We got the teacher everyone dreads for Y3! Advice please.

[bowerbird]

This is NOT a teacher bashing thread. At all. I feel we've been extraordinarily lucky for three years in my DD's teachers who have all been different, but have all been wonderful and committed professionals. But please let's acknowledge that terrible ones exist.

Everyone in our Y2 class is freaking out! Checking around from people who have kids in upper years, I've had nothing but looks of pity and sympathy. The best I've heard is "uh, she's very very strict". The worst I've heard is "a bad teacher and she hates children". I hope that it's not as bad as that, but if it is....

Does anyone have any advice on how to cope with a bad teacher? How to get through the year (IMO Y3 is a critical year, too)? How to worry less over the summer?

DS had a teacher like that.

He (and otehr kids and even some parents) wailed that she is very strict, always tells the naughty kids off, wants everyone to be silent when she is explaining something and ACTUALLY expects them to do work! Never lets them watch telly. He was furious.

I was pleased.

I'd also wait and see.

Year 3 is no more critical than the other years, but it is different in that it's the first year of KS2 and if year 1 and 2 is all about learning the building blocks and the rules, in year 3 the children get more freedom to apply them. If that makes sense (and is a very simplistic overview!)

I would also wait how it goes.

Some parents decide a teacher "hates pupils" because they just don't take any nonsense from children or parents!

OTOH, some teachers are over strict because that's just how they are. Has your daughter had her 'meet the teacher' sessions with her yet? How did she find her then?

I agree about keeping it unemotional when you speak to the head. We had a great meeting with the head. He suggested an action plan and we looked forward to things changing. Unfortunately he didn't actually implement that action plan at all so nothing changed. We saw him after a dismal parents' evening. He said he had spoken to ds's teacher (I'd sent him a long email detailing our concerns in advance of the meeting). Apparently we had misunderstood everything she said to us at parents' evening. I was rather at that but gave him the benefit of the doubt. Nothing changed so we didn't bother with the last parents' evening.

It is difficult to know what I would have done differently. One of ds's class mates left at Christmas as his parents had had enough. I thought at Christmas things would improve but in fact ds's ability seemed to fall off a cliff between Christmas and Easter and he became completely demotivated. Very difficult behaviour at home and I think he was equally badly behaved at school so didn't help himself.

I don't do the school run so rarely see other parents and it is hard to have those sort of conversations in the playground. I think other parents have been more candid recently because we are at the end of term. I didn't want to be the one seen as stirring or causing trouble so kept my feelings to myself. If ds hadn't done scholarship exams at the same time he was 'bottom' of the class I would have been more vocal. However knowing he had done very well made me realise that ds's position in class was more to do with his relationship with the teacher rather than his lack of ability or any learning issues.

In the end her behaviour has made it easier to leave the school. Ds can't wait to go and is really looking forward to his new school and the challenges he'll face there. He was absolutely beaming today when he distributed his gifts. Whilst his teacher won't miss him at all there are lots of other staff who will.