School leaders increasingly distracted by parental complaints

A new poll has revealed that 84 per cent of school leaders are distracted by complaints from parents about their school's approach.

Carried out by The Key, the poll found that 57 per cent are distracted to a 'significant' or 'fairly high' extent, and 27 per cent to a ‘moderate extent’. In fact, only four per cent of the school leaders polled are not distracted by parental complaints at all.

The figures coincide with the launch of a new resource hub, ‘Connect with parents and communicate with confidence’, which provides schools with up-to-the-minute checklists, model policies and best-practice examples of how to deal with common parent-related challenges. The guidance will be of particular importance to schools over the coming year as they consult parents over their RSE policy, ahead of the September 2020 deadline.

When asked in a separate poll how school leaders are engaging with parents about delivery of the new RSE curriculum, 24 per cent said they will be forming a working party with interested parents.  The Key says that 23 per cent are holding information sessions for parents and 17 per cent are surveying parents on their views. Almost a fifth don’t know yet and nine per cent aren’t consulting with parents.

Amy Cook, head of Content at The Key, said: "We know that dealing with complaints from parents is a time-consuming and recurring issue for our members. Indeed, social media has increased the complexity, with schools handling criticisms both onsite and online. Striking a balance between listening to parents' concerns, encouraging them to follow the school's complaints process, and enforcing a zero-tolerance approach to aggressive or inappropriate behaviour, is crucial - but easier said than done.”