Anyone else have experience of a rubbish teacher?

[newbluedress]

I am feeling hugely let down and spending too much time worrying about the standard of teaching my ds is getting this year (year 2). The children are split into tables for ability and basically left to get on with whatever they are supposed to be doing. They are not told to stop talking to each other, or stop messing about, if they put their hands up the teacher doesn't notice. They are doing hardly anything. What takes 1 hour in class should take 10 minutes maximum. I feel like crying, but am at a loss as to what to do. The teacher has been approached by another mum about these issues (said in a less harsh way), but nothing has changed. It is like she can't be bothered.

Firstly, I have to ask how you know all this? How do you know they are just allowed to mess about? If this is all coming from your 6yr old then I'd take it with a pinch of salt.

Can you be more specific about the 10min task taking 1hour?

As for the left to get on with it bit; It is quite usual in Y2 for children to be given initial input then expected to work independently on a set tak for 20mins-30mins.

She may well not be a very good teacher but I cannot gauge that from what you have posted.

Yes, I have, my ds in year 2 for 1st 2 terms learnt absolutely zilch! In fact, went backwards. We moved him to another school and haven't looked back. I'm not saying that is what you should do, just that I understand how frustrating it is to see and yet be able to do nothing about it.

Maybe approach the head? I did at the old school and she was shocked about some of the stuff i said and said she wished she had known sooner so she could help sort it. As it was, it was too late and a total of 7 children moved to other schools from his year group, leaving only 8 behind (small village school). Suffice to say, this teacher did not stay for the next year and I really pitied her new class in her new school!

I am worried about saying too much here for fear of being recognised in RL! I agree that children in year 2 should be able to get on with something independently, but shouldn't they be told to shut up, and kept a bit of an eye on? There are children in this class just wandering about when they are supposed to be working.

My DD had a really rubbish teacher in Y1 equivalent (we are in France). She had completely lost interest in teaching and was busy angling for a promotion to Deputy Head (which she got) and basically just went through the motions with the children, getting them to fill in old and outdated worksheets (waste of time) and do writing drilling (quite successfully!). But it was a wasted year from many perspectives.

Have you thought about getting your DS a tutor for an hour a week, who would set him homework that you could go over with him? One-to-one with a good tutor makes a huge difference to a child's progress and will give you peace of mind as well.

Of course someone should be keeping a bit of an eye on them. They should be supervised, albeit sometimes from afar at all times. They should also be encouraged to stay on task although that isn't always the same as being quiet.

But I'm still wondering how you know all this? Have you been in class and seen it yourself? If so, and you are really concerned then either speak to the teacher for clarification or if you feel that won't help then ask to see the HT.

Oh and you will never get an infant class, even during the most captivating lesson where you haven't got the odd child up and wandering around. You just need to have strategies and sanctions in place for this.

Thanks for the replies. My husband is completely unconcerned about this as long as our ds is happy (he is), so would never go down the tutor route. Do you think i could keep him on track by doing a bit extra at home like maths work book, getting him to write the odd letter, descriptive sentence, stories etc?
I would love to talk to the HT but i am worried about how it would effect things in the future. I have another ds in reception and a dd due to start in 2 years so don't want to rock the boat too much.

But if you are absolutely sure this is going on and you have two younger children you may also end up in this teacher's class then you should definitely speak to the HT. You can ask that it be confidential, though some HT's will respect this, other won't.

What is it you are concerned about most? Do you think there is no discipline in class or do you not think he is progressing and learning as he should? Your DH is right in that your DS's happiness is very important but school should also be a calm learning environment.

My DD was also perfectly happy in the class where she had a rubbish teacher. Happiness may be a pre-requisite for learning (I am not totally sure about this, however); happiness is absolutely no guarantee that learning is being achieved (of this I am 100% sure).

I am most concerned about the lack of discipline. My ds is progressing, but could be progressing a lot more. He is above where he should be, but that is only because he picks thing up easily, so on the surface it looks like he is doing great and the teacher is great.
I am concerned about my other children going into this class but kind of in denial!

Can I ask again then, are you absolutely sure this is going on? You don't need to give specifics which will out you but I just wanted to check that you know this is what is going on rather than it coming from your child or worse, playground gossip.

If you are absolutely sure of the facts and it is how you sy it is then I don't think you have any choice but to speak to the HT. Things will not improve miraculously without any intervention. Is she an NQT who could do with a little extra support or perhaps about to retire and beginning to feel it a struggle? I think you owe it to your DS and younger children to at least try and get to the bottom of what is going on.

I'm not sure that tutoring is the way to go. By all means do bits and bobs at home as you would do normally but workbooks can be quite dull and may switch him off learning. If you want to make sure he's where he should be, hear him read every night and ask some basic comprehension questions of the text. If you really want to further develop his writing, draw amazing fantasy pictures and ask him to describe what he sees/has drawn such as 'black pointy turrets' etc. This will help his descriptive writing. You could also encourage him to keep a basic diary-not every day but perhaps take notes and write up anything exciting you have done as a family. But keep lots of it oral as he's still very young.

In maths, just make sure his place value understanding is there. Also that he knows 2D and 3D shapes, can add and subtract 2 digit numbers and can tell the time to at least the nearest 15minutes.

HTH

Just re-read your last post and I would say that if he is progressing then she must be doing something right. Even a very able child would struggle to progress in an environment where there was no discipline and they were constantly left to their own devices.

How do you know all that? Seriously. I have no idea what goes on at my ds's class...

I think it's important to talk to the teacher first, by making an after-school appointment, and if you don't get a reassuring response, try talking to the head next. Without the right facts and knowledge about the dynamics of the particular class, you can't know the full story, and these people are better placed to help you than we are.

How do you know for sure?

My concern would be that it isn't just the one teacher that's bad.

If one teach is bad, and not being adequately supported by the SLT, then there's every chance that there are a lot of bad teachers in the school.

In which case your best option is to move schools.

Rock the boat! Talk to the HT they need to know that parents are concerned, they can then support the teacher to try different methods and improve. Keeping quiet will not help your other children when its there time in the class. Say something, only then can they improve.

There is no way you can actually know that this is going on.

If your ds is happy and doing well the school are clearly doing something right.

nerfmum - the HT knows what happens in the class. They do loads of observations and learning walks etc.

If the classroom is behaving like the OP thinks the HT will know about it.

I think the HT does know. I know i sound awful, but i live in a small village where so and so knows someones sister etc., so have heard my dss teacher was being monitered. Why then has she not improved?

As others have said, if this is just coming from your DS I would take it wit a pinch of salt. Not that I'm saying your DS is lying, but there may (and will) be things going on that he does not know about. The "wandering around" may be children with ADHD who have permission to move around so often as a management strategy for eg. If he is making progress then there has to be something for him to grasp onto in order to improve, if you know what I mean.
Speaking as a primary teacher who rarely demands a Silent classroom it is difficult from the outside to know the reasoning behind the teachers behaviour management but it will almost certainly be there.

At the same time, I'd make sure you keep an eye on your DS progress, as it is possible I'm wrong and she is just a bit shit.

NBD - teachers can't be fired for being incompetent. All they can do is offer training and support etc. (Or at least it's a very long slow hard process to fire a teacher)

Cross post

But would like to say (again as a teacher) I hate it when people who are not trained judge teachers.