Much is going wrong with our children’s schooling

Complaining about your child’s schooling can have consequences you might not have envisaged. When Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levine raised questions about their nine-year-old daughter’s primary school in a WhatsApp group they received a visit from the Hertfordshire Constabulary. 

Echoing what happened to Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, they were detained in front of their daughter and questioned on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property. After five weeks, the police concluded there was no case to answer. This is no way to handle legitimate concerns and it is outrageous that it ever came to this. The police must learn lessons and so must schools.

There is every reason for parents to be concerned about educational standards. Take the collapse in discipline at schools: it has now engulfed even the youngest children. Alarming figures reveal that even nursery and reception classes are becoming battlegrounds. In 2022/23, well over 5,000 of these infants were suspended or expelled for assaulting staff or other pupils. 

It may stretch credulity that children so immature that many arrive in nappies could nevertheless be violent. Yet schools are struggling to deal with this explosion of bad behaviour: in one year, more than 25,000 primary-age pupils were excluded. 
The normalisation of antisocial behaviour is in part a legacy of Covid lockdowns. But that is not the whole story. The real issues are personal responsibility and family breakdown. Dysfunctional parents, who either do not know how to raise children or do not care, are quick to point the finger at others. Yet a child who comes to school unable to give its name has clearly not been brought up, but let down.

The answer is not to impose arbitrary fines on inadequate parents, unless their neglect is so bad as to be criminal. 

Instead, schools need to take time and trouble to explain to prospective parents what will be expected of them. 

It is these types of issues that the education establishment must focus on. Parents and teachers must work together to ensure that schools are places of safety and achievement. The actions of the Hertfordshire Constabulary will only sow mistrust and serve to undermine this vital alliance which is so critical to the success of the next generation.