Thought on this? DS school situation..

[Miserablelittlesoul]

DS (9) lost 5 minutes off his break yesterday because he didn’t complete his work in time. He said his teacher wrote the questions on the board and he didn’t get to write them down in time before she had wiped them off. He didn’t tell her that he didn’t get the questions down in time. He eventually got the remaining questions from his friend and completed the work but still lost his break. He said the questions were difficult and he was stuck working them out. I should add I believe my son has adhd like me so I’m fully aware he may be struggling and not using his voice when he needs to be.

My concern is she didn’t ask him why he didn’t manage to complete it she just took his book away from him and didn’t ask no further questions.

Then the 5 minutes he lost in break she still didn’t address it with him?

this is the response I’ve had from her

Hi, no he did not tell me or the other adults in class that he was struggling. If he had, we would have given him the support he needed. I will pick this up with him today or tomorrow and find out which question he was struggling with. By the end of the lesson, he had actually completed the flashback which was the work I was talking about. Thanks for letting me know.

DH feels like she is fobbing us off, I hate confrontation but I’m fully aware I need to be supporting my son.

Thoughts please

Who would be a teacher these days? FFS.

Teacher's response seems fine to me.
Why do you think you're being fobbed off? What do you think she should have done?

You're overreacting. Your son needs to learn to ask for help if he needs it. The teacher is not a mind reader.

You absolutely do not need to be supporting your son vs the teacher on this. You need to be teaching him to use his voice in class.

And people wonder why there's a shortage of teachers?

What a waste of her time replying to this drivel.

He didn’t tell her that he didn’t get the questions down in time.

and here is your answer

It’s really not a ‘school situation’.

Exactly.

Does he generally work at a slower pace than the rest of the class?

Perhaps if you feel there are issues, such as you mentioned, it may have been better to inform the teacher when he joined the class, so she would have been able to keep an eye out for problems
As it is she seemed to give a reasonable answer

I have mentioned to his teacher before that I believe he has ADHD and she stated that she doesn’t believe so. But he forget his homework all the time, forgets to bring home reading books. I have to be on to him all the time.

I have told DS he needs to use his voice. I’m more worried about the fact she didn’t speak to him and ask why?

It’s not something I’d complain about as a one off. But I actually don’t think it’s a reasonable punishment - I think students should only be punished for not finishing work if they’re pissing about, talking, not actually doing it.
If it is correct that the teacher just said “you’ve not finished so you’re missing some break” then tbh I do think that not having any attempt to discuss whether the student was finding it too difficult to finish in time is a bit crap.

What is it then? Because I don’t remember loosing my break in year 4 for not getting work done in time.

Yes this is my concern.

I wouldn't be happy that no adult in the class saw him struggling and he was punished for this. Teaching is about knowing your students and observing as much as anything else. Few children find it easy to admit they're having a problem, it is up to teachers to check and help. It's not your sons responsibility.

As for the email. It's very dry and it doesn't sound like the teacher cares to be honest. To it'll be checked up on today or tomorrow simply isn't good enough. It takes zero cognisance of the fact that he may be stressed over the situation. Also for the teacher to blame the child would have me fizzing!

Stand up for your child. Hopefully he'll have a better teacher next year as this one sounds like they couldn't care less.

Is he "forgetting" his homework because he finds it difficult? It's very common to avoid things we find difficult no matter what age we are.

As a teacher, I’m very anti-anyone losing break so think the teacher was unreasonable in that regard.

However, by year 4 a teacher shouldn’t be having to have a cosy chat about “why” he hadn’t finished. He should have been able to tell her if there was a problem.

In an ideal world he would have told the teacher or one of the other adults in the room that he didn’t have the questions written down.

they would then have told him what they were and possibly written them down for him.

presumably as he hadn’t written them down he then wasn’t actually writing his answers during the time that he was supposed to be which is presumably why he didn’t get it done.

I’d suggest maybe asking the teacher to check in with him more frequently as it does sound like he is having trouble using his voice to say that he needs help.

I mean, you believe he has ADHD - so he doesn't have a diagnosis? Is he on the pathway?

It sounds like you think she should be trying to accommodate a condition which he hasn't actually been diagnosed as having...that feels very unfair on her

Hopefully it will be a good lesson for him to get a move on in future. Sometimes kids don’t have ADHD. Sometimes they’re just 9. I’m 57 and left my handbag in the back of a taxi last night (wasn’t drinking). I don’t have ADHD. I just forget things now and again.

Dont embarrass yourself by trying to take this further

Some children can really struggle to copy something from a board.
The questions could have been left up to allow for different abilities/ pace of work.
Another adjustment would be for dates and titles or questions to be prepopulated in his book. I’m sure he’s not the only one that would benefit from this strategy.
Missing break time can be counter productive as the movement break will aid concentration.
I’d monitor the situation and maybe speak to the SENCO about an observation and strategies if there is a possibility he may be ND.

The teacher clearly felt he had been ‘pissing about’ since he didn’t tell her he was struggling.
Its a reasonable assumption. He’s 9, not a toddler.

I agree. Children shouldn't be punished for struggling, as opposed to bad behaviour, and teachers should show some interest in why children are struggling, especially if it is unusual for the child in question. And if a child is persistently not finishing/struggling with work, I'd expect the teacher to be aware of this and a supportive approach taken.

There will be lots of 9yos who aren't good at speaking up for themselves. They shouldn't be punished for that either.

He didn't finish his work. He was kept in to finish it. This isn't a 'situation', it's normal.

If he hasn't copied the questions down, he can put his hand up and say so.