(my first OP here...)
I know there have been threads about this company before on MN, but thought I would share my experience.
I received identical official looking letters in book bags from the headteachers of my sons' secondary and primary schools recommending parents look at this company's services and urging us to send back a reply slip.
I was initially going to just throw this away as junk mail, but it really bugs me that schools are sending out adverts made to look like real letters, and particularly as the company looks sooo dodgy.
So here is the email I wrote to the heads:
I received your letter about the Student Suppport Centre, and looked them up on the Internet. I was quite alarmed at what I found. According to reports they employ hard sell techniques in people's homes, and try to get parents to sign up to a package of DVDs and workbooks that cost between £2000-£6000 over a four year contract. Brighton and Hove Council have issued a warning to heads against this company.
I know the letter said it was not not an endorsement, but everything else about it - the 'very important' envelope and please reply message, the letter with the school logo, the way the letter is worded etc...is designed to give an implicit endorsement.
To be honest, even if it was the best company in the world, I think it undermines the teacher-parent relationship to put what is essentially a paid advertisment in what appears to be a professional letter --and this company appears particularly worrying.
Can I come and see you about this?
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I had positive meetings with the two Heads, both said they were not aware of the kind of contracts that these companies were pushing -- they said it was just something a lot of schools do and it had slipped under the radar without any due dilligence. They both said that in future years they would not be sending out these letters again.
So a small victory for a bolshy mum - I will have to make sure that the next thing I do with the school is purely positive - I don't want to be seen as just a complainer....But I am glad I did speak up and would urge others to.
Has anyone else taken this up with their school's Head, and what has been the outcome?