How many Mums are dissatisfied with their DCs primary school?

[CrosswordAddict]

There seem to be a lot of dissatisfied Mums on MN and primary schools seem to be particularly disappointing. Any strong views? And if so, how can Mnetters become a force for change/improvement?

I think that the group on Mumsnet is very small in comparison to the number of parents/pupils in the country and that there is a biased view.

One the whole the great majority of schools are excellent, but parents on MN want to talk to someone about their own experiences or want advice because they are unclear.

The problem I believe is that as parents we dont really know what goes on inside the school and what the teachers actually do, so we make assumptions and quite often these get blown out of proportion.

It also seems clear that a lot of parents have the same issues and concerns. So greater communication from schools would really help this.

I for one have been very guilty about complaining about schools, but in reality they have been fantastic and develop the kids to the best they can.

These kind of posts make me very sad. I'm a primary school teacher and I and all of my collegues work bloody hard to support your children and their education.

Not only that we also have to deal with parents that are unable to parent effectivly so that they children start school unable to talk age appropriatly or use the toilet...

We also get constantly montitored and inspected by the leadership in the schools and the government. I think you should take a think about the people behind your PFB school.

All I seem to read on these posts are "OMG my PFB hasn't had their reading book changed all week" Well - that does happen, when you have 30 children, all needing reading books changed and your TA is off sick - do I spend my lunch break changing books...which the majority of the class aren't going to read at home anyway...or do I spend that time sorting out and amazing lesson that will engage your children??

Rant over.

there children...sorry typing fast.

I'm really happy with my primary school. Lots of really good inspirational teachers. Sadly our wonderful head left and we now have an acting headteacher, and it has been abit difficult to warm to her. But on the whole, I'm really happy,

Also Liby, getting a reality check from teachers on MN who do explain what does go on behind the scene does actually help a lot of parents.

I do believe teachers do an excellent but extremely difficult job.

I'm trying to hold back my feelings of dissatisfaction as dd is only in Reception currently so I keep telling myself it's too early to worry.

But having been in a few times to help with reading, it's obvious that there are problems, and as far as I can see they come down to numbers. With all the will in the world, if you have one teacher and one assistant dealing with 30 kids of vastly differing behaviours, needs and abilities it is never going to be an optimal environment for all of those kids to learn in.

Anyway, while we're venting, here are a few of my worries so far about dd's school:

• it is often very difficult to hear the kids when they are reading because of the general chaos of the rest of the class, particularly with the noise of the teacher shouting over the top of them.

• despite having a very systematic synthetics phonics programme in place, they are still using old ORT reading books containing words that some of the kids haven't a hope of decoding based on the phonics rules they have been taught, which seems to be confusing a few of them quite a lot.

• although they set individual targets for the children in literacy and numeracy, these don't always seem very well matched to what the kids can actually do, and there doesn't seem to be much opportunity for the kids who are further forward to progress much.

• they use "traffic lights" for encouraging good behaviour: all the children's photos are placed on a green, yellow or red circle on the classroom wall for all to see according to their misdemeanours. The actual effect of this seems to be that some children quickly identify themselves as the "naughty" ones, and simply live up to this expectation accordingly.

But other than that, it's fabulous

Liby - their children?

I'm happy with my dd's school (which was my ds's until this year too). There used to be some communication issues but they have worked hard to up the game there.

The teachers are passionate about their work and work very hard. There are over 40 first languages spoken among the pupils and well above average levels of free school meals (not that I think that is a great indicator of deprivation but it's all we have) but every child is supported within the school 'family' and taught very effectively.

please don't critise my spelling, puncuation or grammer, it is very immature, its late and i've spent a significat amount of my day planning and preparing lessons for the next term.

A critisism made me angry and i was typing fast.

but Liby - you do so about the parents of the children that you teach..
'Not only that we also have to deal with parents that are unable to parent effectivly so that they children start school unable to talk age appropriatly or use the toilet...'

A much bigger deal than me getting spelling word wrong on an internet forum.

spelling a word wrong.

Liby and cornsilk, good to have teachers on this thread. While you're here - does my dd's Reception class sound normal to you, or should I start worrying?

I'm rather uncomfortable with the photos in the traffic lights, but other than that it sounds like many reception classrooms.

I love my job - never knew it was held in such low esteem 'til I started reading/posting on mumsnet.

I moved DD after a term at reception level, the school was great but DD has issues which are not compatible with their style. My sister is also friends with two of the TA's and they were telling her what my DD was up to but not me.

PS - also a primary school teacher, who is tiptoeing around this debate... we all want the very best for our children, but is so easy to criticise teachers I feel rather defensive. I feel we get blamed for so much and expected, by the powers that be, to solve every problem in society, from teenage pregancies to unhealthy diets. We also have to balance what we are told we have to do by the government with the various contradictory things that parents want. e.g chatting to them in the playground vs not, too much homework vs not enough, 2 hours of PE a week vs only focus on literacy and numeracy, and so it goes on!

I think it just looks as though lots of parents are unhappy as they tend to be the ones who start threads. If I were to start a thread called "I love our school", people would either yawn or mentally file it away under "smug".

Personally I have only good experiences of my children's school. The staff there do a fantastic job, even under difficult circumstances.

I respect our teachers greatly, but not the head and the management generally, and the dreadful communication. After half a term in reception I have no idea what and how ds is meant to be learning and consequently no idea how to support it, and the constant stickers and rewards depress the hell out of me. Still - the teachers, when they're allowed to get on with their job, seem great.

I have to say I don't see much criticism of teachers on MN, and certainly not on this thread. Dissatisfaction with a school might be about the school's or government policies, general organisation, funding, problems arising from social deprivation or any number of other factors. It is not remotely the same thing as dissatisfaction with a teacher.

Liby do you consider that all children who start school with speech and language difficulties and /or toileting difficulties are the result of poor parenting then?

Zephrine - not a reception teacher but reading schemes are very expensive - they may be planning to introduce something new when they have funding.
I have seen charts similar to that traffic light system work effectively when they are used well, but they can also be ineffective - it's success would depend on the skill of the teacher in using it consistently. If the same children are always on the 'naughty spot' (red?) then that's not an effective system as it's not helping the child to manage and improve their behaviour.

Liby Mon 21-Feb-11 22:04:26

All I seem to read on these posts are "OMG my PFB hasn't had their reading book changed all week" Well - that does happen, when you have 30 children, all needing reading books changed and your TA is off sick - do I spend my lunch break changing books...which the majority of the class aren't going to read at home anyway...or do I spend that time sorting out and amazing lesson that will engage your children??

Surely your lesson is already planned before your lunch. Surely another teacher or TA would help you sort out the books. What an awful attitude you have with regards to the parents of the children you teach.

Thanks cornsilk - yes I am sure that money is the issue with the books.

And yes, it is indeed always the same 2 or 3 children in the red circle.

Although I teach infants, I haven't yet taught reception. Having old books does sound normal to me, a lot of schools haven't got the money to buy new updated books. As long as you are reading with your child and to your child she will develop reading skills.

the behaviour system sounds normal - I use names rather than faces but some reception children can't read names, so pictures sounds like a good idea.
Target setting - well this i have a bone to pick with - most teachers i know give kids targets because they have too (by ofsted rules) not because its in anyway useful...especially with infants.

Shouting doesn't sound nice. I try not too shout. but sometimes it happens....

Is your daughter happy? Does she play nicely and get on well with other children? This is all I would be concerned about at 4/5.

Oh and my child has toileting issues and is under a paediatrician for it, both schools managed it beautifully.