Dyslexic Yr4 teacher - what do you think?

[EmEyeHi]

It is likely that DD could have some form of dyslexia as there is dyslexia in both DH and my families.

During a recent meeting with DD's teacher she indicated to us that 'between you and me I know exactly what X is going through'.

Teacher is lovely and have no issues about personality, likeability and so on, but for some time now ourselves any many other parents have been shocked at some of the things seen in DC school workbooks on parents evenings.

Teacher doesn't send any books home at the end of the year but there have been requests made because of the above and eventually they have been given to parents. The level of errors in grammar and spellings in comments made in DC books is remarkable - we are talking spellings corrected with incorrect spellings, constant simple grammatical errors (eg. must of) and workbooks with words such as 'thay' never, ever, ever corrected (there are many other examples btw).

I'm unhappy as DD has literacy issues and naturally we want to get to the bottom of these and thus boost her confidence but feel that, especially with the recent 'confession'(?!?), I am on to a loser.

The teacher is one of the nicest people you could wish to meet and seems to want to go that extra mile for you and as such I don't want to upset her because I feel sure she will take it personally. Myself and other parents have approached the head over previous months (the same teacher took DDs class in YR3) and she has promised that she will consider our requests but assures us that she is a good teacher and that there are no problems with literacy.

So while we wait for a response, what do you think?

I got into such trouble once for correcting the TA's spelling mistakes in my DS's reading log!

Seriously - you can't have your child being taught English/Literacy by someone who cannot spell, write or use grammar properly. Is there any way you can get hold of an example and then arrange a meeting with the Head?

I don't think that having a nice teacher is good enough, you deserve and need a capable one as well.

do you mean your dc's writing has lots of errors, or the teacher's? I would ask the school to clarify their marking policy - it is not seen as standard practice to correct every single mistake, but maybe just to pick out a few key/commonly repeated errors per piece of work.

I work with two dyslexic teachers who are both excellent classroom practitioners, and role models to dyslexic students of why dyslexia should not hold them back. One of them is actually a senco, and says that it is her own experience of dyslexia that informs her own practice - she is able to see things from the pov of the child much more easily - I however, sometimes struggle to explain what seems to me to be a very simple concept, as I can read/spell so naturally that I don't often think about the processes behind it iyswim, so I don't necessarily think it is the fact that the teacher is dyslexic that is the problem.

bigfoot - have taken the books to HT as an illustration. HT has 'heard what we were saying' and has an 'action plan' in place but we have no idea what that action plan is. She refuses to accept however (despite what she can see with her own eyes!) that this teacher has a problem.

moules - DDs work has lots of errors but to me, what is not acceptable, is that the corrections that have been made by the teacher are incorrect too - some examples given above. I really wonder how my DD is going to be able to progress when she seems to be learning from the teacher the incorrect way to spell things (unfortunately, this is a fact).

I take your point re dyslexic teachers being able to understand a dyslexic childs pov but am at a bit of a loss how the situation my DD finds herself in can be addressed if the teacher can't 'see' the errors of her own ways (in the nicest possible way of course).

Fyi, teacher in question is also SENCO and rather unbelievably imo KS2 Literacy Co-ordinator. Head really rates her.

Oh dear .

Get the SENCO involved ASAP with a dyslexia screening test. Ask for it to be done ASAP.

And stop giving a shit about upsetting the teacher, or what you think teachers feel and think, you won't, by simply asking for a some help for you DS. Stop being polite and pussy footing around and serve your child.

carocaro, I agree. The child is the priority.
As for the teacher, if you can't spell or do maths or anything else you are supposed to be teaching , you either use the tools to enable you to do the job or you find a job where it doesn't matter as much.
She may be lovely, but she's employed to teach correctly. That includes spelling and grammar.

caro & goblin - you are both right - goodness only knows why I didn't directly address issue months ago - guess I just trusted what teacher was telling me - she's fine, she's fine, there's no need to worry, she'll be absolutely fine...

Caro - just re-read. Teacher is SENCO.

I'm possibly being over cautious in not wanting to upset the teacher as I would not like her to think of me as an interfering parent and start to treat DD differently (apparently, have heard this does happen).

You have got to stop being concerned if people think you are an "interfering parent" or not.

YOUR child matters - a damn sight more than what other people think of you for upsetting the teacher.

I'm a bit of a hypocrite - my DS goes to prep school but I work in a state school and some of the things I see at work make me want to scream.

Through your taxes you pay for your state schools and you deserve to have a teacher who is competent. How can this teacher be the KS2 Literacy Co-odinator????? How?

I am sorry if I am upsetting people who are dyslexic, but I wouldn't be an airline pilot if I was afraid of flying and I don't think that someone who cannot spell simple words should be allowed to teach Literacy to our children.

YANBU.
She should not be in the job.

Spent some time going through DDs books over the weekend and getting more and more upset. Have been to HT today again with a file of 'evidence'. Again she accepts what she can see, has said that teacher has been monitored and there does not seem to be a problem.

Took on board some of your thoughts last week and have now lodged a formal complaint surrounding competency of DD teacher.

I know I shouldn't but I've now got my head down and for some reason I just feel some sort of a backlash on the horizon.

I think this is not going to be resolved quickly and have pitched my tent ready for a stakeout.

PC gone mad

YANBU, of course she should not be teaching people to read and write.

I know a (now retired) primary teacher who is dyslexic. She had a very successful career and was highly respected.

She also worked bloody hard to make sure her dyslexia didn't affect her teaching. Everything was checked over and over and she took incredible care over written work. She probably worked about 10 times as hard over marking as someone without her problems.

She also went into management fairly quickly - which suited her considerable skills and was in some ways less stressful (although obviously far more in others).

So, I don't think dyslexia and teaching are mutually exclusive but it's hard and not acceptable for it to affect the children.

OMG you people are harsh , I am a dyslexic TA who is working towards being a teacher and it is hard hard work, by the end of the day my spelling has gone to pot but I try to spell as well as I can. I work dam hard and love the children I work with.

I feel so sorry for the teacher but she must try some stratergies to help. I have the best dictionary in the world it is called spell it yourself and I will often check that as it has word endings and tells you if you need to ad ly or just y etc. I often tell the children I need to just check because I am not sure how to spell X.

Would she be better in infants?

SaliMali - I've read and re-read your post.

I don't think that wanting your child to be taught how to spell correctly by their teacher is harsh, it's what is expected.

DD may herself be dyslexic and the sooner this is confirmed or dismissed the better as then some sort of appropriate action plan may be put into place. How is it possible for a teacher to be able to help such a child move forward if that teacher cannot see it themselves?

I'm not getting at you - I have heard it said that everyone has some dyslexic in them and indeed it runs in both mine and DHs families. All affected adults have done well in their career choices but none of them have entered into primary school teaching.

These are crucial years of a childs education imo and sadly, I hate to say it, in this instance, DD school books are shocking. As a teacher I would expect you to look at them and to agree that they are absolutely not acceptable.

What you have made me think however, is that maybe the HT suffers from the same problem.

I'm a teacher, there are certain things I am crap at. So if it's something I have to teach in class, I practise before hand, use whatever tools and aids I can and ensure that my difficulties don't affect the children's education. To do otherwise would be to fail the children. How is it harsh to say that I should do this?
I don't see what the problem is SaliMali1, you are doing the same thing. Using an appropriate dictionary, using strategies to support your teaching and being honest with the children.

"Would she be better in infants?"

I would advise you to leg it after saying this to any of our KS1 teachers.

I ignored that bit.
She'd be better off in secondary

I just meen that she may not have to use her English so much in class as in the children would not be writing so much especially in lower infants/KS1 and would be using less complex words generally so there may be less pressure? That is what I find is if I am under pressure or doing forms or writing on work etc then my spelling is worse. I would not EVER cope with juniors for this reason.

Also reading again what I said I know that all teachers in infants work really really hard and it is a skill to be able to teach little children.

Em I just thought the way people said some things so strongly was terrible, yes the teacher should spell things correctly and this is obviously something for her to work on and quickly but I do feel for her can't help it.

The NQT of the year (or summat like that) is dyslexic.

here

I also feel for your child Em who is in a bad situation a child who finds spellings etc hard then a teacher who can spell is very important.

Her teacher should be good though at putting in stratergies to help her as she should know first hand how hard it is and the things that could help : ie certain fonts on the computer when reading and writing may help your DD verdana being 1, coloured paper for writing on etc. The dictionary Spell It Yourself may well help your DD.

Yes, SaliMali, I know you didn't mean to be controversial, but it's not uncommon at Y2 to be teaching children who are writing at level 3 (and occasionally level 4) and who use quite sophisticated vocabulary.

Lol@goblinchild!

Feeling really anxious today especially in the light of what I woke up to on BBC breakfast news.

Given what DD is currently going through and knowing that other parents of DC in the class are concerned we questioned at the school gate those 'disruptive' pupils in the class. There are a large number of SN (class size 25 with 3 support TAs) but although some of those are allegedly (according to DD!) disruptive, also problematic are some of those who are recognised as being very smart. Could it be that these kids are just 'frustrated'?

There seems to be no structure to the class, no set timetable. A TA has reported it difficult to follow what is going on as teacher constantly flips within a topic. I liken it to the butterfly effect - starting something and then switching to something else and never finishing anything.

It's all a great big mess and all I'm after is for DD to stop getting herself in a right stress of an evening about the fact that Mrs X did not 'tell me this was wrong'. It's really awkward as I am not a teacher and naturally DD believes the teacher is right and therefore I must be wrong.

SaliMali - thanks for note re dictionary. Will buy it because anything to make school life less of a challenge for her at the mo is more than welcomed.

Yes I know that there are some children who in year 2 are working at a high level just the average child will not be. I personally would just find juniors hard.

Why is there no timetable?

But there will be many kids working at a Key Stage 2 level. It that respect it is just as difficult.