Am I being a nightmare parent regarding DS maths report?

[mathshelpplease]

Would appreciate honest answers if anyone thinks I'm being one of 'those parents' that teachers talk about. I appreciate I probably am.
My DS is 12, almost 13 and about to finish senior 1 at school in Scotland. Maths has always been one of his better subjects and he hasn't had any issues with it. When we went to parents evening in Feb his maths teacher said he was doing great with no issues. He has had 3 class tests in maths this year with marks of 87%, 90% then the last test was 50%. My DS said he did so badly in the last test as the class was advised to revise only the areas they found difficult. So he concentrated on all the tricky, complex maths and missed out the stuff he thought would be easy. However on test day it was the easy stuff only that came up and he didn't do well as he had forgotten some of it.
He got his end of year report last week and he got a C for maths. He got As and Bs for his other subjects. His report was completed by the maths teacher he gets for revision only 1 day per week. He gets another teacher for 3 days per week for maths.
Am I being a PITA if I speak to his maths teacher about this? I don't for one minute want them to change his mark of course. He obviously did not do well on his last test. However I feel we've never been alerted to an issue in maths before and are totally surprised with the report at the end of the year.
I've never contacted school about any issue before so just looking for guidance on if I should just leave it.
Thanks

What would you say? “DS scored badly because he says the teacher told him to revise stuff he wasn’t sure about, so he did, but then couldn’t answer the questions he thought he was sure about”
It’ll be a good lesson for him to learn that revising may mean going over all concepts next time.

I don't think there's any harm in contacting the teacher and asking to chat about his progress in maths because you were surprised about his report. Maybe ask the teacher where he went wrong and see if they have the same view of the situation as DS.

I actually think you'd be a tad negligent to not contact the school in this situation.

Depends how you approach it I'd think. "I'm slightly worried about DS's progress. Maths has always been one of his stronger subjects so this is a bit of a surprise. I'd like to get some advice to try to ensure it doesn't become a bigger problem. Anything you'd suggest?" would be ok, but I probably wouldn't raise the revision advice issue myself or it will sound like you're complaining and you might not have quite the full story from your DS. Would be good to get the teacher's perspective.

Thanks all. I definitely wouldn't raise the revision issue as I've only got my DS's word for it. Plus I think the advice to only revise the bits you don't know is probably correct! I'm really just looking for advice on how we try and support him in such an important subject.

How do you know which bits of Maths you don't Know?

I don’t think you need to approach the school because you’ve been able to see exactly what happened and why. It’s a good lesson for your son to learn early on.

you’ve been able to see exactly what happened and why.
12 year olds aren't always completely reliable in how they report what's happening at school. It would do no harm to ask for the teacher's perspective on things. If there are weaknesses that need to be addressed it is far better to know that early as if there are areas of missing knowledge in maths it can be hard to deal with later. We've been there with one of ours. It was resolved but would have been much easier addressed sooner. The OP doesn't sound like she is being confrontational, just wanting to support her child.

@MrsAvocet thanks. Yes I really don't want to be confrontational at all. I'm just kind of surprised as we had no idea at all he had an issue- he's always done great in maths. I'm now maybe looking for advice on any specific issues and possibly wondering if we should think about a tutor (though he'll die off at the idea 😂)
Maybe a part of me thinks it's a bit harsh to get a C based on 87% 90% then 50% but I'd never bring that up and yes he can chalk it up to experience!

Sounds like his interpretation of what to revise was a bit skewed for one reason or another. I'd talk to the teacher so they know you're aware of this drop and keen to ensure it doesn't continue
In the meantime teach him about revision techniques and not to ignore the east stuff as it's easy marks to gain there

I would think making an appointment to discuss this drop in Maths the normal course of action, regardless of what the reasons were as told by my 12yr old. It's just normal part of parenting and keeping your eye on the ball.

I think fine to email and ask if the C is based on that final test mark (where you know what went wrong) or whether anything else fed into it in which case there might be a wider problem you are unaware of.

Or even just get your DS to ask the teacher if you trust him to report back accurately.

Thanks again everyone. Re revision-he gets loads of tests from every single subject in school plus homework. It's pretty full on so I do understand that the teacher asked them to concentrate just on the areas they didn't know too well (he got a separate revision booklet for maths with about 20 questions in each area so about 200/250 sums/questions in total).

@noblegiraffe that's a really good idea. That's completely what I want to know but couldn't articulate it! I don't want it to seem as if I'm moaning about the final mark.
And no I couldn't trust DS to report back 😂

Definitely this. I mean the fact he wasn’t able to do the “easy” stuff is a reflection that’s something’s gone wrong along the way. Whatever the cause, I’d want to talk about the test result and how to get him back up to his usual standard.

I'm not familiar with the Scottish syllabus, but I would by default assume that the different tests were not covering the same material each time? The trouble with labelling kids good at maths is that maths is a collection of lots of different skills - being able to think through a geometric problem is very different to being able to confidently manipulate algebra, and both of these are different from understanding probability or having to memorise and regurgitate a bunch of formulae (though obviously general skills like problem solving are pretty transferable). If talking to the school would help you better understand which specific area of maths your son is struggling with, then you'll have a much better idea of how to support him going forward.

If the tests were covering the same material then sounds like some combination of spaced repetition and making sure he actually understands what's going on would generally be of benefit. It sounds like a pretty high pressured test-focused environment and this may lead to revision strategies which are more short term. Whilst memorising a bunch of stuff short term can work for a lot of subjects, putting in the time to really get mathematical concepts will give a lot of support to his later learning.

Thank you @Recoba v helpful

@mathshelpplease I'm wondering whether it was just a bad day and he didn't perform well. I only say this, because generally with kids who do well in maths they don't have issues with the easier topics- I am obviously only basing this on experience. Therefore I do think, he's had a bad test, or, and this happens, he's made minor errors whilst carrying out calculations (because they tend to whizz through arithmetic and sometimes miss things).

@mathshelpplease or I could be way off 😂 my DS is around that age, and maths is his subject, the only reason he drops marks is when he's made 'silly' mistakes carrying out calculations.

Thanks @CouldNotStayAway. I spoke to him earlier and asked how the teacher would know how he gets on in class and he said 'she doesn't' So every day each pupil marks their own work at the end of the lesson. He says he almost always gets everything correct (I don't know if this is the case). I think therefore the mark was based on his last test results when he revised just selected areas.

You could just send his main maths teacher an email and say that you are concerned with this drop in his results and say that it has dented his confidence a little and is there anything that you can do at home to support him so that he can improve. I would happily respond to that email and I certainly wouldn't think you were a nightmare parent!

Parents are never 'that parent' for wanting to understand their child's progress and how they can help them plug gaps in their understanding, nor for wanting to understand how school assessment systems work. Approach it as enquiry and support and you're fine.

Exactly what the previous two posters have said. "That parent" is the one who shows up unannounced and demands a meeting, doesn't listen, and wants to know what the school/ teacher is going to do to make their child the top of the class. Sending a politely worded email asking for specific areas your son can revise and emphasising your intention to support him at home is not being "that parent", it is being realistic and supportive.

Thank you all. You've put my mind at rest. I'll get in touch with his teacher and see how it goes.

Maybe a part of me thinks it's a bit harsh to get a C based on 87% 90% then 50% but I'd never bring that up and yes he can chalk it up to experience!

Did he get the test back? Would be useful to see where he lost marks. I would say 50% in a test which is deemed "easy" would make him a C grade in most schools. If he is struggling with the concepts it's better to know now so that the foundations are firm.

I also agree with a pp who said "good at maths" is different in primary as the concepts are generally less complex. Enjoying Maths means he may want to spend time on the subject but it doesn't always translate to "good at maths". An example is jump from GCSE to A level..many children don't successful make the jump..

I think it's fair to email the school to understand what if there are areas he needs to reinforce.