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AIBU?

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Original poster

Punishment in secondary school

52 replies

Bellini81 · 14/03/2017 10:32

Just trying to get some perspective regarding my 14 year old daughter and what happened in her French class before I make my next move. Sorry its long I don't want to drip feed.

My daughter has attended this secondary school since year 7, took ages to settle in (3 years!) as her best friend wendied her out of every friendship circle but has since found a good little group of friends and generally likes school, her grades are good, her homework is done without fail, she is the complete opposite of me at that age basically.

My dd is also shy, reserved and finds it hard to meet people in the eye but is working on this with her mentor that she has through her school, so far so good.

My dd has said for a while that her French teacher doesn't like her but I have taken that with a pinch of salt, as I remember being a teenager and feeling like the world was against me some days, but one of her friends stayed last Saturday and they were chatting about school etc and her friend said 'Ms M** really doesn't like you does she?'

Fast forward to yesterday and my dd said that she pronounced something wrong in French class (Sept if you're interested) so for her 'punishment' the teacher ordered my dd to come to the front of the class and perform seven star jumps in front of everyone, I was a bit Hmm my dd said everyone was really laughing and then some spent the rest of the class telling her how red she was and though its not a big deal in the grand scheme of things going on in the world, she is quite mortified and is now feeling nervous about participating in class. I found out one other pupil was made to do two star jumps (after my dd) but anyone else who pronounced anything wrong in class wasn't made to do the star jumps.

I have to add the school was recently put into special measures by OFSTED so I am guessing there is a lot of pressure on the teachers at the moment but I still find what happened odd..Would I be unreasonable to want to write the teacher an email asking her wth?

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 14/03/2017 10:42

I'd go fucking mental tbh. That's pure humiliation.

How is it even conducive to learning, if kids are going to be too afraid to attempt to pronounce anything?

I would definitely speak to the teacher to get her side of the story and then if you're not satisfied, take it to the head of year and above.

user1482079332 · 14/03/2017 10:44

That's not, can't expect someone to do better by making them feel worse

SomewhatIdiosyncratic · 14/03/2017 10:49

That's completely inappropriate. Possibly justifiable in the context of a PE lesson but not within a classroom based subject. Follow it up.

I had my confidence severely eroded in A level French after the teacher ranted at me in front of the rest of the class on two close occasions. Some of the content could have been appropriate for private discussion, but not for the rest of the group to hear. We ended up taking on a tutor to undo the damage.

Eolian · 14/03/2017 10:52

I'm a languages teacher and I think that's uttery ridiculous. Quite aside from the fact that star jumps are a stupid punishment anyway, why on earth would your daughter need to be punished for mispronouncing something? Many kids already avoid answering in mfl lessons because they are scared of saying it wrong. Humiliating them for saying it wrong is only going to make that far worse. Maybe the teacher was trying to find a 'fun' way to improve pronunciation. But if so, she's barking up the wrong tree.

PaulAnkaTheDog · 14/03/2017 10:55

I'd go mental. That's deliberate humiliation. What an absolute shit that teacher is.

Original poster
Bellini81 · 14/03/2017 10:56

Right I'm definitely not being pfb about this then.
Thank you for your advice, I'm going to pop over an email now asking what her take is on it and cc the headteacher and head of year too. It didn't feel right about what happened but I know sometimes my heart rules my head when it comes to my kids.

OP posts:
CecilyP · 14/03/2017 10:57

How is it even conducive to learning, if kids are going to be too afraid to attempt to pronounce anything?

Absolutely! To learn a language, you have to be prepared to have a go, which in some cases means being prepared to get the pronunciation a bit wrong. The teacher has the perfect recipe for getting pupils to sit there and say nothing - what a waste of time.

Unicorn81 · 14/03/2017 10:58

That is out of order, what a fucking arsehole.

MadMags · 14/03/2017 10:58

I would cause ructions!

maras2 · 14/03/2017 11:00

Totally out of order.
Comme une salope!

IamFriedSpam · 14/03/2017 11:04

That is absolutely unacceptable. I would absolutely be going down to the school to get to the bottom of it (and I absolutely hate confrontation). If it happened as you described I'd be escalating it as far as possible. I can't imagine anything more likely to hamper her learning than deliberately humiliating her in front of her peers.

LittleIda · 14/03/2017 11:06

I can imagine this maybe being ok if a child of the same age kept messing around and would find it funny and their friends would find it funny. This doesn't sound like that at all though. I personally would seek clarification with the teacher concerned before involving staff higher up the chain by CCing them.

Original poster
Bellini81 · 14/03/2017 11:18

Right I've emailed the teacher, I haven't copied anyone in as of yet but I will if I don't get a response, or I don't hear the response I want to.

My dd definitely wasn't playing up, she is yet to receive her first detention and she is halfway through year 10! I went through her story several times and it didn't change to what I've typed above.

I will post the outcome when I get it. Thank you for the advice.

OP posts:
harderandharder2breathe · 14/03/2017 11:22

Yanbu

Star jumps in French class are irrelevant and humiliating. Plus no one should be punished for mispronouncing a word. Corrected yes but not punished. All she's learned is not to have a go next time, which is the opposite of what the aim of mfl lessons should be.

KoalaDownUnder · 14/03/2017 11:26

Came here expecting to think YWBU. Found that you definitely are NOT.

WTF? That's nasty and just wrong.

Oscha · 14/03/2017 11:32

I'm a teacher. That's appalling. I always say that there may be another side to the story, but it's hard to imagine what that could be in this instance 😬 I would ask, nonetheless, for the teacher's perspective, by getting in touch with the HOD.

onemorecupofcoffeefortheroad · 14/03/2017 11:36

Appalling and inappropriate on so many levels.

Firstly she shouldn't have been punished - she did nothing wrong. Secondly, whatever a crime (and here there wasn't one) using humiliation as a punishment is utterly wrong. I'd be taking this up with the head - and I'm not one for confrontation either.

Original poster
Bellini81 · 14/03/2017 11:38

That's the thing Oscha.
I can't imagine what sort of outcome the teacher was hoping for by making her do the star jumps? In PE I understand but in a classroom in her full uniform and done all alone at the front of the class?

It's set her back a bit confidence wise but we will work through it I'm sure.

OP posts:
Isitjustmeorisiteveryoneelse · 14/03/2017 11:39

If the languages teacher deals with mispronunciation with physical exercise punishments instead of, you know, actual teaching, maybe she's one of the reasons the school is in special measures.

LittleIda · 14/03/2017 11:41

It does sound like there was a bit of a problem that needed to be enquired about even before this if the teacher was acting like she really didn't like your daughter.

Oscha · 14/03/2017 11:45

I can't either Bellini :(

Oscha · 14/03/2017 11:46

Humiliation is awful and cruel, but also not effective as a method of teaching-anything! Obviously. It's not going to make her want to try, it's going to scare her and intimidate her. Every teacher worth their salt knows this. This woman sounds just horrific tbh.

leccybill · 14/03/2017 11:52

The only time I can imagine this would be appropriate is maybe in an all boys class/school where something physical or active works as a memory tool.

As teachers, we make thousands of tiny and quick decisions a day. We get some of them wrong. Some ideas, which may seem fun and alternative can really appeal to some children.

But that's just it - any good teacher should know their children, know the dynamic of each class inside out - and know what kind of teaching style works best for them. Sounds like this teacher didn't.

hellokittymania · 14/03/2017 11:52

The teacher sounds horrible . I have a lisp and remember an Italian teacher of mine who kept making fun of the way I pronounce words . This was in Puerto Rico where Spanish is used and often people say TH for C and S . I explained that it wasn't that I didn't want to pronounce it properly but I really couldn't . She tried to remember this but I was the first student she had worked with who had any kind of special need . Fortunately I was the quickest to learn Italian and received perfect scores on nearly everything so she liked me .

BarbarianMum · 14/03/2017 12:08

I am typically in the "just deal with it" camp of secondary school pupils and their traumas over being punished for pissing about but that is so, so wrong!

As others have pointed out, punishing someone for mispronouncing a word is a sure fire way of putting them off foreign languages full stop. And star jumps are an unsuitable punishment anywhere outside PE or army cadets.

I'd be straight in complaining to Head of Year (and I never say that).