Performance issues with Head Teacher

[EloiseMinch]

At DC's primary the Head Teacher is all but absent. I am not sure we have physically seen her this school year and all problems are referred to the deputy head. DD is in year 4 and this almost complete absence has been going on since DD started.

We have been trying over the course of the year to escalate bullying problems involving DS - the problems are still ongoing and we are unable to get an appointment to discuss the issues with the Head. This is a problem for other parents who have other concerns about the school (eg staff turnover, resourcing, teaching standards etc).

We're going to write to the governors to set out our concerns - and try and arrange a meeting with them. Does anyone know what performance standards a head teacher has - or how we can find them out? We'd like to make some concrete suggestions about how the head should be performance managed.

You want to go to the HT's boss and tell them how they should be managing her? How would that go down where you work?

If you have concerns about the school failing your DC absolutely raise them with the governors (although better to go to DH first if she is effectively in charge). The governors wont and must not discuss the HT's performance with you

I do personally feel that it is right for parents to tell the governors about serious concerns with a head. However I do also see that if you start from the point of the view that heads are professionals and parents and whingeing and unreasonable then it all looks very different
As many of us have said, parents are absolutely within their rights to raise a complaint about an issue or situation. Schools have complaints procedures and when appropriate people should absolutely follow them.

It's not about starting with the view that parents are unreasonable. It's about starting with the view that issues should be raised to the most appropriate person and escalated accordingly.

There's nothing wrong with the head not doing 1-1 email contact (but they should have better presence around school in my opinion).
The tentative mention about what parents are complaining about (I think I said something like that) is that on MN boards you see 'contact the head/demand a meeting with the head/if the head won't see you call ofsted or the papers' for almost every complaint or minor irritation people have.
It's absolutely important for parents to be able to make a complaint when required. It's not ok (in my opinion) for a group of parents to start speculating about how to get involved in a head's performance management or coordinate attacks on the head. They should raise their own issues through the correct channels.

MaisyPops Out of interest, and slightly tangentially, do you feel it's never right for a group of parents to campaign to have a head replaced?

You want to go to the HT's boss and tell them how they should be managing her? How would that go down where you work?

This is an interesting perspective. I don't think governance of a state primary school is very closely related to management of a private business. To take the other extreme (which also isn't that close), I definitely think it's right to campaign to have your MP replaced if you don't agree with their politics.

I think the relevant points are a) The parents are presumably a key source of information for how well things are going (or not) in a school. b) This is a taxpayer funded service so the taxpayer is within their rights to complain about it.

We are way off topic now though :)

I'll never say never, but generally no.

I'm of the view that if people have issues or complaints they should raise them through proper channels.

Even in my school, I don't know the ins and outs of my head's job and what they are doing. They're a good head, but say they weren't. Would I as a teacher without full information of their job have grounds to club together with other members of staff and push for the head to be removed because we didn't like how they did x y z? No. Would i have the right to raise my issues formally? Yes.

If I as a teacher felt a parent wasn't much of a parent, would I have grounds to chat with colleagues and try to coordinate a push on social services? Absolutely not. If had a genuine safeguarding concern, would I be right to follow safeguarding procedures? Of course.

People should raise the issues pertaining ti them in the appropriate fashion, not get involved in witch hunts (in my opinion anyway).

The huge difference between and MP and a HT the actual law. The HT is entitled to a confidential performance review process, an MP has a very public election.

The expectations on a HT by parent might be different to a private company but the law isn't.

As I said, if you have concerns raise them, but you can't expect to be told what action (or otherwise) is taken against the HT, only what will be done to resolve (or dismiss) your concerns.

I'm quite shocked at some of the 'suck it up buttercup' attitudes on here, or implications that the head has better things to do than meet parents. My kids go to a brilliant school and part of the reason it is brilliant (and ofsted outstanding) is that the head is at the school gate pretty much every single afternoon, and at every school event. An absent head is absolutely an issue and I'm amazed to see people suggesting otherwise. From some of the responses above here is clearly something deeply threatening about the very suggestion from a parent that a headmaster might not be up to scratch - though I'd agree the 'performance management' angle is probably contributing to getting people's backs up.

In practice, of course, good heads are like hen's teeth, because nobody wants the job (a local primary school round us had a succession of temporary heads for nearly 3 years before finally appointing a candidate), so your chances of getting anything done about the issue are probably close to zero. Put in a complaint if it makes you feel better, but I'd guess moving schools is a more realistic option, depending on how bad things are.

frog
It's not that a head is above meeting parents. It's that often the head wouldn't be the port of call for lots of issues in a lot of schools.
So if there are parents who are taking the MN advice of 'call the head' over any tiny thing (I don't think the OP is one of them btw) then they nay be annoyed that they aren't seeing the head because it might not be a head issue.

I agree with you that reference to performance management got backs up. It got mine up (but that's because I've seen good teachers bullied out by groups of parents trying to push teachers onto competency when SLT bowed to the loudest voice).

The OP should raise her concerns about the head formally and document everything concerning her child, focus on the issues affecting her and her child, and keep away from witch hunt type gossip.

MaisyPops I basically agree except... The problem with the complaints process is that all I can personally say is that she has refused to meet me. The problem with the head is however that she has refused to meet any parent. So I really feel it's right for the parents to club together to make a group complaint. I suppose it's a little (well, a very little) like a class action in the US.

Having said that, perhaps it's time to agree to disagree on this thread.

Yes, the problem is that the head makes it very difficult for any parent to see her. Meanwhile there are problems in the school that are very worrying for the parents and the head can't be contacted about them

In principle this is pretty poor and your general point is perfectly reasonable. The reason people are not agreeing with you is that they suspect you are not describing reality accurately because:

1. You can't give any examples of systematic problems. Your only specific complaint (a bullying issue) is not one that needs handling by the head.

1. You wildly, seemingly irrationally, overestimate your rights in this situation.

a) The parents are presumably a key source of information for how well things are going (or not) in a school. b) This is a taxpayer funded service so the taxpayer is within their rights to complain about it.

This bizzare point of view is the root of your problem. Headteacher of a school is not a democratically elected post. You have no input into their performance management and their hiring or firing. It's not your place. You have no expertise to make these judgements. Handing such decisions over to mob rule of parents would be disastrous.

I don't think governance of a state primary school is very closely related to management of a private business.

For the point you are discussing, it's completely analogous. You can (as a service user) provide feedback, and that's it. What you can do is contact the governors- it is their place to address the concerns you describe.

If you contact them with specific concerns, expressed sensibly and backed up by evidence, you will be listened to.

If you imply a huge sense of entitlement; if your complaints are vague; if you try to stir up other parents- you will be ignored.

Would you start telling a practice manager how their doctors should be working? You can complain about YOUR specific issue to the governors. The rest is absolutely none of your business. Why do you feel you have this level of power? Focus on your own child. Complain about that if needed. That is all you need to do.

We'd like to make some concrete suggestions about how the head should be performance managed.

don't be ridiculous, nothing to do with you at all, and you don't know a thing about it.

The head is not obliged to see parents. You have a deputy head doing that. The head's role is different in different schools. In this case it would seem she is not the person you escalate bullying issues to, that has been delegated to the deputy. Absolutely fine

Your biggest issue is the bullying everything else is not your problem . You need 2 policies the bullying and complaints . If it is not been resolved you need to speak to them about esculating the bullying policy . It isn’t about who you see it’s about the result . If it isn’t been resolved then complaints procedure .

If bullying is not been resolved then I would consider moving schools.

The performance thing is just too many people not in school deciding how the school should be run.

Thanks Starlight345 The bullying seems very hard for them to resolve as they just need more resources to keep an eye on the difficult children.

The problem with the complaints process is that all I can personally say is that she has refused to meet me.
So you complain, outline your issues, who you have spoken to, what happened and the times you sought contact with the head and the times you were ignored..

The issue with parents clubbing together is that they will all have separate issues they wanted to see the head about. They should document their issues and follow complaints.

What you may find is that when the course of action involves them having to document their issues and follow a procedure, suddenly some people decide it's not worth doing. Some people are full of hot air and happy to bitch but are unwilling to formally use procedures to raise issues.

You raise yours. Let other parents deal with theirs. If they'd rather bitch than do anything then you can probably conclude they don't really have that strong feelings about it.

It doesn’t matter who you see . If the policy says for example next step bring in parents in then that is what you want to happen . There resources are not your issue .

Your complaint would be about bullying not been resolved not ablout who will and won’t see you.

To add I had a bullying issue with my Ds. I spoke to class teacher and deputy head . Although mine was resolved it didn’t take the head to do that

Your complaint would be about bullying not been resolved not ablout who will and won’t see you.
This ^^
And it's exactly why the OP should focus on her situation and issues instead of wanting some mob witchunt of a head.

These are the head teacher standards as defined by the government.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-standards-of-excellence-for-headteachers

These give you information and are a public document. They don't, however give you the right to be part of the confidential process of head teacher performance management. (Unless of course you are elected as a governor and are given responsibility for this).

There may of course also be different rules/governance and leadership structures if your school is an academy and no longer accountable to the LA.

The national standards for excellence for headteachers is a document that should be what every head teacher is aspiring to achieve not what they are expected to achieve. They are relevant to every head teacher whether in an academy or maintained school, however the only key characteristic that is relevant to the posts is in domain 1, number 2, which says
"Demonstrate optimistic personal behaviour, positive relationships and attitudes towards their pupils and staff, and towards parents, governors and members of the local community."
In hindsight it may have been better to have been more explicit about the need to work constructively with everybody, including parents, because this set of posts is not an isolated case of poor communication skills in heads. They too often seem to have excellent communication skills with the pupils but not necessarily as good communication skills with parents

When I was at secondary, the head teacher dealt with the business side of things and the deputy head dealt with the pupils. Perhaps your school has similar arrangements but you wouldn't be unreasonable to ask about the head's availability. If you aren't happy with how the deputy has handled the issue and the bullying still isn't resolved, then I would expect the head to make themselves available. If you tell the governors and are calm in how you raise the issue, then it shouldn't reflect badly on you if the head has a genuine reason for their absence.

Elliebobbins thanks. I wonder how common this set up is in primary schools where the head just doesn’t have it in their job role to speak to parents.

At the end of the day these problems she be resolved. Email the school all the details and put for the attention of the head in the title. If the billing isn’t resolved then follow steps outlined in the complaints policy and bullying policy.

The bullying is now being handled by the deputy. I did try to arrange a meeting with the head but you leave your number and you never get a phone call back.

Feels like you want to start a witch hunt, to be honest. No wonder Head wants to hide from you.
If you personally have an issue ( you’ve written and asked for an appointment and been refused) then complain.
Don’t create a baying pack of wolves. Let others speak for themselves as what they tut with you on playground about may well not be what they actually believe.
The head is likely to have delegated pastoral care to the deputy and it might not need to be involved if they are being briefed properly and support the deputy’s perspective.
If resourcing is an issue speak to the local authority or MAT about funding. Primary heads have minuscule budgets outside of staffing. Maybe spend your energy raising funds for new books and being involved in securing additional resources from local grant making bodies or companies. Join the PTA.
If staff turnover is an issue ( outside heads control generally) make sure you as a group of parents make it a nice place to work. Be kind and supportive not critical. Send in thank you notes. Bake them a cake. Make sure your children behave properly in school and show absolute respect for their teacher.
There will definitely not be any requirement for heads to be readily available to be whinged at by parents. It would be a foolish head who gave out their email address.
There performance management and objectives are absolutely none of your business unless you are an elected parent governor.
I’d try building more positive relationships- a much better way to get problems addressed.