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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this headteacher is either deluded or lying?

66 replies

chaosisawayoflife · 17/10/2011 18:13

Went for a tour of a local c of e infant school this morning. When asked about behaviour the headteacher replied that they don't have any problems with behaviour, which apparently is down to the area they are in and the 'type of parents' they attract! Was ibu to make this Hmm face?

OP posts:
hellhasnofury · 17/10/2011 18:14

Deluded and lying I reckon. My son attended a school that had 'no bullying'. That was a lie too.

ChooChooWowWow · 17/10/2011 18:15

Yes deluded and lying. Any HT that claimed that would actually make me rethink where I wanted to send my dc.

DogsBeastFiend · 17/10/2011 18:16

Both.

Hell, my DD attended a school that "had no bullying". A year later she was a nervous wreck and eventually ended up in an independent school for severely bullied children.

catsareevil · 17/10/2011 18:17

Sounds like a school to avoid.

Groovee · 17/10/2011 18:17

Our local paper had a list of how many complaints of bullying there had been in each school and our school said nil. Yet I knew of about 10 different parents who'd been in to complain.

mustdash · 17/10/2011 18:18

Some people think that is what parents want to hear, and so say it thinking they are doing a good thing. Not (always) malicious, just daft.

mollymole · 17/10/2011 19:28

Run Away !!!!!

ilovesooty · 17/10/2011 19:32

Yes, deluded and lying. You can bet your life the staff have to toe the party line and say the same thing. I worked for a HT like that. He once made one of the deputies stake out the local Post Office on a Saturday as he'd heard that the owners, whose son was a pupil, were making derogatory comments re school behaviour.

Avoid.

Shallishanti · 17/10/2011 19:33

the 'type of parents'??Shock

manicbmc · 17/10/2011 19:44

I do know of one primary school up this way that doesn't really have any behaviour problems - this is because they always seem to find a way of off loading their SN pupils onto the school where I work - where we have plenty of behaviour problems.

Visit a school and you get a feel for whether the pupils are generally happy.

crazynannawitchbitch · 17/10/2011 19:50

I would leg it. [hwink]

blackeyedsusan · 17/10/2011 19:53

a cof e school? I would be questioning his grasp of theology as well as reality and truth.

Minus273 · 17/10/2011 20:03

'No bullying' would ring alarm bells for me. I still have memories of being disciplined for lying after asking for help re being a bullying victim. I had to be lying as there was no bullying in the school :(

TethHearseEnd · 17/10/2011 20:06

Deluded, lying, or in for a bit of a shock one of these days...

Ask to see the exclusion figures from the last academic year. they may explain why there are no behaviour problems.

mercibucket · 17/10/2011 20:08

ah yes, the 'no bullying' line
this can loosely be translated as 'we ignore bullying' and 'if your child is bullied, don't expect us to do anything about it, because we don't have bullying at this school'
usually happens at the top of the table schools imo

Sirzy · 17/10/2011 20:10

I still remember my dad asking the head of a local secondary school what there bullying policy was. When he replied "we don't have any bullies in this school" he immediatly decided he wouldn't be sending me to that school. (much to my relief as it meant to me I won the battle of which one I went to!)

StewieGriffinsMom · 17/10/2011 20:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bumpybecky · 17/10/2011 20:12

I think maybe you and the HT have differing views on what you mean by complaints and problems ;)

dds 1-3 have been / are at a small CofE in a 'nice' area and in the 10 years I've had children at the school I can't remember an exclusion. There are / have been children who have SEN, some who have challenging behaviour, but that doesn't mean there are problems, just need children who more support.

I'm not saying there's no bullying - there's bound to be some at some point, but we've not I've seen or experienced it.

ninah · 17/10/2011 20:12

was it in warwickshire op?

Andrewofgg · 17/10/2011 20:14

OP Have faith. As soon as a child even thinks of misbehaving the Yeti appears in a flash of smoke and shows him the error of his ways :o

Grumpla · 17/10/2011 20:15

I'd be very reluctant to send my child to a school run by a headteacher who was either lying or deluded, it wouldn't matter much to me which he was!

ByTheWay1 · 17/10/2011 20:33

might just be a nice school??? My girls go to a nice primary school in a nice area and they both say bullying has never been a problem, as does the HT.

Our exclusion figures for the 6 years they have been there are ..... zero......

The number of times I have had to complain about anything at the school ..........zero...........

Fixture · 17/10/2011 20:40

YANBU

Hulababy · 17/10/2011 20:46

I would be very wary of a school that claimed bullying did not happen in their school ever. This would be extremely unusual and very unlikely in a school setting full of children. Even if they don't have any current bullying issues I would want to know what they do about if and when it occurs, what their policy is, etc.

Hulababy · 17/10/2011 20:47

Oh and exclusion rates are no indication of bullying imo.
And I have never had to complain to my DD's school either.
But I very much doubt, despite being a lovely little school, they have not encountered bullying at some point.