DD is 7 year 3.
On Thursday 8 of the class where missing due to a local/family wedding (one of those towns where everyone knows everyone – the sister of one child married the dad of another child, and the DNs and neighbours of the people getting married where also invited who all seem to be in this class) and another 4 are off waiting covid test results.
That left 12 in the class. Apparently in the morning when the teacher realised so many where off she took them to the hall and they were spread out among the classes in school 2-3 per class. DD and others have said they were given a text book and told to copy down English work and Maths sums and work them out – DD and the two she was in class with says her teacher came in to check on them once in the whole day but they were not set any specific work. They also missed their weekly PE lesson and their day on the schools outdoor play equipment.
DD says she did nothing all day, which I can well believe, she can’t read (dyslexic) and is usually in her classroom for short periods of time to listen to what she has to do then spends sometime each lesson out of the classroom with the TA and some of the other children. She’s lost a whole day of support which she usually gets (and is funded by the council). She will work with the TA or teacher nearby but not helping her specifically, buy when there’s no-one watching her she will sit and do nothing rather than get it wrong.
I understand trying to catch up 12 children is hard on the teacher and I’m not annoyed that they didn’t do any actual planned work, I am more annoyed she was put in a classroom without any of the support and missed out on the one thing she looks forward to all week at school (play equipment day). She was in a year 6 class so absolutely no chance of her accessing their work and learning from them. She struggles with school due to her dyslexia and I have a hard enough job getting her into school as it is, something like this makes it even hard.
I’d have been fine if they’d put the class in with the other Year 3 class for part of the day but understand that might not have been possible (there’s 23 in the other class but I know at least 3 are off waiting covid results and 2 went to the wedding, so 18 in there).
I know DD had no input at all from her assigned TA as on Friday as we left (the one day DD gets no input – we’ve set this deliberately to give her a chance to “show” her own progress) we saw the TA as we were coming out of school and she said to DD “I’ve missed your smiley face these last 2 days” and there’s also nothing for Thursday from the TA in her progress diary (where me, the Teacher and TA record her progress in various places so we can track if she’s able to do something with one of us but not the others or vice versa this is reviewed regularly so we can set DD targets based on it). Other children who were in on Thursday have also asked DD which teacher she was with and what work she did and swapping stories, it sounds like a lot of them either “helped” the teacher they were with or sat and did not much all day.
I just want to know why;
a) They decided to split the class
b) Not to offer DD the support she’s supposed to have that day
c) Why the decision was taken to put DD in the class they did – was it randomly assigned or was there logic to it.
I want to add, in general I love the school, have no issues and they’re very supportive and open and honest about DD and what she can do and how they see things progressing for her. I also don’t expect everyday to be fun and engaging, I know they have things they have to get through, but given the situation recently, I’d like to know why they came to that decision.
So AIBU?