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AIBU?

AIBU To Resign Over This?

44 replies

DaisyBug · 17/05/2013 22:32

Can't say too much as obviously have to protect confidentiality.

I'm a primary teacher in a small private school. I've been trying to tell management since the first week of the year that a particular child in my class has severe behavioural difficulties and requires constant 1:1 support (and certainly far more than my TA and I can reasonably provide when we have 25 other children to think of too). He is completely out of control and cannot be left alone for a second. He frequently hurts other children and shows no remorse. In fact he usually finds it hilarious. I took some observations of him to show my old tutor way back in October. She took one look at them and said, 'This is a child with special needs.'

Yet management are in denial. They say, 'You just need to distract him with something' ... 'He's doing quite well really. Look at his writing' .... 'He's just upset because his parents have separated. You just need to give him lots of hugs and he'll be fine.'

Last week he attacked another child so badly that she had to be blue-lighted to hospital. Still management are not taking the issues seriously enough in my view. The parents have been called in and spoken to, yet the child is being slowed to remain in class without no extra support.

I'm seriously considering threatening to resign, saying I am concerned for the safety of the other children. I could not honestly tell their parents that I feel able to keep them safe. I also fear the consequences for my own career if there were to be another serious incident like this.

AIBU to kick up a huge fuss over this do you think, possibly even threatening to go to the press?

OP posts:
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JamieandtheMagicTorch · 17/05/2013 22:34

Do small Private Schools have SENCOs?

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LoganMummy · 17/05/2013 22:35

I'm not a teacher but I do work in the media. "Going to the press" would be career suicide.

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JamieandtheMagicTorch · 17/05/2013 22:37

I'd have thought that what might force the Head's hand is complaints by other parents. However, don't know how that would pan out for the child in question.

Sorry, don't know anything about the Private system

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GW297 · 17/05/2013 22:38

Look for another job and then resign. Why aren't the other parents withdrawing their children if they are being badly hurt by this child and the school isn't doing anything about it?

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stargirl1701 · 17/05/2013 22:38

You MUST speak to your union. If you're not in one, join. Now. Tonight. You need a high level of support from out with the school. Now, now, now.

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Hassled · 17/05/2013 22:39

Who's above "management"? Do you have a governing body?

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KirstyJC · 17/05/2013 22:40

If a child was so seriously injured that they needed hospital treatment as a result then were the police involved? If it was an assault then they should have been, surely?

Have you got these concerns you've raised in writing?

What does your union advise? What does your TA think?

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hiddenhome · 17/05/2013 22:40

You need to put your concerns in writing and send the letter to the management - use recorded delivery to ensure that they can't deny receiving it.

You also need to contact your union for advice.

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Panzee · 17/05/2013 22:41

This happened to me. Something was only done when the poor child attacked a member of SMT - typical! Just something to ponder...

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TeWiSavesTheDay · 17/05/2013 22:47

I would DP everything I possibly could to bring written attention to this to your managers - if they still won't listen, then yes I would look for a job elsewhere and tell the parents before I left that I thought their child may have SEN, and if they agreed they would be best to pursue diagnosis outside of the school.

Is that the right thing? I don't know.

I don't think going to the press will help you or the boy though.

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scaevola · 17/05/2013 22:48

A child being rushed for hospital treatment following an attack by another child is going to lead to a slew of parental complaints. It can't be kept quiet.

Sorry to be blunt, but is the school likely to sacrifice you to try to save its reputation.

Whatever you decide to do about your future at this establishment, you might want to make sure you have secured your own copies of any records you made of discussions with SMT about this child's behaviour, plus requests for additional support, plus documents showing you shared your observations with appropriate colleagues.

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Corygal · 17/05/2013 22:51

Private schools - at any rate, the selective ones - don't really do SEN. How did the child get in?

Don't put yourself at risk- you'll get nothing back. Except possibly the sack. Never ever threaten to resign unless you mean it - the school may jump at the chance to get rid of trouble.

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flanbase · 17/05/2013 22:55

Aren't the parents complaining on this - including those of the child who has sen?

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manicinsomniac · 17/05/2013 22:57

blue lighted to hospital?! Wow, surely the parents have been in in droves to complain?

At the averaged sized private school where I work we get parental complaints when a child kicks, bites, punches or throws something at another child (I think that's correct by the way, I'm not moaning at parents just saying that such a major incident has surely not gone unnoticed!)

What's the SEN policy like at your school? Ours is considered the go to private school in our area for non academic and special needs children but, if a child is unable to access the curriculum or control their behaviour even as part of the SEN department and with 2Xweekly extra lessons/counselling support, then they have to have a 1:1 or leave the school. And the 1:1 will not be funded by the LEA as the parents have opted out of the state system so the parents pay for it themselves.

So if yours is anything like ours then, unless the parents can and will pay for a 1:1, then I don't see how you can be expected to keep the child.

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OhLori · 17/05/2013 23:05

Honestly, FFS, what is wrong with the school, headmaster, etc? I think you need to lose your fucking cool and tell them to deal with it. I would walk the child into the headteacher's to deal with, no kidding. I would also contact your union pronto. Or the local police. Whatever it takes.

I am actually getting pissed off (not you OP) at how spineless teachers are on AIBU and moan and whinge endlessly whilst doing nothing about terrible situations. But you have my big sympathy too, there can be a price to pay, unless of course you are very political and clever about it, do that if you can.

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Littlefish · 17/05/2013 23:11

This is a safeguarding issue. I suggest you contact the socisl services access centre or duty social worker to discuss it with them.

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masirah · 17/05/2013 23:20

For goodness sake, do something! This child will only escalate it's bad behaviour until something serious happens (it might have already occurred). As a teacher you have a responsibility to protect the other children from the little shit. As someone else has said on here, create a paper trail from you to the head. If one of my children was being picked on and I found out that staff were allowing it to continue, the head would be looking at an inquiry.

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AnneEyhtMeyer · 17/05/2013 23:20

Really?

A "small private school" with 25 or 26 pupils in a class?

A pupil behaving so violently that another classmate is blue-lighted to hospital and none of the parents have withdrawn their children?

Hmm

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mousebacon · 17/05/2013 23:24

Contact your union as a matter of urgency.

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wetspringday · 17/05/2013 23:29

the union won't help. Only you know if you WBU, I have resigned over kids' behaviour but only when I had another job to go to and not just one kid (although I'm not primary.)

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OhLori · 17/05/2013 23:40

But wetspringday, doesn't that just make things continue, ad infinitum, the sense of fatalism and lack of responsibility continuing to your successor? I can understand that you need to protect your well-being and your mental health, but equally how could you "take the rap" for the bad behaviour of other people, even if you found another job to go to? Honest question. But I notice you put kids' behaviour, not kid's behaviour, so I am assuming you were outnumbered. Even so, why don't teachers go for the jugular here?

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zipzap · 17/05/2013 23:46

How well do you get on with the parents of the badly injured child? (hope s/he is recovering well by the way)

Could you confidentially confide in them that you are worried about the dangerous boy and the lack of support you're getting from the head and ask them to make a really really serious complaint (I'm sure they must be thinking about it anyway) that is not only complaining about the incident but their worries for their dc's future safety. Obviously get them to agree not to mention you or agree a way between you whereby it looks like they approached you and you answered their questions honestly along the lines of not being able to guarantee it won't happen again to their child or any other as nothing has changed from when the incident happened. But done in such a way that you can't be accused of breaching child confidentiality!

Sounds like a horrible position to be in for everybody concerned (except management ream who are dealing with it by not bothering to be concerned).

What do the child's parents say? Do they acknowledge that actually nice handwriting doesn't actually alway correlate with a nicely behaved child; that there can be children with nice handwriting and sen?

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GW297 · 17/05/2013 23:47

Agree union won't help. The school will do anything to maintain its reputation. Just do your best to get another job as soon as you can. Also agree 25-26 does seem large for a private school class.

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GW297 · 17/05/2013 23:50

Zipzap - that's not how private schools operate in my experience. The child's parents will be unlikely to make a fuss at the perceived risk of jeopardising his place at the school and the school will want to keep their 'customers' happy as they want the school fees.

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masirah · 18/05/2013 00:29

So, it seems to me that nothing will happen until someone grows a pair and actually does something. Sorry people, teachers need to be able to stop finnyfannying about and get things changed. Difficult I accept but there MUST be a route where this type of problem can be stopped.
Am I being naive?

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