Fighting the fire of our ‘disaster education’: parents are essential in this fight – How we can beat the system
This post was originally written in the Scottish Union for Education Newsletter 4 May 2023 (Part 1) & (Part 2) 11 May 2023
While sitting at the park with some mums recently, one mother recounted how her six-year-old was losing weight to a dangerous level because he had anxieties around eating food in the dining hall at school. She said she had asked if she could, ‘take him home for lunch for a short time to get his health to a better level’, proposing that she would pick him up at designated time and have him back for class time. She was told by the school administration ‘this was not possible at this time’, citing logistical issues.
As I listened, horrified, what struck me is that the other mothers nodded sadly but accepted this was normal.
This is where we are at. A mother accepts that the school can hold her child in the campus and not be fed. This is worrying, and this is not uncommon.
As I understand it, the bedrock of schooling in Scotland is based on a ‘community model’. That is (in theory) that primary schools are rooted in and reflect the communities in which they live. In the quickly changing world we live in, however, this is no longer a reality. Teachers (in the main) do not live locally; they do not meet parents casually at the local shops or churches, wherein informal information may be shared and the social contract reinforced. This divide has many implications.
This model exacerbates the larger problem we face in education. While I think (I hope) that this child not being fed as per the mother’s wishes is an extreme example, it shows how parents allow themselves to be relegated (even in the case of physical harm to their children) to the authority of the school. In matters that are less obvious, such as social justice topics, it becomes even trickier as they bow to ‘the experts’, not realising the larger long-term problems this will create for their kids.
We ask our children questions hoping for crumbs of information of what might have been told to them within the classroom setting. We hear resonances of things that worry us and don’t know what to do. Are we overreacting?
And let’s be clear: parents want their children to get a good education. We like when our kids learn the myriad of things they do, that they wouldn’t have learned otherwise. We are inspired when teachers open doors, as only good teachers can, which light up our children, sending them down new roads. And we know there are still many teachers committed to that endeavour.
I remember when my six-year-old son learned about the emergency services as his topic in school. The class got to go to the fire station and use a fire hose. It was a thrilling experience. Off the back of his enthusiasm, I took him back for Doors Open Day and I have a beautiful and clear memory of him jumping out of his skin with excitement surrounded by the fire service paraphernalia, of sitting in the truck and wearing the fireman jacket. Even relating the memory here forces a smile onto my face.
Fast forward four years, a mother relates to me how her seven-year-old has come home having also learned about the emergency services. Her child does not speak of the equipment she has been introduced to, or the generalised roles of ambulance, police or fire services, but about a form of disaster education where all the talk is of strokes, heart attacks and other physiological emergencies.
The child speaks in great detail about ‘blood on the brain’; in fact, she can’t stop talking about it. Suddenly this previously free-spirited child exhibits extreme anxiety around what her parents are eating, fearing it is going to kill them. Her father has been in and out of the hospital with a congenital issue since her birth; the sharing of this new information exacerbates already present anxieties. And to what end? Why was this information necessary at this time for this age group?
As a parent I increasingly find myself fighting a system which seeks by accident or design to destroy my son and other children’s childhood. What are the options as a parent?
My current challenge of ‘the system’ by official complaints procedure (two currently) is leading me into Scottish government bureaucratic minefields that churn out Orwellian word salads (produced by teams of highly paid Scottish education staff) in response to my claims. One might think this model is designed to placate me because after the (unpaid) hours I spend addressing my concerns and the like, I have a series of emails letting me know ‘they have dealt’ with my claim, and yet, curiously, no change. To untangle the miasma of doublespeak one would require perhaps a law degree, lots of time and financial security – none of which this single low-income mum has access to. So nothing changes for good, and the will of the bureaucrats is upheld. The system is not designed for democracy but for complacency.
And so we have mothers who dutifully allow their children to, for example, remain in the school campus without eating, because they do not feel free to exercise their rights as parents.
So, what do we do? What are our options and what are our rights as parents?
Rights of parents
First, the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 Section 2, 1b, outlines the rights parents have in directing their children’s upbringing. You have a parental right to determine what is and what is not harmful or helpful in relation to your child’s education. You are the authority. That is the key to challenging this whole stramash, and it’s pivotal to how you move forward if you are challenging your child’s school or the wider Scottish educational system about what is being taught.
Another key piece of legislation is the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006:
‘The Act provides a framework giving all parents the opportunity to get the information they need to support their child and enabling them to express their views.’
‘Parents are the first and ongoing educators of their own children and know them best.’
Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) is also often referred to as the national approach to improving the wellbeing of children and young people.
So how do you raise concerns or make a complaint?
This is what I have pulled together as a parent who is going through the procedure currently. If you have anything to add, please get in touch.
Write a letter or send an email to the headteacher. You must create a paper trail. A verbal complaint is not sufficient. And if you have a meeting, make sure that it is minuted and that you take and retain notes. Two parents are ideal, when possible. If not possible (as in my case as a single mum), bring another member of the school community whom you trust, just to be another set of ears and eyes, or contact SUE.
If you are not confident about addressing the headteacher, you can take your concerns to the parent council. Although members of the parent council cannot deal with specific issues related to your individual child, they can follow up concerns you have about the school, educational content, policy, etc. They are by law required to represent the views of parents without bias or judgement. Ideally parent council members should communicate their openness to hearing and representing the perspectives of all those in the school community.
If you feel that your concerns are a larger issue and you don’t have confidence in relating them to either the headteacher or the parent council, you can email your local councillors, MP, or MSPs. It is at this level that educational policy is determined, so it is important for them to be aware of your concerns; this is part of their role as representatives for you, elected by you, and paid for by your taxes. As with members of the parent council, they are duty-bound to represent you.
If, after receiving a response from the headteacher, you feel that your problem has not been addressed or resolved, it can be escalated to a stage 2 complaint. To do this, respond in writing to the headteacher to inform him or her that ‘you are not satisfied with the response and would like to escalate the complaint’. A quality improvement officer (QIO) (example job profile here) will then address your claim first in a meeting, then in writing. The QIO has four weeks to meet you and respond to your concerns. (If you take your complaint to your elected representatives, they are likely to pass it directly to your QIO.)
If you are not satisfied with the response from the QIO, you can further escalate your complaint by taking it to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO). The SPSO is the final stage for complaints about public services in Scotland. There is currently a five-month delay in handling any complaint, but it is important to get it registered within the 12-month window starting from the time of your initial complaint to the school.
Become a member of the Scottish Union for Education. We can also represent you, write to your school’s headteacher, the local authority, and MSPs, and help you represent your claim.
We, as parents, do not have the luxury to be timid. It is our families, our communities and our lives that will be impacted by the actions we do or do not take. Let us be bold, let us embolden others, and together we can ensure that our children are given what they need to thrive.
On that note, when I met my friend and fellow mum who told me about her child missing meals in school, I said to her, ‘Are you kidding? Let me be angry for you. This is not right. You write to the school, you say, “I will be collecting my son at lunch every day and returning him for lessons. You do not ask permission”. And you know what, she did.
Be compassionate but be bold for yourself, for your child and for others.
If you have any experiences of raising your concerns with schools let us know about them: info@scottishunionforeducation.co.uk.