Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Mumsnet classics

Relive the funniest, most unforgettable threads. For a daily dose of Mumsnet’s best bits, sign up for Mumsnet's daily newsletter.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

what the most hilarious and groundless parental complaint you've ever fielded?

341 replies

HanneHolm · 06/02/2013 18:02

I have heard of one parent complaining a member of staff wasn't singing in a parents assembly.

OP posts:
JakeBullet · 09/02/2013 08:39

Coconutty.....my DH has just spat tea everywhere GrinGrinGrin

....and he "wants a T-Shirt like that"! HmmGrin

Fiderer · 09/02/2013 08:53

Parents of a child in my s1's class insisted, even arranged a meeting with the teacher to "explain", that their son must sit next to my s1. It would help him with language learning (aged 7 only colours, singing, "My name is..." etc.) as s1 is a native speaker.

What the parents knew full well is that s1 is a native speaker of English and that year the class was doing French Grin

Dylanlovesbaez · 09/02/2013 08:55

I have a chief jumper sniffer in my class! At the end of the day she gathers up the 'lost' jumpers to sniff and distribute to their owners! Always gets it spot on.

Claudiecat · 09/02/2013 09:01

I've just remembered one (although I've probably got a few when I think about it). Many years ago the class topic was on St.Lucia (the Caribbean island). One parent wrote a complaint to say she was disgusted and why weren't the school studying St.George? It's always these foreign saints! After much hilarity in the staff room, the head composed a letter back pointing out the parent's error and enclosing a copy of the RE planning which showed that in a few weeks we were indeed celebrating St George's day!!!

Feenie · 09/02/2013 13:47

DH teaches A level and GCSE English Lit at FE college - he once had a parent complain that the fact that her dd was studying The Wasp Factory was a serious child protection issue. Her dd was 17 - she was a primary school teacher silly cow.

She wanted them to read 'naice' texts. Like the Shakespeare and the Brontes - Wuthering Heights, perhaps. DH pointed out the possible themes of rape, incest, dog hanging, etc, in those kinds of texts and she spluttered a bit but still wittered on!

ToomuchWaternotWine · 09/02/2013 14:06

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread, it's hilarious!! Grin

wakeupandsmellthecoffee · 09/02/2013 15:22

.

ProphetOfDoom · 09/02/2013 15:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Uppermid · 09/02/2013 15:39

Can I just applaudwhatphididnext for owning up to being one of 'those' parents, even if only on one occasion!!!

cjel · 09/02/2013 16:34

DS was a tutor for a year on gap year in New Zealand. Children from all over the world boarded at the school. One boarder didn't go home evenings or weekends despite living 20mins down the road. Last day before Easter break all children safely gone, staff waiting to start break. This 6 year old who hadn't been home all year still left. Head phoned father and said he needed to collect ds. Response was why ? Sorry sir school closed, Father huffed and said he'd see what he could do!!!

kerala · 09/02/2013 16:39

My mother is a primary school teacher. A new family arrived having been posted overseas cue lots of meetings before their child arrived at school, they were worried as their DS was incredibly intelligent, super bright how would he fit into a state school, how would staff cope with such an exceptional child etc etc. Child arrived. Perfectly ordinary slightly below average. When this was politely conveyed at parents evening child was whisked out of school and sent to the local private. Made my mother and her colleagues Grin poor kid though.

HoratiaWinwood · 09/02/2013 16:48

Used to work in the exams office of a FE college.

We had a mother in very indignant that we wouldn't change the date of her daughter's A Levels, because they were meant to be on a beach in Portugal then and would lose money for cancelling. She had assumed it would be fine because she was giving us six months' notice.

But the worst was a bone idle, entitled 18yo Y13 girl who had ordered a full remark of every single paper she had sat at the last session. It was pointed out to her that she would be liable for a large bill if the grades were upheld (from memory you didn't have to pay if the paper had been wrongly marked after all). She accepts, we go ahead.

Unsurprisingly, none of the grades changed, so we duly presented her with a bill for around £450. Her mother came in absolutely raving at us for letting her order all the remarks without her mother's authority, the department would have to absorb the cost, etc etc. It was pointed out to her that the college had a relationship with her adult daughter, not her, and that to contact her in such a situation would therefore be a data protection nightmare.

Unfortunately, although the mother paid up, it resulted in a change of policy at our end, that all copies, recounts and remarks had to be paid for in full before we would send them off. Which I think will have ended up disadvantaging the poorer (in some cases desperately poor) students who couldn't scrape together enough for a single remark in the narrow window between results and remark deadline.

orangeandlemons · 09/02/2013 16:56

A parental complaint that the school had failed to permanently exclude someone who had bitten their dd whilst down town shopping on a Saturday. Not even on the school premises, and why y11 go round biting each other is beyond me. They are meant to be nearly fully grown adults.....

orangeandlemons · 09/02/2013 16:58

Also, watching the food tech teacher being harangued by a mother because their dd had failed to bring home their cookery, so subsequently the family had nothing to it..... I was totally bemused by it, and the parent was really ranting on and on. I think I stood there catching flies!

orangeandlemons · 09/02/2013 16:59

To eat not it.

DoubleYew · 09/02/2013 17:34

I'm sorry, I'm going to put a downer on a funny thread but...

Complaints that staff won't do desperate parents evening appointments for FULLY GROWN ADULTS who happen to be divorced. Because they can't sit next to each other.

HanneHolm how do you know they aren't divorced due to domestic abuse? Would you like to sit next to someone who had raped you, beaten you or generally made your life a living hell? Take a look in Relationships or Lone Parents, there are people who will use any opportunity to torment and intimidate their ex even years after the split.

HanneHolm · 09/02/2013 18:06

I once had a note asking for me to keep her kid in at break with a hot drink.
Think the parent didn't realise this was my break too

OP posts:
Charmingbaker · 09/02/2013 18:07

Once had a Y1 parent complaining about my blatant breach of health and safety' and how 'I'd endangered her child and others'. What had I done? I'd let them use a stainless steel cutlery knife during a supervised cooking activity (we were making sandwiches). She was concerned someone could have seriously cut themselves or someone else. I asked her if child used cutlery to eat his school lunch and dinner at home. 'Of course' was the reply, so I explained to her that as the children could safely use a cutlery knife when feeding themselves, I was confident they could use them in the classroom under supervision.

HanneHolm · 09/02/2013 18:07

Oranges. Also that school should be punishing people for Facebook based offences

OP posts:
fuzzpig · 09/02/2013 18:53

Amazing thread :o

IHeartKingThistle · 09/02/2013 18:57

Doubleyew no-one would dispute the need for separate appointments under those circumstances. I think the point still stands for many divorced parents though. I'll never forget the poor girl in my class forced to sit through two appointments with each teacher on the same night.

ShipwreckedAndComatose · 09/02/2013 19:03

Doubleyew...usually in cases of domestic violence, the school is kept aware...especially if there is a need to keep members of the family apart

PenguinBear · 09/02/2013 19:15

What is this FE college that so many talk of?

missmapp · 09/02/2013 19:20

I once separated warring parents on the playground, as I led one sobbing mother away she said

" the thing is missmapp, she called me a fat slag - and I'm not fat"

Flisspaps · 09/02/2013 19:26

Penguin FE - further education, so A Levels, BTEC - sixth form is FE but not all FE means sixth form