To ask if you’ve ever complained about a teacher

[Justwondering14]

It seems the view is that this shouldn’t ever be done.

I have complained a few times. Once about a male member of staff telling my fifteen year old she looked like she was enjoying that in a suggestive way when she had a lollipop.

Is it always ‘wrong’, then? I’m not a teacher ...

The fact that she’s no longer employed, despite the rep’s presence seems to prove my point that the rep is neutral.

LunaTrap

I’ve just reported the same thing to MNHQ!

It does read like that Kitty so I can see where you’re coming from. It was the way she went about it, rather than the presence of the rep. She used them as a shield rather than an impartial observer.

Reading some other comments I can see why union reps are needed, and also how teachers can end up in horrible situations due to unreasonable twatty parents and kids who know they’re untouchable.

It just wasn’t necessary in our situation. I was disappointed that it ended that way.

The NebulousBoojam. I never said it was a problem to consult with a TU rep. I simply clarified the legal position regarding the misconception of some posters that they have a legal right to be represented at a meeting such as this.

A complaint will only lead to dismissal if the facts are established and a full disciplinary process is held.

Ergo the facts have to be established first...

Kitty they're dedicated, I'll give them that!

Have I fallen for a troll??? Ugh. Sorry!

Yes I put in a formal complaint when the SENCO teacher it is a very long story however the end of it was a formal complaint and the head teacher being told I had withdrawn any consent to this teacher dealing with my child.

Said teacher was let go 1 year later when a further 2 complaints happened

It’s very sad that a lot of these complaints are about the treatment of children with ASN/SN. Lack of funding, training and support really is a massive issue.

I have marking to do today, anyway, so cannot spend any more time in this thread.

Last comment: I think it sounds like the teacher (in Unicorn's case) was negligent and certainly (seeing as she was disciplined) her job was at risk. My job pays my mortgage and I love it. If it is at risk, I will do what I can to make sure my treatment is fair. That includes consulting my union rep and I genuinely cannot see why anyone who did intend to be fair would ever have an issue with that.

Refusing to comment and so on is different. I wouldn't do that. I would tell the truth, but I would want my rep there while I did. If my school had no problem with that (and I can't see why they would) why would I voluntarily give up that protection?

Anyway, I'm out.

I’m a teacher. I’ve been complained about (by a parent who was also a teacher) and I’ve complained about a teacher as a parent.

Of course you should complain about a teacher if you feel they have not behaved correctly in their professional capacity. Their line manager will investigate and deal with it and decide ultimately whether their complaint is valid or not by the action they take (in the case of the parent who complained about me, and has complained about countless other teachers during her child’s time at the school, her complaint was taken with large servings of salt by my line manager, although we auctioned things to placate her).

Of course you can complain about a teacher if there is something genuine to complain about and you need to ensure it doesn’t happen again or reduce the risk of it recurring.
THAT parent to me is one who complains that the teacher has had the audacity to tell their badly behaved child off or discipline them in line with school policy. Or parents who let their child take special or expensive items to school (against the rules) then complain when they are lost and demand staff search for the missing item.
And parents who complain something has happened because their child said it did and are unwilling to listen to other viewpoints. I agree that kids rarely completely make stuff up but young kids quite often miss subtleties that completely change the situation. My kids are honest to a fault but quite often careful questioning about something they say has happened at school reveals all wasn’t quite as it was first reported!

Noneforgretchenweiners your DS is joining in with pack mentality when he is of an age to know better - what grounds on earth do you have to complain about the teacher? You're clutching at your pearls crying that "he just wants to learn!" but if that was the case he wouldn't be joining in (which you admitted he does) and he wouldn't be sent out of the classroom. This is the type of complaint that shouldn't be made.

I'm a teacher and I've had a few complaints made about me over the years. The majority being by parents with the above mentality- their little snowflakes being desperate to learn yet causing merry hell in the classroom and around the corridors. They never really get very far once the facts have been established. Others have been sorted quickly, sometimes when situations happen and things are said it gets taken out of context. As a teacher, all I've wanted is to put things right and holding hands up is the only thing you can do.

Before complaints are put in, fact finding needs to be done. Some parents are too quick to jump and come out with red faces or feeling like they haven't been listened to.

Yes I have. DS1 had a teacher who took a dislike to him.

She did a class exercise where they all got to vote on each other (which she initially denied, and we thought DS had the wrong end of the stick, but later, it came out that actually, yes, she did do such an activity). This was after having the children (6 years old) do exchange marking for every test, which painted a massive target on DS1's back as he was later diagnosed dyspraxic which explained his poor handwriting) - and she didn't control the class or do anything to mitigate the bullying that resulted. DS went from an engaged, happy child, to a withdrawn loner who couldn't help bursting into tears when he saw me during the day (walking to the one of the many meetings around this).

It turned out anyone who didn't have a straightforward, standardly academic kid had issues with this teacher (anything outside of the norm in any direction). She went on maternity leave eventually, and didn't come back.

Meanwhile DS went to another teacher, who accommodated his poor handwriting (whilst not letting him get away with not trying - but in a kind way), who's entire class had a much more friendly vibe (teacher affect this so much) - and he reverted back to his cheerful enthusiastic self. He describes his old teacher as 'the angry teacher' and tries not to think about it.

@DisturblinglyOrangeScrambleEgg sorry if you’ve already tried this, but DS1 had the same struggles with handwriting and after many attempts we managed to find a weighted wristband which helped him a lot. It’s the sensation of pressure on his wrist which apparently helps? We made one from 2p pieces, gaffer tape and then stitched an old cuff off a jumper on it so it looked better. It’s really helped him, he still uses it 5 years later.
Sorry for the unsolicited advice, feel free to tell me to wind my neck in.

I've complained about a teacher once, another SEN issue. My DD had hearing loss in both ears (still suffers though not as badly following long awaited treatment). DD was constantly told off for not getting phonics - led to a lot of other issues. I didn't know what was happening, DD wouldn't or couldn't tell me. Then on two separate occasions she was caught by other parents, who informed the HT who did nothing. This was eventually relayed to me, then I complained about the teacher and the school. Submitting all the evidence from her specialist as the teacher told me she knew DD wasn't struggling with her hearing . Two years later DD is doing a lot better, but its no thanks to her teacher but to the ones she's had subsequently.

With DS I've only made general complaints regarding the school's lack of staffing as he's received 2 head injuries with no adults knowing what happened. The second time wasn't as bad as the first, but happened at lunchtime and when he came out at hometime I instantly saw the bump and scratches to his face. When I asked what had happened they hand't even noticed his face. They had him for over 2 hours in that classroom and apparently no adult had even looked at him and then blamed him for not mentioning it. He hadn't realised what he had done. I'm still angry on this one, its fairly fresh!

And the example of the child who was off ill catching up on the homework. I think it would be unreasonable to expect this to be done at lunchtime. Even if it is in their interest to complete the work I assume children are also kept in at lunch for bad behaviour so missing lunch would seem an awful lot like a punishment. In the example given I think the child did have the evening to do the homework as well which is reasonable imo providing it was work that could be completed in one evening.

SoddingUnicorns, I wonder if your union rep teacher was actually already in all sorts of trouble and that was why she brought her rep along. She may well have (correctly, it seems) recognised that this incident could be the straw that broke the camel's back.

@Dahlietta I hadn’t actually thought of that. You could well be right tbh, I was nowhere near the first parent to have an issue with her. She really, really wasn’t a decent person, and didn’t do her job in the way she should have. When you put it like that I can see why she’d have brought her rep.

Tbh I’m just relieved that there won’t be any more children who have to deal with her. That encourages me greatly, and her behaviour aside, I can’t fault the way the school dealt with it. They even put padding on the sharp corners of the building (which is what DS1 had been thrown into) up to 6 feet to ensure that it didn’t happen again.

It is worth mentioning (although I'm not suggesting it is the case here) that there may be other things afoot at the school which could be behind the union rep. being there. If that teacher has been warned about other things, or feels she has been treated unfairly by the management team in the past the union may have already been involved and advice may have been to have someone present at any further meetings with parents etc. There are also quite a few cases where members of management are accused of bullying staff or complaints raised by the staff as a whole. Perhaps if HT has a history of backing parents regardless of the nature of complaint or without investigating when the teachers have genuinely been acting professionally.

Again, I'm not saying that this is what happened in the situation the pp describes here, but it is worth considering should there be a union rep at a meeting you attend in similar situation - it may not be personal to you or your issue but due to previous circumstances in school.

About a TA not a teacher and the headmaster closed ranks and flat denied my version of events when I was there. At the time I didn’t know the existence of a school complaints procedure.

I have told this story before. Dd has a medical condition called reflex anoxic seizures / syncope. Now I thought she’d grown out of it as the incidents were from younger than 2 and the STARS website indicates most children grow out of this by School age. Therefore I didn’t inform the school as I was led to believe she no longer had the condition. Except she had a seizure with us when she was 6 and has continued to have them a couple of times a year or so since.

An RAS is where the heart stops beating, automatically restarts but the sufferer doesn’t regain voluntary control of their muscles / body for a considerable time after reawakening. Swimming is therefore very dangerous as dd would initially look as though she were floating and could take on a lot of water, cough it out then take on more before being spotted or even drown. This was in a busy, boisterous swim class in a tiny school pool with the instructor doubling as lifeguard btw.

I informed the school and asked that she be watched for swimming. Were I not disabled, I would have done this myself, which I did for several months at great cost to my health until they finally got a ta to watch her. The head refused to put a care plan in place until she was rediagnosed despite being given a copy of her original diagnosis. As a result, when she changed classes, the information about dds medical condition wasn’t give to her next class teacher. I only know this because I enquired with the class teacher as to who was watching dd and gulped and said she’d watch dd until she/the school got something sorted.

The school organised the 1-2-1 ta assigned a child with ASD to also watch dd. I went to observe to ensure she was doing this correctly. What I saw horrified me. It turned out the ta appointed has a lovely personality but was a social butterfly not at all suitable for the task. She spent more than half the swim lesson with her back to the pool chatting to the mother of the kid with asd.

I wrote to the head, she flat denied it and he backed her saying her supervision was adequate. Stalemate. Serious of letters me stating it wasn’t adequate and asking for a meeting with head. Request ignored, email responded to with basically a fuck off each time. Bear in mind I’m chronically ill so I couldn’t go and “confront” the head and “fight” for my dd.

I told the class teacher, she understood my situation (fab woman, 100% trusted her to watch my dd) but even she got no where. Head likes to look a bit suave and in control, deep down he’s probably an Arrogant misogynist. Lots of sleepless nights, crying every day on swim days and finally I discovered I just needed to get dd signed off. Went to see the gp, got a temporary letter. Best £25 spent and then got the letter from the cardiologist for her to be signed off for good.

Mega delays still to get the care plan in place and it took a whole year for it to happen. Then dd had a seizure at school 2months after the plan was in place. The head collared me in the corridor a few days later. No apology, telling me the school had got “most of it right”. I was so ill I couldn’t talk despite wanting to rip his throat out. Now he’s mostly a good head. But why the hell did he act like such a dick head?

oldbirdy
Rather like your ds’s school, my dds school was so blasé about the dangers of swimming. Your poor ds. He must have been so traumatised. I’m surprised he didn’t have a ta watching him tbh. Maybe it was several years ago. But these days this hopefully wouldn’t happen as I get the impression most ta’s get what is required for children with additional needs.

@periperimenopause put like that it does make sense to be honest.

About a teacher, I did once, kind of complain, when I found out that they weren't giving my dd her inhaler wen she needed it. Several days on the trot she came out of school coughing to the point of gagging & I had 2 give her the inhaler I keep on me at all times. After the 4th day I asked the teacher why she wasn't having it, the teacher said she hadnt had an attack at school, when I pointed out she was having 1 right now her reply scared me to the core, she said "that's not an asthma attack, she's having a coughing fit, she needs a glass of water" I took my dd straight to the office where I spoke to both the head and school nurse, both were shocked after I pointed out that I wrote quite clearly that asthmatic cough is often her only symptom of an attack and they promised that my 'suggestion' of further training would be seen to.

Her 1st preschool I did complain about thou, all the way to the top, when they repeatedly put her at risk. Being left unsupervised, when her consultant had said she needed constant supervision both at home and preschool to ensure her safety, giving her dairy products when we were doing a 6 week elimination and not meeting her educational support needs to the point she almost had to go to a sen school.

It has to be done if there out of line, just because there teachers doesn't mean they're untouchable, they can't improve if they don't know where they've gone wrong. We did and it was the best thing we could have done as the head agreed what happened was unacceptable, they made improvements and learned from it and was thankful we had highlighted it.

Oh no french. They had a 'banter teacher'. I can't stand them as colleagues. They are also the ones who tend not to follow behaviour policies, rely on being funny to get students to behave and it's all a bit cult of personality to me. They're the ones who students turn up to our lessons saying 'But Mr Blogs never makes us...' Banter teachers seem to be of the view that quiet hard working students who want to learn need to 'lighten up' . Spot on to complain. You'll have done everyone a massive favour.

Thanks Maisy, that's reassuring to hear from a teacher. I don't like to complain at all, as I do believe that most teachers are doing their best in a challenging role, but in this particular case, I felt I had no choice. I'm sure that this teacher's colleagues found him a pain in the arse tbh. One of his "amusing" habits was to get the kids to sing really loudly in class with the express intention of irritating the teachers in the neighbouring classrooms...