“Unreasonable” parents are driving teachers out of the profession, a headteachers’ union will warn today as research reveals the impact of parent behaviour on school leaders.
A minority of parents with “short tempers” is creating a “drain on time, energy and resources”, Dr Jo Rowley, president of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), will tell the union’s annual conference in Liverpool this morning.
In polling by ASCL, more than three-quarters of heads reported that parent behaviour has negatively affected their mental health and wellbeing.
Meanwhile, half of school leaders have experienced social media abuse, prompting demands for stronger government guidance on parent behaviour.
Parents with ‘unreasonable expectations’
Dr Rowley will use her speech to call for a national campaign to encourage parents to support their schools and colleges.
She will say that education must be a joint project between policymakers, parents and educators, but that “a minority of parents with unreasonable expectations and short tempers are a drain on time, energy and resources”.
While most parents make complaints in a “polite and reasonable manner”, some are “clearly struggling to deal with the pressures in their own lives” and their behaviour is “very challenging”, Dr Rowley will say.
She will tell delegates: “The huge amount of work and stress they generate detracts from other children, undermines behaviour policies and contributes to the pressures which drive people out of teaching.”
Most heads verbally abused
ASCL polled 1,759 headteacher members on their experiences of parent behaviour over the past year.
Nearly all (95 per cent) have experienced unreasonable demands about what their school can provide, and a similar number have received complaints from parents about school rules being applied to their child.
Around 90 per cent have experienced rude or disrespectful behaviour, and 60 per cent have been victims of verbal abuse or threats.
The union warns that subject access requests are commonly made in a challenging or excessive manner (reported by 73 per cent of respondents), and 57 per cent of respondents have experienced hostile or defamatory comments on social media.
Most school leaders (88 per cent) said parent behaviour has increased their workload and distracted them from teaching and learning, while 78 per cent said it has negatively affected their mental health and wellbeing.
In its schools White Paper, published in February, the government pledged to overhaul the complaints system, including creating a new “digital solution” for parents.
Recent data from Ofsted shows that the inspectorate rejected nine out of 10 complaints about schools.
Call for tougher guidance
The ASCL survey also asked school leaders about the measures they use to build and maintain positive relationships with parents.
These included phone calls to discuss pupil progress or concerns (96 per cent), home visits related to behaviour or attendance (80 per cent) and in-school meetings to resolve disputes or concerns (98 per cent).
Most leaders want clearer and stronger guidance from the government about acceptable parent behaviour and expectations (92 per cent), stronger regulation of harmful or abusive content on social media (84 per cent) and improved local services to support families facing difficulties (80 per cent).
The ASCL annual conference is taking place in Liverpool today and tomorrow, with around 1,000 education leaders expected to attend.
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