can't be 'polite' and good any longer....

[swallowedAfly]

ds goes to a village primary with all the subsequent over-reliance on parents wealth, education, time, etc. re: assuming sahms are the norm, money is plentiful for fanciful trips and activities, we all know how to sew up costumes at the drop of a hat etc.

that's fine. i chose to live here. however....

homework is way over the top in terms of quantity and right from day one of school. one part of homework (there is loads) is the 'learning log' which is pretended to be something children could do indepndently and consolidates learning. except in reality it is not, by a long shot.

i've put up with it and put up with and felt enslaven to doing it until today when i've had enough. this week for ds (6yo and one of the most able in his year) it says, "show me what you've learned about number bonds up to 20 and what patterns you can see". then there's a blank page.

i don't know why (because this is far from the worst that's come home) but today i've had enough and found myself writing on the page that i have no idea what the learning objective is, what outcomes they're hoping for or how the hell they see this as differentiated. i've also asked how they think a parent with numeracy or literacy problems would tackle this task and whether they would actually set this as a task in class to 6yos and expect a meaningful outcome.

there is no context, no structure, no literacy support, no prompts nothing. same as ever. sometimes the tasks don't even relate to anything they've been learning.

am i totally unreasonable or would you after a year or so be fed up too? i am (if it's not obvious) an ex teacher and i know what education is supposed to be about and this is not it. homework should be meaningful. how could a 6yo read that question and face a blank page and do something a teacher could look at and assess to see what they've learnt? they couldn't.

on top of this learning log (given on a friday and expected in by tuesday) daily reading and signing of reading book is expected plus other bits and bobs. he's 6! he's been getting this since 5 at a point where some kids couldn't even write let alone face a blank page and an open ended task and produce something yet they'd get in trouble if they didn't. this is just a test of parents surely? and an unfair one given it assumes knowledge and literacy that some parents won't have?

sorry for long random rant but help! i'm not playing this game anymore and i'm ready to speak up. it's a joke.

[FavoriteThings]

Apologies if this has all been discussed before, and I have missed it, or if what I am posting is 20 years out of date.

My kids went to a small primary. If I really wasnt happy with something, generally the first thing I did was talk to the other parents. Because sometimes I had got the wrong end of the stick, or my kids had, or a letter had gone missing our end, or they were only trialling something for a week, or whatever.
If a significant number of the parents agreed with me, then I made an appointment to see the teacher/headteacher. They didnt mind appointments, in fact they welcomed feedback, so there wasnt a problem in that way.
We discussed whatever it was. Sometimes thye were able to persuade me to their point of view, sometimes not.
But I discovered there were policies for all sorts. Loads of them. Over 30. I dont know if all schools still have them.
What ended up happening was, the teacher and I realised that I may as well take home all the policies and read them. It explained why they were doing what they were doing. It all ended in me becoming a school Governor and helping to influence what happened at the school.

Not saying that you should necessarily go down that route. It doesnt sound like the school is suitable for you or your child.
And as I said, maybe schools dont work in quite that way now. But hope that something of what I have written, is useful to somebody.

[NoComet]

I have a certificate for mine

To be fair DD understood all her WW2 project perfectly, she just lost the will to live typing it.

[swallowedAfly]

so does me saying no clubs are run other than private companies paying the school to let them run them and the parents paying the companies for their children to go change anyone's mind about how maybe, just maybe this school is not great? because those saying 'everyone runs clubs at my school' are describing very different cultures than i've seen at this one. and those of you whose schools have only shut once in an eon and that was when transport literally couldn't run etc are also describing very different cultures.

i don't want to say what county i'm in but there seems, from my experience when i moved back here and went to work in schools, from what i hear from people quite high up in education policy and management and elsewhere that there are serious issues here under this local authority.

having applied for a job elsewhere i've been looking at primary schools up there and reading their websites, prospetus' and policies and they are worlds apart from the lazy, lack of info stuff ds' school offers and are 'on the ball' with equality and diversity, sen policy, differentiation etc upfront in their info.

again though it's a university town where schools and unis work closely together for staff training and resources and generating good practice - like the town i initially trained and worked in.

think we just need to get out of here.

[friday16]

again though it's a university town where schools and unis work closely together for staff training and resources

And where parents are disproportionately likely to understand education, and therefore be "critical friends" to the school, with high expectations but an acceptance that there are practical constraints which mean that sometimes they need to compromise.

Some friends of ours moved from north London to a small rural village, with a whole host of spurious bucolic fantasies about how much more caring and nurturing a small village would be and how there wouldn't be any black people either. They were horrified to find that the local school had low expectations and a complete absence of diversity and very poor SEN provision (the assumption was that, really, "they" were better off at home) and fed into secondary schools that had a very low rate of progression to further, never mind higher, education.

Farming communities in the back of beyond offer fewer educational opportunities than Islington? Who knew? But at least there weren't any black people.

[swallowedAfly]

oh they sound lovely people friday

yes to the critical friends bit too and an appreciation of critical friends rather than paranoia, hostility and defensiveness of an informed parents.

i was so naive when i moved back to teach here (and this isn't rural nowhere land really, just middle england), totally unprepared for the culture of old men in dirty suits with egg on their ties and in their beards, scoffing at evidence based initiatives and generally taking up space whilst doing the minimum possible because you weren't getting rid of them without them getting their full pension so unless they could early retirement on health grounds they'd sit it out at the expense of everyone. i'd thought that was some 'back there' nightmares of my youth culture that had been overcome but sadly it was alive and kicking when i moved back.

was quite the culture shock after the city where i'd trained and taught initially.

[FavoriteThings]

What about the other parents. Do they share your views or not? If they dont, then either you are on a lost wicket, or you have got such a big job to do, that by the time you have done it, your own child will have left the school. And even if you have parents on board, if the school and higher ups are going to resist you all the way, then again, it will take too many years.

[swallowedAfly]

not sure if this is relevant to the thread but a while back we got an email from school saying they'd had an 'incident' with internet safety and students and a bit of a generic waffle about the importance of internet safety and discussing in the playground discovered most parents hadn't got a clue and wished they did.

emailed the school offering to help - and i honestly didn't do it arrogantly or anything just literally said that the college i was at had developed some excellent resources for training adults on safeguarding with regard to the internet and if they wanted i was sure we'd be happy to share them i'd happily give time to do internet safety workshops for parents and i was pretty sure my boss who is the lead for safeguarding and really is good at his stuff would be willing to help too.

about a week later i finally got a shirty reply from someone whose job it is to do this side of things basically being a bit defensive about it being his job to deal with internet safety.

i was still even then it seems in my naive little bubble of 'sharing resources', 'sharing good practices' 'working in partnerships' yada yada and forgot where i was momentarily.

should have remembered i'm only wanted for cake baking, putting my hand in my pocket and sewing costumes as a mum in 1952.

[swallowedAfly]

favourite - from what i see more educated parents are totally critical and on side, others hate it but don't have the tools to critically evaluate it iyswim but if you articulate why you see problems with it they're like, 'yeah god you're right' but not the types to speak up to 'authority' figures. many are caught up in the 1950's, anxiety provoking mummies must compete and be perfect or the school will know you're a bad mummy kind of malarchy.

i chatted to one parent the other day and she told me about the child who always goes in with her homework on a memory stick as a powerpoint presentation at the age of 6 - that's a seriously invested mummy - hope she gets lots of gold stars and headteacher awards for her efforts

[swallowedAfly]

currently developing a presentation about, in part, culture change and change management in educational organisations - you'd think i might apply it to my own experience i'm going to go look at the models of change i've been researching and see what jumps out with this schools culture in mind.

[FavoriteThings]

Can you clarify please. When you say that they are not the types of parents to speak up to authority, do you mean the "educated" ones, or the others or both?
But the others do hate it too, so really the majority of parents agree with you?

fwiw, in my school, I was asked to be a co-opted Governor. The board of Governors asked me to join. I became a parent School Governor. It was my job to know what parents were thinking about the school to help the school. We did all operate as a team, which seems a million miles from your school.

I dont know if you have the time to even want to be a school Governor. But if you have parents on your side, you may get elected as one if you put your name forward. Another thing altogether in your particular school what would happen in Governor meetings. If you were repeatedly ignored, or not kept fully informed or outvoted or whatever, you would be pushing water uphill for a very long time.

I suppose what I am saying is, unless you are very commited to changing the ethos of the school, and have others to back you up, realistically nothing much might happen anytime soon.

[FreshCucumber]

Teacher, can I send my children to your school?

because here before and after school clubs are done by private companies in all the primary schools in the area.
There is one after school activity in our school, where some volunteers from the nearby secondary school come in for about 1 hour. This is not wrap around care though as a 4.30 finish doesn't quite help people who are working (ie the children who go there either are picked up by the same parents who there at 3.15 for normal pick up or they go the on-site afterschool). And even that is unusual. We do have some people coming to the school and running some paying clubs though.

We have none of all this nice 'supportive' environment where teachers all go the extra mile and give their free time for after school clubs etc... (Not that I am expecting any of that anyway tbh. That's not the teachers job) but it certainly shows a very different attitude to school and involvement than we have here.

This is in a small enclave of middle class people in the middle of very deprived area or farming communities.

[claw2]

Sounds like an awful lot of bitching goes on in the playground. On one hand you talk about 'more educated' parents and others who cant 'evaluate it'. Then you mock a parent and her child who goes in with a memory stick etc. Sorry but you sound like a pompous know it all.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

'homework on a memory stick as a powerpoint presentation at the age of 6'

Excellent. I imagine that takes LESS of an investment not more (IT can be a tool to help with efficiency and clarity) and would help children with some SEN.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

I want mrz, teacherwith and SEMummy to open a school near me and remain on the SLT.

Goodness that should would shame so many others.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Oh and LuvMyBoyz and whatever GoblinChild's latest name is too.

WetAugust should probably be the non QTS Headteacher of course.

[claw2]

I thought homework on a memory stick, powerpoint was an excellent example of 'differentiated'

[claw2]

I wonder if the powerpoint parent is one of the 'more educated' ones or maybe as thick as shit and just in tune with her childs needs

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Am I right in thinking you work with young children yourself though MrsDeV ? But not in a school setting?

• I agree we have them sitting at desks too early and for too long in this country, and give them too much homework too young as well.

[JugglingFromHereToThere]

Your job sounds great !

I'm not sure whether working in schools is for me or not really - I find the pressure to meet targets quite a dominant part of the culture there these days too. I'd rather start with where the child is and go from there!
Real individual targets - I'd be fine with that

[swallowedAfly]

wow i got some personal insult type stick whilst i was at work today.

i'll live.

[swallowedAfly]

by not being able to articulate criticisms i meant gut feeling this is wrong but not having the buzzwords or the knowledge of pedagogy or agendas or inspection frameworks to articulate how those gut knowings interact with expert 'knowings'. not a slight on 'thick' people as someone has tried to interpret it but a standard comment on how all professions/trades/institutions etc have their own terminology which silences people who aren't fluent in it. you could be a genius with a fantastically spot on assessement of what is wrong with your local school but still lack the language and awareness of policy, strategies etc to articulate that in a way that will be heard by educationalists.