New recruit teacher is inadequate

I think the teacher has been employed to teach English, albeit in a rather old fashioned way, but in accordance with the school's current curriculum.

Presumably the teacher has also familiarised themselves with the syllabus and scheme of work in order to conduct themselves professionally in the classroom.

However, despite being aware of the problem before sending her DD to the school, the OP is shocked at just how old-fashioned this particular teacher's grasp is of the language that he has been employed to teach.

Or not???

Nope, I was about to post what you have BitOutOfPractice

If it's the curriculum that's outdated, as has now been revealed, then the teacher may not necessarily be wrong in the context of that curriculum (if I'm getting the cake analogy right). In which case he's not an incompetent moron after all.

BoboChic Short of sending the teacher back to university I'm not sure what support can be given

The teacher doesn't need to go to university to learn how to spell the names of colours correctly. Much of the the work at that level can be obtained from the internet.

Would it be possible for you to work with the teacher to support what they are doing with the children? You were able to spot the mistakes in the homework, perhaps if you went through the lesson content with the teacher ahead of time you could ensure the children are being taught correctly.

Whilst I appreciate it will need time for underlying issues to be corrected (new curriculum written, approved, rolled out and new person recruited), in the mean time your DC is loosing out on valuable quality teaching. Will they realistically be able to make up for this potentially large knowledge gap later on?

Given the situation, by all means continue to help the school. However, in the mean time I would suggest you move your DC to another school that can better meet their educational needs.

So if this bigger problem was the problem all along, why did you post about the teacher. Is this some kind of elaborate hoax I'm not in on? Does everyone else understand?

I have read the thread. And I am none the wiser.

And your analogy has only muddied the waters for me.

Has the teacher got the heave ho or not?

I've done it before - it's hard work, largely because one has to get inside the heads of people very different from oneself and persuade them to change their underlying thinking - but interesting and rewarding too.

OP, I bow to your superior amazingness.

The analogy is not working for me.

Thanks Bobo and SheGot.

So how did you miss this in your research Bobo?

I'd have thought it (the curriculum) would be one of the first things you would have looked at given how passionate you are about your DD's language education.

I know you said it took an in depth conversation to get to the bottom of things and uncover the flaw but was it not evident in the school's choice of textbooks/previous pupils work etc? Or in exam results further up the school in that subject?

It is an interesting debate that has unfolded despite your rather clumsy plea for help and providing a little more specific information would be helpful to me and other posters on this thread. It might also help you get things straight in your mind before approaching the 'big guns' who could in theory be just as clueless as I/we are.

SO WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE TEACHER?!

That's what your OP was about - why won't you tell us?

pickled I think the flaw is that it's the wrong one. It's a syllabus that is highly unpopular and puts off prospective teachers.

I suspect (though I don't know) that teachers in France are not as used to the variety of syllabi as in the UK where shopping around/chopping and changing exam boards is perfectly normal and teachers are happy and competent to cover many.

Bobo, what is the flaw in the curriculum?

One of the reasons I left teaching was being put in the position where I had to manage a subject teacher of an exam class who had zero knowledge of the subject area. It was a flaw in recruitment as they shouldn't have been hired for the role, plus it was a failing of that specific teacher. They should not have stated they were prepared to teach the subject, or if they did say they were happy to teach it, they should have done a huge amount more prep. ????I think that the OP is right to get stuck in and try and change things at the school. If she removed her child then nothing would change. I'd much rather a parent who cared and wanted to get involved than one who wasn't interested in their child's education. Although, how you approach the school matters, as if you come across as aggressive and irrational you won't get anywhere.

I have a feeling that the teacher is history which is why the answers are so evasive

Nobody has said their school is perfect OP

Yes, but did you get any reassurance that they would be supporting the teacher better in future? That can be done straight away...