To be extremely worried about this teachers behaviour?

[Teacherrant]

Ok I will be completely honest. I've re.registered for this as I cannot risk my other posts being linked.

DS has a teacher who he doesn't like, I'm going to do my best not to out my son so apologies if this is at any point vague. Obviously I only have the children's point of view with this but I would like to know what I should do which doesn't put my son at risk and what if true school should be doing.

DS is well behaved and mostly positive in school but they really don't get on. There are no issues with any other teacher from a teacher point of view and all say he is a positive boy who struggles but remains positive. in fact at parents evening recently every other teacher found positives and she basically ripped him down
for what he had got wrong on his work Don't get me wrong he gets moaned at sometimes for forgetting homework but nothing horrendous.

He has previously reported to me that the teacher who I will call Mrs S has some issues, I believe they are under some stress at home and that teaching isn't their initial vocation. He's reported that Mrs S screams, has told them she hates their form, has told them that no one wants to teach them etc. Their class has a lot of children with SEN in and I presume they are hard work academically mine included. There have been allegations of her calling some of them pathetic, stupid etc and that some comment was made about there being no point in her coming in in the holidays for revision.

DS then reported an issue with a girl we will call Jane. Jane has some SEN and some issues relating to anxiety and leaves the classroom sometimes. SENCO team are involved.
The teacher was having another bad day a few days ago and said something like 'let's all do a Jane' and mimicked her flouncing.

Another child Sam was followed into his safe space and apparently yelled at by Mrs S too who wouldn't back down.

Yesterday two (SEN) children had allegedly been told they could revise with another teacher instead of doing a certain thing. They were on their way up and Mrs S stopped them and told them they were not allowed there. The children explained but probably with attitude and it all went off with from what I've been told the teacher absolutely losing it. Screaming at that. Mentioning and dismissing the SEN and mental health difficulties of one of them and really letting rip. The screaming attracted the attention of two other teachers who intervened.

So what I want to know is.
A) How do I find out if all or any of this is true?
B) If it is what happens next?
C) Will the teachers who intervened have a duty to report this?
D) Could I get my son reasonable removed from her class?

Obviously all or some of this could be lies but DS would gain nothing from the lies and might even get in trouble.

You need to report. She sounds like she has mental health issues and the stress is getting far too much for her. Whilst her behaviour is unacceptable she's clearly struggling and needs help, contacting school might enable them to address this with her. I teach and occasionally have mad shouty moment when my class have driven me round the bend but that makes me realise I need to take a step back and re-focus. To be constantly like this is not good, it's unpleasant for the children and achieves nothing. The way she mocks/speaks to children is also unacceptable, especially if they're SEN.

You need to write a list of all incidents with DS and go and see the head of year. Your DS hasn't just made this up out of nowhere so even if there is exaggeration it still suggests the teachers behaviour is highly inappropriate. It may lead to a full investigation with other students being interviewed but at the very least put senior staff in the picture so they can drop in regularly. Make it clear that you don't want your ds identifying to the teacher. That way she will be aware someone is willing to speak up but not target him. In future he should report any future incidents straight away so other students can write witness statements.

There should be CCTV, if not in the classrooms then in the halls so contact the school and ask them to keep the recordings of the times things have happened.

Keep it specific to your child but mention other pupils at the end. The HoD/HoY should not discuss other pupils with you.
I hope you get this sorted and you son feels better on himself.

Most schools do not have cctv!!! Kids can walk to and from lessons without needing to be filmed.

Two things...teaching is a second career for many teachers so that is not relevant. But how does your son know about her personal life? If kids are gossiping, that is unacceptable. But if she is sharing details with her students, she is breaking boundaries in a really unacceptable way.

As a teacher can I say... . 1. Teachers can get things wrong and that needs dealing with. But 2. Teenagers very very often embellish and dramatise. The rumours are ridiculous and hilarious. Recently my year 9's decided a colleague had MURDERED someone....I mean...maybe he had...but not sure...

Two things...teaching is a second career for many teachers so that is not relevant. But how does your son know about her personal life?'

Yes I meant she was new to teaching and possibly not coping. Hence the reason I mentioned it rather than she shouldn't be teaching because she's done a job before.
In regards to the second part she tells the kids stuff regarding her home life.

Yes I am aware kids embellish stuff. I'm aware rumours are crazy in secondary schools. I've heard it all this year including teacher relationships, staff getting fired and all kinds.
I have to say though that all the stuff DS has mentioned up to now has had at least some truth in it.

It does indeed happen.
Like you, I do tend to take what my pair say with a pinch of salt, kids will of course have their fave teachers and find others hard to gel with, so I tend to keep an open mind.
When my DD started to complain in year 4 (she's now year 7) that they had a really nasty student teacher in class, I thought perhaps it was down to annoyance that the Student Teacher was taking afternoon lessons instead of her class teacher who she liked a lot.
However lots of the kids began getting quite visibly upset when she was there in the mornings to walk the class in so a few of us parents did raise an eye.
One afternoon, near the end of summer term, the classroom door was open to allow air in, it opened onto the playground where we collected the children from. I became aware that the student teacher was shouting, not in that stern, practised teacher voice, but with anger and she sounded like she was really going in on a kid.
I then heard DDs name being screamed, so I moved nearer the door.
The student teacher was literally bent over right up close to DDs face with her back to the door. She was shaking with anger that DD had pushed a boy, but DD was hysterical, I'd never seen her so scared and upset.
The kids in class became aware I was there at the door, they didn't say a word.
I ended up clearing my throat and saying "have you quite finished". By this point other parents had joined me near the door as they could hear her screaming.
The woman changed like a light switch, she clearly didn't know how long I had been there, she told all the kids to go as it was home time.
I had to try and calm DD down, she had a huge purple lump on her leg the boy she pushedhad kicked her repeatedly, she had tried to tell this woman that was why she pushed him but she didn't listen, and I had missed her grabbing DDs arm and dragging her to the front of class. Apparently she started shouting because DD refused to apologise.
I went to the Head straight away and funnily enough, we never saw the student teacher again. Lots of parents backed us by saying they had had concerns, I'd never seen so many in the office at once.
Now I always look at a situation and keep an open mind.
Not everyone can keep their temper in check and some need a different career.
Register your concern, and encourage others to because the more that are raised, the more chance there is of school not seeing an isolated case of a pupil and teacher not getting along but of a more widespread issue which needs dealing with.

Teachers do behave in this way, I have witnessed it by default. I had two teachers turn up at my house and told me to move my children. I asked them to come back and speak to me with my Health visitor present as I didn't think anyone would believe me. ( this was over 20 yrs ago) the HV wrote a letter from me to give to the education auth - I was interviewed, and had to appeal to get my children into an oversubscribed school. I won and moved them. I done all of this quietly.
I had other parents come to me to as for help to move their children.
The school was out on special measures, the head was not allowed to recruit teachers without the LA approval.
It was a dreadful time. Once I had moved my children, loads more came out. No one will fight for your children except you. Go to the school calmly and find out what's going on. My children today will still mention stuff that happened.

OP I would have to say that teachers should not tell students about their personal lives for a whole host of reasons...if she has been doing this and is new to the role maybe you should raise it? It is beyond me that teachers think this is ok. Kids have enough going on in their own lives. The teacher should be an adult they feel safe with...not be asked to have empathy for!!

Thanks all.
I've emailed school.

The passing of info to the kids is definitely true Fizzy.
DS reported she had called the class names and stormed from the class and basically said she didn't need this stress because of X ,Y, and Z

On parents evening when I spoke to this teacher she said to me something about the class and mentioned X, y and Z.

If this is what's been going on, my feeling is that it is quite possible that management are already aware. Your evidence will help them to build a case. I hope your child is ok.

The mocking and singling out of children with SEN rings true to me sadly, and also is horrendous. Also constant negativity about your son, rather than things to work on or ways to improve is really not fair.

I see you've emailed the school, I hope you get somewhere with them.

I had to speak to DS1s school because one teacher in particular was very blunt and a lot of the kids (ASN school) were struggling with his tone and manner.

It turns out he's bloody lovely, his woodwork class used to be a double period but has been dropped to a single, so he has to give clear and blunt instructions because there's machinery and he's trying to keep them all safe.

Once we'd all had this explained and he'd realised how he was coming across things have been great since!

I know it's not the same as the situation you describe, but speaking to the school definitely got to the bottom of things and helped a lot.

Brightlightsbigcity no no positivity at all. Just shown test papers with what ds had done wrong, didn't even point out any he'd got right, just all the wrong ones, told he shouldn't have got them wrong, told if she pushes DS academically he pushes against her, told he needs to get them right when asked for what we could do.

Just for clarification DS is 15, has quite a few needs and can't do basic things well below what she was pointing out he had done all wrong. He has low self esteem, low confidence due to the last ten years being an academic battle and having no help for most of it and hasn't believed he's capable of achieving anything as he's 'stupid' for years.

Just for clarification DS is 15, has quite a few needs and can't do basic things well below what she was pointing out he had done all wrong. He has low self esteem, low confidence due to the last ten years being an academic battle and having no help for most of it and hasn't believed he's capable of achieving anything as he's 'stupid' for years.

That's heartbreaking OP, no child should be made to feel that way and it sounds like she doesn't understand him or his needs which really isn't on.

In our local news (Australia) a few months ago some parents were worried about their daughter who had just started school and had massive negative behavioural changes, and was always upset at the thought of school. She was SEN and non verbal. They bought a cheap recording device on the internet and put it in her school uniform pocket. It captured awful verbal abuse from the teacher and TA, who were fired, even the education minister was involved.

Take it further up the ladder - we've had some problems in KS1 with the teacher this year and her general attitude to children with SEN (I'm generally very very pro teacher, and the teaching team at school are 99.9% amazing - we just happen to have the grotty 0.1% this year) and I've been working with the SENCO all year to really really keep on top of things where my own child is concerned - and we're now at a point where we're raising it higher up the ladder (HT is already aware via the SENCO but the teacher's still being difficult so we're adding parents formally going to the head to the weight of things). Even at this age it's knocked a fair bit of the stuffing out of DD2 who is generally the most amazingly resilient little creature but has started to lose that side to her - and despite me hating having to tackle it constantly with a teacher - it's my duty as her mum to protect DD2 (who is desperately keen to please, well behaved and actually very very bright and just needs SEN support in terms of being able to record what she knows).