![]() The students, being children, are by definition also odd. Schools can be odd institutions, with odd ways of operating, and often employing odd people. The head and I had a chuckle, and I went back to my classroom secretly pleased to have been called “trendy” for the first time in my life. The next day I was hauled into the head’s office to be read a spittle-flecked diatribe about how a particular parent felt Thatcher “saved this country from the Argentinians”, and they did not send their child to my school to be “indoctrinated by trendy lefty teachers”. Not my best, but the sort of thing that raises a loyal chuckle on a boring Thursday afternoon. I was introducing A-level coursework, and told my class of year-13s that they had to choose a question that had an element of historical doubt, so there was no point in a question like “Is Blair a bit dishonest?” or “Was Thatcher evil?”. This is not a positive relationship for the future.Įarly on in my teaching career, I suffered this fate. When the dust settles, your child will still be in that teacher’s class, only now he’s going to be getting a lot of individualised PhD-standard homework which you’ll have to help him with every night until your eyeballs bleed. In less sensible schools, many man-hours will be wasted in justification, explanation and recrimination as everyone scrambles to cover their arses. In sensible schools, this will be laughed at, and then ignored after a polite acknowledgement. Do not write a steaming novella to the chair of governors complaining that your son’s civil rights have been denied. Either way, you’ll have created a positive relationship for the future. You may get a slightly different version of events than your child’s, or you may get a teacher who apologises for a case of confused record-keeping. If you think a raw deal has been had, then speak to the teacher, politely. Your child is adamant that no instruction was received. Let’s say a harassed teacher gives your child a sanction for missing homework. Anyway, if you complain about this, you’ll rapidly become the sort of parent who, when your name is mentioned, causes teachers to raise their eyebrows and mutter “Oh, that Mrs Smith”. As an aside, it always seems to be the parents who are most committed to competition, setting, ranking and all the rest of the dog-eat-dog stuff who get most upset when the dog bites their own puppy. There can’t be many teachers who haven’t at some time had to point out that, yes, Tom is a bright boy, and yes, he’s been making good progress, but no, he can’t go in the top set because there are 200 students in his year, 30 chairs in a classroom and 100 kids who are performing better than him. The most common complaint of this kind tends to arrive with “setting”. Shocking, I know, but what can you do? It’s just possible that your offspring might not be the very best footballer or scholar. ![]() The school has to manage all the children, including the ones who aren’t yours. Complaining that she didn’t get the lead in the nativity play, or that he’s not captain of the football team, is pointless because you don’t know how other children are doing. ![]() Try to remember that your child is not the only student in the school. Let’s look at some ways and means of making your point effectively to a school. But don’t expect Johnny to win any more “Star of the Week” certificates. If you don’t want a positive relationship with your child’s school, then feel free to go and tell the headteacher exactly what you think of the colour of his new academy chain-sponsored Ferrari, and the fact that he only seems to be employing sixth-formers as teachers. After all, how would you want a teacher to approach your child’s mistakes: “Try doing it this way next time”, or “You got it wrong, you incompetent git”? That requires a little more reason and a little less shouting. You’re trying to get something to change. You’re not complaining to get someone into grief, satisfying though that may seem at times. If that doesn’t help, just don’t lose sight of your objective. They’re the sign of minds missing their meeting, and they’ll do nothing for your relationship with your child’s teacher. So how best to go about complaining to a school? Like all institutions, though, schools do occasionally cock things up, and the fact that it’s their child on the receiving end can make parents hotter under the collar than they would be about a bit of overdone steak. Think carefully before putting on your Mr Angry face and marching into the school for a spot of ranting
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |