Anyone else think this is totally inappropriate (RE headteacher's son)

[PumpkinPorridge]

A child in my dd's school has a statement for behavioural and learning difficulties.

He happens to be the headteacher's son. They are advertising for a 1:1 support to work with him and the contact person is the HT himself!

Anyone else feel that this is not appropriate and that the deputy, SENCO or chair of governors should be handling this??

Why?

In my school it would be standard for the HT to be involved in the recruitment process. I can see why you would feel it iffy in this case though. If it was you though, how good would it make you feel to know that you had some 'control' over who was going to support your child? Doesn't make it right though.

Why are you bothered and getting involved?

You seem very het up about it. HT is responsible for hiring any staff - why would it be inappropriate for him to recruit for a 1:1 for a pupil, even if it is his son?

Governors appoint the HT, not the general staff although they may join the interview panel.

As someone who knows the child well, I would think he is well placed to find a suitable staff member to help him. Is it because you are worried he will only recruit someone whose 'face fits' rather than the best person for the role?

Just because initial applications are to be sent to the HT it doesn't mean that he will be the only one involved in making an appointment.

I don't see a problem at all and even in the extremely unlikely event that the HT does all the interviews and makes the decision alone I can't see the issue unless of course the person who gets the job is his wife and she has no experience or qualifications for the job.

Maybe you could explain why you think there's a problem - it's a 1 to 1 so presumabely won't affect any of the other children in the school.

Is it less appropriate than if it was the class teacher for his son?

Actually, on the basis he knows his son (presuambly) very well, and the 1 to 1 is not going to work with other children, he may well be the most appropriate person to judge who is best.

If it was appointing a class teacher and you were afraid he would choose a teacher who suits his child, with potential detriment to other children in the class, you'd have a point.
Or if it was another child and his wife was applying for the 1to 1 position.

In this case it doesn't sound like the sort of thing you should be getting het up about.

Ok, I am guilty of drip feeding here. it wasnt my intention to drip feed but your replies have encouraged me to explore why i feel that the ht should leave it to his colleagues. sorry.

there was a recent incident in which this boy seriously hurt another child (an ambulance had to be called). the ht was the one who dealt with it and the incident was swept under the carpet somewhat. i guess i have made a judgement about the ht's handling of this situation and am just really surprised that he's not letting someone more objective handle the appointment (although i totally accept that he may not be intending to handle the entire process).

OK, so you've given us a bit of background and maybe the HT didn't handle the previous situation in the way that you wanted but what problems do you think could arise if the HT makes the appointment.

Obviously he'll want the best person for his own child but how could that be detrimental to the rest of the class? A 1:1 for his son can only improve the current situation, I'm not sure I understand yet why you are worried.

I think dealing with an incident involving his son and hiring a staff member for his ds are completely different things.

I wouldn't be concerned about it at all.

I'm sure there's procedures in place for hiring staff and I'm sure he won't be the only person involved with the decision making.

I don't really understand why this is a problem. What do you worry might happen? That he will appoint the best person possible for the job?! Surely that's exactly what should happen for any child?

If you think he has given preferential treatment to his own child then that is unprofessional, but I don't see how he can give preferential treatment for something like this. If he recruits a good support worker for him that's surely a good thing for everyone?!

I would hope that someone else would be involved in the interview process to give an element of objectivity, depending on how realistic the head's view is of his son's difficulties.

Even if it was your son that was injured you don't necessarily know how his son was dealt with. That is between the school and the parents. There may have been sanctions you are totally unaware of.

This sounds totally different to the incident with the other child. Did the other childs parents make a complaint?

On the basis of what you've said it looks like he hasn't swept it under the carpet, he's getting 1-to-1 support for his son. I don't understand why someone else should be handling the appointment? What would be gained?

I know plenty of parents that are invovled in the process of hiring for 1 to 1. Don't see how this is different.

I have to say, though, that if I were the Head, I wouldn't want to be in the same school as my child, particularly if there were learning/behaviour difficulties involved. Must be hard to remain impartial, and there's a danger of either under-reacting to incidents or over-reacting. And both parent and child would never get a break from each other.

And, of course, the Head is laying himself open to scrutiny and criticism as to how he deals with incidents.

What's it got to do with you?

How do you know all this, about the statement, the child's needs and what was done after the incident?

But he is doing something ie getting a 1:1 to work with him. What do you think he should have done with a child who has sen? It's highly unlikely he will be the only one interviewing. You seem to be a little jealous for some reason or just a gossip.

I don't understand. He has a statement, they come with funding for a 1:1. The headteacher is recruiting - as heads do. Presumably in the normal way.

Is the head not the senco then? In a lot of primaries they are. Smaller ones anyway. All the primaries my children were in the head was also the senco

(My children both have full time 1:1)

Why do you feel it's inappropriate? What do you feel might be done that shouldn't be?

How do you know the incident was swept under the carpet? Were you privy to the investigati

How do you know the incident was swept under the carpet? Were you privy to the investigation and outcome? It is entirely possible that the outcome was to recruit 1-1 support for the child.

Are you thinking of applying for the job?

You seem to know a lot about how the school is handling what would normally be fairly confidential matters. Are you so sure that the previous incident hasn't been dealt with?

You're a parent right? How do you know how the situation with HT and son was felt with?

I'm not sure what any of this situation has to do with you.

Can only assume you are what we call one of 'those kind' of parents.

I'm not sure how you know the intimate details of how incidents were managed. An incident involving an ambulance would have to be reported to the LEA but that wouldn't be public knowledge.