Shocked at DS's teacher this week!

[WellThisIsShit]

She made a mess of something last week, which I did mention (politely!) in an email in which I was covering a couple of other unrelated things.

I then found out that lots of parents were 'up in arms' about the problem and there'd been multiple complaints, from individual parents and group complaints. Plus an angry exchange on Monday morning in the play ground, when a parent went in full throttle, and the teacher reacted in kind. All of which was inflamed by the teacher making it clear she hadn't got a clue what the issue was, or even what the parent was talking about at all.

Anyway, big furore and much concern that the teacher isn't up to the job (I'm glad I wasn't at the school gates this week!).

The wider context is that this teacher is coming into a challenging situation and is under the microscope, as she was parachuted in two days before the start of term after another teacher left the school in a fix when they pulled out with no notice. So, ht did a lot of classroom/ teacher shuffling and DS year ended up with this completely new teacher, who is very newly qualified, and has never taught in the uk before (or lived here actually). The school is really demanding and I have often mused that the poor teachers must have to be excellent, every single day, just to keep up - utterly exhausting to think about! Also the parents are err, well, they are much more involved than alot of schools, I think, and they expect to be listened to more as well.

So, anyway, it was all a bit heated and some of the parents were gearing up to a vote of no confidence in this teacher.

All made worse by the teacher responding ineptly showing her inexperience at handling parents... being confrontational, refusing to back down on things that she really shouldn't have chosen to make a stand about, being patently untrue and embarrassing to watch unfold (like the time when she decided to be firm and immovable that there was no one of x name in her class when grandparents did the pick up, and of course everyone watching was aware that x was been in that class for the last 3yrs and was in fact clearly there! Utter cringe my awful moment!), etc etc.

So basically, situation going nuclear fast argh!

So, I was completely shocked to get a sensible, well thought out response to my email, explaining her rationale at some points, and openly taking on my thoughts at others. Admitted she'd got the particular thing X wrong, and why, and how she was moving on from it... and according to other parents who are more tapped into this stuff than me, the teacher has responded in that same way to all the other complaints too, written and also verbal, meeting parents etc.

Basically, I'm really impressed.

Takes a big person to come back from this. And tbh, I wasn't expecting it!

So really, I wanted to share it on here and do a little private cheer for her :)

thanks for coming back OP. Please do contact the Head and say you are appalled at the playground mafia and hope that the new teacher is getting support.

To be honest though, please hold back on the emails . If it is something vital leave a phone message, but niggling emails raising THREE issues are too much.

Wow at your British comment.

You’ve shown yourself exactly what you are with that.

The teacher will need all the luck in the world to put up with you and the rest of the parents at that school.

Some of my children's best techers at primary were young NQTs. They were outstanding and I was so grateful to them.

The older, more experienced teacher was not so great, but we did our year with her and I never dreamt of complaining let alone ganging up.

I feel really sorry for this teacher. Why wouldn't she be able to compose eloquant responses? I doubt many of us could react well to mob rule. Parents there should be ashamed.

This has actually triggered me! I remember one week having different parents EVERY MORNING trying to get me to join them in complaining about something. The last straw was being asked to go in and demand that a girl with aspergers be moved to a different drama group as she was upsetting the girls. Fucking awful. Weirdly they constantly bang on about what an amazing school it is!

The Head failed her very badly by not frogmarching you and your deputation off the premises with all due speed.
The nerve of you all, gathering round like a witches coven to harangue the poor woman; presumably in front of your children?

Going against the grain here I know but nobody is made to become a teacher and teach against their will

Also it's easy to criticise a parent for being unhappy with a newly qualified, inexperienced teacher who appears to have poor face up face communication skills (although better email/non-face to face skills) - but if that was your dcs education, you'd probably be concerned too. It's all very well armchair-cheering this "poor teacher" but most parents would want a teacher to hit the ground running, not wait for catch-up to happen on their child's time.

*face to face

Arf at the 1922 Committee.

What I'm struggling with here is that OP is adamant that she isn't part of the braying pack of parents, but sending emails raising a number of issues, not just one, suggests that she does subscribe to that mentality.

I'm assuming that the school recruits from abroad because its local reputation for overly demanding parents deters other candidates!

^^ this is not a comment on any haranguing done by parents, of course that's an unacceptable response, but it doesn't mean there wasn't anything t respond to in the first place.

Thanks those quieter voices who have taken the time to read my posts.

I'm ok with posters misunderstand as I probably didn't sign post my op very well.

I'm not ok with the cries of racist or other insults being thrown. Ironically because it's doing exactly what you decided (wrongly) to judge me on, and it's rather foul.

Rather sad that posters have decided to rip me to shreds, confusing two rather different thing: me describing events (& trying to be accurate about it), with me being on the front line screaming at her with my snobbish rascist hatred?!?!?! And presumably coming on here to err, what exactly?

Sigh.

Ah well.

I do not buy into the general MN party line that teachers are saints and most kids liars. But on this occasion you and your parent pals sound like utter nightmares. I feel very sorry for that teacher.

Quite apart from everything else, what on earth makes these parents think they are in a position to have a vote of no confidence in a teacher? You do not have a say in whom the school employs. That is the responsibility of the Head and the governors. You all sound nasty, vindictive and unbelievably deluded about the importance of your opinion.

But why the " idiot " comment? Totally unnecessary.

All those screaming racist - erm this teacher could be you know the same "race" as wherever but always lived elsewhere and having to face the challenge of CULTURAL differences...

I certainly understood what OP meant, moving to a new culture is bl**dy hard work, so easy to do things "wrong" as you go by your own cultural experiences.

Going against the grain here I know but nobody is made to become a teacher and teach against their will
And it's crap like this bunch of idiotic parents who drive them away in large numbers.

All this fuss over a bit of homework?

Well maud and similar, as you clearly want me to be an evil bully you won't be interested to know that my email was about personal stuff that I didn't feel I had to go into on here.

But just for you, and I do hope you're proud, my "sending emails raising a number of issues, not just one indicating blah blah blah" in actual reality was about my sons attendance, his (potentially life limiting) illness, and his mental health.

We're keeping in close contact due to the seriousness and DS and my circumstances. Which is called 'working with the school' and 'keeping the school informed'... but yay, of course I'm a bully and should be 'frogmarched up to the ht' with 'my' coven. Snort.

Am I allowed to communicate on those subjects or does that make me part of the braying mob?!

As I said already, I was surprised to get an email back because it was a general 'update' mail covering several topics she was well aware of and asking me to keep her updated on.

But please do keep on making up stuff to justify attacking me on here.

OP-if you don't regularly pick up your DC and witness any of this-how do you know so much? Do you all have a parent WhatsApp or Facebook group where you all bitch and moan about the teacher?

^that is happening far too often these days and to be a part of that is just despicable.

Eolian - are you saying there could never be a situation where parents feel they want to put forward a vote of no confidence in their child's teacher?

Most teachers are amazing (nearly all) but that doesn't mean a duff one can't appear from time to time.

Irvine, have you read the nastiness directed at me?

Do I have to sit and take it all when people are calling me all sorts of vile and unjustifiable things? You should have heard some of the other words going through my brain meeting this nastiness this morning!

The irony. You're all having a pop at OP for being part of an unpleasant mob...while being an unpleasant mob.

You have a point pictish and I am sorry to have been a part of that. But at least the OP can hide the post and never come back to it. This poor teacher is facing this daily

It's true though fritz? you're not necessarily going to be great or even good at your chosen career, whatever that is. At the end if the day teachers are paid to do a job and an important one. I'm sure we all remember teachers from our own educations who were mean, or ineffectual, or poor at their jobs. If you don't have at least one you can think of, you are lucky.

It doesn't take away from the amazing work of 95% of teachers. But some are just not up to the job.

No kitty I don't, in fact I'm not invited to the fb and whatsapp groups some have as I'm not that kind of person and obviously not plugged in to the school rumour mil as otherwise I wouldn't have been surprised by it all!

These groups do go on though in many schools. Good when it's info sharing and friendship, bad when it's against the school vs with the school.

I was shocked by the whole cascade of events, hence me describing it on here (obviously quite ineptly!).

The Head failed her very badly by not frogmarching you and your deputation off the premises with all due speed
I have a horrible feeling based on the fact the teacher had to send a letter out and the OP has said thesr parents form quite an influential group who raise money for the school (i get the impression bitchy mean girls PTA on steroids clique), they feel they have a huge amount of sway over senior leadership who feel indebted to bitchy clique's efforts.
The likelihood is that by the time the culture is as bad as this the head will probably save their own neck and appease the parents and manage out an otherwise good teacher.