To really dislike my child’s teacher

[Mum13362]

My son is in primary school but I don’t want to identify the year group. I really dislike his teacher. She’s unapproachable and very rude. She basically alluded to my child being quite “stupid”. She’s failed my child in a lot of areas in his current report and then ignored my attempts to have longer conversation about how I can help him. She ignores my emails and other parents have told me the same too. They have had enough as well.

Funny thing is she’s very aggressive to the teachers that teach her own child! It’s a small community and I know she’s made the life of 2 teacher’s hell as she constantly emails and makes complaints about the teachers who teach her child. One teacher who I know very well has left because of her (the child is secondary age so has baby teachers).

I’m not the type to make a fuss so have been very accommodating and I know I sound like a coward but I’ve let the other parents take charge and I know they have made complaints but the schools headteacher just shrugs it off and says “she’s a new teacher so still learning”. What annoys me is that she expects the very best for her child but has let our children down and she’s getting away with it.

A lot of the parents are fed up of the school in general as this is not the first issue. She’s really out of order isn’t she? There’s no excuse that she’s new. My teacher friends think I should move my child as primary is very important. She said at secondary they can catch kids up but they need to have a solid foundation that primary schooling brings.

Not baby teachers many teachers!

Surely this is two separate issues - what you feel about your child’s teacher and how someone else reacts to the way their child is taught.

I’m guessing your child is half way through the academic year so unless the same teacher is likely to teach them again, you might as well see it out until July.

If the teacher is crap and the head doesn't seem to care, I'd move your child.

I had a strong and IMO justifiable aversion to one teacher once. They were clearly just a very bad teacher! It does happen. Your post though is quite vague about what you are complaining about.

I would complain about anything that is clearly out of line.

I wouldn't move my child school for one bad teacher, as they will have a new teacher next year. I might be concerned if the head was not listening to large numbers of parents complaining, if the complaints are objectively reasonable.

Request a meeting for support with how to help your child improve, with her next in charge/line manager (or the Head if primary school).

Either you will get the support you need or she will show her management that she either won't hold a meeting (and you follow up) or her shortcomings will be recognised.

Chances are they are trying but if she's difficult with her own child's teacher she's not inclined to change and they might have her on the road to capability etc. What they tell you as a parent will be vague but if multiple parents have complained they likely know about the problem.

A lot of what you are complaining about is hearsay. What did she actually say about your child? Did she call him stupid? Perhaps he is struggling at school, hence the report? Maybe email again about the report and send a copy to the office too in case she isn't getting them for some reason.

Hm. We had a bad teacher once. I thought ‘oh well it’s just this year.’ Then next yr was lockdowns. Then we had a very nice but totally incompetent teacher. Eventually we left and I WISH we’d done it sooner!

If the school is not sorting this then the problem is the school not just this teacher.

Talk to the Head

There's a difference between you disliking a teacher and them not being competent to teach your child. Your OP seems to be a lot more about personal antipathy than whether your son is making progress and enjoying school. There are teachers who put their energy into kids and not into getting along with parents. There are teachers who are honest about when their students are not meeting their targets which gives an opportunity for it to be spotted and acted on. I'm not saying she is necessarily either of these things, but really try to keep your personal feelings out of it. Is he happy to go to school, does he have friends, can you see progress?

On whether to move your DC, I would say that it sounds like an overreaction if the teachers in subsequent years are better and he only has this one until the end of this year. You'd be moving to a school you know less about and there is every prospect that there will be the odd bad year somewhere else.

Does your child enjoy school?

I assume like most primary schools your DS will only have her for one academic year which ends in July so is it worth completely changing school for this?

If she’s failed your child in areas that you think they wouldn’t have failed in then their next teacher will be able to see for themselves.

I think the only thing you can do is keep complaining but I think you need to complain about a specific issue rather than a mixture of things like you’ve said on here.

Is the main thing that you want a meeting with her?
If so email her again and CC the headteacher into the email.

Just a few months to go and you can forget her

Did she actually call your kid stupid?

@Pumperthepumper

Did she actually call your kid stupid?

No

@Kitkat151 so what did she actually say?

@Pumperthepumper

Did she actually call your kid stupid?

I hated my DD's first teacher. DD came home calling herself stupid for a year. Didn't hear it from us and never has called herself that since.

It doesn't take a genius in some cases

@MrsTerryPratchett that’s quite cryptic. Do you think her teacher was calling her stupid to her face? And in that case, why didn’t you do something about it?

Teachers (primary) who reply to emails are doing so in their own unpaid time unless you want for the 3 non contact hours that they have a week for planning preparation assessment and responding to emails
The school needs a better system for emails

One teacher who I know very well has left because of her

A secondary school teacher left her employment due to the parent of 1 child? That’s extreme!! What on Earth does she do??

My child had a teacher they really didn’t gel with a few years back. I understand your frustration as it was awful at the time, however it’s 1 teacher. They’re now finally thriving in a new year group. Kids rarely have the same primary teacher from Reception through to year 6. I’d count down the days until the summer.

At the same time continue complaining through the school’s complaints procedure. The governors and LA can be involved if the response from the head isn’t satisfactory.

There in nothing in your complaint specifically about her teaching. Just she is rude and unapproachable and you dont like the report she wrote about your child.
Our primary teachers will not answer emails as takes too much time. You have to specifically book an appointment by phone to discuss an issue.

Phone school reception and ask specifically for a phone appointment with teacher. If they don't respond within couple of days you phone again. Then if dont respond third time you then escalate the the principal.

You should find the Complaints Policy on the school website.

That'll give you the steps for each formal stage up to the Governing Body. Make note of any time limits, as they'll be very important if you wish to escalate the complaint if the Head is not able to resolve it to your satisfaction.

After that, there is the right to complain to the DfE via an online form/Ofsted if appropriate.

So what does the teacher do/not do that you're unhappy with? None of us can agree or disagree with "she's really out of order, isn't she?" because you've not explained the issue.

Not replying to emails isn't good, but
what sort of time frame are we talking? What else is wrong?

"She failed my son" isn't a thing. If England, I assume you mean she reported that he was working below age related expectations. And was there no detail in the report about targets? No parents evening coming up?