Homophobic comments in school.

[QueenArseClangers]

DD aged 15 has come home (Friday) to tell us about the shitheads in her classes calling her ‘faggot’ and other such crap as well as misogynistic comments.

She’s reported to staff before and nothing seems to have been done. Her school is pretty good with pastoral support (and in general) so don’t want to go in ‘guns blazing’.

Has anyone successfully tackled shit like this before with their kids’ school? Any advice before I speak to them tomorrow please?

Yes, I emailed the school, outlining what my daughters alleged had been said/done, saying that I thought they might like to know, because these things were against their philosophies/policies, and possibly some students needed a bit more education about why this shit wasn't acceptable.

There were full on assemblies, and teachers apparently got far hotter on this stuff in class (thank you Teachers, as if you don't have enough to do, sorry!) and I haven't heard of any issues since last year.

It will be helpful if you have the names of the disruptive children and dates/facts of some incidents. You're entitled to know everything about how the school is supporting your child. You will not be entitled to know exactly how they are sanctioning, supporting, and otherwise dealing with the other children - due to privacy and safeguarding issues. That could be frustrating and lead you to perceive they aren't being sufficiently sanctioned. However, if the pastoral care is as good as you say, you should have faith that any appropriate referrals are being made behind the scenes. I think the most important fact is that it is an ongoing, repeated issue and it is not an isolated incident. The safeguarding and SEND teams will need to know it is an ongoing pattern, to better inform their actions. Poor kids - all of them. I hope your child is appropriately supported asap. x

I’d keep her off and go in guns a blazing. This is unacceptable and school need to be on top
Of it.

Absolutely speak with the school and ask what they’ll be doing to address this.
Do not be fobbed off, although I can’t imagine any school not taking homophobia seriously these days.

Raise hell.

I am in a similar position with my 11yr old son. He has missed two days of school since going back due to him breaking down and crying with head aches due to the stress of homophobic bullies. I have spoken to the head of year three times and each time he has said he will speak to them and each time nothing has changed. Tomorrow I will be speaking to the attendance officer who helpfully called at my house on Friday while I was working and explaining that not only is the school breaking its own policies, but that homophobic comments constitute hate crime and also go against the equality act, and then I will ask her what they plan to do or if they would prefer me to contact local gay rights groups