DS punished for teachers mistake

[babynot]

DS's(8) class were given a new work book at school last week with with printed labels on the front.
Imagine his name is something like Tommy but this book said Tom which he is never called and hates.

He told the teacher his name was wrong on the label and was told not to worry about it, he didnt ask and so wasn't told not to correct it but decided to scribble out ‘Tom’ and write ‘Tommy’ below. It looks fine, obviously not as neat as it would printed but you can clearly read what it says.

Teacher has left a note saying he needs to rewrite his work into a new book which has been sent home because he vandalised the first one. Its only a few pages of work but will take him at least 20 minutes to do

AIBU to think this is unfair and it’s not his fault they put the wrong name?

Double post.

I'd tell her to have some common sense. The HoD had probably told her that she could issue a punishment for vandalism. This isn't vandalism: the child corrected the teacher's mistake.

I would definitely address the misuse of the descriptor 'vandalism' - you don't want that in his file.
Regarding the books - I would write 'Part2' on the new book, tell the teacher that's all she's getting, and leave it at that. Maybe inside the front cover or something. Many classic literary epics have multiple parts.
Re the name - my DD prefers her middle name. No-one has a problem with that. Schools and beyond address her by her preferred name, with official paperwork in her 'paper' name. Easy. We also manage this in the health service where I work, with many people having more English names for their day-to-day, by their real name on the paperwork. We make a little effort and it goes a long way. Names and identities matter.

Teacher is on a power trip. You need to ask for a meeting with the Head.

I would stick the page in and write a note to say you do not support the accusation of vandalism and that it's fucking March and you should know Tommy's name after teaching them for six months.

And passive aggressively spell her name wrong or incorrectly abbreviate it. 😂

Another returner and yes me too occasionally, particularly school stuff. A teacher that sends a lengthy, strongly worded email outlining the consequences of child opening something they're not supposed to on their iPad in class (nothing banned, an app that's allowed but he opened it when he should have been listening to the teacher) - when he's just seen me at the classroom door and not said a single word. Everything seems very serious and formal and behaviour modified by constant reward and punishment rather than respect and genuine affection.

Umm - well he shouldn’t be opening stuff on his iPad when he’s not supposed to be, of course he should be punished for that.

And when the SLT have their next book look/observation and the teacher is pulled up for the book and the poor state that its in and how it doesn't conform to the standards set by the school.

Will you stand by your words and your department staff or will you fold like a bad deck of cards and sell the teacher down the river?

My, aren't you cynical?

I have always stood by my staff and would do so in writing.

I'm also a teacher, and always try to give other teachers the benefit of the doubt, but fuck me, she's being a knob.

Definitely contact her to say that you won't be making your son do the punishment and would like to discuss this further.

It isn't improving education but some SLTs are like that. In their mind, everything that a child does is related to the mindset and attitude that the teacher has curated in them (and is responsible for). As such, wonky sticking in or forgetting to underline a date shows a child who "doesn't care enough about their education and has no pride in their learning". This is then considered the fault of the teacher and that teacher can find themselves being hauled over the coals for it.

It's not just a primary thing though: there are plenty of overbearing SLTs in secondary. For me, it's just a sign of a weak/insecure SLT.

Don’t pussyfoot around this sad excuse for a teacher. Pay her a visit and tell her he’s not rewriting his work because of her mistake.

Next time she marks his literacy spellings tell her she’s vandalised his work.

What she should have said rather than don’t worry about it was ‘I’m very sorry Tommy, that was my mistake, please use the book for today and I will replace the sticker after school’ then he wouldn’t have done it

What if she did say that. But his reaction was just to scribble over it. Would that then warrant the consequence?

What if OP has had a paraphrased version from her son. I think she should check before going in complaining this teacher is an unreasonable dictator...especially if nothing like this has happened previously

Having been engaged in performance management in a school, no HT with any grain of professional sense would be setting targets based on what a book cover looks like. To suggest SLT are this ridiculous and it's to please ofsted is not believable. Ofsted really don't care in that sort of detail. They look at DCs work, not a book cover. After all, never judge a book by its cover!

I find it unbelievable this teacher didn't just get a new label with his correct name on it. It's not giving the DS any respect and of course his name matters.

Your DS shouldn’t be punished for the teacher’s mistake.

I would be backing DS and offering the teacher one of the options suggested already. I’d also be making it clear I wasn’t happy with him being labelled a vandal for correcting his own name.

In primary school, too many SLT are this ridiculous and petty. They’re obsessed with conformity and control. I don’t think it’s reasonable to pass this pressure on to an 8 year old, though.

Its my and many other teachers experience of HoD, SLT and HTs.
These managers are the ones that put pressure on teachers for this type of rubbish to happen and then are quite happy to stab them in the back to look good for each other and in front of parents.

Maybe next time the teacher should behave like a professional and not be sloppy and disrespectful about people's real names.

If she was intending to replace or stick over the label anyway why punish the child? Don't enable disrespectful behaviour from an adult. The mistake was hers and she should not expect a small child to cover up for her. It's not like the child scribbled doodles over the cover.

I'm sorry that you've had that experience. As I noted in conversation with my late husband (also a teacher), too many yes-men get promoted these days.

That's why I made a point of saying that I would put it in writing - so that there's no backing down and there's evidence for the class teacher. It's also why I advise teachers never to go into a meeting with management on their own and to make sure that there are agreed minutes.

I was blindsided once by an unscrupulous HT who was trying to conceal a mistake that he'd made. Fortunately, I managed to handle things, but I never allowed myself to be put in that position again. I'm happy (and vindictive enough) to say that I was there the day he got his comeuppance.

Maybe the teacher was busy at that moment.

Maybe Tommy misunderstood or misreported the teachers instructions when telling his mum.

A quick chat with the teacher could clear it up or

you could use the opportunity to teach little Tommy that life isn’t always fair, not to sweat the small stuff and not to expect Mum to smooth every bump in the road for him.

Wow. Way to blame the child and rather sarcastically too. Not nice.

This. DS was supposed to use up all of his books eg no gaps between "old" work and the next piece etc

You sound very much like my first couple of HoDs and HT.

It is a shame that there are not more like you in the profession.