Bad parent eve report - how can I help my Yr8

[standsonshiftingsands]

Yr 8 parents eve last night and almost all teachers said the same - my son has trouble concentrating and needs telling in lessons to concentrate and focus. When he does, he can produce good work but he is not getting through it in class. One has moved him and now he is working better. Only his science teacher had very positive things to say - he likes science and is in top class, but almost all others said he was under performing and we need to be careful or he will slip down. English particularly bad. All said he is not nasty or answers back, just kind of drifts off.I reported all this back to him and he says he will work harder, but how do I help him more? Anyone got one like mine?

I could be guilty of letting him play/watch on screens too much.

Bribery?

On a serious note, could the school's Learning Support department help him with some strategies for keeping focus?

Yes, I've been thinking about that. Some withdrawal of screen time I think.

"one has moved him and now he is working better"

If for example he has been moved to the front to help in be less distracted, perhaps you can ask for him to be moved in other subjects too?

Keep a close eye on this (also google inattentive ADHD - I'm not saying he's got it but you can have the same family of problems more mildly, or severely enough to qualify for a diagnosis).

Someone with general concentration and attention issues will find it much easier to stay focused on computer games (novelty, instant rewards of increasing score etc.) than on things like reading, and will therefore want to do those games more than anything else. So what you see as possibly a cause of the concentration problems could really be just another symptom of them (still worth reducing the time if it's too much though).

If he has a general problem then even if it doesn't get a diagnosis you and he need to learn the shape and size of the problem and work on techniques to get round it so that it doesn't affect his learning. If moving him has worked well in one lesson then like the pp said it could be worth asking for that for other subjects. What's he like at home if you're trying to tell him something? Do you find he concentrates on jobs you give him to do there? Is he getting plenty of sleep and plenty of exercise? (They both affect brain chemicals and concentration.)