6th form Teacher

[zafira63]

Is there any teachers on here that are a 6th form teacher that could possibly help me with me a question please ;)

[cardibach]

What subject? What area do you want help with?

[Esker]

I teach yr12, but need to know what your question is before I know if I can be of any help.

[zafira63]

Hi All
Thank you reply i am really grateful, My daughter is in 6th form and has just had her attendance letter back and it says she is 92% but that is from september last year i though that it reset itself at the beginning of each new term is that right or are the rules different for 6th form.

[Picturesinthefirelight]

As far as I am aware attendance is over the academic year.

[Philoslothy]

Usually attendance letters are concerned with that academic year.

[zafira63]

She is really worried because my daughter is a really good girl and does all her work and is never behind but she has to have the Monday and Tuesday of when they go back next week and she is really worried because it isn't a school were they are understanding, So i thought i would ask because i though it would just have been her attendance from january ;)

[Unexpected]

No, attendance doesn't reset at the beginning of a term, why has your daughter missed so many days school? And why is she missing two days next week? Is she ill?

[zafira63]

I don't think she has had that many from September to now only when she has been poorly on the odd day and i have rung for that. My brother passed away this time last year and his wife is holding a memorial for him and we are all going as a family.

[Unexpected]

If she has 92% attendance, she has probably missed about 7 days so far by my very rough calculations. If that is not one or two bouts of illness but odd days here and there (probably about one a fortnight) then it's quite a lot of absence. Is your dd really poorly or are there days when she could be in school rather than at home? If you think she hasn't been absent that often, might be worth getting them to recheck the register.

[zafira63]

Thank you for reply,
No she is actually poorly when she is of either because she is having a bad period or that she has just drained herself physically with all the work that they give her, some nights she is up till 1/2 in the morning getting essays in ! so she has picked some bug up were she is so run down.. I wanted her to go to college as i think they get treated as young adults there than at a 6th form school were they are more interested in a ofstead report! But she always has her work in on time always puts in 100% and i think because they have nothing to complain about her for ever they always make a point about her absent, I have a 22 year old who went to college and is now a manager at saga insurance and she was treated with way more respect than my younger daughter is she isn't even a lowed to have a drink of oasis at school it has to be just water.

[OddBoots]

Does she really need 2 days off after half term? Is it at all avoidable as that seems a lot of time off.

If she went to the sixth form college (not part of a school) around here I know they tell students they need to pay their own exam fees if their attendance drops below a certain level.

[noblegiraffe]

If they had nothing to complain about they wouldn't be complaining! Her attendance isn't great, and if you choose to go to a sixth form where that sort of thing is monitored, then they are doing their job - attendance and results are inextricably linked.

How sympathetic would an employer be about regular days off for a bad period?

If she is regularly up till 1-2 am working on essays, then perhaps she needs to seek support with her organisation and time management. Is she using her time at school effectively?

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

If she's making herself ill keeping up with the work then she needs to go and see her teachers and discuss better ways of managing the workload - that's not normal.

[zafira63]

Thank you for all your answers,

But surely if they want to treat her like a adult in a work place rather than a student then she should be allowed to decide on what drink she wishes to have! A teachers job is to teach not to be a employer that is something that she will learn when she becomes a working adult but at this moment in time she is a student at school not work! and as long as she is keeping up with the work and doing everything she is asked from a teacher then she is doing what is expected of her.. She can't always speak to one of her teachers who feels the need to email her at 7 at night to say a essay needs to be in the following morning or something needs to be added to the essay! I mean after school is her private time so when would a employer do that! My daughter herself actually wants to be a teacher in France at at this moment in time is sitting having a french ;lesson with her tutor in her own time in half and twice a week after school because the school couldn't provide her with the french level she needs so i think maybe they should be a bit more understanding in what a young student is trying to achieve before she goes into the world of being a adult..

[TheReluctantCountess]

It's over the whole academic year. Anything below 95% is considered low.

I presume she is doing 4 AS levels and is finding it a lot. Maybe she should consider dropping one now rather than at the end of the year.

[zafira63]

Hi,
So when does it reset its self?

Yes she is doing English,English Lit&language ict, Geography and health and social but she is dropping ict.

[TheOriginalSteamingNit]

I would assume it would be reset at the beginning of year 13 - but of course it will just be the same, if she continues to take time off for the reasons given above.

[sisterofmercy]

If she is taking a lot of days off because of period pains you might want to see if she wants to go to the doctor about it. She might need iron tablets or the pill or something. The periods might be making her a bit run down and vulnerable to other bugs going round.

[zafira63]

Hi She started year 12 in september.. She is on the pill for her periods but sometimes they are still bad, I think maybe schools need to be more concerned on what they teach rather than why she is poorly as long as they are informed why she isn't in!

Some of the attendance is due to late marks for mentor which they are informed about because of her brother.
All i ask for is for them to teach her as a teacher not discipline her as a employer she learn that for herself when she is getting paid to do a job.
I think attendance should be looked at if the work is suffering if they are achieving there marks then they are doing there courses right.

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

Arriving late is highly disruptive to the classes. I'm not entirely sure what you want from the school if I am honest. What is she doing with her brother that is making her late for school?

[zafira63]

Its not arriving late to classes its just mentor they are not learning anything everyone is late there they just put it as a late mark she has never been late to a lesson in her entire school life!. And her brother has a disability and sometimes it is hard for her to get out on time the school has always been aware of this its just that sometimes it suits them to put a late mark! Now the question what do i want from a school and the answer is to teach my daughter the job there paid to do and not to concern themselves in what she is drinking etc they are teachers not employers they need to remember she isn't a child anymore she is a young adult and should be treated with the same respect that she gives i think some teachers need to remember that as disruptive it maybe to come in a couple of minutes late to a mentor not a lesson ( i might add) it is just as disruptive for the pupil when the teacher has a week of which they seem to do when they feel the need and are left with a relief teacher who knows nothing about what there being taught, I have a parents meeting in march and i will be bring all my concerns up because to be honest the teachers that i seem to meeting are just there to earn money were are the good old fashion teachers that were there to teach and be proud if there pupils got good grades in there subjects like my older daughter who like i mentioned earlier is the manger in the insurance company saga, I am so glad that i have no younger children needing to go to school anymore. ;)

[DoctorDonnaNoble]

They may already know about why she is late for mentoring. That doesn't mean it's something they shouldn't report or comment on. Teachers can't just take a week off because they 'fancy having time off' believe me!
I'm sorry but your daughter is expected to obey the rules of the school. If you don't approve of them; there are other schools. If the school is not an academy then it HAS to obey the healthy schools policies instituted by the Department of Education. It is fear of failing OFSTED that leads to the decision on Oasis (it is disgustingly sugary).
If she is being mentored then the school are clearly already trying to help, being late to mentoring will not help. There is missing information from this if you want advice if I'm honest. And there's been drip-feeding. If you have an issue with a particular teacher being absent a lot then you should raise it with their Head of Department.
We don't cover Sixth form lessons at all if we're absent. However, we do set work for the students to do. You will probably (hopefully) find that the actual teacher is setting the work for while they're away. Where are all the teachers who care? We're on half term (where I am anyway) having a little break from lesson planning and marking and expecting some panicky emails from my sixthformers at any time. In fact, my first argument with my DH was about how I reply to THEIR emails at any time of day/night (even in the car on the way back from our honeymoon).

[cory]

I would look into a few things here- or rather I would encourage your dd to look into a few things here (seeing that she is almost an adult and should be taking responsibility for her life).

i) if she is up until the early mornings studying could it be that she is simply not working efficiently enough? I know it's hard work in Sixth Form (have a dd with health issues in Yr 12) but putting in more hours is not always the answer. Might it be an idea for her to see her tutor and ask for tips on study techniques?

ii) if she has bad periods she needs to bring in a medical letter from her GP explaining the situation. She also needs to speak to teachers about what she can do to minimise the impact. My dd has probably had a similar absence due to a bad back; the school know about it, and dd will email the relevent teachers about work done at home if she is unable to come in.

iii) she needs to treat attendance as she would do if she had a job- it is not for her to say that mentoring sessions are useless. If that is part of her day then it;s part of her day. An employer would not accept an employee

iv) plenty of jobs have a non-food and drink policy while you're working. When did you last see a cashier at a check-out or a librarian at her desk drink from a bottle of Oasis? They don't want messy sticky stuff in proximity to their goods. Simple as. In the workplace she would have to stick to the rules.

v) as for expecting to treat the time after school as her leisure time- if that were the case, school hours would have to be far, far longer. Most of her friends will be spending time studying in the evenings and during the holidays and she is unlikely to be able to keep up with her peers if she doesn't. Even if she is getting A*'s for every piece of work she submits- those exams are still round the corner/

[cory]

sorry, pressed the button too soon:

"an employer would not accept an employee regularly turning up late because "we don't do any important work first thing in the day""

[noblegiraffe]

You sound very unsupportive of the school. A sixth form is run differently to a college, you can't send your daughter to a sixth form and then moan that it's not like the college. If you go in complaining about not being allowed sticky drinks in the classroom, no one is going to take you seriously. Your DD is having problems with attendance, you need to work with the school to improve this, not try to argue that it doesn't matter because schools know that it does.