Teacher stood and watched fight!!

[lisad123]

I have just dropped dd1 off to her year 4 class and went into talk to the teacher. A I'm standing there two brothers come in (one y4 other y6) and the older one said something to younger one and younger one hit him. They then just start beating seven bells out of each other!! Teacher grabs younger one and holds him back for all of 30 seconds and then let's go! Boys then are fighting outside classroom and children standing watching, telling teacher who replies "well their outside"
He goes outside in the end and finally separates them and brings little one inside.

I have some issues with this teacher and do find him too soft, and often when I drop dd1 off half the boys in the class are outside as parents have dropped them off and then they have gone back out

Do I have word with teacher or head?? This morning was horrible to watch and they nearly knocked me and another child flying.

Bump

Speak to the HT!

But, I'm scared it won't help. It's the HT who sets the 'tone' of the school :(

This is totally unacceptable.

I presume they're going to tell you 'parents are responsible for kids before school'. Which is technically correct. But then they should be speaking to the parents of the boys.

He's probably worried that if he physically intervenes one/both will turn round and accuse him of using excessive force.

true but i was stood there, he could have asked me to go and get another teacher.
Yes parents are responsiable for the children before school, but this was after the door was open and they had been sent in (well these boys walk to school alone).
Problem is the school open the door at 8.40 and close at 8.50 to allow parents to come in and chat to teacher, see their childrens work ect.

Totally unacceptable,it doesnt matter whos fighting or where it should have been stopped at the first instance.If they can allow this behaviour in front of a parent i wouldnt like to know what happens behind closed doors.

Maybe if I put this in Aibu I would get more answers.

As soon as the pupils come through the school gate then the school starts to accept responsibility. OK if the parents are present then there would be a reasonable expectation from the school staff that they would act to break up a fight involving their kids but in this instance there is no question, school have responsibility.
I would be very keen to put in writing to the head teacher my concerns about this and the lack of general discipline in the school. As IndigoBell says the head sets the tone for the school but at the very least it needs recording that this incident happened, so that it can be referred to in future.
From the school's perspective I would hope that they would see the issue for what it is, parental concern over discipline that is going to result long term in parents voting with their feet to other schools if at all possible.

thank you, i was the only parent there, most of the children were there already. The school has just been put on "notice to improve" :(
I spend alot of time in the school because of dd1 SEN, and know they will more than likely think Im just being a pain, but im seriously worried about these children.
If I drop dd1 off to school I would exspect her to be in her classroom, NOT running about outside. Whats to stop one of them leaving the school?? Teacher wouldnt know and parents would assume their LO is in class

Ours can be dropped off from 8.45, school starts at 9.

In this 15 min gap children move freely in and out of the building so in theory could leave the site, but there is always a member of staff on duty in the playground for this 15 min.
Our school take responsibility from 8.45 - prior to this the parent must stay in the playground with the child.

I think yu need to know the exact time the school takes responsibility.

If it is 8.50 and the boys were fighting outside of the classroom before this time then the teacher was right not to intervene, having stopped the indoor fight, the lads now being outside possibly seemed like a relief to the teacher.
why should the teacher be at risk of getting punched when his working day hasn't even started yet and the children are still the parents responsibility?

Saw deputy head and spoke to her.

Our school won't take responsibilty for children at school before 8.35. So if you leave your child there in theory no-one is responsible for him/her. I suspect the reality would be different of course.

I would most certainly speak to the Head. This is terrible. I wonder what their anti bullying policy is.

DDs school take responsibility for any child on school grounds and have very high moral standards. This would not have been tolerated. They dont even tolerate bullying or fighting outside of their territory either and many a time I have see an teacher pull up and demand they stop outside their office/class for a serious chat.

If the teacher can shrug this off so lightly it sets a disgusting example to the younger children. I am appalled.

Glad you spoke to someone in authority.

In my DCs' primary, the children are dropped off outside the school from 7.45 onwards. You cannot leave a child there earlier than that unless you stay and supervise yourself. They stand in lines outside until 7.58. Teachers supervise the lines and it is very orderly. On wet or very cold days they are admitted to the cafeteria and stand in their lines there. There is no wandering around the corridors in the morning or the afternoon. Children troop to the classrooms together, take off coats at the lockers in the corridors, and all go into their classrooms together.

No parents are allowed to enter the building at all in the morning or in the afternoon unless they buzz the office first and are admitted.

Teacher should have intervened, the fight was happening on school grounds and even if you are not actually on duty, you still have a duty of care.
No one likes being hit, but you are allowed to block blows. It sounds as if the teacher didn't know what to do, so that indicates a training need, maybe for him or perhaps all staff.
How do they handle fights in school time?

Regardless of who was in charge of the children - parents or school - if the teacher had of seen them fighting in the way you described, they should have reported it to their HT.

Thanks good to know I wasn't over reacting, I was unsure as I used to work in a EBD unit, and we were always strict.