Teacher assaulted my son - what to do?

ceridwen

BingoBabe

As far as I can see from skimming this thread - you've had your answers/you've got the consensus of opinion....end of subject...I doubt theres anything further anyone can add (whatever their opinion on this).

I'm afraid continuing this thread is basically just undermining you and ensuring that everyone thinks "no wonder her son is like that".

From my own point of view - I've spent longer in school than many people and have NEVER EVER had cause to complain about one single teacher for one single incident..and I doubt teachers have changed that much since my days. Gawd - I was babysitting for my teachers and generally getting on pretty well with them...because I respected the fact that they were there to teach me and I was there to learn...simple.

Zazen999

bingo_babe wrote: »

Yes, the teacher is still teaching him despite the matter being unresolved.

There have also been 'mediation sessions' imposed on my son without my consent or knowledge.

When your son is being taught by this teacher, how is the relationship? I know you have said that there have been mediation sessions; without you knowing; what is the rationale for these and what progress has been made during the sessions? How and when did you find out about them?

Are you sure these aren't part of the disciplinary that the head has carried out?

If you don't trust the head, can you remove your child into another school, if this incident has caused so much upset [I'm not having a go, I'm trying to work out what has happened since that wasn't covered in your original posts]. Have you requested that a different teacher teaches your child?

bingo_babe

Thanks for Snuggles for one of the more objective responses so far. Thanks too for everyone's input - I have listened.

The conclusion I have reached so far is that what the teacher did was disproportionate, but perhaps so is contemplating calling in the lawyers/police.

I will hear what the head has to say and if I am not satisfied then I will be taking it up with the governors/LEA.

Only as a last resort will I contact the police/lawyers.

Thanks everybody.

ceridwen

bingo_babe wrote: »

Thanks for Snuggles for one of the more objective responses so far. Thanks too for everyone's input - I have listened.

The conclusion I have reached so far is that what the teacher did was disproportionate, but perhaps so is contemplating calling in the lawyers/police.

I will hear what the head has to say and if I am not satisfied then I will be taking it up with the governors/LEA.

Only as a last resort will I contact the police/lawyers.

Thanks everybody.

Correct....it WOULD be disproportionate to call in lawyers/police.

One of my mottoes in life is to work out what level of "firepower" is needed to deal with any incident.....many are just plain not worth the hassle (minor....not worth bothering about at all). Some are worth making a verbal comment about. Theres VERY few worth engaging in full-scale "battle" about......save your "firepower" for those that are basically "life and death matters". Life is too short to "bring in the cavalry" for things unless they have "major importance" and this is NOT one of them.

aimee21j

I think that is wise bingo babe. I do however feel that you are failing to listen to all the good advice given here, whether you agree with it or not. Well done on reaching a conclusion and I hope it ends happily for all parties.

bingo_babe

I learnt about the mediation sessions from my son - I've had no feedback from the school. The teacher is still teaching my son and unsurprisingly can't be nice enough to him.

I have also warned my son not to exploit the situation.

This has rumbled on because the school did absolutely nothing for two weeks and has been very slow to respond to my letters/emails.

Then I wasted a few weeks on a lawyer that never came back to me.

Moving my son to another school isn't really much of an option as he sits his GCSEs next year. He is working hard and I am not allowing this saga to interfere with his studies.

In my initial question I gave a list of options - accept this behaviour from a 'professional' was not on my list of options.

liney

The witness statements, like references given about an employee, belong to the author. Without their permission you are not at liberty to see them. They were likely to be given in the first place on the basis of strict confidentiality and it would be unacceptable to try to pressure the children into allowing a 3rd party to see them at this later date effectively breaking their trust and any likelyhood of them providing any further statements for any future events.

Curv

bingo_babe wrote: »

I agree. And on the other side of the coin is for the teacher to act in a 'professional' way - that is to maintain the attention of their pupils.

Just seen this: so now it's the teacher's fault your son was chatting to his mates?

Given that you've said he has a habit of not concentrating, is it EVERY teachers fault too?

MrsTinks

bingo_babe wrote: »

Are you sure about this? Are you a lawyer? What about the statements made by the teacher?

How would that work then if the police were involved?- Surely blanking out any information that would identify the witness is the solution? Hiding behind the Data Protection act is not exactly conducive to natural justice.

UNLESS ORDERED BY A JUDGE THEY WILL NOT RELEASE ANY SUCH DOCUMENTS TO YOU!

No I'm not a lawyer, but as part of my job I had to know a LOT about the DPA

melancholly

whether fair or not, any excessive push for some apology over 3 months after the event will impact on the way all staff at the school interact with your son. if this is an isolated incident with an otherwise good teacher (although i appreciate not everyone may like their informal style), then let it go. it's about to be GCSE year for your son - time to move on and put energy towards them. i don't think the school handled this particularly well, but i don't see it as worth going after. there was no 'intent' to the incident, just poor judgement - do you want to wreck a career and your son's relationship with all his teachers over this?

if your son was at risk, i'd have a very different response, but clearly that isn't the case.