To Whom It May Concern

Please read this full email. This email is a very serious complaint about a school based in Blairgowrie, Randburg.


A couple of days ago, i was called into the office of the principle at I.R.Griffith school in Blairgowrie, where both of my children attend school.

When the secretary called me the day before, she said to me that the meeting with the principle would be about my daughters progress in the school.

You see, my daughter has a learning problem since going to I.R.Griffiths. In the beginning of the year (before the first reports), one teacher called me into the office to say that my daughter will not pass the year because she is not doing well in her classes. She is taking very long to understand what is being taught in her classes.

I then called the head of my daughter's grade and told her that Jeanne needs some help with her work, because i dont want her to fail her grade. She (this teacher also has since left the school, but gave me her mobile phone number - she also told me some of the terrible things that Mrs. Lopes does with the teachers at the school and how she treats the students and the parents) then told me that they will get the teachers to do extra work with Jeanne after school hours to improve her grades and understanding of the lessons each day.

This never happened, ever! The school never assigned any teachers to help my daughter, even though the head teacher (as mentioned above), did request this from Mrs. Lopes several times.

Then a couple of months ago, i thought that maybe if i donated something to the school, that they might then give some attention to my daughter in order for her to pass her grade, by learning after school hours maybe. My husband bought a brand new TV and DVD recorder and donated that to the school.

About 3 times more i was called into the office to speak about my daughter not doing well and each and every time did i ask what are the teachers doing about this? But then came the last meeting that i had with the principle as mentioned above.

When arriving at the principles office, i was told that Jeanne will not be with us in the office for the discussion. In the office was a Mrs. Naidoo and the principle, Mrs Lopes. She greeted me and said that they had to lie to me over the phone in order for me to actually come into the office.

In the conversation, Mrs. Lopes accused my husband of sexually harassing my daughter. Touching her butt. She then cut me short in my response and said that i must just remember that she can have my husband locked up right now, no (she then said), actually i could have had him locked up yesterday already, but she felt (she said), that we needed a chance to explain our side of the story first, before she would make her decision as to call the police or not about this.

I felt violated and expressed my anger by talking in a loud voice. Mrs. Lopes then told me (like i was one of her students) that i must not look at her and talk to her, in that way. Her exact words, "dont make those eyes at me!". I then felt embarrassed for me and for her, for treating me as a child and even at the same time, while another adult was in the same office.

I just kept quiet. She started asking me about my husband and my sexual life at home. She asked if my daughter has every seen us having sex (she asked)? The whole conversation went about the sexual nature of our personal life. She was pinned on discussing only this all the time while i was in her office with Mrs. Naidoo present.

I then said to Mrs. Lopes. It is not at home where she gets these ideas, it is at school. I then told her about all the things that my daughter and my son tells me about things that happen on a daily basis at the school. My children told me that there are allot of children talking about sex, kissing and even heard some kids having sex (gr.7) in the class when the teacher was not there. So, i told Mrs. Lopes and her reaction to this, was "agh, things like this happens in all schools, everywhere!". I then told her that this is not true, i cannot believe that something like this would be going on and she is as cool as a cucumber about it, not caring even that this is going on in the school or not.

I then again asked her about the help from the teachers that i and the head teacher requested from her. Where she then just said that i must stop talking about wanting teachers to assist Jeanne in understanding her school work. Meaning, she just does not care if my daughter fails or not. Just as long as the monthly school fees are coming in at the beginning of each month.

By her reaction, i was the positive that she does not care about the education of the children, but about the money that they are all bringing in.

At the end of the meeting, i really felt like a truck hit me...but she was satisfied with my answers to her "interrogation", so she then said her "good-byes" and i left.

I went home and told my husband all about what was said. My husband and my daughter had a very, very good relationship before this whole event, but now, they basically cant stand each other. All because of all the nonsense of what Mrs. Lopes has said to my daughter.

This morning, the school calls me again (i think it was a Mrs. White). She said that the principle would like to have a meeting with me again. I then told her (because i own x2 of my own businesses and actually have no time now, because we are in "Financial Year End" and need to do allot of work on getting invoices together and so on). I just knew that they would like to talk again about Jeanne not doing well at school. I then said to the lady, that i will have a look at when i have time and then get back to them on this. She then said that it is very important for us to go and see her immediately...I then kept quite for a while and then said again that i will call them as soon as i have time. She then said, "i will then tell Mrs. Lopes that you dont want to come and see her". I then told the lady, that if she wants to be like that, she can do whatever she thinks is right. She just assumed that i dont want to see the principle, but i have told her that my husband and i are very busy each day and it is difficult for us to just each time, jump in our cars and go and see them when they feel like it...

For about more than a month now, my husband and i have been trying to find a school for my daughter, that will actually help her with her studies and help her learn what needs to be learned for her age and not keep on exposing her to sexual things at school and not caring about it...We have been spending allot of time and money by doing this for her, where the school (IRG) would not even lift a finger to do anything to help her. Jeanne has been tested by a Remedial Therapy Team (costs allot of money for the tests) and we will now on this coming Wednesday, together with this said Team, go to a school based in Rand Park Ridge (much further from our home - more traveling time), to see if they will be able to assist her with her schooling and studies.

Anyway, getting back to the request for a meeting with myself this week, by the IRG school.

After the call that i had from Mrs White, my husband then went to school (as usual each day), to go and get our kids from the aftercare, based at the school itself. My husband told me, that as soon as he arrived, he was bombarded by the Mrs. Lopes. My husband told me that she was very angry with him and started making threats to him. She told him, that she thinks, that it is best for him to find another school for our children, because they are no longer welcome at the school. We should remove our children out of HER school. My husband then raised his voice and said that she is not the OWNER of the school and that he will not do that. My husband then at the same time confronted her about the fact that she does not care about sexual things going on in the school and that she threatened me some days ago with wanting to lock him up in jail. She then got very angry and told my husband to leave the school premises immediately. She then said that it is people like him (being Chinese, which make this remark, a racist remark) that makes teachers feel that they do not want to teach children anymore. She said that we are not the kind of people that she wants in her school. My husband then told her to be quite and that he is going to report her about the accusations that she made to me earlier and the remarks she just made to him.

My husband then came to me at our one branch (business) in Randburg and told me that whole story. He then said that i have to report this whole matter, because this Mrs. Lopes cannot think that she will get away with doing things like this to children and/or parents of the students in the school.

Some other things that i can point out about this school, is that they dont really do any work at school, much. They dont really care about the education of the kids. The only thing that they actually care about, is making money out of the kids and their parents. For example, they always have "Fate's" (all money spent for the making of the food and/purchase of said food and money collected for selling said food, goes directly to the school). Then they have fun runs - bring money for the run to spend at school - the teachers would say. Then they have donations every other day...and guess what, all money again goes directly to the school. Nothing is given back to the kids for their efforts in helping the school collect said money for who knows what. Just, if the kids dont bake something for the fate or bring money for the donations, then demerits (points taken off your yearly mark) will be given to the kids for not participating in the activities (selling things to make money for the school or collecting donations for the school) of/for the school. The teachers also gives demerits for kids not make projects. Now when i say projects...i am talking about baking cakes for the ENGLISH class for points. Now you tell me, what does cake baking have to do with teaching kids the ENGLISH language. Anyway, all the parents ends up doing all kinds of projects for their kids and the kids gets the marks for them. It is not the kids that actually learn how to do the projects themselves. In anyway, why bake something for an ENGLISH class, where you are supposed to learn the language. I mean, if it was "home economics" class, then a project like that would make much more sense, would it not?

To me (and i have taught in China for many years), the way that this school functions, in handing out projects each week, is a way for the teachers to get out of actually getting a good learning lesson together for the students to teach them in the coming week. And also to give demerits for failing to do it the way the teacher said for the kids to do it. This is very embarrassing (will damage the children for the rest of their lives) for the kids in class to be told in front of the whole class that they did not succeed in making whatever needed to be done and then being told that they have failed the project request and that marks will be taken off for them failing to reach the target.

Not only that. Many of my friends (also has children in the same school), tells me (including my children), that the bathrooms in the school is very, very dirty. They have dirty words written all over the walls and fesses smeared on the walls. Now, this causes sickness in children and that might be the reason why more and more kids are absent from school. They say that the bathrooms almost never gets cleaned and the dirt just stays and gathers flies each day.

Mrs. Lopes and her ways of dealing with kids and their parents, has rechecked my home and my happy life with my children and my husband!! She needs to be reprimanded for what she has done to us.

In order to get her to a level where we are now, I will be posting this complaint on each and every school/complaint site that i know of...

Kindly respond to this email and please let me know of what steps will be taken.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this complaint.

Kind Regards,

Marianne
076 650 7610
011 792 3172
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