Parents say their complaints are not being acknowledged by North Lanarkshire Council

The parents of a pupil at Auchinloch Primary School claim they and other parents have raised a series of complaints about various issues during lockdown which have barely been acknowledged.

One mum says the head teacher has refused to speak on the telephone and what information has been received has come through his subordinates.

The mum adds that the online learning platform Glow has failed to maintain connections between pupils and their schools. She said: “This is a platform that the kids were expected to use, however, with no actual meaningful interaction from teachers the children disengaged. Approximately three children out of a class of 25 appeared to use the platform. Some parents didn’t know about it until late May.”

Requests for detailed timetables of what teachers did were answered with lists of YouTube links sent out every couple of weeks.

The mum added:”This doesn’t account for teachers’ time and certainly doesn’t merit being called proper education.

“There also been no clarification that any teachers covered the Hub. We’ve asked for details, however, once again ignored which would suggest that very few of the teaching staff at Auchinloch Primary did any cover.”

Central Scotland MSP Elaine Smith has also taken up the case. She said: “There have been ongoing complaints by the parents since the start of lockdown which have been responded to by Anne Munro, Head of Education, and I have been kept informed on the issues.

“These range from a lack of support for pupils by the teachers during lockdown to concerns about the safety of pupils now that they have returned to school. Pupils were only supplied with basic online services to assist their schooling during lockdown and had no personal interaction with teachers, which has been the norm in other schools – sometimes on a daily basis.

“In addition, a recent meeting arranged with the parents was cancelled at the last minute,  which was understandably very frustrating as both had earmarked off work to be available.

“As a result parents are very unhappy about the way the complaints have been handled and concerned for the health and wellbeing of their daughter due to the lack of personal support.  Some parents have now chosen to remove their children from the school.”

Ms Smith is requesting that parents are granted a meeting with NLC Head of Education Derek Brown.

A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said, “We are engaging with this parent regarding her concerns and have provided information on what the council intends to roll out as a robust digital learning programme for pupils at home.”

The parents quoted here have now lodged a secondary school placement request with East Dunbartonshire Council.