Headteacher issue ..help.

[brookeE18]

So my 4 year old is in reception at a lovely school with great teachers, we had a bit of a tough night this week with bed time lots of tears he was terrified to have the light off, which is unlike him, the next day there were a lot of disgruntled parents in the play ground discussing the schools recent lockdown drill the day before, how lots of children had come home terrified and parents were non the wiser on the new lockdown drill. I don’t like to get into gossip but my child was extremely upset the evening prior and I wanted some clarification on what had happened during the drill that may have caused this? ..I contacted the school and got a phone call back from the head mistress who was very stand off ish with me, I just brushed it off and expressed my concern for my child and the lack of communication with parents about what is happening during this lock down drill, I completely stand by that this is something the schools in the UK are implementing and as long as my child is safe I am on board with this, but I feel like no communication with the parents about it is an issue for me, I want to be able to support my child through these difficulties and can’t when they don’t inform us of it happening and what it entails. The head teacher told me very bluntly she is not under obligation to discuss anything that happens in her school with me and she doesn’t have time to tell parents about the new lockdown drills? I asked if she could shed some light on how these drills went about but she told me it was age appropriate and I should stop asking so many questions and let her do her job.. I feel a little disheartened as my son had expressed being told to sit quietly in a dark room with his eyes closed while the teacher keeps the naughty men out? This is terrifying for a 4 year old.. the head teacher told me it’s part of the job and he will get use to it?, she said she isn’t under obligation to tell us every thing and she is “inloco parentis” So when my child is in school he’s under her care and rules..she was very abrasive and rude, she shouted and was a little hysterical over the phone when I was trying to share a concern.. I’m the end I just said I would seek advice on how to approach this further she told me I wasn’t allowed and if I sent a complaint to the school she would return it to me.. I’m at a loss here not really sure on what’s just happened or where to go next.. I just wanted clarity that in future we would be informed of these safety measures so we can support our child and the school appropriately? .. I don’t think it warranted the telling off I got by the head… any one have any advice?

Sounds dreadful, I would be concerned if that was my child. The headteacher should always be happy to answer questions from parents, especially about something like this.

It sounds like from her reaction she has been under pressure, you’re probably not the only parent that raised queries, given the playground parents’ reactions. Possibly she already realises it wasn’t handled well, she sounds defensive. Could a group of parents come together to ask for more information/assurance this won’t happen again? A good approach would be to share information about the process in advance, so parents can help prepare children. It’s only a drill after all, the whole point is to prepare children.

yes I totally agree, I think maybe she had a difficult day with lots of parents yesterday and I may have got the brunt end, i just would like a little clarity in future so we can support our children better.. i believe lots of parents shared concerns of the same nature and moving forward a post has now been put out in the school forum by teachers explaining the drill. Which I’m pleased about so it wasn’t all for nothing, I just hope I don’t have any other run ins with the head as she is not approachable at all and extremely rude and unprofessional. That being said hopefully this is a lesson learnt for future reference. X

They have been done in schools for quite a while but it sounds badly handled. We tell our kids it's in case there's a leak from a local factory or a dog loose in the yard. Of course they all talk about terrorists and murderers (the older ones).

I’m a teacher and we have a recent lockdown drill. Parents were informed and it was delivered in a light manner to the children.
the headteacher briefed the children that there would be a lockdown and 10am and gave the example that it would be needed if there was a loose dog in the playground that we didn’t recognise.
the kids then stayed in the cupboard (big cupboard) for a few minutes quietly with the lights on.

why on earth they referenced scary men and made them sit in the dark I have no idea.

this was handled poorly by the school and the parents should have been made aware simply for the sake of good communication.

This was a very poorly executed drill. In fact, it makes me wonder if UK schools need lockdown drills at all. (Maybe we do - I remember Dunblane).
We're not America where gun toting is rife.

DDs primary have done a few lockdown drills over the years, they think it's great fun, they have to draw the blinds and hide under desks while the head teacher and a couple of the other teachers do elaborate cat burglar style sneaking down the corridors and peeking through the windows to try to spot them. They had to do it for real last year because some idiot decided to fly a couple of drones into school grounds and the school had no idea if they were capturing video etc so had to 'invacuate' the kids.

Your HT sounds stressed, it seems likely that she's had a lot of flak about this drill, she needs to get on top of it and put out some comms.

strange she thinks she can ignore procedures and simply return a formal complaint back to you. If you do complain formally go through the chair of governors and mention her comment. She is not a law unto herself. The DofE would want to know if the school failed to carry out the complaints procedure.

Exactly put your complaint as your wrote it in writing and what she said about not responding to any complaint and just returning it and that she doesn’t have time to talk to parents (who are stakeholders in the school) of which she wants support but won’t discuss anything with you and then print off the complaints policy and explain that as she told you she wouldn’t deal with ot - that you are escalating ot to. …., whatever stage the policy says eg stage 4 to chair of governors and give her a copy and chair of governors - paper trail and

Sounds like the way our HT behaves. I'm not a fan at all. Poor comms and then abrasive, defensive when the inevitable hullabaloo kicks off. Frustratingly there's little you can do (I'm friends with a governor so asked it is was ok behaviour, she rightly wouldn't comment specifically, but said day to day running is up to the HT. So unless worthy of formal complaint and escalation, you have to live with it).
I just always hope she learns from these things, even if she won't openly say so.

Sounds like a terrorism attack drill. Pretty common unfortunately but parents perhaps should have been told afterwards. Although only because it is 'new'. Parents wouldn't be informed of a fire drill.

Sadly we do need lockdown drills I live in London Surrey Borders and twice it’s been needed (once someone evading the police hid in the fields briefly and the other was an awful incident where a mother was stabbed to death at the bus stop near the school by her husband and there was a real fear he would try and come into the school with a knife to get his children - he didn’t and was arrested)

it should have been communicated better though look at the website there should be some documentation about it

My DS is in sixth form and although they communicate directly with the child more often than not, they still sent out a note to parents about an upcoming lockdown drill so that we were aware. I’d be cross too OP

She sounds awful.

I work in education. I'd be embarrassed to think the Hat of my school to,d parents of children in my class they had no right to be concerned about their own child and their own child's reaction to things that happened in school. And EXTREMELY concerned to be told it's none of their business what happens to their child in school.

I would write an email.

Keep it factual.

Dear HT,

Thankyou for you phone all on x date.

I discussed my concerns that ds had come home in x evening and <explain about light etc>.

I learned the following day you'd had lockdown and thought it may be related hence the contact.

I'm not happy your response was <write what you told us>?

I am aware you said any complaint would be returned to me so I have copied in the chair of governors and Local authority to ensure this gets taken seriously with the level of care it deserves.

So one again I ask that I am provided with the information about what a lockdown practice entails so I can reassure my son and protect his mental well-being which both school and I have a duty of care to do.

Thanks

Xxxxxx

That is shocking and how scary for your poor boy. 😢😢 The headteacher's behaviour is diabolical and you shouldn't put up with that.

Get on their website and follow the complaints procedure to the letter. You can escalate it through to the school governing body if the headteacher does not or will not resolve it.

I really hope they change how they do these drills in the future xx

That sounds awful! When we had to do them with Reception, we basically staged a giant game of hide and seek. It got them used to the routine of it, so that if they had to do it for real, they knew what to do, but in a very age appropriate way ie " remember when we played hide and seek, we're going to hide again, and be quite as mice, just like we did before". No mention of naughty men, or anything scary. That's a sure fire way to not only give them nightmares, but also ensures that a decent number of them will be crying in a real lockdown situation, giving their location away. So unprofessional and shortsighted. Those poor children!

We usually get a memo to remind us that lockdown drills happen, quite light touch with info so parents don’t panic the children.

But we don’t know when they happen - I think it’s about once a year?! Even in secondary school my daughter came home telling me about it. She now because they’ve done it since primary isn’t bothered - I guess sadly it’s been normalised for her, like fire drills etc

Though that approach from HT especially if they in the shut in a dark place - ours just get told it’s a practice day IF a dog was on the site or IF a person that shouldn’t there but nothing dramatic & they don’t have to sit with eyes closed.

Thank you so much everyone, each post has helped me immensely and I think I will send a factual email as instructed and hope that the complaints procedure is followed! I was just shocked how she handled but upon reflection I can see that she was extremely overly defensive and had probably had a lot of disgruntled parents on the phone asking questions. Hopefully next years lockdown drill goes a little smoother for everyone involved. Xxx

Check your school’s complaints procedure (it has to be on the website) as in most cases, a complaint about a headteacher goes directly to the Chair of Governors who then handles the complaint in accordance with the policy.

I would write a complaint about head teachers conduct to the governors tbh considering she's threatening to send a complaint back to you