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Original poster

What to do when the teacher doesn’t want to teach your child?

137 replies

RhodaCamel · 02/02/2020 16:33

Ds is 14, in year 9 and working towards his GCSE’s in the subjects he has chosen.
Last week we had his parents evening. He is mainly doing ok with most teachers saying he is progressing on an average level and a nice pupil to teach.
He would like to be a gaming developer as a career and really has closed down all other career options as this is all he says he wants to do.
He chose computing as one of his subjects and as far as I was concerned he was enjoying the lesson and doing ok.
During the parents evening we met with the teacher who teaches the computing lessons. I had high hopes for the feedback as like I say ds loves all aspects of computing and sees this path as his future.
However, the feedback from the teacher was completely and utterly negative. He says ds isn’t interested, he says he has tried to engage him and is not getting anywhere with him (this is the first I have heard about this since he started this lesson in September, no contact from the teacher at all!). Everything was so negative and the teacher seemed totally uninterested tbh. I said to him that if this is the case then I really don’t think it’s worth wasting his or more importantly my ds’s time or future and that maybe ds would be better off moving to a different lesson/subject all together. The teacher virtually bit my hand off at that suggestion and said absolutely that was exactly what he had been thinking.
I just don’t know what to do now tbh ot only because this is all news to me but because ds is distraught, he says there is nothing else he wants to do and he really wants to continue with this lesson, I’ve said he needs to up the game then but he is adamant that the teacher is of no help to him.
Imo, the teacher did seem totally disinterested and at this rate it will be a complete waste of ds time to spend the next 3 years with this person.
I don’t know what to think, surely a good teacher wouldn’t be writing off a pupil 4 months in and should be doing everything possible to help and encourage learning and bringing the parents to attention if this is happening. He really appeared to have no go in him, he appeared tired, lethargic and discouraged tbh.
Where do I go from here? I have ds digging his heels in saying he wants to stay in the class but in his opinion the teacher isn’t teaching well or giving him any encouragement.
What shall I do now? What would you do? What should be my next step? Talk to the year head?

OP posts:
Gribbie · 03/02/2020 11:47

Computer Science GCSE is quite a new qualification.
It really isn't. I took it in 1989.

ChloeDecker · 03/02/2020 13:40

It really isn't. I took it in 1989.

Well, technically, your GCSE was in Computer Studies in 1989 and this was removed in favour of ICT. I’ve seen the papers from 1989-makes for an interesting comparison!
For over a decade, whilst the boom in the IT industry was happening, there was no GCSE for how a computer works. Hopefully, this is slowly improving.

PhilCornwall1 · 03/02/2020 13:52

Well, technically, your GCSE was in Computer Studies in 1989

It certainly was. I was the first year to take GCSEs and mine was indeed Computer Studies. It had the actual programming element in it as well as theory.

Although they taught BASIC and for that side of it I knew already what they were teaching, I still enjoyed it and it pushed me into learning other languages.

I guess back then it was very exciting times with computers as it was relatively new to fave one at home.

Nat6999 · 03/02/2020 16:47

Ds has come home today after a meeting, he has been asked to drop computer science, this is 11 weeks before the end of the course, he isn't happy & neither am I, it is a waste of all the work he has put in over the last 3 years.

PurpleCrowbarWhereIsLangCleg · 03/02/2020 17:27

Ds is also an avid gamer who is finding CS both challenging & dull! It's been a wake up call.

On the plus side, he's worked out that what he really likes is video & music editing. He does that with his evenings, not coding.

So it's turned out to be a worthwhile gcse that he will possibly pursue to IB level, but definitely not what he was expecting.

& his teacher was similarly despairing of him in year 10 - 'he's bright, but he can't be arsed to do the theory' was pretty much how Parents' Evening went.

I took him home, bollocked him (he accepted that he'd been sulking & slacking outrageously) & he's now on course for a 7 or 8 in CS, based on his Mock.

It can definitely just be a 'this is not what I thought I was signing up for' issue.

RedskyAtnight · 03/02/2020 17:29

Nat6999 Why does the school think he should drop it?

Having the opposite problem with DS's school - I'd like him to drop subjects and school says no.

Nat6999 · 03/02/2020 19:01

I don't know the full story yet but there are several pupils have been asked to drop it. My guess is that they are wanting to not enter pupils who are likely to get lower grades & lower the grade averages. The school has been graded requires improvement in the last Ofsted report & I wonder if they are panicking because another inspection is due after the GCSE reports.

Piggywaspushed · 03/02/2020 19:23

Well, they won't do very well with Ofsted on various measures like Best 8 if they are fiddling the system. The new Ofsted regime takes a very dim view of gaming results... excuse pun.

midwestfornow · 03/02/2020 19:24

OP if your dc is bored because he has already done all of the coding he has learned at school at home by himself then it is probably worth ploughing on with some adjustments.
If he is bored because he doesn't actually spend his spare time coding and didn't realize what he was signing up for them jumping ship might be the most sensible idea
My ds enjoys coding and belongs to a microbit school club but he wants a YouTube channel 😂

LellyMcKelly · 03/02/2020 19:57

Computer science is best suited to pupils who are really strong in maths and physics, and indeed he would be asked for at least a B at A level to get into a computer science degree programme. If he’s an ‘average’ student is it likely he will get those grades. Games developer is one of those jobs where you have to spend a long time slogging on the boring bits so that you have a firm foundation before you can get to the interesting bits. I did a Masters in Computing quite a long time ago. I have quite a strong maths background, but it was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. There is a huge difference between playing games and developing games. It’s like the difference between playing Operation and wanting to be a surgeon.

Bringonspring · 03/02/2020 20:01

Your son will need maths more than computing.

RedskyAtnight · 03/02/2020 20:02

OP if your dc is bored because he has already done all of the coding he has learned at school at home by himself

there is an awful lot more to the Computer science GCSE than just coding!! (I was actually surprised now the course work counting for the exam element has gone, how little coding there is).

midwestfornow · 03/02/2020 20:21

@RedskyAtnight fair point.
I guess I was trying to find out if the boredom was because OP's dc was finding it boring but had a real interest in the subject.
Or if he wasn't really inclined to like the subject and really just liked playing computer games.
Most dc I know who do well in the topic do a lot of coding and build things as well ( it's not my area of expertise so I look interested in the built things whatever they are)

PhilCornwall1 · 03/02/2020 20:40

Computer science is best suited to pupils who are really strong in maths and physics,

I thoroughly disagree with this. I failed physics and was shocking at maths. I'm a computer science graduate and have been in teams that have developed many large systems, ranging from operating systems through to business critical systems. I've run development teams and to this day am still involved in actually writing program code.

If someone had said this to me 30 years ago, I'd have never pursued it as a career.

monkeysox · 03/02/2020 21:12

In general I agree with lellymckelly
There's a lot of problem solving and it's such a different subject to anything else.
Gove has a lot to answer for. Not all students are academic enough to be able to cope with Computer science.
It's not a soft option.

mrsBtheparker · 03/02/2020 21:44

We used to have pupils choosing Sports Studies, Child Development and so on without their realising that a large percentage would be theoretical. Maybe your son is in a similar position.

HavenDilemma · 03/02/2020 21:56

@RhodaCamel Sorry if this is an insulting question, but is there definitely no way you & DH can work things out? Flowers

HavenDilemma · 03/02/2020 21:57

Whoops, wrong thread, apologies!!

sashh · 04/02/2020 03:20

LittleDragonGirl

As a teacher that's infuriating because for GCSE teachers often teach things that are wrong. In physics acceleration due to gravity is 10m/s^2, it isn't at A level.

In CS you have AND,OR and NOT gates, they disappear at A Level and you only use NAND and NOR.

In maths negative numbers don't have a square root at GCSE.

Etc etc.

AgentJohnson · 04/02/2020 04:57

You, on the other hand, see your DS every day and HE hasn't mentioned to you before this teacher, the lessons, his boredom, his disengagement? I find it odd that this has not been communicated to you by your child.

This

Game developer is a bit like wanting to be a footballer, some boys only see the fame and huge salary and not the hard work and sacrifice.

Your first conversation should be with your son because if he’s not interested in putting in the work then there really is no point.

PerkyPomPoms · 04/02/2020 05:47

You need to chat with your son - sounds like he hadn’t committed to what being taught. His idea of what he needs to know and the actual curriculum might be quite different.

Juliette20 · 04/02/2020 06:05

I think the problem is the Computer Science GCSE curriculum is boring to learn and boring to teach, and isn't even necessary for a job in tech/gaming. He'd be better off doing DT, Art, and focusing on science subjects etc and join a coding club and learning the technical stuff in a fun way in his spare time. Dropping the subject will probably be the best thing he did.

Louloudia1 · 04/02/2020 07:44

Has your ds tried unity or unreal engine? They're what game Devs use these days. Really powerful tools and they're free to use. Tutorials easy to follow. I'd start off with unreal. Might be a good way to keep him motivated in his dream path.

ChloeDecker · 04/02/2020 13:37

I think the problem is the Computer Science GCSE curriculum is boring to learn and boring to teach,

Absolute rubbish, sweeping statements like that are not helpful.
This is too close to allowing the younger generation to not have to bother with something if they don’t personally find it ‘fun’.
How computers work can be absolutely fascinating.
I’d also take Unreal with a pinch of salt with this age group because it generates most of the code and art work for you and therefore, may find it fun but won’t actually learn anything and would struggle if needing to fix errors in the future. If they still wanted to use it, then I would avoid the C++ version at least and look at C#.

Neverenoughcoffee · 04/02/2020 15:23

^ Computer science is best suited to pupils who are really strong in maths and physics,

I thoroughly disagree with this. I failed physics and was shocking at maths. I'm a computer science graduate and have been in teams that have developed many large systems, ranging from operating systems through to business critical systems. I've run development teams and to this day am still involved in actually writing program code.^

I disagree too, although In the first term of the degree there was a maths unit that was almost A level equivalent that had to be passed. Teaching quality was excellent though and despite previously struggling with maths, I sailed through it. Sometimes it's a case of right time, right teaching method.