School teacher question

[warmmfeet]

My child's teacher is the daughter of the head teacher at the school.

Is that even allowed? How can concerns be raised to the head if the head is her actual mother ?

Has anyone else experienced this?

Why is it relevant? I assume the teacher is qualified.

If you can't go to the Head (is it primary?) then the Governors is usually the next step.

I’d be grateful your child has a teacher. Is she rubbish? Do you need to complain? If you did I’d imagine the deputy would handle the complaint then it would go to governors. Of course it’s allowed, why wouldn’t it be?

So you have an actual problem with them or are you making up what ifs?

The headteacher would still need to be professional and treat any complaints as they would any other member of staff. If a parent then felt a complaint wasn't adequately dealt with, they would need to refer to the school complaints policy which would normally involve escalating to the governing body.

It's very common for teachers to have parents who are also teachers. Sometimes it's kept in the family, no idea why. I would like to think the head was impartial and would deal with any complaints no matter who they were about, but like someone said if you couldn't speak to the head, it would go to the chair of governors.

I'd also be worried about this as it does mean it could be difficult to escalate problems.

How does it seem generally though - has the school got an alternative escalation route to deal with this conflict of interest?

What would you like to be able to complain about?

There will be a different route to complaints most likely due to a conflict of interest.

I’d be grateful your child has a teacher. Wow, look how low the bar is these days! This is such a common way of shutting down any discussion.

Deputy will deal with complaints.

Yes it is allowed.

I taught for 18 years in the UK and never worked in a school that didn't have staff children in it, whether admin, TAs, teachers or school leaders. I now work overseas where giving teachers and school leaders free school places as part of their contract is the norm, so again there are always staff children in the school. I don't see what the problem is. Even if a staff child has SEND, challenging behaviour, is a bully - they will be supported and dealt with.

If properly governed, the school will have this on their risk register, with details of how they mitigate the risk - which will include an appropriate line management structure, a register of interests and a policy for raising concerns that goes beyond the headteacher to the chair of governors (which is a standard procedure in all schools anyway). If it is part of a multi-academy trust, that will be even easier, as there is scope for another of the trust’s headteachers to be drawn upon in the event of a complaint. Teaching is a profession that often runs through families and while there is - of course - an issue of conflicts of interests linked to this, it can be effectively managed. And they are often really committed and effective teachers because it is in their blood.

Edit: totally misread the OP

There's lots of ways round this. The first being the head is a professional.
There's deputy's, if a bigger schools heads lf departments, heads of year, ect.
Nothing normally goes straight to the head anyway.
If you have a concern that you don't feel is dealt with you can go to the governors.

I think you've misunderstood OP's concern. The child of the head teacher is a teacher, not a student.

There has basically been violence in the playground after lunch, repeatedly, myself and another parent have raised it to the teacher several times and now need to raise it to the head as nothing is changing. That's not what I wanted people's views on though which is why I didn't state it to start with.
Yeah the problem with nepotism is that people can get protective over their family and not deal with concerns and problems impartially.

I've worked in hospitals 20 years and never known a ward manager employ one of their own children. It's not really allowed. So I just find it odd.

And to the person who said I should be grateful my child had a teacher??! Absolute bare minimum to expect when they go to school surely

And to the person who said I should be grateful my child had a teacher??! Absolute bare minimum to expect when they go to school surely

The recruitment and retention crisis has passed you by then OP.

It's allowed. Speak to the head, just like you would if they weren't related. It's a professional environment and I'm sure everyone will act like adults.

Why do you assume there will be concerns with the teacher?

I'm not really assuming that, I'm questioning the HR practice and asking if it's common / allowed.

If you are concerned about violence in the playground, then surely that is the issue you raise with the Head. What has their relationship to the class teacher got to do with it?

It's not so uncommon. Raise concerns through the normal route, and then escalate to governors if you don't feel the matter has been resolved satisfactorily.

I don't think you need to worry about the relationship between head and teacher in this case, as it's a lunch time issue. I'd speak to a member of SLT or a pastoral/behaviour leader if there is one. Explain what's happened, say that you told the teacher. It doesn't have to be a complaint about the teacher, you're just taking the next logical step. SLT/pastoral staff will be able to do more about it as it's lunch time anyway.

In over 20 years of teaching, I’ve never known a head to employ their own family so yes, unusual and I think it does make things tricky. I imagine performance reviews would be particularly difficult!

I would go to the deputy with the concerns.