Sorry this is so long , trying to give full story
DD (14) has dealt with low level bullying throughout her time at School. She has employed many strategies in order to deal with numerous personal attacks and slights from her peers. As a result she has extremely low self esteem and has been to see a counsellor regularly at School. This has been a very positive experience for her and has helped her through some very difficult times.
In April the low level bullying developed into Her being harassed and attacked by a large group of girls and boys.
The following days she went to school and tried to cope until the day I received a call from Her crying saying she had been verbally attacked and needed to come home. She is a vulnerable young girl ( as her Doctor and Counsellor would attest to )I had no option but to bring her home. When I arrived at the school I was extremely concerned that no member of staff was responsible for Her leaving the building. There was no one with her that I could discuss the situation with.Worryingly I received no contact from the school and so next day I contacted Head to update him. DD was extremely upset and very low, we spent the following days talking through her experiences and discussing ways forward.
Yet more days later having had no contact from school, I called head to request that DD might be allowed to come to school to see her Counsellor. To my horror He said no, he didnt seem aware of who the counsellor was and even what DDs sur-name was? This was very worrying and I began to think the school were not at all interested in helping Her through this.The one time when this vulnerable young girl needed professional support it was denied. The head suggested an all or nothing approach ie dd would need to attend school fully if she wishes to see her counsellor. I found this extremely unsupportive and a rather brutal way of handling a very delicate situation. DD self harms and I cannot tell you how awful it was hear the her schools idea of support was , in The heads words " come back though it won't be all glitter and fairy tales".
I was contacted by the Welfare Officer. I said I was very worried that Dd was missing so much school. At no point did anyone suggest that school work could be sent home or a plan to do gradual reintegration I have since found out this should have been an option). The Officer visited at home I advised her how worried I was about the situation and was considering a move in schools - she seemed to support this idea.
we made the difficult decision to take dd out of school and put her in another High School. This was extremely difficult, but time was pressing on and with no word at all from the school I felt it imperative to get dd back to learning. Her attendance previously was exemplary and she has always achieved so much in her studies, I felt unable to wait for the school to contact me ( unbelievably I had heard nothing). She started new school eagerly ready for new start. She has settled in wonderfully into her new school has made a great circle of friends.
I had paid £500 towards a trip to New York in October - the school have refused to refund ANY of this money on the basis I was too quick to remove her from school- I cannot afford to lose this kind of money and it feels so unfair that dd is being effectively punished for being bullied out of school.
Who can I complain to? Any thoughts on if I stand a chance ?