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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not be happy with new teacher so far because of this

318 replies

Chilli89 · 12/09/2024 15:42

  1. I messaged her about something and she said she would sort it a few days ago and that someone would be in touch the next day and I’ve heard nothing
  2. We were told reading books had come home and I messaged the same day saying my D son hadn’t got his and they still haven’t supplied one for him
  3. they were in the line at drop off. he wanted help so approached her. She shouted at me ‘don’t shout at me, I won’t talk at you if you shout at me’ in a really angry face. She didn’t know I was stood there, he did not shout, I heard the whole thing

aibu to not be happy so far?

my d son has only just turned 5. In Y1

OP posts:
DoreenonTill8 · 12/09/2024 19:06

CabbagesAndCeilingWax · 12/09/2024 17:02

Luckily this very clear cut, aggressive outburst, aimed directly at a tearful 5yo, happened at the very public time of school pick-up. So there will be lots of other parents who saw exactly what you saw, and can corroborate your story to the Head.

Absolutely It was definitely a shout and she had her hands and arms waving around and everything, all stressed. Understand it’s the end of the day but he didn’t shout at her and he looked really upset after
I can imagine all the other teachers must have seen and heard this too so lots of witness.

MissUltraViolet · 12/09/2024 19:02

I would have spoken to the teacher there and then and asked her what the issue was when I heard her shout, but you didn't so I would probably leave it be now and keep an eye on their interactions at drop off/pick up.

Speak to her tomorrow and remind her that your DC has not had a book once the playground has calmed down a bit.

The start of new school terms can be really chaotic, teachers can send messages saying they have given the children books/letters/work to bring home etc but then don't, it happens often! Has your DC asked the teacher during school for the book?

My DD had lots of lovely teachers through primary but there was one that should absolutely not have been a teacher. Not sure she even liked children, she was awful.

Pussygaloregalapagos · 12/09/2024 19:00

School is an ordeal. Always has been, always will be.

Pippa905 · 12/09/2024 18:55

I wouldn't be happy with her either! I probably would have approached at the moment she shouted at him tbh and I'm not one for confrontation, it's not acceptable for her to take her stress out on him. Maybe just keep a note for now and if there's anything else e.g., your son gets told off for not doing his reading despite the book not being sent home, then raise it!

Anewuser · 12/09/2024 18:55

I wouldn’t be happy about the shouting.

However, it is possible being just year 1 that his reading level is too low so she hasn’t sent a book home yet. Maybe school are looking at an intervention before deciding on the book level to send home?

BellesAndGraces · 12/09/2024 18:52

JSMill · 12/09/2024 18:40

Have you ever tried to manage a class of 30 children at home time? You have to deal with a sea of parent's faces and try to send each child to the right parent as quickly as possible while making sure the ones whose parents haven't arrived stay put. It's not easy.

Strangely, the teachers at my child’s school manage this without shouting at 5 year olds.

BreatheAndFocus · 12/09/2024 18:51

Just speak to her in person about the book. It’s either an oversight or he did have a book but it’s got mislaid - put in a drawer instead of a Book Bag; left on a table and collected up by accident; left on a table and knocked on the floor by another child; dropped in the cloakroom, etc etc. All those are actual examples of the lost books I’ve had so far this term!

The shouting doesn’t sound good. Hopefully the teacher was tired and spoke louder than she meant to. However, you weren’t at school all day. Imagine having 30 children constantly tugging at your clothes asking you things, telling you things, and having to repeat instructions twenty times and still have children either be totally unaware or ignore them.

When you ask about the missing book, just mention your son was upset when he was told off and get more information about what happened, eg had he been told to stay somewhere but didn’t, was this the sixth time he’d gone over to her having been asked to stay in line, etc etc.If it was at pick-up, this can be a stressful time as school staff are trying to follow policies to safely release children to parents, are being approached by other parents while they’re trying to do this, and are having children attempting to walk out the door when they’ve been told to stay on the carpet/chairs until called for safety reasons.

BellesAndGraces · 12/09/2024 18:51

Odearr · 12/09/2024 16:33

If a teacher can't deal with 30 5 year olds acting like 5 year olds without being frazzled/shouting/annoyed then maybe they shouldn't be a teacher of small children.
it takes a certain temperament to cope with that many small children and it's not for everyone. But 5 year olds are very young and shouldn't be shouted at for minor things like that

Completely agree. I would be speaking to her about this and, if the matter is not resolved, taking it up with headteacher. Being a teacher does not mean she is beyond reproach - some teachers are just not very good and a head won’t know that if parents don’t speak up.

schmeler · 12/09/2024 18:44
  1. Teachers are human and things get missed from time to time. The first two or 3 weeks in EYFS are manic. I haven't worked less than 14 hours each day in the past two weeks. Last night I was emailing someone at 10pm as I had promised to do it but if she is not one who does that then I wouldn't have managed to email during the day - no way! There isn't time!
  2. It is likely your child has been given a reading book but hasn't taken it home. Ask your child if they have one in their tray as that is the most likely place it is. Kids are expected to follow instructions in EYFS so if your child hasn't done as they have been asked to do and put it in their bag then that needs working on.

What did you child say to her?

Anele22 · 12/09/2024 18:43

Accipe · 12/09/2024 16:23

So true, I have heard teachers saying that they have received messages from parents on Friday night then a complaint on Saturday morning because there's been no reply!
No teacher should be expected to respond to parents out of school hours, were I still working I would not even look at messages out of school hours. Parents expect too much.

You have to respond out of school hours as during school hours you’ve got a room full of children in front of you for most of the time. I doubt your non-contact time would be enough to cover everything you’ve got to do. Although responding between Friday night and Saturday morning should not be an expectation

222333Annie · 12/09/2024 18:40

First two points I’d say give her time first few weeks back are always so busy for teachers.

The third one I don’t really see why there was any need to shout.Especially as he is 5 and feeling anxious she should be more nurturing.

JSMill · 12/09/2024 18:40

Chilli89 · 12/09/2024 16:25

It was at pick up.. not drop off, sorry. But she was letting others tell her that they could see their mum, but not him. She just shouted

Have you ever tried to manage a class of 30 children at home time? You have to deal with a sea of parent's faces and try to send each child to the right parent as quickly as possible while making sure the ones whose parents haven't arrived stay put. It's not easy.

WhataboutAnu · 12/09/2024 18:40

HappyThread · 12/09/2024 16:19

At the beginning of the school year I think the first 2 points are OK. She's probably busy.

The shouting would trouble me. Especially if she knows he's already struggling with settling in and especially if he's only 5.

Totally agree with this. Is she an older teacher?

SummerFade · 12/09/2024 18:40

I’m so sorry OP, that’s appalling.

I never heard my son’s Primary school teacher shouting at the infants/5yr olds when being asked a question and I think she’s in the wrong job if this teacher thinks that’s the best way to communicate with them!

Also, my son has autism and shouting at the other students, let alone him would cause him huge stress.

Shouting at teenagers, yes, I can understand they might do that occasionally but not young infants.

Is there another class he can swap to or another school nearby?

Gremlins101 · 12/09/2024 18:35

I would not be worried about 1 & 2. Let it go.

3 is not ideal, would be cross, of course.

In your position, I might on this occasion explain to my son that sometimes people mess up, speak angrily when they shouldn't, but it's not personal about him.

If a theme of treating your son unfairly/singling him out continued (which I am absolutely sure it wont) then of course you can and should go nuclear.

newfriend05 · 12/09/2024 18:33

Teachers are not untouchables like some of you are making our .. sometimes you need to flag up things.. I had to a few times .. go in and have a word with her outline your concerns and tell her he was upset with her shouting ..

Pigtailsandall · 12/09/2024 18:24

LeaveTheFlerken · 12/09/2024 17:35

Those saying that if she can't be calm and react well 100% of the time she shouldn't be a teacher, would you accept someone saying the same about you as a parent? We've surely all responded 'badly' to our own DCs poor behaviour or interacted with them in a way we would later agree was less than ideal. That doesn't make us 'bad parents' or mean that we shouldn't even be parents if we can't always do the correct thing. Why is it acceptable to imply a teacher should always react in the 'right' way if we wouldn't expect that if ourselves? And 'because they get paid' is not an acceptable response. They are people who occasionally behave in a way which, given time to reflect, even they might agree wasn't great. Much like everyone else....

If the teacher did raise their voice when they shouldn't have, give them another chance before complaining to their boss or implying they are incompetent. Maybe speaking to the teacher is a better response rather than going straight over their head to the headteacher. But only really if it is a repeating pattern.

This is not a good comparison. I sometimes growl and grizzle at my partner at home because I'm feeling stressed and annoyed; but I'd never act that way at work. Imagine if I started a thread about being really stressed at work and shouting at one of my direct reports cause there's just so many of them and they all wanted something on the same day.
I'd get told pretty fast I was a shite team leader and that shouting at colleagues is never OK.
Why do we think shouting or acting angry at work is OK just because the recipients are kids?

Bigearringsbigsmile · 12/09/2024 18:16

You watched it happen yes? So you should have waited for the line to clear and them spoke to her. Said something like " it looked like there was a problem with...Jack. is everything ok? " and had the conversation there and then.

Daisylookslost · 12/09/2024 18:12

Ok so you can use me her words about the importance of the reading book yo ensure you get one. “I understand this is very important as you outlined in your message, so I will wait for you to find the book for my son”

set the tone for your son now, that you have his back. This way the teacher will understand she can’t neglect his learning or act unreasonably without push back from you.

Veryoldandtired · 12/09/2024 18:10

Nah… don’t like the whole vibe. Are there art other schools you can consider?

Chilli89 · 12/09/2024 18:06

We have plenty of books at home already but this was asked of us to be read at home so I was just letting her know it wasn’t received. So that it could be put in his book bag

OP posts:
Daisylookslost · 12/09/2024 18:06

I would talk to her in the morning at drop off, doesn’t need to be lengthy but to say I noticed what happened (re the shouting scenario) and can you not treat my son in that way again. You could add it’s upset him and made him more reluctant to come in. You can be polite and diplomatic but still clear that you’re not having it!

And I would also say please can he have a reading book today. (And I assume she would agree?!). How hard is it to get a reading book and put it in the book bag of a child in your class? And if she can’t do it, she can ask the LSA to do it. Either way he deserves his book. If he comes out after school without one, I wouldn’t leave til I got one.

Chilli89 · 12/09/2024 18:04

Ilovelurchers · 12/09/2024 17:44

I'm a teacher myself and I really disliked one of my daughter's primary teachers - it happens - I felt she was unfairly harsh on my daughter and patronising to me.

However, it doesn't do any good nurturing the dislike, does it? Your child is stuck with them - that is not going to change - so you have to try and make the best of the situation, for your child's sake.

Please only contact the teacher when it's genuinely necessary. You don't need to tell her she hasn't sent a book home. She knows she hasn't sent a book home. Read a book you have at home with him. If you don't have any, pop to your local charity shop or a library this weekend and pick some up.

The shouting - she was stressed. He was mithering when he shouldn't have been. It's not great that she shouted, but it won't kill him. My primary school teachers used to shout at us all the time for very little reason. We got through it!

It's not ideal, but nobody is perfect. Your son will be fine, and will very likely have a different teacher next year anyway!

The message she put out to parents was

‘Reading books have been sent home with everyone today. It is important that these books are read at home as we will be discussing them next week. (They relate to our topic this term). The books will fit your child’s phonics level. Any questions please message and I will do my best to help.’

I only messaged once a couple of days ago, politely, to inform her my son has no book. She read the message so I expected the book to come home by now but it hasn’t.

OP posts:
hideawayforever · 12/09/2024 18:02

Mainoo72 · 12/09/2024 17:25

Poor teacher. She’ll probably have left the profession within the year. I really feel for teachers these days.

hope she does, she shouldn't be a teacher

ChampagneLassie · 12/09/2024 18:00

I don’t think any of it is acceptable but what I imagine has happened is re the book and suggestion to message any Q the teacher was optimistic about what they’d be able to do and classic over promise under deliver. Re the shouting, I’d have raised that there and then. Nonetheless raise it as soon as you can, that really doesn’t seem acceptable and will upset any young anxious children. It sounds like teacher is struggling a bit. Raising it with her might prompt her to seek help/reflect on this mor

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