To think this teacher should be sacked??

[Isitorisitnot12]

ds1 is 11 (adhd) and being taught in a secondary school by a teacher.
This teacher has a child who is 8 and so is my ds2 and are both in the same class in another school.I found out a few months ago that in fact she teaches my son.
Her son goes into school today and tells people that his mother had said that ‘your class mate’ (my ds2)’s brother has special needs and so people have been approaching my son asking if it was true that his brother has special needs???
Is this outrages or what?? i work in a school and no way i would do that.

I think you should speak to the teacher/mum. It may be that she mainly teaches SFL, which her child knows, and she’s mentioned seeing your ds1 at school or something.

Unfortunately this happened to me in school back in the early noughties. The staff knew I had epilepsy and one of the lunchtime assistants told her daughter, who then told other pupils, who then approached me to ask if it was true.

I would certainly be putting in a complaint to the headteacher and if I didn’t get a decent outcome (ie her reprimanded if not sacked and a written apology) I would be taking it further to the governing body.

is it possible her son overheard her talking to another school teacher/assistant? If he overheard there probably isn’t much you can do however she definitely would need a talking to to be more discreet around children who could hear.

while ADHD is nothing to be ashamed of and some pupils would be happy to tell others, it’s the lack of control and it being told without our consent that is the issue here.

I don’t know if I’d want the boy in trouble exactly (as he’s taking his lead from his tactless mother) but the teacher should tell him (nicely) to not share info like that if he overhears it again, as it is wrong and can be upsetting for some people. If your son doesn’t want him to get in trouble though, that’s understandable.

I would not tell your son that you plan to complain about his mother.

I would email the school your complaint so that you have a paper trail as it were.

unfortunately I never told my parents at the time and I bitterly regretted it.

no. my son is in mainstream. He is one of the top achievers in class but has adhd and can someone play up. There is no reason her son should know about his classmate’s brothers disability.

Perhaps get the full story rather than listening to gossip? Speak to the teacher

She has broken confidentiality by talking about your sons medical condition and behaviour with her child

I think this needs reporting through the proper channels ...it is not acceptable

thanks @simsbustinoutmimi my son knows that adhd is on his record and while he isn’t proud of it, some of his friends know about it and medication etc. It’s the fact that my younger son was asked if his brother had special needs, is what bothers me as he is all confused and i don’t think he is old enough for me to explain.
She caused a massive upset with me and i’m really considering reporting her

No, she obviously should not be sacked based on incoherent hearsay.

Even if she did refer to someone's special educational needs in the context of education, this isn't confidential or an offence to be disciplined.

@Plamilt how is it not confidential when you mention names and specific people??

It’s very understandable that you’re upset. I posted something similar a few weeks ago about my past and the general consensus was I was being unreasonable reporting them as they could be out of a job (deservedly so). I don’t think people understand how upsetting it can be having private medical info told without their consent to other pupils.

i would not hesitate in reporting, I would do it right away as there’s a chance she may gossip about other stuff to her son RE other pupils.

Yes it is. It is confidential and considered personal data that she cant share outside of specific groups of people.

Her child or partner for example at home are not one of them.

I'm medical staff so maybe I have a different view of confidentiality but how is it not breaking confidentiality discussing a pupils medical needs and behaviour at home with your family , using their actual name and identifiable information?

Genuinely curious since as I say, maybe I have a different idea on confidentiality?

I am not sure of the legalities/ rules of it being mentioned, if she has broken any confidentiality agreements, but telling your child another one has a condition (without their consent) is completely unreasonable. I don’t understand how people see it otherwise.

the school need to speak to the son and mother in turn. Not saying she needs to be sacked but it needs to be made clear to her that she cannot go telling other pupils private info about others.

It may not be a sackable offence, but it absolutely is a breach of confidentiality. A rather appalling one.

This teacher shared confidential information with an 8 year old!
Shocking that she is being defended.

Definitely speak to safeguarding at school - i would be asking their advice on how best to proceed.

Sacked might be a stretch but it's entirely reasonable for you to be angry and to complain to the secondary school. Her DS absolutely shouldn't know about your eldest having additional needs.

I'd expect her to be told it's unacceptable and to be required to undertake refresher confidentiality training.

Get a copy of the school confidentiality policy as well.

at the very least this woman should be required to repeat her confidentiality training like squigglepigs says. A written apology should also be sent to you, so you have a paper trail if this happens again.

i would want her suspended until she’d retaken the training.

Gossip??

Or an alternative version of events. The 8 year old looks at his mother's stuff, because teachers do marking, take things home etc. Knows his mum teaches kids with sen puts 2 and 2 together and makes 5.

Or anything like this. Because you are being rather over the top about a conversation between 8 years old.

Shocking that she is being defended

I'm not defending her, but i do think it's important to get the facts before demanding she loses her job. 8 year olds are not the most reliable narrators.

She is being defend because we have no idea how her 8 year old came to know this information. It could be they overhurd a conversation that they shouldn't. The teacher maybe needs reminding that they should be more aware of who is around when having discussions about students.

Or maybe she did tell him, but why would she. Then it would be a more serious issue.

People jump into someone has done something wrong deliberately, but it may have be an error. And expecting everyone to be perfect all of the time is a bit much. We all make mistakes.

This!!

School governor here.
You should definitely report this!

Did your older son attend the same primary ?

Great opportunity for you to teach your DS2 that special needs isn’t something to be ashamed of and be can just reply factually and calmly in the negative. And I agree, speaking to the teacher to find out what happened seems sensible because it might be as others have said that her son put two and two together and figured it out from other things he’d overheard if she was having to do work at home or something.

If the teacher has deliberately told her child this information then of course she’s completely out of line and certainly should face action. However, I’d be absolutely astounded if that’s what has happened. Far more likely the child has overheard or read something which should have been kept confidential. Still likely to be a disciplinary but I wouldn’t want anyone sacked for a one off mistake.