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Original poster

Complaint to school

280 replies

gwenig2 · 28/02/2014 22:28

Yesterday my 10 year old was grab on the wrist in a attempt to force her from the floor to go to the headmistress office. This was a male teacher in her school. I did post on Facebook I was upset by this but did not name the school. The new headmistress TOLD me I had to remove this or she souls report to police for slander. I have removed post, but feel more angry now as they did not apologise or give any justification for the incident, which to me is assault. I have a meeting on Monday arranged after much foot stomping today. Need advice on how to handle as feel little overwhelmed and emotional.

OP posts:
ApocalypticBlackHorseman · 01/03/2014 16:21

Mrz no it isn't.

DraggingDownDownDown · 01/03/2014 16:24

I would be more concerned about the attitude and behaviour of my child then complaining to the school.

finallydelurking · 01/03/2014 16:25

I think any decent head teacher would be extremely concerned about an allegation against any member of their staff and would want to investigate it thoroughly! If the member of staff refused to co-operate with that investigation and explain what happened that wouldn't be in their best interest!

mrz · 01/03/2014 16:26

So the government document is incorrect ApocalypticBlackHorseman?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/use-of-reasonable-force-in-schools

mrz · 01/03/2014 16:27

It isn't a case of a teacher refusing to cooperate though is it finallydelurking?

finallydelurking · 01/03/2014 16:29

Didn't say it was. I was agreeing with the point that the teacher is going to have to give their version of events to the head.

tethersend · 01/03/2014 16:31

Thank you, I'm aware of that, mrz. It's point 8.3.

Above is 8.1, which states that All complaints about the use of force should be thoroughly, speedily and appropriately investigated.

Below is 8.7, which says that Governing bodies should always consider whether a teacher has acted within the law when reaching a decision on whether or not to take disciplinary action against the teacher

The head and the governing body need to establish that the teacher acted within the law.

mrz · 01/03/2014 16:32

As in the law innocent until proven guilty and up to the complainant to provide proof

tethersend · 01/03/2014 16:34

I am not disputing that, mrz.

However, the teacher will need to show that he acted within the law to the head and governing body, to enable them to fulfil their statutory duties as outlined in the document you linked to.

tethersend · 01/03/2014 16:34

*should a complaint be made.

Floggingmolly · 01/03/2014 16:36

Maybe it could have been more speedily investigated if the op had spoken to the school directly instead of venting her spleen all over Facebook, tethersend?

mrz · 01/03/2014 16:36

"When a complaint is made the onus is on the person making the complaint to prove that his/her allegations are true it is not for the member of staff to show that he/she has acted reasonably."

finallydelurking · 01/03/2014 16:38

Quite floggingmolly

Coffeethrowtrampbitch · 01/03/2014 16:38

I am amazed at the responses on here. Op's daughter has been handled so roughly she is bruised, and she has been threatened for reporting the incident on social media, even though she hasn't mentioned the school so could not be said to have been slandering the school or teacher.

Op, I'd call the police and report it as an assault. The head teacher has clearly decided your dd is lying already if she has threatened you with prosecution for slander, so it is unlikely the school are able to deal with this impartially at this stage. I'd also want the police to be aware of the head teacher's threat of legal action in case it goes any further.

finallydelurking · 01/03/2014 16:45

If op has people on her friend list who know which school she is referring to, depending on what exactly she has posted, she could well be guilty of defamation/libel/harassment and would be well advised to comply with the request to remove it. It's impossible to judge without knowing/seeing everything.

If op is unhappy with the teachers conduct she should've taken it up with the head ASAP not vented in a public forum.

If Op's DD has a visible injury she is entitled to report an assault to the police and request they investigate.

LIZS · 01/03/2014 16:47

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the incident posting on FB, even if just to friends is very risky and careless. Presumably the parent who tipped the head off is either one of your friends , friend of someone who shared it or your settings are not limited. They clearly recognised enough to identify the school and possibly the teacher.

Have the meeting before jumping to conclusions . Take a pic of the bruise, although by your won admission it doesn't in itself indicate undue force. How reliable is your dd's account ? You seem to have tried and convicted the teacher before he has had a chance to discuss it with you. Your first port of call is him and the head not FB - did you post before or after the meeting was arranged.

tethersend · 01/03/2014 16:51

I have no opinion as to whether the teacher acted within the law or not- we don't have enough information to establish that. That is the governing body's job, should a complaint be made.

Posting about it on Facebook is never a good idea.

tethersend · 01/03/2014 16:58

Mrz, perhaps you would be happier if, instead of me referring to the teacher 'showing' the head that they acted within the law, I refer more specifically to the teacher needing to recount the incident to the head/governing body, in order for them to establish that the teacher acted within the law?

mrz · 01/03/2014 17:10

Since the teacher was removing the OPs child to the head's office & given that the OP posted info on Facebook do you imagine that the head isn't fully informed tethersend?

As you rightly said earlier none of us are aware of the facts but I find it hard to believe that the incident wasn't recorded at the time.

clam · 01/03/2014 17:13

Why on earth did you think that posting about it on Facebook was a good idea? Hmm
It makes no difference whether you named the school. If I mentioned an incident that might have occurred with one of my own children, not to mention the place I work, upwards of a hundred people would know straightaway which school I was referring to.
Agree that your main concern ought to be your child's poor behaviour. How about concentrating on fixing that, rather than going after the school.

tethersend · 01/03/2014 17:15

I didn't say it wasn't, mrz- as you are aware, I was making a point about whether or not the teacher had acted within the law, which it is the governing body's job to establish.

Whether or not this has already been established is anybody's guess.

clam · 01/03/2014 17:18

Because you do realise, OP, that attacking the school on this will, whether you intend it or not, give a clear message to your child that her behaviour is defensible.

finallydelurking · 01/03/2014 17:29

At this stage it would be for the head teacher to establish what has happened. The governors would only become involved if either the teacher or the op dispute the heads findings. At the moment the only involvement from the governing body would be if the head had contacted the CoG to discuss if action could be taken against the op under the persistent complaints and harassment policy.

mrz · 01/03/2014 17:34

You beat me to it finallydelurking

mrz · 01/03/2014 17:36

and of course the school should contact the LADO for advice and monitoring of the situation