Bizarre event for DC in school, confused

[differenttimezones]

DC does well at school, usually top or near top of class. There was a test today and the teacher sent DC and 4 other kids to a different room to do the test, where they sat alone. DC said that 3 of the other kids had been accused of cheating previously, by the teacher, in front of the class, not sure about the 4th. No possibility DC cheats as DC usually does better than everyone around them. But one of the "mean" popular girls in the class said loudly to the class that everyone being sent to the other room were "cheaters" and the teacher said nothing, whether the teacher heard or not I am not sure.

DC said they were shocked about it all and found it hard to concentrate, and when they went back into the class DC asked the teacher why they had been moved, and the teacher said that the other children cheated, but that DC didn't cheat, it was DC's neighbour who copied from DC.

So DC gets sent into a different room instead of the child who copied from them, and DC has said that the person who commented on "cheaters" is now spreading shock horror rumours about DC cheating...

I really am completely discombobulated by this. I cannot see any logic or reason behind the teacher's actions, and they must have realised how the "mean" girls would react.

I have raised two concerns about this teacher already this year, legitimate concerns, after I had tried to communicate with the teacher informally, which were acted upon by the school, all then seemed peaceful for a few weeks, now this, so I assume this is all linked. My thoughts right now are wtf to be honest.

Do not do this. It's like going straight to the CEO of a company because of a fault in a product.

I talked to the teacher informally about the previous problems - this is the last straw so I agree with pp straight to the head.

Though I am curious about what @NeverDropYourMooncup meant

this is the last straw so I agree with pp straight to the head.

You haven't clarified if primary or secondary. If secondary, this is still inappropriate. Head of department would be next.

You need to ask for a copy of the school complaints policy. By talking to the teacher, you have already completed stage one, and by saying either in writing or aloud, this has become a formal complaint.

What you need to think about now is, what does resolution look like to you and your daughter and state clearly in your meeting with the HT, that this is what you are looking for. If you are not happy with their decision, you then have the option to escalate to the Chair of Governors.

For goodness sake! Let the teacher get on with it. They know what they’re doing, they’ll have their reasons why and they don’t need bloody parents telling them how to do their job!
Rant over!!!
I send children out to do tests for a million different reasons, no teacher needs to be micro managed by parents. If you can do a better job teach your precious parcel yourself!
It appears that my first rant wasn’t actually over!!

It is secondary - quite small and no head of department.

School complaints policy - most policies will have informal resolution as a first stage so it’s totally normal to go to the Head.

Hi Seashor - could you give me some of the reasons you may have acted like this teacher? It was the combination of sending a few children out into an unsupervised room, some of the children having been accused of cheating before in front of the class, one child saying "that's where the cheaters go" and DC not having ever cheated - all these things combined - which was bizarre - if you have any cogent, rational reasons why the teacher might have done this then please can you explain? Thank you

After I posted indeed a rumour did go round (spread by same child and a parent) that DC had cheated and how shocking it was as DC usually does so well. Do you still think I should butt out?

"bloody parents" - mutual respect would be appreciated if you don't mind.

The odd thing is using the word "cheat" in this context - a weekly progress check.
The teacher needs to know what each child has taken in from the lessons. It shouldn't be a competition - the kids should feel comfortable telling the teacher "I can't answer q3 and I missed the lesson on Wednesday so i need the notes for section 2."
It is good practice to let the kids pink-pen their own test papers, so they can learn from their mistakes.
Tell your kid to shrug off the false allegations of "cheating" and treat this as a lesson in dealing with awkward situations.

The headteacher would bat it straight back to the head of department.

Seeing as you first posted about this on Friday at 10pm how on earth has a ‘rumour gone round’? Is your child’s school open over the weekend?
Before you go making a fool of yourself, speak to the teacher in the new term to get her version of events. I generally find that in these situations, the child has one version, the teacher has another and the truth lies somewhere between both those versions.

Not where I work, really depends on the school and their complaints policy. It should be raised through the complaints process regardless of who deals with it.

Why assume automatically that the teacher has good reasons? Are all teachers perfect and infallible in your book?

Write to the headteacher to get answers on why your child was with a group of children who cheat when your child doesn’t cheat. Say that it was wrong of the teacher to do this. I’d be asking for a written apology from the teacher. If this isn’t given then take the matter higher.

Cramped classroom, teacher knows that some kids have difficulties keeping their eyes on their own work, but there isn't much room to seat them further apart. Solution - room next door is free, put a few kids in there so they can all be more spaced. Who do you send? Kids you trust, like your DD. I suspect the others sent there are reasonably trustworthy kids who just find it difficult to stop their eyes straying when the next child's paper is so close, otherwise the teacher would have kept them in the room.

Trust the teacher. You might let them know that there is a rumour going around that your daughter had been cheating, and that that's upsetting her, so they can quash that, but no need for any complaint.

This

Is this an independent school?

It does seem a little odd. My guess is the person sitting next to your DD couldn't be trusted alone in a room alone. But none of my own DC were ever trusted in a room alone at school AFAIK until Y11. I love that that the teacher trusted "cheating" children to complete the test on their own. Surely all of the children sent to another room should have been those who sit next to cheaters?

We don't all live in London! It is a reasonably small community, the phones are like hotwires when someone does as much as drop a banana skin by accident.

Before you make a fool of yourself how rude!

The truth will sometimes lie somewhere in between, and sometimes not.

I emailed the relevant person at school and simply set out bare facts of what happened, according to DC. I will be talking to the head in the new year.

@NeverDropYourMooncup I would be interested to know what you meant by your comment because the point of this thread was that I had been blindsided by how bizarre it all seemed, and you seemed to understand the teacher's mindset but didn't explain what you meant. If you could explain, please could you @ me so that I know you have responded? I may not be checking over Christmas.

Thank you to everyone.

I hope that everyone has a lovely break, Happy Christmas/Happy Holidays!