On 27 May 2010 at 11:47am JF wrote:
My child is having a horrible time at school being bullied. The Head will not do anything about it and has branded me a 'liar' and intimidated my child into silence. I want to warn prospective parents. Other parents at the school are trying to get the LEA/County involved because of the safety implications for their children ie injuries sustained but not acknowledged by the school. We are looking for alternative school arrangements (as are others) because children are having a bad time and not protected by staff. If anyone has advice, be appreciated. Done the letters to head, letters to Govenors, letters to Chair of Govenors but they are all in each others pockets so hit brick wall.
On 27 May 2010 at 11:58am parent wrote:
Which school?
On 27 May 2010 at 12:51pm Old Cynic wrote:
Try OFSTED?
On 27 May 2010 at 12:54pm fishy wrote:
UM! I think there's more to this story than you are possibly letting on..... 'the Head' INTIMIDATING your child?? BRANDING you a liar??? "INJURIES SUSTAINED BUT NOT ACKNOWLEDGED??? All the authorities in each others pockets???? This sounds like a headline from The Daily Mail.
On 27 May 2010 at 5:05pm Blah blah wrote:
No point warning people if you don't tell us the school. At least it will let the school respond to any acusations.
On 27 May 2010 at 5:06pm JF wrote:
HamseyPrimary in Cooksbridge. I think someone is planning to write to Ofsted but it is not that simple. They seem to look into some stuff but not other stuff, like things that have allegedly happened in the past. Not sure how it will all be resolved but if children keep leaving perhaps the powers that be will investigate.
Just wandered if anyone else has gone up against a head that acts autonimously and come out with a positive result?
On 27 May 2010 at 7:04pm Clifford wrote:
This is a very difficult area. A friend of mine worked for the Parliamentary Ombudsman and tried to deal with a complaint about this (though not this particular school). The headteacher wouldn't help the parents, the local authority said it was his job, Ofsted said it wasn't their job to intervene, the Dept of Education said it was the local authority's job, and the circle of buckpassing continued. In the end all the parent could do was move his child - which isn't good enough as a solution in the long run.
On 27 May 2010 at 8:16pm Floyd wrote:
Have you thought of talking to the police schools liaison officer, I think there's still one based at West Street, Police Station.
On 27 May 2010 at 11:32pm MC wrote:
Somehow I don't think this thread is going to be here much longer. East Sussex County Council don't take lightly to their schools being accused of such stuff on public forums
On 28 May 2010 at 7:15am Clifford wrote:
Even so MC, it might encourage ESCC to at least look into the matter.
On 28 May 2010 at 5:40pm Misery wrote:
This is a very sad story. My son was bullied at his school some years back (before he was 6ft 2inches and 15 stones!) The school didn't want to know. I went to see the head, told him that he would be doing something, like stopping it. If I didn't get satisfaction I would be taking legal action against him as an individual for failing to protect a child in his care. I said all of this in a loud voice 2 inches from his nose! Result was the bullying stopped and my lad had a happy time again! Don't give up on this, you can win
On 31 May 2010 at 1:26pm Max wrote:
I am a parent at Hamsey Primary school and have been so for over 7 years. JF's description of Hamsey bears little resemblance to my experience during this time. In any school there is an inevitable jostling amongst children for status, friendship etc. There have been 3 incidents in my experience with my children where this has reached an unacceptable level and crossed a threshold point which I would call bullying. When these events occurred I spoke to the class teacher and to the head teacher. The bullying behaviour was dealt with promptly and with great skill by the staff and improved relations were re-established almost immediately. My children are now on friendly terms with the children who started to bully them. Far from brushing things under the carpet or ignoring parental concerns, my experience of Hamsey is that this is a good school with a great atmosphere that deals with the inevitable problems of human interaction skillfully and effectively.
On 31 May 2010 at 4:31pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Is Audrey Jarvis still the head? I can't imagine her being soft on bullying.
On 1 Jun 2010 at 3:45pm Another parent wrote:
I am also a parent at Hamsey and simply do not recognise the school or staff as described by JF. In the years that our child has been at the school we have always been very happy with the support and care received. We have no direct knowledge of bullying in the school, and are therefore very surprised by this thread. Hamsey is a very small school and both teachers and the head have excellent understanding of the children - it would therefore be very unlikely for bullying to go undetected. It is also the case that the head has recently consulted extensively with parents and we understand put into place several initiatives to address behavioural and friendship issues.
On 1 Jun 2010 at 6:20pm mr happy wrote:
I also had children at the school and had good experiences there. My children were happy there and only had a couple of incidents that needed a visit to the headmistress. The children didnt learn as much as in some schools but it was a relaxed atmosphere which I found better for my children. I suppose it depends if there are problem children / teachers there at the time. Hope it gets sorted out anyway.
On 6 Jun 2010 at 8:15pm JF wrote:
Yes, County has been informed and OFSTED are due in soon apparently. Mrs Jarvis is no longer there. Think she left several years ago. The only reason that several intiatives have been implemented is becasue of unhappy families appying pressure. It has not come from the school.
Thanks for the support from those that were interested. I hear that some things are being put in place and this can be laid to rest soon.
On 7 Jun 2010 at 6:24pm FP wrote:
Seems a real shame that you had to get to the OFSTED stage in the first place. What is it with some headteachers? My rule is law and you're just a troublesome parent(S). We have an issue at our school, where the Head does not appreciate being challenged, albeit on a different subject, she's currently playing the "you're victimizing me" card, although requesting one to one meetings with said "victimizing" parents and strutting around the playground like a narcissistic meglamaniac. I do hope you get this situation resolved, we shouldn't have to move our kids, because headteachers have issues with self esteem!!
On 23 Jul 2014 at 9:27pm kirstine wrote:
I am considering sending my 4 year old there for reception, would you recommend the school as such?