Guidelines on employing parents in school

[RagingAnger]

Are there any official guidelines? In my experience parents are not employed in their own child's year group due to conflict of interest / confidentiality.

If the new staff member can't be trusted with confidentiality then they shouldn't be employed in the school. They must work under exactly the same conditions as everyone else.

I don't think there are any official guidelines. It would be important to take the child's best interests into account - if they are likely to be adversely affected by a parent being around then the parent should be working in a different part of the school.

Thank you, just as I thought. The inability to adhere to confidentiality has already been proven. Any tips on broaching this so it doesn't become a 'he said, she said' debacle? And I am assuming correctly that the parent's presence should not affect children connected with their child adversely either?

Are you a parent or staff member. Either way, broach this factually with the appropriate line manager, without sharing it with other staff or parents first.

I'm another TA in the class. Parent involved has been v unpleasant towards a little girl in the class after her own child bullied her. SLT aware, I think, happened over a year ago but little girl visibly nervous around her.

Seems to me that the guidelines are nothing to do with parents but the fact that a TA would display a general lack of care and professionalism by being unkind to another child, or being biased and displaying favouritism.

In my experience professional members of staff do not have a problem teaching in their own class.