PGCE placement crisis, please help if you can

[Greensleeves]

Am sat here in floods of tears, feeling sooooooo pathetic and horrible

I am in my first two-week school placement and I thought I was doing really well - I spend hours on my planning, use a good range of resources and strategies, props, ICT etc, absolutely LOVE working with the children, no problems engaging/holding attention etc - was thinking I was doing well

my first "formative report", graded by the tutor after two months at uni, graded me "outstanding" in all areas, and I went into school with a good attitude, enthusiastic, dedicated and ready to learn from the teachers and take everything on board

I do NOT have a problem taking criticism if it is fair and constructive

but after a week in school, my second "formative report" had to be done by the head teacher in conjunction with the class teacher I have been working with - and it grades me "satisfactory" in every single area - they are like ofsted grades, so satisfactory is one mark north of "inadequate"

on two of the sections the mark above satisfactory is "meeting expectations for this stage of training" - so according to them, I am not even meeting expectations

the other trainee who is with me in school has received exactly the same grades on everything - and he is brilliant, the children adore him and he is really, really effective

all the observed lessons etc that I have had have only had really positive comments and I have not been told of any weaknesses

I asked the head why it was so low, and she said "the teacher feels that as you have only been here for a week she can only grade you on what evidence she has seen"

this is rubbish - I don't mean to sound arrogant, but what she has seen, from both of us, has NOT been below expectations, and she hasn't said it was to either of us

I have tried so hard - spent hours on my planning and making resources and writing reflections, evaluating and scrutinising everything I do

it is just so unfair, and the university will wonder what the hell has happened between the first report and this one

the head said "well, the university tutors haven't seen you tach"

also the other trainee, who had his meeting before mine, was given a class list and a code for the school pupil tracker - I wasn't

gutted, and don't want to go back

Please don't take it to heart. Always bear in mind that anyone assessing you within a professional context (outside a school or academic institution) has a personal/political/professional agenda of his/her own and is not "objective". Also remember that people assessing you are not necessarily particularly competent .

It is early days - don't give up at the first tiny hurdle. You won't always get glowing reports in your professional life, however brilliant and hardworking you may be. Go back in there - and try to work out who that person assessing you is!

dh thinks I should ring my university personal tutor and tell her everything

I don't want to, I feel so ashamed - and she can't do anything anyway

the way it will look is that I am great at university but shit at teaching children

No no no do not ring your tutor - take this small set back in your stride!

You can also ask the teacher for a feedback meeting to ask her what she would like you to do to improve. That would be the professional approach, IMO.

Bonsoir, why do you not think she should speak to her tutor? Is that not what they are there for? Obviously she can't change what has been done, but couldn't she help Greensleeves work to a better result next time?

From what you've said, I think it's much more likely your university and tutors etc will look at the marks you and the other trainee, and take it all with a big pinch of salt. Is this the first time students have been placed at the school? Because if not, everyone will already know that this is the particular way this teacher grades things.

I know it is very unsatisfactory and I really get why you are cheesed off, but don't let it get you down. Surely your tutor will be coming in to observe you as well anyway? If so then they'll be able to make their own judgement. Don't take it to heart!

Good luck.

I think tutors are there to be bothered for big problems but not for every small problem. I would be saving up tutor-credit for a bigger problem personally!

Cross posts, I think getting at the same thing.

the school haven't had students from my university before, but the class teacher qualified four years ago from there, so the tutors will have taught her and will remember her

I don't know what to do now

If it was fair, if I knew I was struggling, I would be upset but I would take it. But it's not true!

You've only been there a week. Maybe after 2 weeks the report will be better and the school will be able to say that you make a constructive response to criticism and have benefited from your stay with them... I would ask them for specific pointers, though - no point telling you your work is satisfactory but not telling you what you should work on to do better, as that doesn't give you anything helpful to work on and is therefore poor feedback. And bear in mind that some schools are better run and have a nicer atmosphere than others - part of the point of work experience within schools is to help you see that... You won't be working in a perfect environment when you qualify. I'm sure your university tutor is aware of all that, too and won't think you've taken a weird nosedive.

I disagree with Bonsoir and think you should phone your tutor, just for a pep talk and to get some advice. She/he may know that this school/teacher is known for being a bit daft about grading at the beginning of term and will reassure you.

It's so hard to have your confidence knocked at such an early stage but don't lose heart, if the kids are responding to you that's half the battle !

Oops, x-posted about whether they knew the school! Is your tutor approachable - mine was great and would definitely have wanted to know and help support me through this blip.

PGCEs are stressful enough without coping with this too .

Can't you ask the class teacher for feedback? She might have some useful things to say.

Talk to your tutor. I have been on a PGCE unlike Bonsoir, it looks as if the school may not know how to grade you for a PGCE, are they treating it like OFSTED?
Also the school should be giving you specific steps you can take to improve your score. What aspects were they observing you against? Do they have a specific target sheet to mark against. Are they marking against the key standards? Which standards do they think you have passed? Which standards do they think you should be working towards?

Chill ( if you can).
The approach of some schools is that you can't be anything more than satisfactory in your first term, because, in their warped logic, why would you be there to learn.

Things to bear in mind -

teachers given trainees often have no clue a lack of knowledge and no training themselves about assessing their trainee.

I would definitely flag it up to the uni tutor, if it is a new placement school they should be aware that problems might arise in the future.

Try and schedule a meeting with the teacher to discuss where to go from here.
You're not failing. In the big bad world of teaching nobody will ever ask you your placement results.

mummytime, I think most PGCEs grade you like Ofsted on internal assessments, I know they did on mine anyway.

I am not a teacher but a GP and within my teaching work have student doctors and junior doctors on placement in my practice. I would almost never give more than "satisfactory" after the first week or 2 - I think at that early stage you can just about make the distinction between "doing OK no major worries here" and "holy shit this person is a nightmare" but really no more than that til you know them better (however I have no idea how PGCE grading works). additionally in GP training you are encouraged not to grade anoyone in first year as higher than "needs further development - at level expected" or "needs further development - above expectations" because to get "competant" or "excellent" you'd have to be as good as or better than an established practitioner

perhaps something similar is at play here....

I think jimstrugess has hit the nail on the head - the grading system probably isn't as tailored as to offer an "doing OK no major worries here" and "holy shit this person is a nightmare" option, rather they are limited to using the slightly more clunky satisfactory, good etc options. The difficulty for you/ the uni is you are left wondering why you weren't marked 'good' when your effort, performance etc is in fact good.

also, 'satisfactory' is a crappy word to really mean 'doing fine'. You are not actually failing, so it is not a damming grade.

However, at secondary school the PGCE grading is not the same as OFSTED grading and so I would advise a chat with your college tutor too.

I totally get why you feel so crap, but DO NOT WORRY. Unfair it may be, but just look forward to the end of your PGCE when you HAVE your qualification. Nobody can take that away from you.
When you come to apply for jobs, schools could not give a TOSS whether you passed your PGCE with an outstanding or a satisfactory - IME you are already a massive bonus as you as an NQT are (no disrespect) cheap. Also they will be looking to see if you can write an excellent covering letter and application.
Grit your teeth and move on! xx

Please don't panic or waster any precious energy on this. Although they might (should?) be grading you on how you are doing against reasonable expectations (i.e., you are doing excellently at this stage of your training, in your first week), its more likely that they don't want to grade you too highly - if you are marked 'excellent' now, what have you got to improve on and aim towards?
It really won't have any bearing on your final mark (which, as you know is simply a 'pass' or 'fail').
You'll need to get used to this too - if you claw up to 'good' or 'excellent' at the end of this placement, you may find yourself in exactly the same position when you go to your next placement school. Quite often, our trainees get very down when they get a 'satisfactory' when they have come from a school where they got a higher grade, even if they have just taught their first lessons in a new key stage with a brand new class.

waster waste

If you phone your tutor they will come out and observe a lesson and talk to the host school if their assessment is wrong.

My personal belief is that universities don't do students any favours by grading them as "outstanding" at such an early stage because it gives them a false impression of the real world of teaching. Satisfactory isn't one mark north of inadequate it is exactly what it says on the bottle ... satisfactory for someone just learning their trade.

In the nicest possible way, you need to toughen up or you will not survive the PGCE far less a career in teaching!

I have no doubt that the school are using Ofsted grading - so Satisfactory is absolutely fine! There's no way they're going to award you anything higher at this ridiculously early stage.

Your planning, resources etc may be great, but your management of the class, understanding of systems supporting students with AEN and so on are just not going to be at 'Outstanding' or even 'Good' yet! As an experienced HoD at secondary, I drift between Good and Outstanding with the occasional Satisfactory - if I threw a hissy fit every time I didn't attain top marks for something, what kind of example would I be setting?

Please don't contact your tutor, they'll think you're a flake. Toughen up, seriously. Different PGCEs and different placement schools mark differently - it is of literally no concern until you start your career proper, when you should aim to have the majority of your lessons at Good or above. You have just started fgs!