to take my complaint to the headmaster? Genuine opinions wanted

[namechangenamechange]

DD is in year 2. Her "PPA" teacher who she has once a week as cover for her normal form tutor was reading to the children from the minipins book. When they left for the day, she picked out 12 children in the class who were "slim" "beautiful" "lovely and "skinny" and said they cold get their coats on first and said "the other 15 of you are too fat and big you'll have to go second, you're not as lovely and sknny as the others.

In what planet is it ok to classify children according to their weight?????

I should clarify here, that DD, despite being in the second group, is actually officially underweight at the doctors, as she is quite tall for her age - but she was in the fat group! That however is irrelevant, my argument is that children should never be criticised for baing fat by a teacher, or made to feel like the less good group simply by weight, which at age of 6 is nothing to do with them anyway.

I went back in to school immediately after my daughter told me this and spoke to this temp teacher. She said it was due to the book and the story of the book, but said anyone who would get upset about it was stilly, then she said to me DD, "don't be upset by this, a lot of other children in the class are much fatter and uglier than you are but don't tell them that".

On the grounds that she:-

1. classified children by weight and made the skinny group the good children and the fat group the bad group
2. Used the word fat in a deroggatory manner
3. Failed to accept that this was a problem when questioned and
4. Further repeated to DD in front of me that other children were fat and ugly

I think I should take the following points to the headmaster.

What are people's thoughts of this? I know the teacher has been complained about before for mnay different reasons and that is why she, close to retirement, is on PPA cover rather than having her own class.

Do all schools have school nurses that come in?

Glad you spoke to the head and he took it seriously.

I think so, there are diff checks for diff year groups - height, weight, hearing, sight, etc.

Well Fennie you don't really know if some of those letters were from the school and they obviously had the school headed letter paper and would have been approved of a school staff member before they were sent out.

And like I said and others it does not matter who authorised them the fact was they were insensitive and not very tactful in the way the letter was written by whoever wrote them that was the main point I was getting at.

JZ7

"the fact was they were insensitive and not very tactful in the way the letter was written by whoever wrote them"

Yes, that bit is factually correct.

"Well Fennie you don't really know if some of those letters were from the school and they obviously had the school headed letter paper and would have been approved of a school staff member before they were sent out. "

This bit is rubbish. I do know, they would not have been on school headed notepaper at all, and the school would have no control over whether they were sent out or not. Routine height/weight checks do not come under the jurisdiction of the school.

And it's Feenie, thanks v much.

If the teacher had chosen small sylph-like figures to be in the group that went first I could maybe see a cause for complaint.But she didn't.She assigned random children to the group.
In the class I help in, the teacher doesn't let them all go at once .One day it may be those whose name begins with aparticular letter, next day it might be those with older brothers another day those who are an only child.The teacher was just carrying on the theme of the book and'staying in character' by saying 'look at their small slender figures' .I don't believe for one moment at the time she called the others fat and ugly.When you went to complain she was trying to put your DDs mind at rest by saying ( I imagine in a jokey way)there are children fatter and uglier than her.

Feenie/Fennie YAWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNN

U don't know if all the schools did or did not use letter headed paper or if they were checked by school staff only the places were you know of.

I reckon that Feenie does know that NHS letters would not come from the school.
I do.

My Gosh Jz7 that is really rude!! Who do you think you are? Feenie is right. You're talking out of your arse.

Oh thank you, everyone, I thought it was just me for a minute there.

I'm sorry if asking you to stick to facts is boring for you, JZ7, but those of us who you wrongly include in your mass/crass sweeping generilisations would appreciate it if you did.

J27, you really don't know what you are talking about do you? Please don't be unnecessarily rude. You might want to have a look at these:

sample letter

National Child Health Promotion Programme

Child Health Promotion Programme - see page 56

complain most definately but don't stop at the Head - often they just stand there and support their staff to the hilt even when they are clearly out of order (which I do get the need for people management etc etc but that doesn't help you) - so make sure you take it to the governors and the lea.

This is totally unreasonable - young girls and boys are particularly vulnerable to comments about their appearance. Stupid ignorant woman.

YANBU