To be late for parents evening

[42bunnytails]

DD2 (Y9) has made an appointment with her German teacher.

She hates him, she's absolutely useless at German, gets put in detention and has made no progress in three years.

She's a straight A student at everything else

She's done it purely to see if I can keep a straight face, when she knows I think he's an idiot too.

It's not fair, she knows I had a fit of the giggles watching one of her class just wander off mid bollocking, leaving her parents to hear the end of it.

To make it worse you can see the French teacher trying not to giggle too

But don't you see that her missing homework causes lots of problems for the teacher and lays them open to criticism? Why is she homework? Is the homework unreasonable? If it is then it is a conversation you should be having win the teacher. If she has been listing in class and still can't do it then you need to have the conversation with the teacher. It is really important that she does the homework as soon as possible after the lesson because you forget so quickly.
Well done Op for coming back but I am afraid you aren't comvincing me that you are doing your best by her.
Senior school is not the place to be letting her hair down and the position of behaving sensibly in lessons and completing homeworks should be eminently sustainable.

iLS do you recognise me from another place?

In case you haven't flounced because most people didn't agree with you, 42bunnytails, I think it is very wrong of you to condone your daughter's bad behaviour in the German teacher's classes.

You should support her if she wants to give it up, and if you think the teaching is poor, you should make complaints through the proper channels - but I would not be letting a child of mine use poor teaching and disliking the subject or teacher as an excuse for bad behaviour - that is a really bad lesson to teach her.

Not handing in homework is bad behaviour, 42bunnytails. And teaching your child that it is OK to skip homework is a really stupid thing to do.

Are you saying she has only ever had detentions, in German lessons, for not handing in homework, and the rest of her behaviour in class is that of a little angel? Really?

42 bunny tails hasn't flounced at all. I think she is listening carefully to the arguments. Perhaps I have misunderstood but it sounds to me as if the daughter can't give it up (not yet, anyway).
BTW, op, if your daughter has genuinely not made progress that really is a concern. I think that is probably unlikely though.

"So long and thanks for all the fish" looked like a flounce to me. If I was wrong, I am sorry.

OP you still don't get it do you? Really it appears to be a waste of time trying to explain why just about every poster finds your attitude appalling.

Flossy can you pm me?

flossy well said.
Good MFL teachers have a really hard time and I suspect many find easier ways to make a living.

I have no idea if my DF was a good teacher, but I know she was a brilliant linguist who picked up European languages, like nursery child catch colds.

DD1 said her French mistress tried really hard, but she had just the sort of disillusioned set you describe. She didn't have the classroom management skills to deal with them.

Me, I just can't do languages at all, I'm dyslexic (as is DD1, hence her low set). I can't see and hear the internal structure of English words, without effort. Foreign ones don't stand a chance.

I'd love to be able to help DD, but I can't. She isn't the sort of child you can help, she is very clever and very hard working if she sees a reward.

With German she has never got the faintest inkling that work is going to get her anywhere.

The immersive, no English, curriculum lost her completely she just didn't know what was going on.

Her teacher is just unable to grasp that she simply doesn't know enough of the basics to do what she's asked.

At my school she would have gone down a set and perhaps got work nearer her level, but her school groups subjects in a way that makes that simply impossible.

Of course I'll be polite to her German Teacher, but I'd still rather not bother.

Honestly not turning up wouldn't be rude. Our parents evenings never run to time and your often forced to miss some people because you are the other end of school with someone else.

apple I understood that! I studied O level German and then went on to live there for a couple of years after University. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I did not come back the bilingual wonder I hoped I would as everyone really did speak English, and unlike the French, were quite insistent on using it. We'd have these bizarre conversations with me speaking German and them speaking English.

I had a post deleted.

I didn't call the op a troll I called her a liar. I haven't reported her for trolling. Just to be clear

Not turning up to any appointment is rude, surely? Just send a message saying you are unable to make it. Or sit down and be honest and try to work with the teacher to improve tags. If this is possible.
ILS don't worry I am not outing you. I think I recognise you from somewhere else, that's all.

Oh I wasn't worried Flossy
Just wondered who you were from the other place.

OP you could take your concerns to the school but you choose not to. You still haven't acknowledged that you think it's fine to encourage your daughter to have zero respect for the teacher.

I'll out you ilovesooty!

Are you Matthew Corbett?

In which case I am wrong! ( I don't think so though, I rarely am), I have Messaged you.

I have some sympathy OP from looking back on the language teaching that I received. But I have noticed that the primary teachers my daughters have are much, much better than the ones I have. And a lot of my friends are secondary teachers now and they are better qualified, do a lot more class prep than my teachers did and seem much more involved in trying to raise standards. Nevertheless, virtually no teachers have been struck off for being no good at teaching and we all know they exist, they have to be somewhere and It's possible you've found one of them. It's difficult for schools to get rid of teachers, if the SLT and the governors aren't really on the ball they'll find it easier to absorb one or two poor teachers than get rid of them. Sniggering about it won't help though.

At my school she would have gone down a set

Please tell me you're not a teacher, OP

Teachers don't get "struck off" for poor performance, boom

I know several teachers who have lost their jobs through capability procedures Poor teachers (or those stitched up) are quickly ousted from schools.
Performance management is powerful Teachers no longer have or want a job for life

Losing your job is not the same as being "struck off", though.

That's reserved for teachers who commit criminal offences and suchlike.

Actually the new Education Secretary says a teacher can be struck off for "failing to protect children from extremism".

You are 'that' parent. A pain in the arse.

How old are you!
Have some respect for the poor chap who is trying to educate your DC

Yay "bonkers"??

In all seriousness, I do really love language teaching, but it really was hard when the majority of students and parents where so apathetic/negative about it. Let alone "Spanish is more important than German as more people speak it". And then all the boring meetings and insets with post it notes. And lack of respect from children etc etc.
Since having my second kid I've left altogether to focus on private tuition for french and German, which is luckily a lucrative and in demand subject where I live. Lovely students and grateful parents. Returning to the classroom is less and less tempting.

No Suburban, they don't. The General Teaching Council use to have that power, but they didn't ever use it to deregister teacher because they weren't any good at teaching (though it was in the code of conduct). They very ocassionally did for screwing up safeguarding, or for a criminal conviction but that was about it. I don't think the replacement (NCTL?) even pretend that professional standards might include being professionally competent anymore though.

Are you also a member of staff at this school OP?

Yes, there are computer systems with detentions logged - and yes there is a report produced. I do not know of one school where a TEACHER's TOTAL LOGS are shared with a parent or form tutor. These are restricted to SLT and line managers - and in most schools high logs trigger intervention. So either you are a member of staff breaking all sorts of rules, a teacher has broken rules sharing these details with you or you are stretching the facts a little. Knowing your own child's logs I believe but not all the logs of a specific teacher.

Appraisal happens every year and once identified as under performing a teacher will be out in 6 months without massive improvement. The rules have changed - there is no such thing as a job for life. The school doesn't need complaints - it can look at it's own data - which from what YOU say would show a teacher with poor management and bad results from multiple year groups.

As for parents evening. If you don't care then don't turn up. The teacher will probably be happy that they get more time with parents who do care and won't miss you.

If you are a member of staff at your DD's school I suggest you get your posts deleted. People have lost jobs for less!