Addressing the rise of complaints and unreasonable behaviour from pupils and parents

What was the issue addressed?

School staff are increasing having to deal with complaints and unreasonable behaviour from pupils and parents. The school staff are having to become counsellors, legal experts, aggression mediators and other roles that are not strictly teaching or even school management.

What happened?

The school had to create a legal service-level agreement (SLA) with the Local Authority.  Alongside this we reshaped the school pupil behaviour support unit.

What lessons were learnt?

The actions have helped the situation. Areas that would further benefit require more staff, which requires more funding, which is not tenable at present

One lessons learnt is to have clearer roles and responsibilities between teaching and support staff. Support staff need boundaries and clarity as to what they are expected to do, and including the policies relating to handling of pupils and enforcing rules etc.

Reflections…

Has your school experience increases in behavioural problems with pupils and/or difficulties with parents?

How can the governing body best support the school in tacking issues such as these?

Have your say…

Have you had experiences similar to these? What do you think about the situation described?