From Helen Chilton

Monday, 7 May 2012

On Tuesday 1 May, a small group of parents and pupils gathered on Midgley Road and Brier Hey Lane and distributed flyers to parents of year 7 and 8 students as they were arriving at Calder High to hear the long-awaited presentation by the school following their recent Ofsted inspection which found the school to be "inadequate"".

There were four mothers and four children in total distributing leaflets, some outside each entrance to the school. At no point did anyone step on to school premises. A parent was with children at all times to supervise proceedings. Parents attending the meeting were politely asked if they would like a leaflet. The Head Teacher was inside the building and at no time did anyone leafleting see her, or engage with her. Therefore there was no behaviour that could be described as threatening or offensive.

The flyer advertises the date, time and venue of the next meeting of Friends of Calder High, an open group which has recently formed, largely by word of mouth, in response to parental concerns about standards of behaviour, early exam entry, leadership and management and communication with parents. The flyer asks: Are you interested in having a dialogue with Calder High School? It then goes on to state its aims: To support the school and work with it to ensure that the views of the wider community are represented and understood, and to encourage the school to provide an exciting and ambitious experience for children, based on
local need.

An intimidating or menacing message? We think not.

During the meeting, I understand the people responsible for producing the leaflet were described from the front as a "nuisance" and the audience was urged to ignore both the leaflet and the proposed meeting as irrelevant and nothing to do with the school. (Perhaps some of those who attended that night could confirm or clarify just what was said?)

The following day, a member of the Friends' group was contacted on her mobile phone by the police who warned that a complaint had been received that the distribution of the leaflet constituted some form of harassment and that therefore the police were issuing a formal warning to desist from handing it out that night, as had been planned. Those found to be handing it out would be "taken in" and/or arrested, on grounds of "public disturbance".

The mother who received the warning by phone - not following proper police procedure - is disabled and was on her way home from work the next day when she got the call. She has been greatly distressed by the incident. She has ascertained that the Head Teacher made the complaint, and presumably gave the police her mobile phone number. The decision to give her a warning appears to have come from Inspector Dave Browning.

The expressed concerns of parents, including presumably those being aired on this discussion forum, have repeatedly been described as coming from "a small minority". Unfortunately, we believe we are part of a large majority of parents - albeit with many disparate and varied priority concerns. Many parents have told us they were not aware of our two previous meetings, but would have attended them had they known. The flyer is simply an attempt to bring the existence of our open forum to the attention of more parents. That way, it will become clearer how many parents continue to have concerns, and enable them to channel those concerns in what the Friends' hope will be constructive, and not destructive, ways.

Members of the steering group are astonished and dismayed that the Head has seen fit to use the police in this manner against children who attend the school and their mothers, who were doing nothing wrong, and to single out and distress one parent to this degree.

The steering group believes this was an inappropriate over-reaction on the part of the Head Teacher and would question what is to be gained by escalating tension with parents who are simply asking to be involved with the school, particularly when Ofsted recommended that the school improve engagement with parents and the wider community.

The steering group is also concerned that the police appear to have been manipulated, to be taking sides and would question whether this is a sensible use of police time and resources. We will therefore be seeking legal advice as to the legitimacy of the actions demanded of and taken by the police, supposedly under Section 5 of the Public Order Act.

The next meeting of the Friends of Calder High will take place in Mytholmroyd on 15 May at 7.30pm, at St Michael's Church, Mytholmroyd.