Parental complaint ABOUT MOI!!

[ByronBaby]

My HT has received a written complaint about my work and this is it ...

Their child can't work (their words - I would say learn!) because the classroom environment is too distracting. This surprised me because my room is a peaceful place this year and this has been the subject of comment from visiting advisors, the HT, other teachers. I have a very peaceable lot this year. Apparently it is the 'scratching of pencils' and children using their erasers that the child is finding distracting.

And the parent is complaining that I don't appear to be in my room much this year and why haven't they been told that I am 'sharing my class'. Since the beginning of the academic year I have had 3 planning/ marking/ report writing/ SEN meetings days, 1 day at a conference and 2 days to visit the hospital to check out a mystery lump in my breast (not that any parent needs to know this). My HT is talking about running further days out of my classroom past these parents. WHY? Surely they can just get stuffed!!

I cannot see how any angst from SLT over this complaint is needed. In any event, there is very little I can do.

Just venting really ...

Not off the back of a parental complaint like that no. I would ask my staff to keep an eye on it and use their professional opinion on it

Of course a complaint about pencil scratchings is bonkers. So, not all parents can express their real concerns eloquently. That doesn't mean you have to pander to their rudeness. And your HT sounds a bit drippy. Why would you run management decisions past parents?! That's not going to end well....

You should be pleased - if this is the worst they can come with as a complaint you must be doing fine!

I can see why your annoyed but If it is sensory issues they wont go away regardless of how much a Dc is expected to learn to cope. Maybe the parents of the Dc have already subtly tried to make suggestions to you or another member of staff (like I have with Ds's CT's repeatedly in the past and still find myself doing now) but you believe that it is something the Dc just needs to get on with so they have now tried to get the message across via the HT?

My Ds has problems with all background noise, he is unable to block it out so it's all or nothing, he spends all day taking in not only the numerous sounds of the classroom (regardless of how quiet the staff think the room is) but also from other classrooms, corridors and outside too. It eventually causes pain in his ears and migraines which knock him sick. He has never been shielded away from these things so he can cope with it to a point but then his behavior starts to deteriorate...cue rudeness to staff, shouting at his friends who whisper within a foot of him, the next staff member to raise their voice etc. I have pointed this out many times to many class teachers over the years and I have been and still am treated like one of those parents, Ds was shouted at even more because the CT wont bow down to a parent and he spends most of his time in trouble for the knock on effects mentioned above. Tbh past experience have now made me weary when dealing with CT's and I have wondered about just going straight to the top. Maybe that's why the parents have done what they have?

Instead of being pissed off about the way it has been approached maybe you could sit with the parents and come up with some ideas of how the Dc can overcome the difficulties he/she is facing?

If the child is that sensitive and struggiling so much then I would question whether the child should be in a classroom environment at all. The CT should be supported for the v.difficult job they do well. In few other work environments would u go above a person and bully,infer and generally whine on about bugger all and yet CT's put up with it all the time...no wonder the good ones r shipping out in droves. In years to come parents will have an education system they have created...dire.

But is it actually a complaint?
I would interpret this as a parental concern about their child's sensory issues, which they want school to take notice of. Yes, they have raised it formally, but you don't need to take this personally at all unless they have had conversations with you about it previously and they have not felt listened to.