How to deal with a poor teacher?

[Tak3n]

Hi Guys,

          Really need some advice, if I am just being a pushy parent, or my DS has been landed with a poor teacher...

He is in year 1, and I am aware at that age school should be about fun...

Basically, last year in reception DS grew so much in confidence (he was timid) and with that his reading and writing exploded, so much so the teacher had nothing but amazing things to say...

He is always impeccably behaved but he is a lazy learner, in that he needs challenging in how he does things...

For example on Friday in his class he got a sticker for recognising the number 100, but he is so far beyond that, he can recognise numbers into the thousands extremely easily, but he wont tell them that. So I always made sure the TA's and reception teacher knew this....

Move forward to year 1, and his reading and words were way below his level, so I went to speak to the teacher and questioned her on her work for my DS...

She told me she did not even know him, so she could not comment!! and that she will simply give him work to what he is showing in class, and that if he does not count past 100 or tell her he can then it is up to him (this was despite me telling her right at the start that he needs pushing)

am I being unreasonable?

He is in a school where the demographic is disadvantaged... (we missed out on out top choices and was giving this school) so there is a lot of challenging behaviour in the class, I get this, but it feels like because our DS is quiet, well behaved and just does what he is asked, he is basically left to rot :(

it feels like he is being taught to the lowest common denominator...

This was never the case in reception as he had a key worker so they were always pushing him...

He is basically doing work he was doing this time last year...

I feel I have 2 choices... speak to the head. My partner feels this is a terrible idea and so do my friends as they think it will make the teacher negative towards my DS, which I would be disgusted if that happened, but my friends are adamant that is the natural human response!!

or do I literally just wipe this year off and teach him myself, in the evenings and weekends, which I do at present..

I am hoping some of you have had teachers you do not feel are doing the best for your children and can offer some excellent advice...

I understand the teacher's point that if your DS is deliberately hiding his abilities it is hard for her to assess him correctly, but I'm a bit shocked that she is saying she 'doesn't know him' after a month at school.

I would try speaking to the teacher again. Book a meeting and take along any work your DS has done that you feel reflects his true abilities (especially if it is work from school last year).

If you talk to the teacher now, give it until after half term and then speak to the HT.

Thanks Mrs Cakes

That annoyed me, and I too struggled to get past her saying she does no know him...

I think it is the case he is just a "normal" boy, does not need special help etc etc, so I feel he is literally just being left alone....

I read somewhere that a think a teacher should do is right down the names of the children in her class when they are at home, and the names that are near the bottom are the ones they should spend time with...

Not sure if I would have the balls to suggest that lol

I'd keep supporting my child for now as it is still early days. Sometimes, I tend not to concern myself with assessments/levels if I can see that my child is making progress.

I'd give it some time and see if he grows more confident in her class.

My younger dd is reading books she already read in Yr R. She pointed it out to me and I had noticed that she breezes through the books she comes home with so, for now, we are working on expression, comprehension and sometimes, we go on google to find out more about some of the stuff in her books or just to see more pictures/images.

If this continues into the second term and I feel she isn't challenged at all, I'll ask her teacher what DD's target is.

I have found that the best way if dealing with these matters is to write an email to the class teacher (or headteacher if the class teacher doesn't have a school email address).
I find this best for several reasons:
You have time to think clearly about what exactly you are trying to say when you send an email and write it accordingly.
The teacher can read it and consider it properly at a time when she is. It flustered trying to deal with several parents vying for her attention or several children who need her attention.
The email is proof that you have actually raised the issue and made the teacher aware of the problem.

The downsides to email correspondence are:
Sometimes the tone of the message comes across more harshly than intended as written word is difficult to interpret.

I find on balance that most teachers don't mind email correspondence, so it might be worth considering.
I don't think you should just let the matter go as you will become very frustrated if you do and you will regret not having said something.
Just remember that her initial response of why she isn't challenging your son more effectively might just have been a surprised response from her as she hasn't had time to really consider what you said before responding.
Best of luck with it.

Quick question... why is the teacher being labelled a poor teacher for giving your child work that they are showing in class that they need? Or is there more to this picture? If I took at face value all the things parents say of their children I would have half a class of Einsteins. Teachers can't really tick off things they don't see in school.

If I wrote down a list of the children in my class when at home, I'd start with random table groups. Which means your system wouldn't work.

I understand that it came across badly if she said she didn't know your son, but maybe she meant she was still getting to know him. That's not so unreasonable at this stage of the year. Although the honest truth is that if there are challenging children in the class, then they might be dominating her attention. Them's the breaks in state education these days.

I really think this teacher should know her son by now ... I would be very concerned and raise it with her again by email/or request a meeting as someone else has suggested ... I would also be looking to keep supporting my child outside school and keep an eye on his exercise books to see what he is doing in class. Good luck ...

the teacher should know what work he was doing last year presumably, so she should really be basing targets on that. could you speak to your ds's reception teacher?

I think it's bad that she said she did not know him! We had that in Year 1. A really crap teacher who wasn't sure who DS was when we turned up at parents evening. She also said "what do you want to know?"
We only realised just how crap she was when DS got a really good teacher in year 2. It made such a difference. I would suggest brining the issue up with the teacher by e-mail and then going to the head if you get no joy.

We had this one year with DS1. I knew things weren't great but got quite a shock when all his work came home at the end of the year.
I ended up teaching him basic English and Maths over the summer holidays when I realised how dire it had been. He was back on track for the start of the school year.

Is he really doing work that he was doing this time last year ie SATPIN and recognising digits 0-9?

I'd focus on how his work isn't meeting his learning needs, rather than what he can do at home iyswim ie that his reading books aren't challenging and could he have some harder ones please?