To think DDs 2 English teacher should not have said " a C Grade at Gcse is only worth putting in the bin" .

[motown3000]

DD2 13 ,Yr8 at Grammar School. Her friend started talking to DD about her elder brother and that he is expecting C grades for most of his Gcses. DDs English teacher overhears them, and in front of the class says "A C grade is only worth putting in the bin" and you are both in lunch time Detention. ( They Both should have reading and doing a comprehension based on the reading).

The teacher is Old School, and was my Niece's favourite teacher, all her yr11s last year got A* Grades at Gcse. My niece got an A at A level with her she is a brilliant teacher however is very strict, ( she needs to adapt a little bit "Chill" , no one is allowed to take off their blazers E.T.C in her class. ( My niece says DD is very lucky to have her, and will grow to enjoy her classes) . However, though I think she should not have demeaned DDs friends brother who tries very hard. I agree they both deserved Detention for talking, just not the rudeness to DDs friends brother.

[MoominIsWaitingToMeetHerMiniMe]

Teacher sounds like a snob, and encouraging an awful attitude in children at an age when all that matters is how they compare to others their own age. That's essentially giving them validation to put down anyone they meet who is predicted a C, and parrot what their teacher has said - and knowing many Year 8s, they wouldn't hesitate to do so.

I went to a great state school (no grammars in Wales) and our English teacher only ever taught the top ability set, the ones on line for As and As, so we were in her class from Year 8 to the end of Year 11. She was a scary scary woman, she pulled no punches whatsoever and wasn't afraid to tell us if she felt our work wasn't up to scratch, and she would be vicious and often mean about it (and she was the best teacher I've ever had, and I thank her for the fact I got As in Language and Literature and went on to get an A at A Level, because she was an incredible teacher).

But the one incident that sticks in my head is when a couple of my classmates were laughing because we'd all had our mock results, and someone in the set below, aiming for Bs, had gotten a C. The teacher made them stand up and oh my god, she tore them a new one, and said that for that pupil, getting a C was no different to us getting an A*, it didn't make us better people in any way, it didn't make their achievement any less great than ours, and although my classmates may have been achieving better academically, she wouldn't give them the time of day outside of the classroom if she knew that was how they felt.

Never forgot that, my respect for her was huge after that day. Teachers who realise that the highest grade isn't the be-all and end-all, it's what the pupil can achieve and wants to achieve that matters.

[SapphireMoon]

Not nice. So, this teacher is teaching the pupils that anyone who only achieves a 'c' is a loser. What a charming view on life she is teaching those children.
Not on at all...teaching them to look down on people..

[Leonas]

As a teacher I don't think telling pupils that a C is worthy of the bin is in any way motivational, despite the type of pupil. Ensuring pupils work to the best of their ability is the priority and indicating that a C pass is crap is not going to encourage them. If they are capable of better and 'only' get a C, bearing themselves up over it won't help. I didn't do as wellin my exams as a could have due to fannying about at school and I still achieved a degree and a post-grad with 3 Bs and 3 Cs

[ilovesooty]

What annoys me is the OP criticising the teacher's general classroom management. If she doesn't like the detention and discipline rules or uniform expectations I suggest she's free to send her child elsewhere where they adapt a little bit "Chill" or to home educate if she thinks she knows better.

[Leonas]

*beating, not bearing

[SapphireMoon]

Just read op again. Teacher an arse. She should be able to discipline her class without putting other children's achievements down. A 'c' for some is something to be immensely proud of.

[Pregnantberry]

Gert I understand and agree with your points that motivating the grammar students is important and different to how you would handle lower set comp students. I also agree with others that it is up to the teacher what she does about detentions.

But the crucial point, IMO, is that she didn't say that a C would be useless if the girl or one of her students got one (which may have been true in comparison to their other predictions), she said it in the context of hearing that the girl's brother was predicted them. It wasn't motivating her students at all, she will never meet that boy and he could have SN for all we know.

Also, she is teaching her students to have an imbalanced view on the world. C's do make the difference between becoming a minimum wage worker/unemployed or ending up in a decent paying trade for a lot of people in this country, I don't see why smarter students need to be sheltered from this reality.

[Pleasejustgo]

Teacher isn't an arse.

For some university courses a C would be worthy of the bin. This isn't knocking other children, she is merely pointing out a home truth.

I keep saying, what she said is a relative truth so I really don't understand what all the fuss is about.

[Aeroflotgirl]

Moomin she sounds like a great teacher, just right.

[SapphireMoon]

I did O levels in the olden days and was either good at something or not.
I would have loved a grade C Olevel maths... it was not achieved by me..
A grade C in certain subjects, English and Maths make a huge difference to job chances.
How dare this bigoted teacher belittle such achievement. Shame she is not like Moomin's [upthread] teacher and teach a little humility to her children.

[SapphireMoon]

She is an arrogant arse..

[Pleasejustgo]

How long have you known her

[SapphireMoon]

You too are making judgements Pleasejustgo. As others have pointed out, a grade C may not be good enough for this class but informing these children that a C grade is fit for the bin [re child's brother] is likely to breed an arrogance in already privileged grammar school children.

[GertTheFlirt]

I have to concur that GCSE grades do impact on university choices. And I doubt there would be many grammar children looking for jobs or apprenticeships. It is ingrained into them to aspire, to set their sights higher. They will be at uni and looking for careers. Not down the local poly doing an NVQ in wood whittling or hairdressing.

[SapphireMoon]

But they should be taught to respect those who do do apprentices and NVQs Gert. This teacher is promoting an attitude which may make these pupils feel they are somehow superior to others as academically bright.

[Pleasejustgo]

No judgement at all, just not much emotion towards what she said.

She isn't wrong, neither did she directly insult anyone.

[Pleasejustgo]

You're presuming there sapphire, you've no idea the attitude.

[SapphireMoon]

You don't have to directly insult someone to instil negative attitudes.
This teacher put down those who a grade C may be a major achievement.
She should have said 'stop talking' and made her point differently.

[SapphireMoon]

I refer you back to Moomin's post about her great teacher...

[Pleasejustgo]

I also have a post about my great teacher somewhere down there...

[motown3000]

I like the discipline and ethos of the School, I just wished DD1 had worked a little bit harder ( Or Allowed some Tutoring) and got in.

I have been told that the teacher is "Caring" to her students , and expects best behaviour and the highest standard of work at all times.

I also agree that she could have phrased it a bit better Perhaps she could have said " Would you Like a C grade, Well get on with your work" "Lunch Time Detention". I have told DD not to take it literally and that a C grade is better than than the E grade I have for Gcse English.

[Pregnantberry]

And I doubt there would be many grammar children looking for jobs or apprenticeships.

But she wasn't talking about a grammar student, she was talking about a comp student!

[ilovesooty]

So why are you criticising the detention system and the rules about blazers OP? Why are you taking issue with this teacher's general approach and class management?

[OpalQuartz]

She is encouraging the pupils to sneer at the brother's grades, when they might be an achievement for him. That's not good teaching, it's being unpleasant. Are the pupils expected to wear a blazer in class during a heatwave? If so, then that's ridiculous. She may be a good teacher in other respects, but not in those.

[motown3000]

I just think putting Girls in Detention for taking blazers off , is a bit over the top.