What can you do about a bad teacher?

Unfortunately not all teachers are amazing. My dd also goes to an independent school and while most of the teaching is really good she has had some less good teachers. Interestingly, on the basis of my dd’s experiences and also talking to parents with children at other schools, I think science is one of those areas where teaching can be a bit hit and miss...

Contact them again and explain your concerns again.

Poor teaching can not be judged by a student's say so. But likewise, clearly there is not a relationship there with the teacher or at least not one where you feel like speaking to her -I'd email again -and explain it's concerning you and ask to speak to the Head of Science and also the teacher again.

Regarding lack of replies to emails about tutor stuff. Was it you emailing "Josie needs to go to the dentist at 3pm on Friday" fact -teacher emails it on to admin and doesn't actually need to respond. Or "Josie is concerned about Amelia in class. Can I discuss with you ways to help Josie?" kind of things -an actual question that needed an answer.

If it was the a latter. I would copy and paste ALL 4 emails together and email the head of pastoral care etc and say "Please see below -4 emails to Mrs X teacher and no reply -could you please explain the school policy as I want to have good parent / school communication and it seems to be one way -as you can see there is no reply to my questions".

Also tread carefully, teachers like most of us are under HUGH pressure right now, with no PPE etc, the last thing you want is teacher off on long term sick and a cover teacher in the room giving supply work.

If she is a "bad" teacher -moving her elseswhere will not help the school or the pupils -it just moves the problem.

BTW, I know a newly qualified teacher in DD is by FAR the best teacher so the amount of years teaching has no bearing -on their ability to teach.

In my school, it's my job to support colleagues to improve their teaching amongst other things. Most schools will have someone in my sort of role.
Do contact the head of science and be specific about the issues. You say things improved for a while so say that too. No one wants to be letting a student down.

[quote hosnav]@TheSeedsOfADream

Her first parent teacher meeting isn't until early December. I have to admit I went to the Head of Department, not the teacher as it did sound to me like a managerial issue. The teacher is also my daughter's tutor and I'd emailed her on four separate occasions about tutee related information and hadn't received a single reply, which was also a factor in deciding not to deal with it directly with her.

I had a similar thing to what you describe for my son in Maths. He'd had the same teacher from Y7 to Y10 and always had an A. First term with a new teacher and he dropped down to a B and was given a similar explanation. We're now a Term further on and he's back up to an A, so hard to tell where the truth lies![/quote]
So true!
DD got a "barely sufficient" in their first test, so am waiting out the next one to see what happens and hoping I won't have to fork out for a tutor!

There’s a lot of content to cover in the Science GCSEs and it does get harder in Year 10. I would definitely get in touch with the school again, whether your daughter is struggling with the work or whether it’s the teaching, it needs addressing.

Some of the teaching my son had at GCSE wasn’t great, he used CGP books and BBC Bitesize and it was better than the teaching so I’d get your daughter to use those.

[quote hosnav]@Thatwentbadly

It could be flipped learning but you'd think a Department would have a generally uniform approach, right? The other teachers all have a similar style which is very clear and explicit and directive - which works very well from what I've seen. She is only 14 - I understand them building more independence as time goes on, but she is certainly not there yet.[/quote]
Not necessarily. Some schools are very happy for teachers to use their own methods, some are more uniform.

Flipped learning is quite a fashionable thing at the moment, so she could have sold it to her HoD as something she wanted to try.

As a science teacher, I think explicit and clear with a lot of teacher talk is necessary sometimes, but it is really not "in fashion" with most teachers at the moment.

It does sound like typical flipped classroom methodology.
What has the teacher herself said when you've told her your daughter is struggling sadly in a subject she didn't use to struggle in?
(I ask because DD always got top grades in maths and suddenly, this year, she isn't. New, young teacher. When queried we were told at parents' meeting that previously the old teacher's marks were somewhat high and the work done had been very superficial- in short, the new teacher is actually a much better teacher and though they're finding it hard, the kids themselves are now acknowledging that "for the first time we're doing maths and physics like we ought to")

[quote hosnav]@Bluntness100 I think I'll leave it for the teachers to investigate. The reason I'm on an anonymous forum is I have no desire to whip other parents in my kid's class into a frenzy, or witch hunt a teacher. And I have no reason to disbelieve my daughter, having had no evidence of her ever lying to me before. She didn't even want me to contact the school; she'd rather have just put up with it in silence.[/quote]
Eh?

My daughter has told me that all the children are complaining that they don't understand - including children in lower sets

Of course she did. I’d recommend asking other parents though. It’s important for you to know if your kid is struggling or if it really is the teachers fault.

Agree, she’s likely trying to get them to work it out themselves, if she thinks they have the ability, then explaining how to do it

As said, the trick here is to find out if the other kids are also struggling. I’d speak to a few other parents of kids in the same class.

What my DD told me is the teacher structures the lesson backwards. She sets them a task with no explanation of why they are doing it or how it fits into the big picture. Once they've done it, she then explains it and finally she will (sometimes) contextualise it

I'm wondering whether she's taking this approach as this is a top set group. She could be trying to challenge them to make those connections for themselves.

Op have you spoken to other parents? It’s important to understand if other kids are struggling or just your daughter as the work has also become more complex.

My daughter, also in year 10 in a private school, has exactly the same problem although in English. The teacher isn't new but not as good as other teachers she has had. DD said it's a lot of self study in the lesson. We raised it to the head of English. The school talked to DD and told us the exam results are consistently good across all classes. DD thinks they still get good grade because they do their own self study outside the class. Anyway we encourage DD to take this opportunity to be self learner. There are so many resources available on the internet. It does annoy me that we pay the school fees but admit there are things beyond our control. DD isn't gonna take English A-level so that could be a reason I let it go.

the other teacher's lesson could be live streamed so my daughter gets a decent lesson

Or she could watch the recorded lwssons in the Oak National Academy website, as so many otherd are doing.

This is a fee paying school so not sure I can accept that my daughter should just teach herself.

It doesn't guarantee immunity from poor teaching. Almost every single one of the unimproved science and maths teachers that our (Ofsted Good) state school has managed out in recent years has moved to fee-paying schools. They had very good academic credentials on paper, but lacked an aptitude for teaching. Though, to be fair, in some cases it was behaviour management that let them down.

I honestly think that if your child likes her, and that there was an improvement the last time you mentioned it, that the teacher and the department can get this sorted out really quickly. I could be wrong, but I’m imagining a class of studious, high ability girls who, when asked “does everyone get that?” they politely nod but then sit and struggle. I’ve both been that girl but then also been that teacher with my first all-girls top set who pitched just a bit too high! The first was resolved by my Mum encouraging me to ask and then the second, very swiftly, when I marked my first set of assessments and realised I needed to scaffold more.

I’d email the Head of Science and really be explicit about what was helping, right down to details like “the lessons on covalent bonding where they drew them on the board first” or “when they get sentence starters for their 6 Mark questions”