Teacher pulled my daughter's hair, do I take it further?

[RingsLikeTinnitis]

So yesterday my daughter (14 year old. In year 10 at school) came home and told me the PE teacher pulled her hair. It was a supply teacher and is covering short term because the usual teacher has had surgery. Apparently she was "using my daughter as an example" of why they needed to put their hair up for PE. She had said something along the lines of "what happens if someone goes like this?" And then fully yanked my daughter's hair. It wasn't a gentle pull, it hurt her and she was quite upset about it.

Anyway I was picking her up early at 10 this morning for an appointment so I spoke to someone about it at the same time. The person I spoke to was the safeguarding lead and already knew about the incident because my daughter had reported it to another teacher and a few of the other students had also said something to other teachers too. She said that she will be having a strong word with this supply teacher and my daughter should come straight to her if she has any more concerns/problems with her. She's probably going to be teaching for the next couple of weeks.

Do you think you'd be happy with the schools response to this?

This is not appropriate and schools have procedures to follow in these situations. It should be reported to the LADO by the DSL and the LADO will give advice. It may be that the teacher has done the same in previous schools - the LADO will know this. Ask the school if they have followed the procedures set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 and reported it to the local authority.

It's unacceptable for a teacher to do it. The teacher should know this. This is touching a students hair, nevermind pulling it.

Do u assault your child then is that how u teach your kids I would never pull a child's hair that's is nasty

I'd worry about this woman's judgement in other areas, it sounds at best that she's thoughtlessly impulsive. Not ideal for a teacher.

Ex teacher and safeguarding lead here. You don’t touch students. Restraint training is there for a reason, all staff had it at the school I worked for. It minimises touching students. I would suggest @RingsLikeTinnitis that you insist that your DD doesn’t take further PE lessons with this Supply teacher, if the school doesn’t like it, threaten them with informing the Chair of Governors. Schools have a mandatory duty to attend their meetings.

WTF?!

I've no doubt the supply teacher will get a severe dressing down over this and it will go on her record.

No doubt she doesn't know her own strength and didn't realise she had tugged so hard as to hurt.

It's not going to happen again so I would leave it there.

I am gobsmacked if anyone thinks that this is ok. Or that the schools response is ok. This is a disciplinary issue. You don’t assault people to demonstrate a point!! Anyone. Especially children you are supposed to be setting and example of. If a pupil did this to another pupil would it just be a ‘strong word’?

What’s that got to do with anything ? Are you saying bad behaviour should result in physical assault ?

She needs full disciplinary action. However hard she might have pulled the hair she shouldn’t have done it in the first place!

This is why child abuse gets brushed under the carpet so often.

What she did was completely wrong. It sounds like it's something she probably did without thinking and pulled harder than she intended to. Obviously it's unacceptable and absolutely right that the school is addressing this with her. However, I doubt she intended to hurt your daughter and as a one off mistake I'd leave it at that.

It's not appropriate to pull a pupils hair for whatever reason.
I say this as a teacher of science where it's often essential for safety that kids tie their hair back. I have never touched a child's hair in 38 years of teaching.
Secondary children are generally sensible enough to heed a safety warning on tying back hair in practical subjects and on the rare occasions they forget, there are more appropriate ways of dealing with it.
My preferred option is to ask them take a time out for a couple of minutes to sort their hair out with a hair elastic that I provide. ( You can get a big wad of them for next to no money in the Pound shops.) I tell them to keep it in their pencil case for next time.
If they refuse to comply ( only happened once)they get written work instead of the practical, and a detention for defiance .
I know some PE teachers and D&T teachers who do the same as me.
Either way, it's not normally something that's a big issue. Supply teacher really should know better.

What action would you like to have been taken? Other than the teacher being reprimanded, which, according to the colleague you spoke to, has now happened.

It's likely that the supply teacher is on a short term contract, rather than being day by day agency staff.

Shes 14 not 4 and she should have had her hair up and she didnt

Do you not find it odd the teacher couldnt just....speak?

Why should she have?
The op says that it is not a rule in that school. "The usual teacher doesn't require them to have it in a pony tail, just that it's off their face so she wasn't doing anything wrong by having it in the style she did"

School has taken it seriously and spoken to the teacher
i’m not sure what else you expect them to do

How the fuck don’t you?

I am sure the school will take statements if necessary.
But often girls exaggerate. Be careful not to turn this into a witch hunt - let the school handle it.

I would expect them to not let someone, who had assaulted my child, continue their employment at the school.

and the teacher is a grown adult who knows better than to pull hair.

Many teachers manage to teach health and safety without resorting to putting their hands on children.

I wasn't replying to you.

Thank you to everyone who has commented and given good advice. Some of the other replies are batshit.

Anyway I am going to email the safeguarding lead just to clarify what's going to happen as it was a bit of a rushed conversation this morning.

I'd involve the Police if my child was assaulted.