What would you do? School related

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

balletshoes wrote: »

lots of functioning alcoholics manage it, 9-5, 5 days a week (or even longer possibly).

Not functioning particularly well at present, is she?

iammumtoone

I think there may be two issues here. You can not dismiss anyone for metal health issues the school have a responsibility to their staff as well as the children. However whatever the issues staff can not harass parents (but as you were not the person being harassed you can't complain about this) You say you are now being harassed but you can't prove who is doing it.

I feel for you but not sure what you can do. How do you know about all this? If you do complain you will need to stick to stating facts that you know are true and not just gossip you have heard in the playground (not saying this is how you have got your info)

How old is your child? Are they old enough to be able to tell you if they have been treated wrongly / differently to the other children by the people concerned. If they have mentioned anything then I would be straight up to the school as then you do have reasonable grounds for a complaint.

balletshoes

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Not functioning particularly well at present, is she?

the OP hasn't said anything about her not performing her dinnerlady duties satisfactorily, unless I missed that?

paulineb_2

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Did you harass and intimidate people as a result of your illness, or because of any other difficulties in your personal life, though?



If she's behaving in such as way, she is either so ill that she needs to be compelled to seek assistance and is in no fit state to be working - or she is simply a nasty, aggressive bully who has no business working anywhere.




I'd go and see the Head and let them know you wish to know their plans for dealing with the situation whilst you seek legal advice both regarding the school's responsibilities towards the staff working in their premises AND regarding the woman herself. And that you will be bringing the matter up with the Governing Body following the meeting.

Any other difficulties in my personal life?

I didnt mention my personal life in anything I said above.

And asking me if I harassed or intimidated anyone has nothing to do with anything I said earlier.

I already made it clear I dont think its acceptable what the OP is going through.

But I'm appalled by some of the comments made earlier about people with mental health issues.

And I've got nothing more to say on this thread.

Valli

Krayzee wrote: »

>The school should not discuss their concerns with you at all.
I don't understand where this sentence came from. It's not their concerns, the concerns are mine and parents are free to discuss their concerns in the appropriate manner.
I'm an intelligent human being, I have to consider that being an alcohol-dependant depressive doesn't stop during the hours of 9-5, then start again when you clock out. What happened today to us happened outside her employment, and if this is the first and last of it then great, but as I've said, I'm one to be prudent, and I'm finding out my options. Or trying to anyway...

Just out of interest, when you quote someone else's post don't delete the part at the beginning and the end of the quote, in square brackets[][] as it's not clear, at present, what you're quoting IYSWIM - the bit I've bolded in the above quote is not actually what you've written but your quote of someone else's post - just trying to be helpful here! Then the post you're replying to, and have quoted, will be apparent to everyone.

You're expecting a school to act on your opinion; until she messes up for herself she isn't going to lose her job.

If you genuinely feel her being close to your children is putting them in danger take meritaten's advice and change schools.

Janey7

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Not functioning particularly well at present, is she?

As far as I can make out (and unless the OP is able to provide further details), all the evidence for harassment comes from charming playground gossip about the dinner lady's marriage breakdown and mental health issues, and the fact that there is bad blood between the dinner lady and one of the mums.

marisco_2

When a parent has valid concerns, about staff members who come into contact with their child within the school they attend, the first thing to do is to arrange a meeting with the head teacher. Depending on the situation it may be advisable for the child's class teacher and the school SENCO to be present. If after attending this meeting any problems continue, then you can contact the school governors and ask for their considered input over what is going on.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

balletshoes wrote: »

the OP hasn't said anything about her not performing her dinnerlady duties satisfactorily, unless I missed that?

If she's harassing people and their children, then in pretty much any job I have ever had, that's gross misconduct and grounds for dismissal. And if they were to gain a conviction for such behaviour, the DBS Enhanced Disclosure would make pretty interesting reading for any employer.

Of course, if slapping a few bits of processed crud on a plastic plate and handing it to a kid is particularly different, and not subject to any DBS checks, I'm sure you'll enlighten me.

balletshoes

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

If she's harassing people and their children, then in pretty much any job I have ever had, that's gross misconduct and grounds for dismissal. And if they were to gain a conviction for such behaviour, the DBS Enhanced Disclosure would make pretty interesting reading for any employer.

Of course, if slapping a few bits of processed crud on a plastic plate and handing it to a kid is particularly different, and not subject to any DBS checks, I'm sure you'll enlighten me.

but the OP has no proof?

Dunroamin

Krayzee wrote: »

What would you do if the school your young child went to, employs an alcohol-dependant, manic depressive with a history of failed suicide attempts, to serve children their lunch every day?

I am painfully serious and the background is thus: said dinnerlady's marriage recently fell apart and she blamed one of the school mums (she was convinced there was an affair going on, the alcohol and depression was probably the reason, it sounds like a vicious cycle, but I digress). She, and two of her friends (also employed by the school) began harassing this mum in various ways and no amount of calls to the police, headmaster or Ofsted has changed the situation.

Unfortunately my wife is now the target as she is a friend of this mum (I know, it's like we're 12 years old in the playground again... although no other friends have been targetted) and I can confirm there has been no provocation on her/our part. This morning (Sunday 07:15) two ambulance paramedics turned up responding to a phone call from an hour earlier (can't imagine what happened during the phone call for there to be an hour's delay but I'm thankful they didn't turn up at 6am) and confirmed that the address was correct. Obviously they can't confirm to the general public where the call originated from, but I'm in the process of confirming it. They reported it to the police, as did we, but we were told they weren't going to do anything about it.

Now, if said dinnerlady (or her friends) don't care about waking me and my children at 7am on a Sunday, then I'm concerned for their safety at the school. Maybe it's a stretch, but I err on the side of prudence. Can I trust her to safely deliver lunch to my child. Can I trust her friend to teach my child without bias - this is rhetorical, I know there is bias, not long until my child is out of that class thank goodness.

So, despite these issues, this dinnerlady is still being employed by the school. I honestly don't know why, it's a well respected school with a great reputation. What can I do about it? Write to the headteacher? Arrange a meeting to discuss my concerns? Go to the council, Ofsted. We are keeping all records in case none of this works and ultimately feel like we have to expose what's happening to the press, but we won't go there just yet.

I'm writing this because, up until today it was nothing to do with us. It still isn't but I have to think of the safety of my children above all else, whilst still trying not to over-react.

Thank you

C

Sounds like there's a lot more going on here than first appreas and that there's at least another side to it.