Bullies? Further Action?

[Nikki]

My cousin who is 13 goes to a west midlands high school. for just over a year since being in high school, he has been bullied.He has slight autism, and the other kids in the school take note he is a little slower than the rest but still deserves the right to learn.

His mum has been up the school on countless times to see the head teacher and still nothing as happened.
Money taken off him, dinner taken off him if he takes it to school so he goes all day without any food. shoes nicked, the list is endless.

im getting very sick of it as when i see him it brings a tear to my eye. i would go up myself when i am calmer as i know ill end of causing up roar which is not what he needs right now.

question is how do i find out the board of guvnors for that school? shelfield high school, west midlands is the school. i have tried google but to no avail.

many thanks in advance

[Bald Bouncer]

Not sure about finding out the board of guvnors but I would suggest she also puts her complaints in writing, keep a copy and either posts them recorded delivery or get a receipt for them when handing them over.
You often find that they will lie about reports etc if the shit hits the fan or if you take it above them, this sort of action normally gets better results as well as they are aware you are recording your reports and lack of action could be traced directly back to them.

[spookythang]

You should be able to get a list of the governors/parent governors from the LEA and also put in a complaint to them at the same time. If the school's policy on bullying is anything less than zero tolerance they must intervene.

[liveseytowers]

I agree with BB on that, put everything in writing rather than go to the school directly as they are more likely to act on your complaint then.

If they don't seem to be acting on it then you can complain about the school to ofsted as well which is never a good thing for the school. I'd consider threatening them with this as well.

Good luck though its a tricky situation to be in. Different things work for different situations. I was a bit of a knob when I was younger and jumped on the bandwagon and used to call the girl at school chicken legs. When she was delivering papers to my house I threw water all over her. An hour later her dad came round and had ago at my dad.

I never did anything to her again.

I know now it was stupid and completely regret it.

[Nikki]

Thanks for the responses.

I will get her to write in via recorded delivery, detailing all her visits to the school, all of which have had zero outcome and the problem is still persisting. detailing dates and who she spoke to. lets see what we get from it.

thank you very much, will keep you posted

[maltloaf]

threatening to and then finally going to ofsted is definately the way to go. Heads are very good at fobbing people off, until their scorecard is threatened.

good luck. I was bullied as a kid and nothing ever happened then either, until suddenly got bigger than them and I took matters into my own hands. I know how miserable I was sometimes at school and wouldnt wish it on anyone so all the best wishes for you/him

[BertRoot]

Go to the LEA as well. Let them know Ofsted is your next step if you get no response fairly quickly.

[super mike]

More info on the complaints procedure here: http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/educ...t_a_school.htm

Go and ask the head for a list of governors, not sure of they have to give it out, but if not you could consider going to the next meeting.

[diablos]

Guns is you man for issues at schools, on second thoughts scrub that advice.

Lets hope the kid get some help must be miserable going to school each day knowing your in for a hard time.

[ka$h]

I'm struggling to find 'Shelfield High' Nikki, is it known as something else now (Comprehensive maybe?)

Walsall is your LEA and is easily found at: http://www.walsall.gov.uk/index/education.htm

Their education section lists the following complaints procedure:

If you have a concern the school would like to hear about it.

You can be assured that whatever the nature of your concern, the school's support for your child will not change in any way. All concerns will be properly considered.
A school should be informed about a concern as soon as possible, so that it can be investigated.
Many concerns can be quickly resolved with goodwill, often by making early contact with the class teacher.

While you cannot always expect a school to agree with your point of view, your concerns will be properly considered and if there are lessons to be learned which will prevent a problem arising again, then the school will take action.

Your role as a parent or carer, and your views, are important. Walsall Children's Services and Walsall schools are committed to listening to, and working with, parents and carers.

How to make a complaint

1. Informal stage

Most complaints will be dealt with directly by the school.

If you have a concern, it is likely that you will have already raised this with a member of school staff. If you have not already done so, then you should contact the named person who will deal with your complaint. Depending on the nature if the complaint this would probably be the Deputy Head teacher, Head teacher or another person named as the school contact. If you are unsure then you should phone the school in the first instance.

Depending on the seriousness of your complaint, the following information would be helpful:

A note of the time and dates of any incidents
The names of any witnesses
Once sufficient information is to hand, your complaint will be investigated informally. You will receive a response, which at this stage may be verbal, or may be in writing. You may be invited to a meeting to further discuss your concerns, and to see if a quick resolution is possible. Most complaints will be dealt with in this way.

If your complaint is about the conduct of the Head teacher and cannot be resolved informally then you should contact the Chair of School Governors via the school.

2. Formal stage

When the Informal Stage has been completed, if you are still unhappy you may wish to make a formal complaint.

To do so, you should write to the school, care of the Head teacher. If necessary, your complaint will be passed to the Chair of School Governors and you may, at this point, be asked for further information. The school governing body has a duty to consider all aspects of a complaint and to decide what action, if any, needs to be taken.

You will receive a response to your complaint from the school.

3. What if I am still concerned?

Your complaint will have been dealt with impartially by the school and its governors who have a duty in which to act properly. For all practical purposes the governing body is the last step in the procedure.

If you are unhappy about the way in which the complaint has been handled (as opposed to its outcome) you may wish to contact the Local Government Ombudsman or the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

If genuinely fresh information to support your complaint comes to light, you should refer back to the Informal Stage.

4. Who else can help?

If your complaint is of a general nature or is about matters for which Walsall Children's Services has responsibility such as Special Educational Needs, National Curriculum or Admissions, please contact us direct. We will always do our best to resolve any issue you may have. See our details at the bottom of this page.

If you have concerns about collective worship or spiritual matters, in the case of schools of a denominational nature, you may wish to contact the relevant body - the school can give you the contact details.

You may wish to discuss your complaint with one of your local Councillors.

If you still wish to take the matter further you should contact The Chief Executive at Walsall Council:

Walsall Council
The Civic Centre
Darwall Street
Walsall
WS1 1DQ

Telephone 01922 650000
Fax 01922 722322

Contact us

The Communications Team
Walsall Children's Services
Educational Development Centre
Pelsall Lane
Rushall
Walsall
WS4 1NG

Telephone 01922 686216
Fax 01922 686209

Or use our online contact form for general enquiries, compliments and complaints.

Hope this helps

K

[Danger Mouse]

other half works in a school, will see what she says as she does admin type work she often deals with parents etc when they first arrive etc

From memory her school have a "BAT" team, basically is a couple of coppers who deal with "behaviour and truancy" within the school, they tend to be pretty good and as essentially there is bullying and theft involved i think its something that they may be in a position to deal with. Perhaps if the police are involved the childrens parents and school may take it more seriously if the police start telling them its not on rather than just yourselves, although it shouldnt make any difference at all!

[Pegasus]

Nikki....

We were in the same boat as you with our eldest who is also autistic. Bertroot's advice is bang on with regard to contacting the LEA, there really is no point in pissing about with letters to the school or to the community beat coppers (recorded or otherwise).

What I will advise you to do though is to keep a diary of dates & times when any incidents have occurred, it gives you more ammo come crunch time mate.

I am more than happy to discuss this further with you either via this thread or through PM if you prefer, because we have already been through it so you'll be getting the procedure from the horses mouth.

[Raptor]

never had this kind of protection when i was at school. the only thing that stopped bullies was to smack fuck out of them - or try to fight back

easy to say when you are an adult though :/

[Pegasus]

The trouble with that these days Rap is if the kid does smack the bully and actually hurts them, the cops get called and the kid gets nicked for assault......fookin political correctness gone mad.