GCSE '18s (20) - half term beckons!

Good idea Bluebelle, I’ll do that. Thanks!

Cherry that all sounds really good......when talking to the teacher I would start with how hard DS is working at home on maths and his desire to do well, hopefully this will put him in a good light and so the rest she may be more willing to take on board....just a thought
Good luck!!!

Yes Oratory we’re going to speak to LS as well.

Thanks very much all.

Bluebelle good point about being clear what I want to get out of it. As it’s a regular parents’ evening we obviously want to get an idea of DS’s progress in maths so far. If there’s a problem (and hopefully there isn’t) he/we need to know quickly while there’s still (just) time to change.

Beyond that, from the HoD I want to know when they set, if he can be placed in a lower set where the pace is slower (and asking questions/for further explanation is tolerated) and I’m going to ask that if at all possible he isn’t taught by this particular teacher.

From the teacher I want to know if she’s found the missing half of his paper yet! And to communicate to her that DS finds her unapproachable when he’s struggling with something. I’m quite happy to point to the comments on his paper as examples of why that might be the case. She’s also said that when they’re not getting something it’s because they’re not putting the hours in and I will assure her that I know for a fact that DS is (he spends ages on maths at home) so it’s not for want of trying.

Does that all sound ok?

Is it worth seeing LS dept too at parents evening (you may know them already). DS found them really useful in similar situation. She tried to get him changed to a different set and when that didn’t happen (only because teacher in that set left) was v proactive in trying to iron out some of the issues. Different subject but similar issues.

YANBU - the comments aren't exactly motivational!!!!
So she lost his exam paper AND writes flippant comments. Teaching doesn't seem to be her strong point

Cherry YANBU, I have had to deal with similar over the years with DS funnily enough its always been maths teachers!

The one thing I would say is be clear from the beginning what it is you want to achieve from the meeting, I wouldn't get too caught up in who said what, he might well have this teacher for the rest of the year if not next so you don't really want to alienate her if you can help it

YANBU cherry those comments are the kind of thing I would blurt out in my worst PM day... Not helpful at all.

Definitely push for the change of teacher - she sounds quite unapproachable and a bit dismissive

My ds is currently reporting that he doesn't like his new GCSE maths teacher!

Seriously, AIBU?! I’ll be there in a few hours discussing this...

Don’t worry Limit I’m still at a lively simmer!

whistl I think the detail is pretty clear. DS is generally a pretty laid-back character and we’ve never had any complaints about his behaviour (or anything really) in all his years at school. The opposite usually. He’s not given to exaggeration or drama and knows that this will be being discussed at parents’ evening tonight with him sitting there, so I do fully believe his version of events.

As I said, he’s been complaining to me about this teacher since term started. He says if you tell her you don’t understand something she says things like ‘you can’t have been listening’. Up till now I’ve largely brushed it off and told him that A Level study requires you to work on things independently etc (which is true to an extent). But I’ve got his (incomplete) marked test here and I’m a bit at the comments. On one question that he got wrong she’s written ‘Complete the square, as I’ve taught you’. Weirdly, she decided his rough working sheet was his answer to one of the missing questions (which he knows he got right) and she’s written on the bottom ‘I’m not sure what you’re trying to do here. What have I taught you about arithmetic sequences?’

AIBU?!

pardon the pun!

I find things like this - challenging the school - extremely challenging. Even after all these years of being an adult and having to stand up for myself.
In your shoes, Cherryburn, I'd need to be both a bit annoyed and very strong on the details to bring an effective complaint. Without the anger, I would not be able to see it through. Not too much anger though because then you lose the moral high ground.

TBH, DS does need to speak up for himself, but I wouldn't send him into battle against authority just yet.

Don't calm down too much Cherryburn - I think a bit of righteous indignation may be just the ticket

I guess now is the time for our DC to start fighting their own battles. Just over 1.5 years and they will have finished school and will be looking towards Uni and leaving home.
DD is my one and only. Her dad and I split up when she was a tiny baby and up until the last 6 years it was just me and her

GCSEs are only just over and I am already fretting about the next chapter- not whether she is ready but whether I am!!

The thing is Oratory this was a test they sat in class, in a double lesson, so unless he’d sat there staring into space it should have been pretty obvious to her that he’d done it.

I feel really sorry for him. He has a really good work ethic (evidenced by his gcse results) and he’s gutted not to get feedback from this that would have really helped him in the big test after half term. She made a big deal about all of these tests going towards their predicted grades at the end of the year before she handed them back. He wants to do well and he knows that he often has to work harder than NT pupils to do so. She basically called him a liar in front of the whole class, and then questioned his attitude when he tried to defend himself, which just isn’t on. Quite a few of them spoke to him afterwards to say they thought she was really out of order, which helped a bit.

I’ll have to calm down before parents’ evening!

We may be heading this way with DD needing more support. The fact that she has carried on so far is frankly astonishing. At only the couple of open days that we did get to DD spoke to the Disability and Special Needs representative and they confirmed that all lectures are recorded etc and notes available online. It seems that unis are far more advanced than School. Glad to hear it.

Cherry how annoying for you and your DS but I’m guessing your DS is suffering due to the no. if students who will have claimed to have done work they haven’t - you know your ds wouldn’t do that but she may not.

I like your dd's style bpisok

That's fantastic bpisok and is actually very much in line with the 'normal way of working' that DDs have found at Uni so she will be a step ahead. Although DS hasn't had individual LS lessons for a while he (and I) have stayed in touch with the LS department very much for this reason - the LS teacher reminds his teachers of his difficulties and what support he needs in lessons - but there are always some that just don't get it however much it is explained.

DD2 started her Uni course last week and each module has lesson plan on line with suggested pre reading provided for each lecture/seminar (they don't even have to go and find it) and all lectures available as recordings and powerpoints etc

Wow bpisok good for your DD . She’ll go far! Some great ideas there.

I should mention that she used last year's proforma and did pass it through the SEN Dept before she got the teachers to sign it - she just did the paperwork on their behalf!!

DD ended up writing her own - the SENCo doesn't seem to be proactive for the 6th formers (not that she was particularly proactive to start with!).
She also put on her ILP that she wanted to be able to record lessons on her phone, have full access to the school WiFi so she could save everything to the cloud (recording take up a lot of space). She asked for the codes to download her text books onto her laptop and to email all her homework to the teachers. Plus the usual request for extra time in exams, class tests and the use of her laptop. She also said that she wanted the opportunity to play back any instructions in her own words so she can make sure that she fully understands what the teacher requires of her.
DDs quite assertive
All the teachers signed her ILP and only one didn't furnish her with their lesson plan. She chased her up and received it a week later (it was the same teacher who lost her gcse course work so I suspect she didn't have a lesson plan !)

bpisok no, no ILP. But it’s a very good point. I think we’ll go to see Learning Support, ask for their input and try to get something formalised. He’s having no problems in his other subjects (History & Economics) and in fact Economics are adopting a ‘flipped classroom’ approach where they are given materials to review before the lessons, which is suiting DS really well.

Cherryburn - has he got a ILP? DD has one and made her teachers sign it. It included the request for a copy of the term's rough lesson plans from each of her teachers (she made the teachers sign her ILP too).
She also added in that she didn't want homework with a 24 hour turn around time due to organisational skills - although I think that's as much to do with her martial arts commitments

It doesn't solve the lost exam paper problem though!