Letter to School About Another Child's Behaviour

If another child is behaving badly towards your son or daughter, especially if your child is young and not very good at 'standing up for' himself or herself, it can be very difficult to stand back and do nothing. If a child is acting in a bossy way towards your child it may be helpful to talk to your child about how to stand up for themselves with a little more confidence, but obviously if this does not work, or the child's behaviour seems to be verging on bullying, you may want to involve the school in helping to put a stop to it.

What Kinds of Behaviour Are Worrying?

Schools have a responsibility not only to ensure that your child receives a suitable education, but also to ensure his or her well being whilst on the school property - so if your child is coming home from school upset by another child's behaviour, this issue should be addressed. The kinds of behaviour that the school should be informed about include teasing, being called names, being physically manhandled, having personal possessions like clothes or money stolen or hidden, being verbally or physically threatened, discovering that rumours have been spread about you, or being ignored and left out. If you write to a school to tell a teacher or head teacher that another child is behaving poorly and describe the impact that behaviour is having on your own child, the school has a duty to respond in a full manner.

This letter format laid out below shows how parents can write to a school to ask about scheduling a meeting to discuss another child's poor behaviour towards their own child.

The School House
School Lane
Schoolfellow
England

Parental Address
Family Home
Anytown
England

1 May 2008

Dear Headteacher

We are the parents of Newman Lile, currently in year 5 (form WD), and unfortunately have to report to you that another child has been behaving very poorly towards Newman and this is now seriously affecting his own behaviour. While Newman normally loves school, he has recently become very withdrawn and I have discovered this to be in part because three children that he used to be very friendly with, Lawrence Bowman, Nigel Clark and Steven Revel, have started to ignore Newman and leave him out of their new 'group'. I don't know exactly what steps should be taken to solve this problem, as Newman is concerned about looking like he has 'told tales' but at the same time he really has become very unhappy recently

I consider the boys' anti-social behaviour- and Newman's response- something that should be addressed further and so I would really appreciate the opportunity to come in to school to talk to you, perhaps as well as Newman's form teacher Mr. Whiley, to talk further about what we can do to help alleviate the situation.

You can contact me, Rachel, on 0191 2343 9049 or 0723422342, or email me at Rachel@mail.com, to arrange a mutually convenient time to meet and help get Newman and his friends back on track at school.

With thanks for your time and best wishes

[signature]

Mrs Karen Lile