punishment for my 4 plus dd at school

[ricks]

My dd is in preschool at a private school and all her classmates including her often speak stupid words like poopo and wee unnecessarily. I knew this fact as we (parents) keep meeting at birthday parties of our children and i am also working on it. Yesterday my child was punished in the school for speaking this word even after the class being warned the previous day. Punishment was to sit in the toilet for some time. Is this REASONABLE? My dd was so upset and she was so embarrassed to share it with me even, she was crying for no reason and was cranky in the evening. I am also upset and have talked to her teacher as well to nip these things in the bud as u can let the habit first develop and then just warn and punish. The teacher says it is difficult to track such things and she being the eldest in her preschool class, should understand it.

Stickylittlefingers The class teacher narrated me this incident and she kept insisting that i wasn't there but my replacement and this Assistant was there. I am going to ask this class teacher of hers that if you were there then would you have dealt the situation the same way? will keep you posted about her replies. My another concern is wen i go to pick my daughter i am always on a look out to have a word with her teachers that how was her day. They say she was fine all the time , if it was such a bad behavior they should have informed me first that they have tried and its not working before resorting to such a punishment.

You should go and see the head. Forget the class teacher.

no not even enter into talking about this complain inform ofsted, your reluctance to deal with this is very frustrating. you have had great advice here, so please do something about it.

OFSTED don't generally deal with complaints of this nature - it's not the first port of call for complaining about schools, that is not their role.

You need to speak to the HT, then Governors, then LA if not satisfied.

This is taken from their complaints procedure:

"We will not usually consider a complaint if you have not first followed the school?s and local authority?s complaints procedure."

I would be more inclined to speak to head first, then to ofsted if no joy were had. I'm just thinking maybe if the TA is unsatisfactory, but the rest of the school is fine, it would be a shame to "go nuclear" when it may be that talking to the head would sort it out. For all we know, there has already been a string of complaints about this TA.

Yes, talk to the head and see how she/he responds.

If they are not very humble, apologetic and take your concerns very seriously with a view to reprimanding TA/getting rid of her/putting her on a "warning" etc then I would seriously consider "going nuclear".

To most of us here her (TA) behaviour is SO out of order it's off the page. The head MUST be told- I would ask for a copy of their discipline policy. Good schools should have one, and the TA should be trained in it and DO IT.

Good luck!

of course it is ofsteds role to be made aware of and investigate abuse happening within an establishment they are registering.

Er, ok, tomhardy, you know better than OFSTED then .

It very clearly states on the website (and I copied the quote) that they will not consider complaints unless the proper procedures have been followed first.

And no, actually, it's not their role at all. It is the local authority's role and the role of the DfE.

there you go then as you your self quoted...does not say ithey dont does it

I didn't think private schools had to abide by local authority guidelines. They do not have to have qualified teachers either. I would be taking my child out of the school and questioning the teacher's qualification.

Thanks Guys!That was really helpful and i had a assertive confirmation with the class teacher who wasn't there when the incident happened. She said she would have done the same if she was there, which is disheartening but she was apologetic when i insisted that it was a very harsh treatment for a preschooler. She mentioned that they have sent two more children to undergo the same agony today. They still think it is okay and not so harsh, after all it is to discipline them. She said they wont be doing it in future (atleast to my DD). Instead, will inform me first in case they are trying to discipline something and they cant manage the situation effectively. I will keep looking for a new school.

Definitely time to look for a new school.

I would also inform the head.

Does he/she know teachers are making 4 year olds sit in the toilets as a punishment?

shocking you need to report them that is abuse.

I would also go and speak to the head. This is VICTORIAN. We know better these days.

These children are 4 I think?! I think actually it is the wrong punishment for any child. And at such a young age, how are you supposed to trust the adults taking care of you when they do this to you and think it is acceptable.

I am shocked this goes on and I would certainly not want my child at that school.

Really, a qualified teacher thinks a time out in the toilets is OK?
Agree with speaking to the Head and taking it further - the fact that three staff members appear to think this is fine is a worry.
Seriously, please don't let it drop.

they should just be ignoreing childish behaviour like that.