I need to talk to the school regarding this teacher

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Dd is 13.
For the last couple of years she has had the same maths teacher.
Dd is really unhappy in this class. She struggles with maths (it’s one of the lower classes for the subject) but she doesn’t seem to be progressing very well in the class and when she comes home and tells me about her experiences with this teacher I can see why.
He regularly eats and drinks in the classroom (today she said he scoffed a extra large bag of chocolate chips, the kind you bake with), he often glugs fizzy drinks and eats crisps/pringles etc.
He appears to have favourites who can do no wrong. Dd friend is one of them, the friend wouldn’t wear her mask in this class today (she is not exempt at all and had worn it in other classes) yet he shouted at dd for having hers slightly below her nose. He also does not wear a mask.
He regularly belittles her work and today when he looked at her worksheet and saw that she hadn’t written down everything correctly he shouted ‘Well, that’s why you will never learn anything, you never pay attention!’. I don’t believe this way of teaching, by showing a pupil up in front of the class is ever the correct way to get a student to learn, it’s intimidating and I’m annoyed that he would seemingly rather pick on her (and dd says there are a few others he targets) instead of acknowledging her weaknesses and helping her to work on them.
He also swears regularly in class, and at 12/13 year old they are kids, a teacher swearing is totally unacceptable and unprofessional IMO.
This teacher is my older ds friend’s form teacher and confirms he is also like this in form a d swears regularly. My friends dd left the school a couple of years ago, he was also her teacher, she says he has always been like this.
His excuse for his behaviour? Apparently he has ADHD and that is the way he is, with a take it or leave it kind of attitude. The school seem to know what he is like and makes excuses for him.
I’m sorry but I can’t just leave it at that, this is my child’s education. I would like her moved from the class (ideally from the school as it has an Ofsted inadequate rating so that kind of speaks for itself but it’s difficult getting her into another school in our area).
Please tell me that this isn’t normally behaviour for a teacher, is it? It can’t be ignored/brushed under the carpet?

He doesn't sound great :(

Unfortunately though, maths teachers are like gold dust and it's nearly impossible to recruit even half decent qualified maths teachers. Especially at an inadequate school.

That’s probably why he’s still there then, that’s not great.

It doesn’t sounds normal is any school I’ve taught in. I and other teachers have eaten in class for medical reasons eg the only way to prevent vomiting with morning sickness.

I have to say that we regularly had teachers like this at school. I left school in 1997. DH is now a teacher and this would not be acceptable now generally, however I know that several SLT are still old guard and swear a lot. It’s part of their persona. They are due to retire soon.

Is it acceptable? No.

Him not wearing a mask is ok - we are permitted not to when teaching, as it can be difficult to project your voice otherwise. I do wear mine when walking around the classroom, but I take it off to give instructions from the front.

Everything else is out of order and extremely unprofessional.

Erm im a teacher and no this is not acceptable...i highly doubt this is true however as no school ive ever taught in would allow anywhere even close to this!

If it is true then you obviously need to contact the head teacher to share your concerns.

It really doesn't sound great but as a pp said, recruiting maths teachers to an inadequate school? There is a major teaching staff crisis in general. No one wants to work in an inadequate school. They probably don't have much choice.

The one thing I would say is don't get caught up over him criticising pupils in front of the class. Given there are 30ish pupils in a class, you can't send 29 out the room every time you need to point out incorrect work or tell a pupil off for not doing work. It's just not possible. The way he is doing it doesn't sound good - shouting should only be for gross insubordination or dangerous behaviour, and he definitely shouldn't be swearing so if you complain focus on that aspect instead.

Whilst he sounds less than ideal, have you talked to him and raised your concerns (either at a parent's evening or via the head of Dept?).

If not, maybe start there....get his take on your DD's progress/behaviour in lessons. Tackle him on the inconsistencies she has flagged with you....ask why pupils appear to be treated differently and as a professional if he agrees this is confusing for pupils.

Make sure he knows you are unhappy with DD's progress and attainment and his perceived lack of professionalism. Ask for advice on how to improve her engagement. Ask him what he intends to do specifically in class to support her better. Ask why he thinks it is acceptable to eat abs drink in class, ask why he is is inconsistent on mask wearing. Set a time limit on this and then review to discuss next steps. Note down everything you discussed and email him a summary and the actions.....don't give him any wriggle room.

When you review, if you're satisfied, all good. If not, escalate to Head of Dept and cc Chair of Governors in.

Also, you can give your views on the Ofsted site (parent view) at any time..... and if I recall correctly (from my time as a school governor) if enough patents complete the survey, it can trigger an inspection. So if others are equally unhappy with maths or the school in general, get co-ordinated and get filling in the survey.

On one hand, it does sound bad (swearing amongst 13 year olds) is bad, eating and drinking is a bit unprofessional but, to be fair, I’ve worked in schools where, in the day, I had about 20 mins break in the day so… maybe sometimes inevitable you might swig the odd cup of tea occasionally. You need to investigate to get both sides of the story really; sometimes rumours start about teachers such as that but it might have been that he actually just said ‘bollocks’ once when he dropped something and it’s magnified by a million teenage voices. The idea that teachers pick on some students seems very alien to me as a teacher. Why would we? There’s nothing to be gained and everything to be lost by doing so.
Just contact the school and make an initial enquiry being diplomatic and you’ll find out or perhaps have the opportunity to have your daughter move sets if the problem can’t be solved.

Proofreading failure!

Thanks all. I’ve contacted the year head and have asked to speak with or meet up with this teacher.
I totally believe dd with regard to the teachers habits in class and his swearing, maybe less so with the apparent picking on her, she may be a little over sensitive there.
I do believe the accounts from the other pupils, they are all from different years and there is my best friends 20 year old daughter, she left a few years back, she says he was exactly like this when she attended the school, there is no reason for me not to believe her.
I have met the teacher before, at parents evening and tbh the first impressions he gave were not great but we will see how it goes in this next meet.

I can't think of any school I've ever taught in where eating and drinking in the classroom is allowed. Or swearing. His ADHD is not an excuse for his behaviour, and all of this need to be brought up with SLT. Do it in writing and require written response. Sod his being maths teacher.

I've managed to get through 40+ years in teaching without the need to eat/drink in class, though the odd swear has slipped out, which I have immediately apologised for. Pupils take this in good part, but I can't imagine them accepting it as a regular occurrence.

My experience too, @echt.
Never acceptable, never tolerated in any school I've ever worked in.

www.ardrossanherald.com/news/13725935.swearing-ardrossan-academy-teacher-is-struck-off/

A teacher in a school near me was struck off for similar behaviour though it was a little sad because he was actually incredibly good at teaching his subject and the boys who weren't interested in school at all always did well in his class because they reacted well to that kind of chat and most went on to do trades inspired by his subject. when statistically in the very deprived area the school is in they were much more likely to be long term unemployed.

I'm a teacher and this isn't great. Him not wearing a mask is fine though, the guidance states we don't have to wear them whilst teaching, I like to wear one walking around corridors etc though. Eating and drinking, not great to be eating in front of the students, though when you have marking, break duties etc you often run out of time to eat! Belittling her work, absolutely unacceptable. Is there anyone who can be a witness for DD to make a complaint to a member of SLT?
Just a point on the OFSTED, if judged as inadequate, it will most likely be placed into the care of an Academy Trust, or re brokered if it's already part of one. When this happened to the school I went to (10 years ago now) it was honestly the best thing to happen to the place, Specialists were brought it, interventions for both weaker and higher ability students put in place etc. On the other hand, a lot of "Outstanding" schools have become complacent, leading to poor results, poor teaching and poor outcomes as they have not been inspected for 5+ years. One local to my area hasn't been done in 9!
I hope everything is sorted for your DD

Thanks all. I’ve spoken to the school this morning and have arranged for a meeting with the teacher next week so hopefully I can fully discuss my concerns with him then.
Thanks LondonQueen the school has become part of an academy but there were some issues with those running it and the principal and another member were sacked for some sort of fraudulent behaviour and it seems to have been rocking since then.
It’s a shame as the school has been running for over 80 years, my father in law, my self, dh and many friends all attended this school and it’s was great back then. Had I known it would have fallen so sharply I would never have sent my two dc there.

I would tell the school everything in your OP and ask that your dd is moved set. Whether that is down or up is irrelevant because she cannot learn anything with this teacher. And if you can afford it, you need to get her a tutor as maths is something that you cannot progress properly with unless you have cumulative knowledge and skills - which your dd will most definitely not have learnt in this class.

Complain to the school
And insist she is moved to a different class

He sounds like a nightmare

I had a maths teacher like this at school in the noughties. He used to sit with his legs up on the desk eating crisps and his ‘teaching’ method was to hand out a workbook and basically make us copy shit from it. He was completely appalling but he’d worked there years and nobody seemed to challenge him. Sad to hear it’s still the case now but it doesn’t surprise me, particularly if this is an inner city school. My DS goes to a rural school and the teachers are all great.