to think that 121 tuition in school time is a bit off?

[porkypoo]

A teacher at our school is giving one to one tuition to a teaching assistants child, during lunch break and after school. I paid for my daughter to have private tuition and feel this is really off. Should it not have to be offered to all children?

The 121 stuff that I tutor for is not as simple as kids who are behind. I see 6 students, and they are all very different. Three of them are Yr 11 and are getting Ds when they should be getting Cs - so far so simple, but the other 3 are younger, and are very different.

Even if the OP feels that her DD is falling behind, she obviously does not qualify for the specific criteria for this scheme, otherwise the school would have identified it.

OP, if you go to the head and complain, you will simply come across as petty and ill-informed.

If the teacher was to tackle the problem of favouritism then I possibly wouldn't be jumping to these conclusions. But how do you tackle a teacher on that subject?

Pixieonaleaf sacking the teacher? come on...

Some explainations to us laymen is all that is needed here I think. Because unless you are involved in the Education system, how would you know how the system works?

And no I have struggled to pay for DDs tuition, she is now average I believe, level 3c in most things.

I do 1:1 - we're piloting it with year 7 students who are falling behind in English or Maths - 4 of each. It's for an hour every Thursday - we have lots of afterschool stuff that night so lay on a bus to take the kids home.

7 of the tutors are teachers at the school, earning £25/hour, I think it is (haven't actually been paid yet!), & the last is a retired teacher.

The lunchtime arrangement sounds quite different, but not your business - it's the teacher's time.

porky - think about it. You rock up to school and start acusing the teacher of "favouritism". How will you come across? Like a sensible, well-informed parent with a genuine interest and concern in her child's education, or like a teenager who thinks "IT'S NOT FAIR" is a clever retort when things don't go your way.

Unless you are a classroom assistant, in the room with your DD all the time, how do you KNOW that there is favouritism? Who has informed you of this? If it's your DD, then think carefully before you do anything - all children have their own way of interpreting what goes on around them.

IT MIGHT NOT BE THE 121 GOVERNMENT SCHEME. So the question of eligibility could go out of the window. Based on her pre-determined predictions (Fischer Family Trust etc etc) the OP's daughter might not be underperforming in any aspect and as such is considered normal...so not needing intervention. Teachers at my school do private tuition with their pupils all the time, it is a natural thing to do as the relationship is already there. It certainly isn't a conflict of interest!

It is also worth noting that unless a changeover is REALLY badly handled it actually won't really impact a child's performance. Children are resilient etc etc.

Eviltwins Its a common concern amongst some parents with children in this class.

If you teach could you tell me if 3C is national average for a yr 5? (bearing in mind she stayed at 2b for 2 years)

Sorry, I teach secondary, so I wouldn't want to comment.

I still think that you are taking the word of the children that there is "favouritism". I certainly remember being at that age and joining in "teacher's pet" accusations. Heaven help us if all parents took that as plain truth.

Sorry to keep playing devils advocate here, but some posts are a rather little defensive!! I think that it is fair to say that if only ONE child in the class is receiving extra help and it's obvious that there are others that need it, and the only child recieving help is the TA's child, then you as a parent you wouldn't question it?? Surely, there should be more children than just one involved in this scheme, if this is the scheme the school are running?

*is running

But it might not be a scheme the school is running. It might be the teacher helping out her friend's child. For whatever reason. Actually the reason is irrelevant. Perhaps they should go and sit in the teacher's car at lunchtime instead

rollon - if this IS the scheme they're running, then it does involve a relatively small number of students. My school has 600-odd students, and there are only 39 involved in the scheme.

How good 3c is in Y5 would depend where she started in y3 IYSWIM. What is your dd capable of?

but if you had paid a fortune (and it is a small fortune) for a private tutor for your child only to find out that if you hadn't, your child might be eligble for some extra 'free' tuition, you wouldn't be in the slightest bit miffed???

But maybe there isn't any extra free tuition! Maybe the teacher is just doing this for her mate. And that's just life isn't it?

Like i said in the beginning its not what you know its who you know......

Thanks for your comments everyone....

You would be told if your child was eligible whether or not you had paid for private tuition.

yes but that's the point isn't it?!! If the teacher is just doing her mate a favour, is it ethical for him/her to be doing it so blatently in front of the other parents/children of this class???

porky every time you post, you sound more and more petty and immature. Have you even asked at school whether there might be more help available for your DD? Did you ask before you shelled out the small fortune you so clearly begrudge for your DD's tutoring?

If not, then you have absolutely no right to be banging on about how unfair this all is. The whole "not what you know but who you know" argument is pathetic. You also know the class teacher. If this extra tutoring is not the 121 thing, and is simply a private arrangement, then you have no idea whether the teacher is being paid for it, whether it's a favour for a friend, or whether the parent (TA notwithstanding) simply asked the school if her child could have a bit of extra help with her work. You could also have done this, and got a bit of extra help for your DD.

IMO, you have no right to be banging on about this anyway.

3c isn't national average for yr 5. 3b is average for yr 4, so I imagine 3a/4c is.
I think you should forget about hearsay and gossip, what the teacher is doing in her free time etc and make an appointment to discuss your dd's progress and what extra provision is being given to support her.

It happens with music teachers all the time, so why not for other subjects. For all you know the TA could be shelling out more than you are for the 1-2-1.

'Like i said in the beginning its not what you know its who you know......

I wouldn't think that it is-you would need to know the facts and I can't see any reason why you should be told the facts about someone else's child.

...& by all means, mention the 1:1 initiative, ask if it's being done in your dd's school, & if dd is likely to meet the criteria.

Did you discuss private tuition with the school before going ahead (sorry if you've already said)?

I quite often get parents asking whether their dc would benefit from it (the honest answer being 'that depends if the tutor's any good - some of them are failed teachers who are out of a day job for good reason, others are brilliant; oh & is your dc up for it, or are you inflicting on them something they heartily resent? If so, save your money').

I tend to point them at useful websites they can use with their child to support the learning done in school.

You might find that there's lots of useful info you can tap into via your dc's teacher, rather than getting disgruntled straight off on the assumption that your dc is being somehow shortchanged!

porkypoo 3c in Year 5 is below average, I'm afraid. I am currently striving like mad to move forward those in my class at that level(4 or 5 of them) as "ideally" they should be attaining a 3a by the end of the year. I say "ideally" as there are so many other things to factor in, and some of them have huge challenges to face in life generally which makes concentrating in school difficult. And it's more important to look at where they have come from (in terms of levels). If they're making progress, albeit slow, then that's a good thing. If they've stalled, then we need to work hard to find out why and try to shift things.
We schools have to work to the target of moving children on 2 whole levels from Year 2 to Year 6, so it partly depends on where your DD was at Year 2. It averages out at 2/3 of a level per year, although of course, children don't progress in such a neat line and there will be peaks and troughs in their journey through school. If your DD was, say, a 2b at Year 2, then her target would likely be 4b at the end of Year 6, meaning around a 3a at the end of Year 5.
Did you say that 11+ is spmething you're hoping for? Or was that for the TA's child who is being tutored?
You need to keep the lines of communication between yourself and the school as open and effective as possible in order to best support your own DD, so I wouldn't recommend being sidetracked by this other gripe about the TA's child, but concentrate on how best you can all work together to get your DD back on track.