Opinions on teacher's behaviour before I over react...

[Namechangedforthisone287]

I have name changed, but only because I've discussed this IRL with friends so I don't want this linking back to personal medical things I've posted about recently.

DD is 12 and in year 7. This week they are doing tests in all subjects. Clearly, these should be conducted in silence. This afternoon, they have been doing a history test (DD says short test, only 6 questions) and her friend has spoken to her. DD felt she had to reply so as not to be rude. Another friend has then mouthed something to her from across the room, and DD has given her a thumbs up. The teacher has seen all of this, and has taken DD's test paper off her, and said she'll have to redo the test tomorrow in form time, by herself. He has then ripped her test paper up over the bin.

DD says she was humiliated and embarrassed as everyone was looking at her. She cried at the time, and cried when she told me about it.

Now, DD can be a chatterbox and absolutely should have got on with her test and not interacted with her friends. I can understand that it may have looked like she was cheating. But I'm really unhappy with how things were handled by the teacher. Fair enough to take her test and make her re do it, but tearing it up and making a spectacle of DD is a bridge too far in my book.

WWYD? She doesn't want me to make a fuss.

I'm not really talking about ripping up the test which may have been a step too far. I wouldn't have done it.

The test is invalid. What is the teacher supposed to do with it?

Well she won't do it again will she

@FlamencoDance if a kid is talking in their actual GCSE not only should they be disqualified from that exam (and if they're not the school could be done for misconduct) but the exam board on being told can choose to disqualify them from their other subjects too. It's not a minor misdemeanour

@FlamencoDance if a kid is talking in their actual GCSE not only should they be disqualified from that exam (and if they're not the school could be done for misconduct) but the exam board on being told can choose to disqualify them from their other subjects too. It's not a minor misdemeanour

I agree it’s not minor. And OPs remark of ‘she can be a chatterbox’ implies to me that the teacher felt that the message needed to be hammered in this case as otherwise she may not have taken it seriously. She does this sort of thing in class all the time perhaps and thought an exam is no maybe no different. But communication during an exam isn’t the same as doing so in a lesson. She was a bit of a fool to try it on and that kind of foolishness could cost her a lot were it her GCSEs. It may seem like a harsh response from the teacher but it sounds like she may have needed a harsh lesson.

I'm not condemning the teacher at all. I imagine they were stretched to the limit and the ripping was a dramatic touch. I think I'd probably fold it up and dispose of it later but it would probably depend on how far I'd been pushed at that point.

The only time I've actually ripped up a child's work was a younger child and after a quiet discussion with said child about how it wasn't up to their usual standard asked them what they wanted me to do with it. They told me to rip it up and put it in the bin and they did a better piece if work.

Years ago when my mum was a teacher she’d often get locals like the greengrocers family refer to her in person as “Mrs xxx the teacher” and not taking the piss either!

there’s so little respect as shown by OP’s OP towards teachers these days that it’s no wonder they’re leaving in droves!

Some little madam like OP’s DD sounds like a right pita and the teacher sounds like he had had enough as she obviously doesn’t listen in class, he also probably knew from parents open evenings that the little madam would go running to mummy putting her own spin on the story! Well done that teacher for teaching her a lesson! Or trying to!

Both children in this scenario should’ve been given the punishment though, not just the DD.

I went to a private convent school for a few years and if we ever dared to do something like this it was immediate detention or say 10 Hail Marys or similar!

there were at least 2 teachers who were feared as they shouted at pupils. One of these teachers (history) I think at first thought I was stupid, didn’t shout at me though. I then got top marks in most of my subjects bar maths at the end of my first year there in end of term exams including history so she liked me from then on!

we got into trouble for wearing makeup but one girl dyed her hair blonde but made out it was her natural colour. A very clever girl who always did well in exams was told to change her hair colour as it was dyed red. Her best friend who was Mexican/Irish used to wear eyeliner inside eye lids every day but it looked natural so she got away with it! I had to wear navy blue hair bands or hair ties. That was the only colour allowed! We were rarely if ever allowed out of school and if we were we were forbidden to talk to the common girls in the girls high school down the hill (most of us had to come past there on our way home). I used to go to that school! We were sort of allowed to fraternise with the boys from the local Catholic boys school nearby! We went to discos there!

we had regular end of term exams and if we misbehaved in class which was rare we’d be told “your parents are paying for your education so you need to pay attention and not mess around in class and do well in these tests/exams”. Even in PE/art though these were less strict subjects.

Both children in this scenario should’ve been given the punishment though, not just the DD.

But if she tells mum she’s the only one punished, or if it’s omitted that the others were too, it takes away from the fact that she was in the wrong in the first place.

We don't know that the others weren't disciplined do we?

Oh great, OP is a plopper 🙄

a what ?

Posts and runs… because she’s had her arse handed to her on a plate here!

That’s true, we don’t know this.

However OP seems more concerned about her DD’s fate than that of her fellow and protagonist in this scenario!

Totally right Going😄