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Primary education

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Original poster

Supply teacher, dd very upset, y4

23 replies

SocialButterfly · 11/09/2012 16:57

Dd is 8 and has just gone in to y4. The teacher she was supposed to have had been off for several months last term so we were expecting a supply teacher.

First day dd came home and said she didn't like the teacher as she shouted a lot. I put it down to first day back blues but on speaking to other parents quite a few of the children said they weren't keen.

Fast forward to today and dd comes home very upset, wants to move schools and never go back.

The reasons she has haven seem to be the supply teacher being (IMO) heavy handed and I guess trying to establish herself rather than anything terrible although I don't necessicerelly (sp) agree with her way of doing things.

I have nothing concrete enough to complain about but dd is obviously unhappy. I feel if I say anything to the teacher it will be commenting on her personally which I can't imagine will set me in a good light!

Wwyd? Thanks

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LindyHemming · 11/09/2012 17:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

SocialButterfly · 11/09/2012 17:59

Thank you, is it ok to go straight to the head? I wax worried about going over the teachers head if I did, although I would prefer to do it that way.

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5madthings · 11/09/2012 18:06

i would always have a word with the teacher first actually and if that doesnt get you anywhere then go to the head. a quiet chat and explain you dd has been very upset and she may be able to reassure you, and you wil find out how the ground lays so to speak.

how approachable does the teacher seem?

Shesparkles · 11/09/2012 18:09

We had similar last year,lthough not with a supply teacher. I went to the dep head and had a meeting with the class teacher. It did make a difference but I kept a very close eye on the teacher, and a couple of notes expressing my concern about something were sent in

Original poster

SocialButterfly · 11/09/2012 18:13

She doesn't seem that approachable, on the first day I introduced myself and asked her name etc. she gave me the impression that she was putting a "pain in the arse" mark against my name.

Obviously I'm biased as I feel she'd is being unfair to dd. most of what she has said to dd imo is nit picking and its not so much what she is saying but the way she is saying it and how she is making dd feel. She is super well behaved at school and if she thinks she is going to get in to trouble it worries her terribly. I know dd should toughen up but really I don't think there is any reason for the teacher not to be sensitive to a child's feelings.

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cansu · 11/09/2012 18:45

I think you need to be more specific about what has actually happened. if it is simply that your dd doesn't like the teacher because she told her off for something then this won't be enough for you to discuss with the head. what is your dd upset about exactly?

Original poster

SocialButterfly · 11/09/2012 20:45

Ok, they are all small petty inidents, Im not saying my dd is right and the teacher is wrong but more they way she has been spoken to/ made to feel.

*Lots of shouting/ threats when there is generel noise in the classroom

She told my DD her bag was too big and that she couldnt use it any more. It wasnt too big its satchel size and the same size as others in the class. It has now been confirmed it is fine.
DD has short hair - very short with a slightly longer side fringe - she told her she had to put a hair elastic in the fringe as it was classed as too long to wear down - this is ridiculous as it is probably 5 inches long.
She told them they had 5 minutes to change for pe in silence, when someone spoke she made them all get dressed in to their uniform again then gave them 4 minutes to start again and change in to pe kit.
(this one will be contentious!) some of the girls in the class have facebook, now I know they are too young but its a few friends and they play farmville. The teacher said that if she found out that any of them had FB she would report them as it was illegal. Now I know this is true but they all came home desperate to delete their accounts so they dont get arrested. I think a better was to deal with it would have been to say they were too young and raise her concern with parents.
she gave homework on the first day back and didnt send anything written to clarify what was expected. She then made them stay in at breaktime as half of them had misunderstood and done it wrong.
she got them all to write down who they wanted to sit next to for the term, read out what everyone had put so the children that were left were the ones no one had put down as a choice to sit next to. The ones left were lumped on a table together with everyone else sitting with their choice of partners.

As I said, its all petty stuff and Im going to look like a loon complaining about them specifically but its more that she is being very heavy handed and not thinking about the childrens feelings.

OP posts:

clam · 11/09/2012 21:02

Sigh!
I hate it when teachers like this give others a bad name. I sympathise.
Yes, go and see the Head. It's her job to deal with such issues.

juniper904 · 11/09/2012 21:04

It is all pretty petty, to be honest. I would give it a few weeks and see how things go on. Definitely don't bad mouth the teacher to your DD- you need to be a united front, whatever your true feelings are.

Original poster

SocialButterfly · 11/09/2012 21:06

Thanks clam

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ThePieSmuggler · 11/09/2012 21:07

I disagree, I don't think those are petty things at that age at all! She sounds like she probably is laying down the law but has gone over the top, I'd see how things go over the course of the next week or two and if she hasn't shown her more caring side I'd have a word with the head.

NellyJob · 11/09/2012 21:11

she sounds like a biatch, I don't know why those people go into teaching, they obviously don't like kids.

ThreadWatcher · 11/09/2012 21:12

I would take that list to the Head tbh - I would want my dc in a class with a teacher like that.

She sounds like she has ishoos tbh

juniper904 · 11/09/2012 21:16

Why does everyone always go straight to the head when they could just speak to the teacher? Doesn't the teacher deserve the right to defend herself?

PuppyMonkey · 11/09/2012 21:17

That one about the tables has made me really

OrangeKat · 11/09/2012 21:24

Most of it seems a bit..odd but maybe just establishing herself iyswim, but the tables thing is just BAD practice. How bad for those left on their own? Particularly in year four, when such things can be so upsetting.
Go and see her, quietly. If you don't go anywhere then see her line manager.
Poor dd.

LindyHemming · 11/09/2012 21:25

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JugglingWithPossibilities · 11/09/2012 21:28

I think I'd go and talk with the head or deputy about how your DD is feeling with this (supply) teacher. And that's as someone who's worked as a supply teacher myself.

For one thing definitely sounds like they handled the who sitting next to who/ (whom ?) thing pretty badly. Head can either talk with teacher about moderating their approach or find someone more suitable for the class HTH

Original poster

SocialButterfly · 11/09/2012 21:36

Thanks everyone, I want to give her the benefit of the doubt, I know it must be hard being a supply teacher. However it's not fair on dd if she is so unhappy.

I think Ill speak to the teacher and if she doesn't take the concerns on board will speak to the head.

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juniper904 · 11/09/2012 21:47

I think whole class punishments are sloppy, but if the supply is feeling out of her depth and doesn't feel supported by the school, then it's going to take a bit of time on both her part and on the children's. I think threatening children tends to go badly as, if they don't do xyz, you have to follow out the threat! Sometimes that's near impossible, so I try not to make threats in the first place.

Saying that, my new class are very chatty they never sodding shut up and it isn't just one or two. When they line up for break, assembly, lunch etc it's just constant chattering even if I've told them to stop. So I do send them back to the carpet and try again. It is the vast majority of the class, and I need to make it clear to them that I am not going to tolerate being ignored or spoken over unlike their last teacher

juniper904 · 11/09/2012 22:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

juniper904 · 11/09/2012 22:29

Sorry- wrong tab! Please ignore

cansu · 11/09/2012 22:42

Some of it could be open to misinterpretation but the seating plan stuff is very poor practise. She sounds a bit OTT in some of her discipline but maybe she is trying to establish herself in a strange school etc. I would see her about specific incidents or problems which relate to your dd rather than get involved about general issues. So if your dd was kept in as a detention and you think she had not understood you could see her and ask her to check that your dd has understood and has a written sheet in future. Try not to get drawn in to your dd's general feeling of dislike for the teacher as this could lead to your dd not working well or even misbehaving as she feels you have lost confidence in the teacher too. if the situation continues to be a problem I may then make N appointment to see the head or deputy.

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