Please could teachers advise if this is normal practice,

[JakeBullet]

Help! DS came out of school a bit quiet and subdued today, this is not usual as he is autistic and he usually leaves school with enthusiasm and keen to do other things. So I asked him what the problem was but he wouldn't say until we were nearly home.

His Maths set had a test today (I knew this was coming and had prepared him). The children who did well are being taken out for lunch on Thursday by the teacher ...only to McDonald's nothing fancy but obviously the children want to go.

Now I know that DS can be inconsistent with Maths and some days will score high and other days not so well, he has ADHD and Dyspraxia as well as ASD so has good and bad days academically. I sent him in on a "just do your best" basis and be happy. DS is in Y6 and achieveing NC level 3......just.

So he did his best. ...and today it just happens that his best wasnt brilliant....no biggy, thats just how it is for him some days. However, and this is my real concern, having got the children to mark their papers the teacher then got them to read their score out to the group. Now obviously for the children who got 18/19 & 20/20 this was okay, but for DS who scored the lowest at just 9/20 it was a massive issue, he felt embarrassed and didnt want to read his score out because it was the lowest. However, because everyone else in his set had to do this then so did he. So now every other child in his Maths set knows that DS scored significantly lower than anyone else.

Obviously he didnt score high enough for the trip and that is fine apart from the fact that only three of the set are not going. He is the only child with SEN in the group. So much is hapoening in school tnis week that I doubt he will notice some children missing Thursday lunchtime which is when the trip will take place.

I havr always been happy with the school but never really liked the HT who I find intimidating. He doesnt listen and talks over parents. ....guess who is taking DS for Maths? This HT has his favourites among children, staff and parents.....that doesnt include me. He has loads of time for parents he wants to talk to but talks over those he isnt interested in.....which includes me. The one time I rang to discuss somwthing with him he more or less talked all over me down the phone witb the express intention of just gwtting rid of me. This was upswtting as the reason I had contacted him was because he had told DS not to act like a two year old.....sorry but you just do NOT say that to an autistic kid who takes everything literally. He honestly did not want to listen to me. ....and I did not ring all guns blazing but just asked what had happened as DS returned from school raging and screaming, hitting me and himself.

Bit hacked off tbh.

I am a Governor too and he is no more interested in anything I have to say there....hes a mans man really but doea have one or two favoured women on the governing body.

So what do teachers think? Usual management of stuff or not.

FWIW he is retiring in 18 months. I have no doubts about his effectiveness as a teacher....DS finds his lessons interesting. I DO have issues with his one to one people skills though.

I have never heard of children being excluded from a trip based on their academic results... because of behaviour, yes, but not for scoring a low mark on a single test.

Only problem being - as it is the head who is doing it, I don't really know where you can turn. Maybe phone and talk to someone at the LEA? I don't know...

Your poor boy. I think the students marks are their business - would never get a class to share results as it's cruel. And to take kids on a treat based on one test (to be honest, on any tests) is rubbish. I would ask HT tomorrow if they have heard of the Disability Discrimination Act and Every Child Matters. I think your son deserves huge hugs & he should be getting extra support from school if a low 3. Have to go to meeting but wanted to let you know this is NOT normal practice.

I think taking them to McDs for a good test result ridiculous. Hard work over the term.. possible... but I still think it's a stupid treat.

The reading out of marks was something we did all the time at secondary and in all honesty I don't recall ever listening to others' marks. You listened for your name called, and switched off for the rest of the time.

All of that sounds odd.

To be fair, this was a planned test with the MacDonalds visit as a motivator.....it wouldn't motivate DS in any case but can see it might be a good "prize" for some. I just prepared DS on the basis that if he did well he went but if it wasn't a good day then he wouldn't. DS is fine with that as am I.

It's more the issue of getting the children reading their score out loud to the group which upset DS and also me.

IME no, not normal to have a trip to McDonalds as a prize for being clever. Because that is what it is - there are probably children in the class who have little chance of ever being the best in the test.

And it is generaly poor practise to have children call out their marks in front of the class.

Absolutely shocked. Have never heard of anything so vile! Very bad practice. Trips to reward attendance it punctuality- yes. Trips based on the results of a test? No!! Trips to McDonald's?!??? Wtf?! No school should be taking their kids there for whatever reason! The whole thing is awful.

The whole thing is wrong.
What was the aim of reading the marks out ... to ridicule those who failed to shine on the day?

and using a trip to MacDonalds as motivation smacks of desperation. Children should try their best without bribery and regardless of scores if a child does their best they are a success!

I have never heard of a teacher taking chilrne out for lunch for good test results.

And to McDonalds! That is really quite bad.

And on what basis were they allowed to go? If they got over a certain score? If they made progress compared with their last test results? I hope he at least picked the children who had made the most progress rather than the children with the highest scores.

And to answer your question, no, it is not normal practice.

It is normal practice to get children to mark each other's tests though, in things like spellings and mentla maths tests, but not share their scores with the whole class unless they want to.

My dc learnt he was crap at maths when the Yr1 teacher got their marking partners to shout all their results out - great way to boost a child's confidence!

I despair at the lengths schools go to for good Sats results.

No. I would never get children to read their test score out loud to the class. And I have never heard of rewarding children with a trip on the basis of one teat score.

Definitely not normal practice to take the children out for a treat depending on how well they did in a test! Perhaps how well the whole class has worked, tried their best in something, for good behaviour etc, but not based on test scores!

I would be fuming and definitely want a word with the teacher/HT!

As for reading the marks out in class, I didn't think this was common practice, certainly not in KS 1 where I teach. However I've just asked DS (yr5) if they do it at his school and apparently they do it every week fur spellings. He said that's why he always wants to do well!

The HT sounds like a nightmare, could you possibly talk to some if the other Governors about what happened and get their perspective, as it us the Governors job to challenge the head. I don't think I would be remaining as a Governor at a school where the HT is as you described!

Sorry for typos! On my phone!

That is just appalling!
I have never heard of children being rewarded for doing better in a test than their peers; certainly not at primary!

Even if the plan was to take the top scorers then the teacher should have collected them in, marked them then told the lucky ones they were going.

How many children are in his set? Why on earth can't they reward effort over the term?

Thanks as all this gives me some perspective. I am not an all guns blazing parent at all but I do want the opportunity to go in and discuss this.

As for MacDonalds....I agree its a bloody awful idea so am not bothered about DS missing out on this "reward". DS isnt bothered either.....

DS has made massive progress in both Maths and English in the past six months and has gone up a whole level in Maths from 2a to 3a....so he HAS achieved. The maths test today was on times tables where he is weakest. ....weve been doing the times table disco songs for weeks but he still hasn't really grasped them all.

Firstly I would never get children to read scores aloud - that's the sort of humiliating thin that happened when I was at school 40 years ago.

Secondly a teacher taking kids out for lunch is a very weird notion and definitely not on if it's going to be selective in any way.

The fact that the selection is based on ability is appalling.

A bit tearful about this today and feeling silly. I know that going through that yesterday wont kill DS and that children went through far worse in the past when their SEN wasn't recognized or catered for.I m just being a bit emotional about him being left feeling stupid after it.

I am going to go in I think but will make a few notes beforehand so I am prepared. Am also going to resign from the Governing body effective immediately.....he can find another parent (perhaps a Dad who he can talk blokey with) to give up the occasional evenings it takes.

I said in my OP that I found this HT intimidating....that was wrong....it's patronizing and condescending. I am of no interest to him at all, I am not parent of a Maths whizz, a sporting whizz or a child who shines outstandingly in any area. I am not a parent who is an accountant, lawyer or anything, I am just a Carer so have no value on the Governing body to him.....and am female hence why he talks over me and doesn't listen.

Arsehole! It's time he retired....the new HT who is taking over at the moment is lovely. Then again she has been groomed for the job and by the time he goes will have been effectively in post for two years. She is a female teacher who he gets on well with and will listen to....perhaps its her I need to see.

Um....where do I start! We had an old Y6 teacher who used to do this whole reading out scores thing. I hate it! Absolutely no pint in it at all except to embarrass the children with lower scores into 'working harder' (which we all know is not always the problem!)

I had to read scores out when I was a child and hated it. It helped contribute to my low self esteem.

As for a class trip/treat based on test results, I'm astounded. So totally wrong. I have excluded children from trips on the basis on their behaviour not being safe/not being convinced they wouldn't kick off majorly while we were out and therefore making the other children unsafe.

I cannot believe it's happening (not saying I don't believe you of your DS) you need to speak to the HT. So wrong on so many levels!

That's disgraceful

On both counts! Reading out their results is ritual humiliation which is hideous and should have no place in modern classrooms! As for taking children that did well to McDonald's.....words fail me!

Achievement is so relative! For your son to get the score he did may be a huge achievement for him, while for someone else the test may be well within them and actually took not an awful lot of effort to get a high score!

Like someone else said, it's rewarding someone for being clever, at least part of which is genetic!

When I was a newbie I once read the class marks out as I handed back the papers...from lowest to highest...i know. Trying to build tension as I got to the top three. I know

Rookie error and bloody silly/insensitive to boot. The parents of the child with lowest mark soon put me right and deservedly so. Never did it again, apologised to the child in question, lesson learned.

This was nearly two decades ago...am stunned any teacher, let alone a head, would do this.

Also about te trip to maccy Ds both from an equality point of view and as a treat have just stuffed an egg mcmuffin down my throat but thought schools hated the golden arches

tinsel the teacher IS the head. I know!