said that.

Just that the school and Police did. And that they were both right.

And that if the Police arrested them, they must have been guilty. Very sneakily pretending that you haven't said what you have inferred time and time and time again.

That, if they weren't guilty, then they wouldn't have been arrested.

Despite the Police admitting that they were entirely wrong and paying a significant sum in recompose.

Despite all the evidence you agree with, you still, somehow, try to disagree.

Odd.

You've just posted a load of bollocks and said that I said it.

I've said that the couple sound like an absolute pain in the arse but arresting them was overkill. It's literally there in my OP of this thread.

I've never said that if the police arrested them they must be guilty. I said they sound like an absolute pain in the arse based on the things that they have said and done.

I meant implied, not inferred.

I've said what I think. That the couple sound like an enormous pain in the arse based on the things they've said and done. However they shouldn't have been arrested.

Please stop making things up and attributing them to me. They're in your head not mine.

Throughout my career I have seen lots of absurdities.

Initially, I used to see lots of bosses shouting at and mistreating their minions.
Now not as much, now it's mostly female bosses I see doing this - who are untouchable, because a man filing a complaint against a female boss is unthinkable in the current climate

What I have seen more and more of recently is vexatious complaints in the workplace, by people who play the offense card instead of admitting it was their fault.

I still remember the case of a junior scolded by his boss for going to the gym at 10am in a busy period, and reporting the boss to HR because he had been offensive (I witnessed the dressing down, he had not been)

Another one reported his boss to HR because the boss scolded him in writing, putting down in an email (where no one else was copied) that his work was sloppy, pointing out two crucial errors, and saying that this lack of professionalism was unacceptable. I only saw the email because I was involved in the complaint and investigation.

I wonder how many people on this thread would agree that a boss scolding an employee for poor work is "abusive"

Parents aren’t bosses of school teachers.

And if a boss set up a Facebook account to bitch about their employee then that would also be unacceptable. And vice versa.

Teachers do not report to parents, but are fallible, can make mistakes, and can be criticised.

The point is not who reports to whom - the point is whether someone who makes mistakes can be criticised

Well yes, which is why schools have procedures for this which do not involve parents setting up Facebook accounts to bitch about staff.

This is fairly basic stuff.

"Scolding"
An angry rebuke or reprimand.

Any boss that is "scolding" you is being unprofessional and should be reported.

Nobody should be told off in anger or in an angry manner.

"Teachers do not report to parents, but are fallible, can make mistakes, and can be criticised"

You would think that teachers did report to parents from the responses on here (MN) and in real life. No said that teachers are not fallible, don't make mistakes and can't be criticised.

But there are official routes to go down that should be followed.

The couple made another basic mistake when they said they thought the WhatsApp group should be a safe space for them to air their bitching.

We teach children never to post anything that they wouldn’t want to see screenshotted and sent to the person it’s about, because that sort of thing happens all the time. If you post it, expect people to see it.

@FrippEnos
"Scolding"
An angry rebuke or reprimand.
Any boss that is "scolding" you is being unprofessional and should be reported.

The Merriam Webster defines scolding as a harsh reprimand.

If a person in my team does a poor, unprofessional job, they absolutely deserve a harsh reprimand.
If this poor job risks having an adverse impact on the entire team, I have every right to be angry.
It all comes down to how this anger is manifested.

You will remember I have criticised the bosses who shout at their employees (regardless of whether the employees were right or wrong). If you don't remember that, it's just a few lines above.

If I write in an email, addressed only to the person in question, that their work is sloppy, that this lack of professionalism is unacceptable, and that it causes adverse consequences for the entire team, that is harsh but fair. No offense, not a personal attack, just a fair assessment of the quality of the work and its impact on the team. Do you disagree?

@FrippEnos But there are official routes to go down that should be followed.

And what when these routes fob you off?

Remember Holland Park school? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61325597

Remember Mossbourne Academy? An enquiry was launched only when more than 300 people came forward and the press was involved, because the outcome of every complaint was: we are unaccountable, if you don't like it then leave

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czjd383z9lyo

Don't forget that the complaints process is just the school marking its homework. At no step of the process does an external independent body get involved. The last step involves the Department of Education, but not even they can overturn a school's decision

I do not agree, as without context it is a subjective judgement on a person and their work, and should also include was to progress forward.

Also doing so in an email is unprofessional and these types of sanctions should be done face to face with the ability to defend oneself.

Then you take it higher.

The complaints process does not at the school it can be taken to the LA for public schools then the secratary of state for education. etc. and academy's to secretary of state for education, ESFA and ofsted.

@FrippEnos Then you take it higher.

I forget the exact stats, but academies account for the vast majority of secondary schools in England. Something like 70-80%. In many councils they are actually 90-100%.

The complaints process does not at the school it can be taken to the LA for public schools then the secratary of state for education. etc. and academy's to secretary of state for education, ESFA and ofsted.

Tell me, what part of "not even the Department of Education can overturn a school's decision" was unclear or do you disagree with?

The Mossbourne enquiry highlighted that many parents thought that signing the school policy meant they were not allowed to complain. This should be clarified: parents may be asked to confirm they have had sight of the policies, but signing it cannot be a requirement, nor would it mean that parents waive their right to a complaint.

I do not agree, as without context it is a subjective judgement on a person and their work, and should also include was to progress forward.
Also doing so in an email is unprofessional and these types of sanctions should be done face to face with the ability to defend oneself.

It is never not funny to watch a prejudiced person clutching at straws to defend their own prejudices.
Tell me, what, other than prejudice and confirmation bias, makes you think the assessment was subjective?

The manager had reprimanded an employee not for their choice of colours or for their stylistic prose, but because of factual, documentable errors which the manager had in fact documented.

Putting it in an email is not unprofessional, quite the opposite.
In this era where everything is grounds for a complaint, it is crucial for a manager to cover their backs by documenting in writing what exactly they had said and how and why.
None of this means, as you seem to infer, that the employee was not given the chance to respond.

A way to progress forward? If the client had asked for X, and the employee produces Y looking up data from the wrong source, what way to progress should I give them? This was not a case where the employee had not been given the proper tools or training.

It is never not funny to watch a prejudiced person clutching at straws to defend their own prejudices.

Straight back at you with this one.

The difference once again is that I have admitted to my bias, whereas you have not admitted to yours.

Maybe it would have helped your case if you had added the context instead of drip feeding it in.

Straight back at you with this one.

How old are you?

The difference once again is that I have admitted to my bias, whereas you have not admitted to yours.

I am still looking forward to an explanation of where my bias would be and why

I said that the attitude of certain people on the forum reminded me of cases where employees who were rightly reprimanded for their objective mistakes and sloppiness tried to play the offense card. I do not need to submit those cases to the righteous tribunal of online mumsnet strangers

With this, I am out. Goodbye

I said that the attitude of certain people on the forum reminded me of cases where employees who were rightly reprimanded for their objective mistakes and sloppiness tried to play the offense card. I do not need to submit those cases to the righteous tribunal of online mumsnet strangers

But you do have to follow the polices within your workplace.
Which would include minutes meetings, and not just sending out emails that channel/focus your anger.

no doubt in my mind they’re still a pair of utter bullies

You don't know them, you don't know the school, objectively nothing they did was bullying as per the reports, but you have no doubt in your mind? Why?

They were arrested after they had removed their child from the school,there was no longer a live issue - why?

But, to turn this around, if they were not fine, the police would have charged them with something. Instead they got a payout. Which suggests that their messages were fine. Fine in the common parlance sense. Not actionable in the legal sense.