Corruption in head teacher

[lisalisa]

If your child attended a Private Primary School and you had good reasons to suspect the Head guilty of corruption what would you do?

By corruption I mean favouring rich kids and those kids whose parents do favours for the School , interefering with the teacher's work in the classrooms to ensure those same kids get more recognition and teacher doesn't "waste" too much time on kids she does not deem worthy of the same and similar. By corruption I mean possibly and I do mean only possibly slightly doctoring SATS results or at least prepping kids to such an extent that SATS results inflated and also makring them in house so no external checks. I could go on......

You could say move schools. I am very nervous of someone who knows me or the situation reading this so I won't say too much but we can't move schools. We have moved dcs once already and this school is heavily connected with our lives and community.

I can't go to the Governors as their kids are the ones favoured and they would either turn blind eye and deaf ear or would not receive news sympathetically.

Is there some sort of external body one can appeal to or process to start to get head teacher removed or is all this out of hte question in a private school?

The only language independent schools really understand is money - if what you say is correct, the head is influenced in her choices by the wealth of various parents, ie those who can most support the school financially. Your most effective sanction is always to withdraw your children and STOP PAYING THEM. Sorry to shout, but this school is your choice. You can make another one.

As AG says, it's a business, if the business is working then there is no problem to solve. If parents are happy enough to pay their fees and the governors are happy then there is no problem.

I don't doubt from what you have said that there is at least some favouritism going on etc - although I have heard THAT allegation at almost every school I have ever been involved with, private or state.

However, what you also probably had is a very disgruntled (for whatever reason) ex senior teacher who, for their own particular aims has wound you up good and proper. Whatever they have said is only one, probably prejudiced, side of a story. I think to have told you about the solo at the play thing was nothing short of malicious. You hadn't heard anything from your child about it.

Unless you have lots of time and emotional energy to throw at this I would let it go right now.

Are you children happy? If so, great, chill out. If they are not then move them.

Yes - you are all correct of course - it all boils down to money - fi school is working and parents paying fees and pushign kids through the door what's the problem? And mummyrex you are right - I don't have lots of time and energy for it - just feel sickened.

Do what I did and vote with your feet. Your children and your money will be better off somewhere else. I don't think this is going to be a battle that you can win, no matter what you do so you need to have a think whether this is something you can put up with or not. If it's not then look elsewhere. Then report them!

LisaLisa.....what you have stated goes on in many schools....kids whose parents contribute allot to the school do get favoured.....and some teachers can also be incredibly spiteful to your kids if you dare to speak up about such issues....

My brother is a parent governor at a school and some of the things he has told me that happen with regards to funding....like headteacher's paying their sons/daughters to do small jobs at the school.....really opens your eyes!

Very similar to MP's expenses...all taking advantage of their positions and poor systems in place

Thank you for this thread, it's a great advert for the state system. Thank goodness I'm too poor to send the dcs private .

Heads either state or private can and do fiddle the books and engage in favoritism for many reasons not least a quet life from governos with kids in the school.

Raise the issue in writing with the chaor of governors. If no satisfactory response for whatever reason make a complaint throught the complaints process about the lack of response (not the substantive issue). Good luck

I find your attitude very perplexing OP.
If what you suspect is true (and you dont appear to have any real evidence, just gossip and rumour) then why on earth would you continue to pay to keep your children in such a school?

Look for somewhere else to start them in September - problem solved.

I would secure a place at another school for my DCs then go in and ask the head what he thinks he's doing and is he aware it looks like he runs a private fiefdom rather than a school.

But you won't get proof for this sort of thing, it's impossible.

Take your kids out and don't recommend the school to anyone else.

Favouritism goes on in many schools, state and private.

Same couple of favoured children front and centre in the class photo three years running for us. Another child of a parent heavily involved in PTA is regularly chosen for tasks/roles that are an honour.

One child finds the academic work very easy, excels and gets singled out for praise over and over again in assemblies. This child verbally bullies my oldest child and I have mentioned incidences (that have caused tears at bedtime when we talk about the day) to the class teacher who said "it must be happening when it can't be seen by anyone else because no-one else has noticed anything".

I made a donation to fund materials for a specific class project and lo and behold my child was specifically praised in assembly that week for his work on the project. Suspicious, me, I sure am ?

I tolerate the situation because in a way, rather sadly, it reflects real life and I don't want my children cosseted too much in their small primary school. I do however offer reassurance to my oldest child and we will have a new teacher in September who may be less biased.

As for doctoring the SAT results. My oldest child's attainment levels have been understated for 2 years running now. They bring home and are working their way through reading books for an 11 year old but their documented reading age is apparently that of an 8 year old. (I have been made aware by my SIL who is also a teacher that this means the school will officially be able to show that my child is making progress each year under the schools guidance/teaching, even if progress stalls for some reason later on, so boxes ticked, school performing well, etc etc).

If you can't move schools, could you let your kids joind a drama or sports group where merit is based on actual achievement so they can see a different way. Can you protect them from the effect by joking about who will be front and centre at each performance or are they too yooung for that ?

Can you ask for regular meetings with the class teacher over your child's progress in class. Money talks, it's true, but there is also the fact that where it is known that you are proactively taking an interest in your childs' progress, the teacher would be wise to give your child enough attention too. Sometimes, he who shouts loudest...and all that.

This sounds rather like my primary school was when it was first started. The good news was that it had substantially improved by the time my youngest sibling attended 10 years later but that was after a number of changes in heads and the leaving of some of the rich donors for various reasons to be replaced with others.

Even though it has changed remarkably I would not consider sending my ds there for many different reasons.

The children who were treated in a similar way to the way you described either suffered a lot or moved schools.

I'd be very grateful if you could CAT me the name of the school, or let me CAT you which one I think it might be, as I'm applying for schools for ds at the moment around NW london and have a feeling this might be my no.2 choice.

Gosh if I had such concerns about a school that my dcs were attending that I resigned as governor I would also have moved my dcs to an alternative school.

No idea about conspiracy theories but at my ds's end of year concert he was seated in alphabetical order!

I don't think this thread says anything about private or state schools. Favouritism goes on in both.

Message withdrawn

If its any consolation I think most schools are the same when it comes to favouring the kids of governors/teachers' friends/people of social 'stature'.
The only clout you have really is 'purchasing power'.So you need to talk to other parents , see if they feel the same and are willing to act collectively to complain to the governing body.If you have the backing of all these former teachers ,the credibilty of your complaint incresases enormously and the potential for public embarassment should this leak should concentrate their minds.