To think asking a teacher how many passed GCSEs isn’t rude?

[Indoorvoicesbluey]

Dd15 is currently sitting mock GCSEs and is anxious about her future as everyone is atm.

she asked her English teacher how many of her students passed their GCSEs and she was told to stay behind class and was told off for asking it as the teacher found it rude and disrespectful. She said she didn’t mean it to be rude she was genuinely wondering.

Why did she feel this information would be useful?

Was she implying that she didn’t have any faith in the teacher?
Its a strange question for a child to ask to be honest.

Depends on the tone and if she is implying the teacher isn't very good and is questioning her efficacy.

Assuming your daughter is on track ,why does it matter how many other students pass their GCSE?

Depends on how it was said.

A question like that, it’s all about tone - clearly the teacher felt like the tone was off

What a strange question? What was she trying to intimate?

I don't think it's rude but it might be data protected. In my school in Victoria, I was always being asked by students what the average score was/ how the bell curve looked for my class, though to be fair, VCE is assessed class by class by the exam board.

To answer the question, I said I never did this. Apart from anything else it means that some in the class can get all beady-eyed about who might be letting the side down.

This.

why else would she be asking?

I'd guess this is different interpretations of the same question. I might ask a doctor if people she sees with my condition tend to recover, and I'm wondering whether [people like me] are going to get better and hoping this doctor will be able to give me more relevant info than I can get from generic national stats, while she's thinking I'm asking whether she's any good as a doctor.

Perfectly reasonable question to ask. Simply asking how many students passed their GCSEs last time is in NO WAY implying she thinks the teacher is rubbish. What a ridiculous thing to suggest. The teacher getting snarky with her suggests your daughter definitely hit a raw nerve @Indoorvoicesbluey

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I think it's a perfectly normal question.

Of course it isn't.

It is disrespectful, because the implication is that some of 'her' students might not have passed, as if this is the teacher's fault and nothing to do with the students themselves.

It's rude because some children literally are not capable of passing with grade 4, and even if DD is in the same unfortunate position as them, what's it got to do with her?

This doesn't sound like it was a sensible question in the context of pass rates nationally or grade boundaries, but trying to catch out a teacher in a goady or sarcastic way. Teachers can do everything in their power, and without effort and cooperation from the child, they won't succeed.

You as a parent asking at a parents evening about the school's past gcse results - not rude.

Your DD asking her teacher how many of her students pass, in class? Could be very rude depending on tone. It's easy to see how a teacher could perceive that as a challenge to their authority.

It's a shame the teacher didn't deal with it with humour, but I also don't think it's unreasonable of the teacher to have a word at the end of the lesson.

It is rude. Don't be that parent whose little cherub can do no wrong.

Really? For a child to ask?

In my long teaching career, no child in a GCSE or A level class ever asked me that.

"You rubbish at your job miss?" is what comes to mind.

I don't think she meant it as rude, I understood it that she was worried about the possibility of failing and so wanted to know what the odds of that happening might be.

Given that she asked about pass rate for that teacher rather than the whole year group, it does sound quite pointed.

It could be interpreted like she was questioning how skilled the teacher is at getting people through exams.

Entirely depends on the tone she said it in.

What I know about my DD would also factor into whether I thought it rude or not. Does your DD work hard, revise well and get decent enough grades (for her ability) across the board?

If not, she was being rude and you know it.

I can see why your DD would be interested - it's a bit like asking whether your nurse has done something before to calm your nerves. A lot of schools post lists with the grades for each subject, so in many schools this would not be an odd thing to answer.

Of course it is lol

It's bizarre that you consider it strange. Why on earth wouldn't a kid who is possibly nervous about exams not want to hear that most of the class usually passes or whatever. Probably looking for some assurance

Totally normal behaviour.

It does sound like a pointed question depending on the tone.

It also doesn't make much sense because most secondary schools will be teaching ability sets. The teacher who has top set is likely to have a much higher pass rate than a teacher with a very low ability group, but that doesn't mean that the second teacher is less effective. Many teachers don't teach the same ability set year on year either, so what her last class got is probably not comparable.