What Happens Next? Re: School

PrincessPlaty

Ok i think its probably best if this thread doesnt turn into a debate about council opening hours they didnt answer the phone and i rang until it cut off no big deal i will just try again tomorrow

Right the woman i spoke to from the NSPCC advised me to get in contact with ofsted and these people http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/ obviously neither of which i can do until tomorrow though.

A friend of mine mentioned earlier because i put my complaint in writing then they have to inform me in writing of the outcome of the situation and if they dont then ofsted will rip them to shreds pretty much.

Also spoke to another friend of mine who is a teaching assistant she has advised me not to let her back into the classroom with the teacher as if it was to go to court in the future that would be the first thing that they would throw in my face so will talking to DD before school in the morning as didnt get much sense out of her this evening the trampoline was apparently more entertaining than talking to me! :rotfl:

I may well just mention contacting ofsted to the head tomorrow morning when i see her and just make it clear how unhappy i am with the way it has been dealt with, the school does very well in ofsted reports and is currently amalgamating with the junior school next door as from september so anything against them wouldnt look to good!

mikey72

Contact the chair of governors, let the head know of this, and ask the head for a copy of their procedure on a reported assault, and they will know that you mean to make them follow it then.
It won't be instant though, they can take days to sort this, and to be fair to teachers in general, the procedure will allow for a proper investigation.
The fact her friend can't remember anything isn't a plus point either.

PrincessPlaty

mikey72 wrote: »

The fact her friend can't remember anything isn't a plus point either.

Maybe not but at the end of the day we are talking about 2 5 year olds here and this happened 6 days ago, from what DD has said it was only today that the head spoke to DD and her friend, DD didnt say that she did it to him so if nothing out of the ordinary happened to him then what are the chances of a 5 year old remembering something of no particular relevance to them a week later?

bylromarha

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

What a horrid situation. Poor DD.

Can appreciate head doesn't know what to do in this situation. It is VERY rare this sort of thing happens. The county council though are at the end of the phone and she should be battering their door down getting a suitable response. From reading your responses though, it sounds like she's trying to ride it out til the summer holidays. But that means a new class in September with this teacher, which is wholly unacceptable.

Teachers are practically impossible to fire BTW, you have to collate hard evidence, and I'm not certain that the incident with your DD is hard evidence unfortunately. Should be, but don't think it is sadly.

The options you've been given, I agree, are not ideal. With school holidays around the corner, could a 3rd option be starting school holidays earlier? Just pulling her out of school for the rest of term and starting fresh in year 1 with a new teacher? If DD became 5 since the start of the summer term, then legally she doesn't need to be in school yet. EWO can get as involved as they want. They have evidence from the entire year as to how this teacher has affected DD.

Safeguarding guidelines have recently been reviewed by Ofsted. If a school has been found to have poor safeguarding procedures, it automatically fails its inspection, even if everything else is outstanding.

is this page any good for people to call? The link entitled
MSCB Procedures for Managing Allegations against People who work with Children


has some phone numbers which may be of use at the bottom. What you really need on the phone is someone who is an expert in safeguarding and knows how the system works for schools in your area.

I would also be writing the the chair of governors, telling them you are asking advice at Ofsted. I'd be calling them tomorrow and, without naming the school, ask their advice

0300 123 4666 if you want to make a complaint or have a concern about any service Ofsted inspects or regulates (8.00am to 6.00pm)

Don't be fobbed off either - they'll try to pass the buck, but someone out there knows what the Head should be doing in this situation.

BTW, I'm saying all this as a primary governor who used to be a senior manager in a large primary school. I've never had to face this sort of incident before when I was key stage 1 manager, but would have ensured I was doing everything possible to find a solution that meant DD was walking into school with a smile on her face.

All the best OP - will be thinking of you tomorrow as you try to find a solution.

mikey72

PrincessPlaty wrote: »

Maybe not but at the end of the day we are talking about 2 5 year olds here and this happened 6 days ago, from what DD has said it was only today that the head spoke to DD and her friend, DD didnt say that she did it to him so if nothing out of the ordinary happened to him then what are the chances of a 5 year old remembering something of no particular relevance to them a week later?

It was just an observation, without any other witness, and the fact the teacher has denied it will make it difficult to pursue.

From other comments by posters, it is very indeed hard to fire a teacher, but very easy to have a teacher resign and/or retire, and move on to a different profession.

faded_flowers

Sounds like me at five Along with 'tummy aches' I would cry all the way to school, had no particular friends, wouldn't speak to the teacher. Crunch point was when the head locked me in a room for hiding under a table from him!

My mum moved me to another primary, where I settled in and had no problems from then on...

Fang_3

bylromarha wrote: »

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

What a horrid situation. Poor DD.

Can appreciate head doesn't know what to do in this situation. It is VERY rare this sort of thing happens. The county council though are at the end of the phone and she should be battering their door down getting a suitable response. From reading your responses though, it sounds like she's trying to ride it out til the summer holidays. But that means a new class in September with this teacher, which is wholly unacceptable.

Teachers are practically impossible to fire BTW, you have to collate hard evidence, and I'm not certain that the incident with your DD is hard evidence unfortunately. Should be, but don't think it is sadly.

The options you've been given, I agree, are not ideal. With school holidays around the corner, could a 3rd option be starting school holidays earlier? Just pulling her out of school for the rest of term and starting fresh in year 1 with a new teacher? If DD became 5 since the start of the summer term, then legally she doesn't need to be in school yet. EWO can get as involved as they want. They have evidence from the entire year as to how this teacher has affected DD.

Safeguarding guidelines have recently been reviewed by Ofsted. If a school has been found to have poor safeguarding procedures, it automatically fails its inspection, even if everything else is outstanding.

is this page any good for people to call? The link entitled
MSCB Procedures for Managing Allegations against People who work with Children


has some phone numbers which may be of use at the bottom. What you really need on the phone is someone who is an expert in safeguarding and knows how the system works for schools in your area.

I would also be writing the the chair of governors, telling them you are asking advice at Ofsted. I'd be calling them tomorrow and, without naming the school, ask their advice

0300 123 4666 if you want to make a complaint or have a concern about any service Ofsted inspects or regulates (8.00am to 6.00pm)

Don't be fobbed off either - they'll try to pass the buck, but someone out there knows what the Head should be doing in this situation.

BTW, I'm saying all this as a primary governor who used to be a senior manager in a large primary school. I've never had to face this sort of incident before when I was key stage 1 manager, but would have ensured I was doing everything possible to find a solution that meant DD was walking into school with a smile on her face.

All the best OP - will be thinking of you tomorrow as you try to find a solution.

I think the OP should bear in mind that while it's almost impossible to get a teacher fired, it's very easy to get rid of them. Especially if there is a mounting campaign from the parents about that particular teacher.

Sneezy

Hope you and your DD get this sorted soon - there's nothing worse than dreading going into school.

With trying to get evidence together can you ask parents of older children what the teacher was like and if anything like this has happened before?

P.s where abouts in Manchester (roughly) are you as there are a couple of teachers that are awful where i am?

bylromarha

Fang wrote: »

I think the OP should bear in mind that while it's almost impossible to get a teacher fired, it's very easy to get rid of them. Especially if there is a mounting campaign from the parents about that particular teacher.

Not without just cause or reason.

Best result a campaign from parents will do is get the teacher off on sick leave, still employed by the school and still has to come back as contracted to work.

Plus the unions would have a field day, no doubt getting lawyers involved for letting parents hound a teacher out of their job.

PrincessPlaty

Im certainly not trying to hound anyone out of their job i just want to make sure my DD and any other child is safe in this teachers care.

Spoke with DD last night before bed and again this morning before school and we talked about her staying in the other class until the end of term and then going into her new class in September with her old friends and new teacher.
She was concerned about not seeing her friends and i reminded her that she would still see them at lunchtime and playtime and out of school too and she was happy with that.

Took her in this morning and the head took her down to class and came back and spoke with me she apparently got a bit panicky as they were walking past her classroom but calmed down when she realised they were carrying on walking to the other class and she went in fine. The head did say she would get back to me as soon as she heard back from the county council or if she had any other updates.

So for now i have decided to leave it in her hands and hope that it is dealt with accordingly, whilst DD isnt in the class with her and DD is happy that is my main concern atm!

x