What would you do about this teacher

*No problem! Any advice is welcome 😊
she struggles with retaining information mainly. It’s Macbeth and I think she struggles with the context of this also.

she gets nothing to support her, no. just a “time out” card if she needs to leave the room if she gets overwhelmed.*

That is nowhere near good enough in my opinion. The time out card is great for regulating, but it has no effect on helping her do the work. Can you ask her if any of the things I suggested might help her?

Obviously the issue with the teacher needs to be resolved, but also ask in the meeting what do they plan to do to actually support her and her learning. Even if she changes teachers , she might still find she's struggling, just with less conflict. Better emotionally/mentally ,but still a waste academically.

I get that the teacher wants her to be more independent, which is a good thing for most kids, but that's useless if it comes at the point of doing the task when she has no idea what is going on (even if it's her own "fault").She needs tools/resources /adaptations at the begging of the lesson so she can follow along and actually be able to do it (even if at the most basic level) when the time comes.

There are various things I could suggest, but they depend on her needs, what the school will agree to and what's feasible in that particular environment.

You say you're talking to her at the moment. Ask her if the teacher did explain the task during the lesson. Was she listening? If she wasn't does she understand how that might frustrating for the teacher? Especially if she got warned/told off a few times. That's an adult having to support and teach 30 children. That's not hate.Does she really,really believe the teacher hates her?

Honestly, I can't explain to you the feeling of...

Kids today we are doing x.
While we read the text do y to help you do x.
During reading reminder after reminder that this is important and check after check they are listening. Reminder that we are doing x.

Right this part is important because this is an example of x. What features do you notice? Make notes. You will do x in a similar way. Write down interesting vocabulary to magpie.

Reminder,check,reminder ,check. Reminder we are doing x.

Right kids today you will be doing x. You need to do a,b,c. Let's do an example together. Get suggestions, model x.

Ok it's your go now, we are doing x. Remember to include a,b,c. Use the model work,your notes and the passage from the book in the board for support.

Kid puts his hand up: Miiiiiiiss, what are we doing today?

Whether your daughter has included all the gs ts or not I’m inclined to believe you because the thing we do know is that her behaviour was supposedly so bad she needed to come home early and yet no one had the decency to explain why? That seems like a red flag in itself. They effectively wanted to kick her out early but don’t let the parents know why?

Really? I teach in a secondary school and don't know many schools where you can't send them to isolation!

@Samcj02 I'd wait until Monday to get the other side of the story. I dealt with an abusive parent the other week who accused me of immediately sending her son to isolation and another teacher verbally abusing him in the corridor before hand. That wasn't actually the case at all...

A water bottle should be spill proof, then no spills can happen accidentally.

If she has a timeout card, it seems like she must have had some involvement with the SEN team at the school? I think you should ask for another meeting with them to clarify what support they think she needs and what she is actually getting. She doesn't need a diagnosis of ADHD for that to happen.

Is there any chance you can find and afford a tutor that specialises in SEN students to work through this with her?

Even if she deliberately spilt the drink it’s not grounds to suspend her, the escalation seems completely out of normal.

Agree you need to find out what happened.

Also they need to meet her needs for her education diagnosed ADHD or not, it can take years for a diagnosis.

I’d be asking the HOY why she was refused help when she asked? your dd claimed verbally multiple times that she needed help with her course work and she was mocked “spoon feeding” and the teacher refused to help her.

That isn’t isolation. That’s away to diffuse the situation when the teacher has 29 other students to teacher. The only reason things would have them escalated with the class teacher would be if she had refused to go other wise she won’t have seen the teacher.

This. That's not how it works.

Go above a teacher she hasn't even been able to speak with yet? And what "union"?

She finds the subject hard. She constantly doodles, messes with her hair and tehy say lacks concentration hence the adhd suggestion arising: which I have supported the school with a referral.

I apologise in advance for all the questions, I'm just trying to understand the situation better.

Is she getting any extra support if she's finding it hard? Have they put anything in place? For example print outs if she struggles with auditory information, or a tick sheet of the basic tasks she needs to do, or visuals etc.

What exactly is she struggling with? To keep focus, actually writing (that first sentence can be brutal for some kids), is the content too difficult? Is she in an "I can't do this"/ I'm stupid mind set" so better not do it /play the clown rather than prove them right? Would typing help? Does she "switch off" because the content is too difficult and she doesn't get it?

Is she capable of fidgeting(in an appropriate way -something you can discuss with the school)AND listening at the same time?

Lastly, what does she think might help/make things easier or better for her to learn?

That's a good sign, a good HOY should be already thinking ahead in situations like this. A good teacher can engage even the most challenging students -not all the time but you have to pick your battles, jumping on behaviour instantly and on every occasion helps no-one.

Honestly your daughter sounds like hard work for a teacher. She was at best misbehaving and at worst distracting others in their GCSE English class by throwing water. The teacher clearly thought that was a possibility even if your DD was not misbehaving That much This time. Your DD possibly didn't understand as she was drinking or something- teach her to drink/snack between classes and pay attention to the teacher. The teacher is understandably frustrated when she ask for a repeat or explanation when other children, also sitting GCSE's have valid questions and need support and they have been listening. Your DD needs to see she's part of a class that's taught and not always an individual.

Regarding the possible ADHD a meeting with the SENCO to discuss classroom support and strategies for your DD would of course be welcome by you both. And hopefully help your daughter to engage with lessons.

Do you mean isolation which is ‘internal exclusion’ and for 1 to 3 days? Or do you mean sent to some kind of time out area for the rest of the lesson?

Meet with the teacher in question. The chances are your child Is lying to you. Teachers are generally very good at pretending to like even the most hateful children.

It's good that you are going to meet with school on Monday and discuss the issue. Your daughter may have given you the correct version. Or, there may be more to it. That's the first thing to clarify.

If I am honest, as secondary teacher, we would only ask a parent to collect a child early in extreme circumstances. If they could not go back into lessons, we may sit them with a member of SLT or pastoral staff. We have some very challenging pupils but very rarely have we asked parents to collect early - it really would only be if we had exhausted all other possible strategies/options. So, I am wondering if there is more to it, given you were rung to collect.

If the relationship between the teacher and your daughter has broken down, for whatever reason, I may be worth asking if your daughter could move classes - for everyone's benefit.

Best of luck on Monday.

Please also don't be intimidated by her being high up within school/department. If you think a change of teacher is needed then push for this, I would imagine that her HOY should also already be aware of any issues so will most likely support you.