Formal Complaint pshe primary

[RedCarpetRebellion]

Name changed (but I’m easy to trace for those of you I’ve pm’d with or replied to before)

Primary academy. Children with autism.

Have spent weeks emailing and meeting with school, after having discussed it all over email when the guidance updated during lockdown.

Thought we had finally had a meeting where it clicked. But nope.

Have used ssa, tt resources, gen respect printed off the dfe guidance etc to talk them through how they breeched it.

(Gender identity, cisgender, pansexual, asexual)

Received a final reply, that shows the head teacher still doesn’t understand it, or is intentionally trying to be as manipulative as possible. It reads like it’s been dictated by academy chain heads, who I trust even less than her. The safeguarding academy lead will know this is coming due to discussions around other issues about my dc.

The head has misunderstood many points brought up, repeatedly on email and at the meeting. So the points she addresses don’t actually address points raised.

However: she says gender identity is in the equality act and that they have to teach it because kids who are in class have families effected by this. No acknowledgement of the many ways in which I patiently explained it’s breeching the guidance and that gender reassignment does not equal gender identity. They acknowledged in the meeting there’s no evidence base.

She claims they aren’t teaching an ideology as fact and that the council advise this and they are the experts in dfe guidance and have verified the curriculum is fit for purpose. And that they are using the dfe accredited PSHE Association.

And recommended the national autism society page on gender identity and autism.

Now that my forehead is bleeding from continually explaining the obvious to people who don’t get it or won’t get it, I think we’ll have to put in formal complaint.

Especially if this is in any way coming from the council, because that makes this worse at secondary, so we need to know how to challenge it now.

Have forwarded it to safe schools alliance, and pm’d them here, but I’m aware that they are busy.

I would definitely want to follow their advice to copy in ofsted.

Any more advice?

Dh is very supportive about formal complaint and would back me 100%, but I’m the one with the greater grasp on all this. So it will be me having to write it again, and any input about the above non points she came back to me with would really help.

I’m sick to my stomach people responsible for safeguarding ignore dfe.

@2fallsagain @BelleOfTheProvince @TalkingtoLangClegintheDark @BoreofWhabylon @EmbarassingHadrosaurous @foxgoosefinch

& everyone else

Tia

She also offered to send a link to their policy and to get me the details of the their pshe trainer at the meeting and hasn’t.

The policy isn’t on line and I’ve pointed out that’s breeching guidance repeatedly.

I presume that’s why she hasn’t sent me the link she offered.

It’s also a school in a different constituency than we are in. All schools in the city are in this constituency and we are just outside in a Tory constituency. The council is all greens and lib dens and the mp is labour.

I'm afraid I have no expertise in these areas RedCarpet but I'm sure someone on MN will!

You need to find the school complaints policy and follow that. Otherwise it won’t progress.

For a head teacher, never mind a teacher, to say this after several meetings and masses of evidence, suggests she's ideologically captured or unfit for a role that requires reading, writing and communicating.

Fallagain is right. next step is to find out what the complaints procedure and escalation routes are.

@Fallagain

You need to find the school complaints policy and follow that. Otherwise it won’t progress.

I will be. 100%.

Just I’ll have to write the formal complaint so any articulate counter arguments would help. Or advice from those who know more.

If you are the poster I think then you'd gathered a wealth of information, evidence and knowledge and so I don't think I could offer you anything you haven't already thought of, other than to say follow the school complaints procedure and be meticulous in recording in email correspondence. If they are happy with their stance then they'll have no problems affirming it via written record.
I'm disappointed but not surprised.

My advice is to stick to the sections of the Equality Act that are being breached in your letter as opposed to focusing on what's not in the EA.

I agree that it needs to be a formal written complaint as it's too easy for "be kind" to get in the way in informal discussions, so I absolutely think this is the best approach. Plus, it gives you a forum which won't be interrupted by people dismissing your child's experience with other children/obligations in mind, and it allows you to stick to the actual issues and the impact on your DC.

It's very easy to get sidetracked in conversations about how schools should apply the EA, but the important thing to remember is that how schools apply the EA is not your problem to solve - your complaint should focus on the breaches (probably under the protected characteristics of sex, disability and/or philosophical belief) that the school has made by teaching the things that you're complaining about.

Despite what the head may say, it's not your problem that the school has to balance different protected characteristics- it's the school who has to comply with the public sector equality duty in that regard, not the parents!

@Fallagain

You need to find the school complaints policy and follow that. Otherwise it won’t progress.

Having read through their complaints procedure again it’s really vague.

They have categories of ‘type’ of complaint and I’m not sure what this comes under.

I think we’d just have to go for formal complaint in the email title, to the head, but like I say it’s kind of unclear from their policy and I obviously know she’s been completely useless at resolving this informally.

Do I copy ofsted straight into that complaint email? Or follow it up separately.

If they have lied to us frequently claiming they follow guidance and very obviously don’t I think that’s a serious safeguarding risk. But I’m not sure that’s how it should be termed to ofsted.

And as it’s dfe guidance they are refusing to follow shouldn’t they know?

If they have lied to us frequently claiming they follow guidance and very obviously don’t I think that’s a serious safeguarding risk

It's important to give clear evidence of each of the examples where they haven't done what they're supposed to, to the extent you have this. It may be simply that "x was told y in this lesson and it has left them confused because...", etc as opposed to anything tangible or irrefutable, but it's important to make it clear that your accusations are based on facts rather than your just being unhappy with a policy they say they're not using anymore when you suspect otherwise (or whatever's happening- I don't know the details).

Also, I would write it as a proper letter and email it as a pdf attachment.

Refer to the meetings you've had with them on x, y, z dates and which staff were present, etc.

And do headings for each section - brief summary (inc breach of section x of EA), DC's background (disability, whatever's relevant), detail about each breach, references to DoE guidelines and evidence these aren't being followed, etc. Then end with what you want done (explanation, assurance they have changed their practice, etc).

If you're mentioning safeguarding issues, then I'd copy the safeguarding lead too, if that's someone other than the head. And copy the chair of governors or whatever their academy equivalent is.

Usually, it's if they don't do anything after your letter that you'd escalate it to the next level (unless their complaints policy says otherwise).

Cc chair of governors - harder to ignore

Just a quick point, maybe someone will remember where to find this in writing, but I recall that councils may well recommend a certain provider but it's still up to individual schools to do their own due diligence and impact assessments.

This seems mad to me, which is why i remember. You would think that the council would conduct these checks before making such recommendations but apparently not.

Best of luck op

Their complaints policy says not to contact governors in the first stage of formal complaint.

Lies are likely more vague to pin down. Things like I had a long email conversation with head when guidance was first out saying they don’t use outside agencies/organisations/resources (I’d have to check to find exactly wording).

Their policy is finally up on line now (just today) and it includes visitors and leaflets. But I have this feeling that she’d claim that’s not what she was meaning in the emails last year.

I have her on email and the academy senior safeguarding lead in meeting minutes saying I’d get the pshe plan well in advance. They gave me it days before it was to be taught. They then haven’t taught it because I kicked up a huge fuss, but the teacher who put the plan together is new and had loads to deal with from safeguarding fuck ups and bullying that already happened.

The head said policy was online. It wasn’t. But finally is today.

This actually doesn’t feel as vague written down. I think I have been getting the impression they just aren’t bright enough to grasp this (which is the impression many tell me they have of the head) but actually I think they are more likely captured when writing this down.

I’ve always found her very unprofessional in meetings with references to feeling sad we feel this way. But actually that’s just grade a gas lighting isn’t it?

Fuck it.

So formal complaint to head. Titled formal complaint. Will scroll through dates/emails.

And number points.

And fill in the ofsted parent feedback thing.

Do you have screen shots of the website?

Great advice above. I'd be tempted to also email baroness Nicholson with an account of this shit show.

Are they a multi-academy trust? If so there will probably be a school advisory board for your school (who aren’t technically either governors or trustees); plus a trustee board at the top of the academy trust for all the schools. There aren’t governors as such like in a single organisation or LEA school - the closest to governors are the oversight trustees at the top, but they can be very remote and often just back the Head up. But if you have an individual school advisory board I would seek advice from one of the parent advisors or the safeguarding or PSHE link advisors (may be two separate people). If your academy doesn’t have that governance structure then it might be useful to find out what they do have.

I agree with previous posters that if the head is not acknowledging your points then it’s going to be difficult to get things addressed informally. Has the head copied in the lead teacher for PSHE or allowed you to talk with them?

@WarriorN

Do you have screen shots of the website?

Great advice above. I'd be tempted to also email baroness Nicholson with an account of this shit show.

Do you mean before they had added the policy today, nope, but I have emails I’ve pointed it out to the head and she hasn’t refuted it.

That’s great advice about Baroness Nicholson ty.

I will be spending the weekend scrolling through old emails to get dates and exact promises (again sadly, have done this before over a different issue. I should have learned they are trust worthy…)

I will forward the formal complaint once written to the baroness.

Will fill in the parent view thing on ofsted (I don’t think it amounts to a safeguarding breech although there’s serious safeguarding risks involved in ignoring dfe)

Can’t involve govenors or senior academy staff at this point (according to policy) but they’ll know it’s coming.

What on earth are you so upset about? Schools generally try to follow statutory guidance on pshe. There is no political agenda. It seems very odd to be pursuing the school in such a heavy handed way.

Why not just ask if your child can be removed from PSHE lessons?

Lots of parents do this as they don’t want them knowing about sex Ed and things.

@foxgoosefinch

Are they a multi-academy trust? If so there will probably be a school advisory board for your school (who aren’t technically either governors or trustees); plus a trustee board at the top of the academy trust for all the schools. There aren’t governors as such like in a single organisation or LEA school - the closest to governors are the oversight trustees at the top, but they can be very remote and often just back the Head up. But if you have an individual school advisory board I would seek advice from one of the parent advisors or the safeguarding or PSHE link advisors (may be two separate people). If your academy doesn’t have that governance structure then it might be useful to find out what they do have.

I agree with previous posters that if the head is not acknowledging your points then it’s going to be difficult to get things addressed informally. Has the head copied in the lead teacher for PSHE or allowed you to talk with them?

The lead teacher is the class teacher.

The academy senior safeguarding lead the deputy claimed would address it now told me it’s not her area of concern …. (All informal emails as have dealt with her over safeguarding/bullying before - she’s the worst of them all in terms of lack of accountability and manipulation of what’s said).

Yes it’s a MAT. There is a board of governors, but the complaints policy says for formal complaint stage not to contact them at stage one. I’m not sure about the rest of it, but will check.

@RedCarpetRebellion complain to Ofsted. I suggest you send your draft compaint to TGT / SSA and the others you've been working with

OFSTED complaint form
contact.ofsted.gov.uk/online-complaints-schools

Complaints about schools
Page 1 of 8

Note: pages 2 to 4 of the form are about consenting to Ofsted sharing the information you provide on pages 6 to 8 where you tell us about your complaint. You can still submit the form even if you do not consent.

You should consider whether it is appropriate for you to raise your concerns formally with the school before submitting this complaint to Ofsted. If, however, you do wish to submit this complaint now then you should be aware that Ofsted may need to contact the school/provider to progress your complaint.

What Ofsted may do with your complaint
Ofsted will review the details of your complaint to identify if there are any wider concerns about the school it may wish to consider further

Their policy is finally up on line now (just today) and it includes visitors and leaflets. But I have this feeling that she’d claim that’s not what she was meaning in the emails last year

I have her on email and the academy senior safeguarding lead in meeting minutes saying I’d get the pshe plan well in advance. They gave me it days before it was to be taught. They then haven’t taught it because I kicked up a huge fuss

The head said policy was online. It wasn’t. But finally is today.

Ok, I think before you send anything, it's worth getting very clear as to what you're complaining about, what you want to achieve by complaining and which points you can drop.

Given that you have DC who likely need additional support generally, I would advise that you pick your battles carefully (speaking from experience!).

There seems to be some stuff here where the school has probably lied and been thoughtless about things, but where they've realised they've fucked up and are rectifying things as they go.

Complaining isn't the only way to get things done, and if it seems like they might actually be quietly listening to you (and publishing suitable policies, etc) but aren't formally apologising or admitting any failings, it's worth questioning what you're hoping to achieve by complaining if they're actually doing the right things now anyway.

EHRC Equality Act Guidance for schools says that the protected characteristics for the schools provisions are:
• Disability.
• Gender reassignment.
• Pregnancy and maternity.
• Race.
• Religion or belief.
• Sex.
• Sexual orientation.
Age and marriage and civil partnership are NOT protected characteristics for the schools provisions.

What equality law means for you as an education provider: schools

@LonginesPrime

Their policy is finally up on line now (just today) and it includes visitors and leaflets. But I have this feeling that she’d claim that’s not what she was meaning in the emails last year

I have her on email and the academy senior safeguarding lead in meeting minutes saying I’d get the pshe plan well in advance. They gave me it days before it was to be taught. They then haven’t taught it because I kicked up a huge fuss

The head said policy was online. It wasn’t. But finally is today.

Ok, I think before you send anything, it's worth getting very clear as to what you're complaining about, what you want to achieve by complaining and which points you can drop.

Given that you have DC who likely need additional support generally, I would advise that you pick your battles carefully (speaking from experience!).

There seems to be some stuff here where the school has probably lied and been thoughtless about things, but where they've realised they've fucked up and are rectifying things as they go.

Complaining isn't the only way to get things done, and if it seems like they might actually be quietly listening to you (and publishing suitable policies, etc) but aren't formally apologising or admitting any failings, it's worth questioning what you're hoping to achieve by complaining if they're actually doing the right things now anyway.

No. The policy breeches what she’s promised on email before.

And the plan, which I have seen, is what they are refusing to fix (gender identity, cisgender, pansexual, asexual-for primary kids).

Despite showing the parts of dfe this relates to and the part where they say it’s schools responsibility to ensure resources meets dfe they still claim today, in email, that dfe recommended and endorse PSHE Association.

I want them to follow the guidance. 100%, not part way. That’s something that becomes more important with children with autism.

Definitely not going to drop any battles. Especially as she’s just claimed this is on advice of council, because that means it needs fought now before dealing with worse at secondary school.

I don’t think they are trying to work with us at all, I think they gave the impression, but I haven’t ever followed through on it, at best, or out right lied.

If it says formal complaint on the title of the complaint then it is the first thing ofsted sees when next in. So school will surely want to show they have resolved it according to the guidance. I’ve given them numerous chances to do so informally. I want them forced to follow the guidance, because it isn’t optional. And they obviously don’t intend to judging by the email I got today.