Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To expect school teachers to actually educate my child?

460 replies

ICancelledTheCheque · 27/01/2017 10:41

Maybe I'm being a bit PFB but this has really irked me.

DD is Y7 in a big academy secondary school. She showed me some work she had done - in three paragraphs there were six spelling errors and five grammatical errors. The teacher didn't mark up a single thing and just put big green ticks and irritating smiley faces on her work and wrote "excellent work" at the end.

But it wasn't excellent work. How is she going to learn if they don't flag this stuff up? Is this the norm these days? Doesn't bode well for GCSEs if so!!

OP posts:
SmileEachDay · 27/01/2017 14:36

dancer what's your solution?

Dancergirl · 27/01/2017 14:36

But getting cross with teachers doesn't change any of this

It's not the teachers' fault. I have huge admiration and respect for teachers, most of them I have come across do an amazing job. It's more to do with our system of education in this country that's failing our children. I would love to get back to basics and see a return of traditional teaching and learning.

glitterazi · 27/01/2017 14:37

Let them complain about knocking little Johnny's confidence. Teachers are there to do the job not pander to parents' complaints.

We need a like button on MN, I'd be running through the thread liking all dancers posts Smile

Dancergirl · 27/01/2017 14:38

trifle yes of course listen to their complaints but that doesn't mean they have to be pandered to.

MrsWhiteWash · 27/01/2017 14:39

His excuse was 'they don't want to demoralise the child'

I've heard that as well Sad- my child was/is fully aware they struggle with spelling and is demoralised about it - the not marking seems to have given credence to the idea actually it's not that important which we found makes it harder to get DD1 to actually work at it.

Plus she often didn't have a clue where she was going wrong - though she has now reached point thanks to lots of work and some very helpful teachers and their marking when she often knows or can guesses which words are spelt wrong - though she can't always then spell correctly but can ask or look up.

Bobochic · 27/01/2017 14:41

Correct your child's SPAG and expression yourself. You'll do a far better job than the teacher has got time for and you can explain points to your child individually.

Trifleorbust · 27/01/2017 14:41

glitterazi: You can't spend time you don't have.

AmeliaLeopard · 27/01/2017 14:41

Do you know how long it takes to do marking?

Who cares? What is the actual bloody point of taking stuff in to mark and then not bothering to do it properly as it "takes too long?!"

I teach in a secondary non-essay subject. In order to mark to our school's marking policy I have to mark two sets of books each night. A set of books takes me an average of 90 minutes. So that is 3 hours per night just on marking. Given most of my day in school is taken up with actually teaching, planning, admin and pastoral care, that means I work approximately 10 hours per day in a normal week (ie no reports / parents' evenings). Admittedly I do always take half an hour for lunch (even if it is at 2.15). I am happy to do this, it is the pay off for having holidays. I could deep mark each book, but that would add another hour or two per night. Working more than 10 hours per day on a regular basis would leave me unable to function properly as a teacher and mean that the actual classroom part wasn't done to an acceptable standard.

I would welcome a reduction in class sizes and / or a reduced timetable to allow me to mark to the standard discussed in this thread (ie no mistake going challenged), but that is simply not going to happen. If you feel strongly that teachers should be allocated the time to do this, please get in touch with your local MP to campaign for more funding for education.

Trifleorbust · 27/01/2017 14:42

Dancergirl: Oh I agree. And I do not pander. The point is that even when I do what I think is best or what I can manage, as many people will be displeased as will be pleased!

Namesarehard · 27/01/2017 14:42

Honestly, every mistake. This is done during lessons but the teachers also keep the books once a week when there no homework set and it's handed back to them next lesson. There's 28 in my daughters class. There's 6 forms in her year. Not every teacher will teach every form class. Although I know they will teach other classes from the other year groups.
On balance though they do write comments not just corrections. So the children are not just seeing corrections. Always feed back from some sort. I.e "exellent understanding" , "good effort".
On my daughters part she doesn't need to be corrected a 2nd time. Once it's been pointed out a word is incorrectly spelled, she learns it and it's correct from then on. There's many words they write in secondary which they don't in primary so it's all just learning as they go along. The teacher doesn't mark them down because of it. Just a little push in the right direction.

Karlakitten1 · 27/01/2017 14:46

Actually, the quality of written communication does count, particularly for questions or marking criteria that has higher marks. So in exam questions and controlled assesment it is vital, very few errors are allowed in higher mark bands. This is in health and social care, so I imagine it applies across lots of subjects! I have some Y7 classes that have some students that would have me writing as much as them to correct all the errors, a lot need support and practise rather than tearing to pieces.

Karlakitten1 · 27/01/2017 14:47

Year 7 are obviously a different subject.

TheSmurfsAreHere · 27/01/2017 14:49

I have found that, in primary and in secondary, the marking goes only to the points that are supposed to be studied.
So, upils are studying how to write a newspaper article, the teacher will only look at clues that it is written in the way of newspaper article.
Grammar or spelling nowt be marked and you end with a 'Excelent Work' comment on something that is full of spelling mistakes.

I have often pointed out to dc1teachers that by doing that they have , in effect, taught him that it's OK to not be careful about spelling when writing a piece. The only time it's important to look a spelling IS during a spelling test....

In effect, the problem isn't that the current teacher isn't marking each exercise so carefully that all mistakes are marked etc...
It's the fact that this has been a process going on since Y1.
And that none of the mistakes are highlighted (it's not thelearning objective) even when they will jumped out to the teacher when she/he is reading.

Other issue of course is the fact that 'children will be out out from writing if we correct every single mistakes so we dont' which has been another common answer.
Nicely teaching the children it's ok to make spelling mistakes.

TheSmurfsAreHere · 27/01/2017 14:50

Karla isn't it when the teacher should use their discretion and comment on THE main issue/errors?
Rather than not correcting any at all??

Giddyaunt18 · 27/01/2017 14:51

Maybe it was excellent for your child and the level they are at? Spelling and grammar might be focussed on in a different session. Does she have spelling tests etc? Secondary school is very different to primary. Rather than having one teacher over 30 children, your daughter's English teacher will take several different classes for English over the week so not enough time for in depth marking. Have a chat at parents' evening about your concerns. At my DD's school the books are not marked nearly as often as in primary but they are assessed using small tests very often.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 27/01/2017 14:52

"I am not offay enough with the education system..."

@Bluntness100 - the term you are looking for is au fait not offay. It is French.

I'm sure you will be grateful for the correction.

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2017 14:53

Neither type benefit from being told SPaG is more important than content.

Unihorn · 27/01/2017 14:54

This annoys me too. My DSD is in primary school and her work often comes home with only one of about 7 or 8 mistakes corrected, and they don't do spelling tests any more?! We end up having to teach her bits ourselves. I understand it's to do with the objectives of the writing but we seem to be raising a generation of children who are behind other countries in education, and wondering how this has happened...

I also work in recruitment and some of the applications and CVs I receiveare concerning!

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2017 14:55

Sdt, you'd think I'd know that having lived in France for five years. 😂

Giddyaunt18 · 27/01/2017 14:56

My DDs have had spelling tests throughout yr 7, 8 and 9.

dataandspot · 27/01/2017 14:57

Oohno

Even a tick would be better than nothing. At least we would know if we were on the right lines?!

Giddyaunt18 · 27/01/2017 14:58

Well said Amelia

EddieStobbart · 27/01/2017 15:01

I find it a bit sad that while it sounds like the OP's DD had been educated well in terms of the concepts of the specific subject, the OP feels she hasn't been educated because of some mistakes in spelling and grammar.

I keep being told how crap the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland is but my 7 yr old has spelling tests every week. The emphasis of the CoE is supposed to be on creative thinking, resilience and flexibility (good idea but on a shoe string budget) and I keep hearing how weak it is on elements such as grammar and times tables compared to England but I'm not getting that impression from this thread.

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2017 15:04

We also have to recognise that 20 percent of kids leave school illiterate in the uk. I mean how does that even happen, 20 percent. That's one in every five kids are functionally illiterate when they leave school. It's a shocking statistic.

derxa · 27/01/2017 15:07

Surely spelling and grammar mistakes should be circled in red pen
Red pen?!!!! Red pen is not allowed. It sends a child into a tailspin of depression. You must use green for growth or blue or even pink at a school I worked at.
Spelling is a problem but the writing tasks in primary are so difficult that it takes a backseat. I'm glad I'm out.