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Primary education

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Original poster

Unacceptable for teacher to call child a 'dipstick' ???

50 replies

SchoolMum66 · 15/07/2018 09:51

My yr 1 daughter has told me that her teacher has called her a 'dipstick'. When I questioned her further I found out she has said it more than once, and to other children also. Is this acceptable for a teacher to say??? I don't think so.

Also when my daughter went into school on Friday (arriving in the free time before register) she went to the teacher who was sitting at her computer in the classroom. She wanted to tell her something interesting and relevant that had happened the afternoon before. (my daughter does not often feel confident to approach the teacher, so well done to her) . I asked her when she came home " Did you tell Mrs A about ** ?". My daughter said "I went to her at her computer and waited until she had finished her sentence [typing on computer] and I said "Mrs A" and she said to me "Go away B" Once again, is this acceptable??? She could have given her 10 seconds of her time, or at least said can you tell me later, rather than GO AWAY!!! without even knowing what she was about to say. The teacher has form on this.

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ReadingRiot · 15/07/2018 09:59

Yes it's unacceptable but not the crime of the century, and the last weeks of term are hard and everyone makes a mistake/says something they shouldn't.

I imagine children who are regularly sent in with ineresting things to tell teacher and whose mother's follow that up when they get home, can become rather annoying.

Only you know if it's the teacher or the child who has form. If she's really treating children with so little respect on a regular basis then that's not acceptable at all.

trinity0097 · 15/07/2018 11:05

What was the interesting thing.?

Original poster

SchoolMum66 · 15/07/2018 11:05

Hmm, 'dipstick' has apparently been used longterm, according to my Yr 2 child and another mother.
My daughter is very rarely confident enough to approach the teacher, so I was pleased on this occasion she was going to. And the teacher didn't even know what it was she was going to say, could have been something immediate and important!

OP posts:

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 15/07/2018 11:10

tbh the teacher doesn't sound 100 per cent great but what can you do?
In junior school, one teacher used to scream in children's faces so close that they could smell his halitosis. Another one refused to add my child to the 'star list' as he said there was no point. Another one screamed at a child and excluded him for the day for using the word 'hobo' in a poem...

shall I go on?

in the greater scheme of things, I would cut this teacher some slack.

trinity0097 · 15/07/2018 11:13

Teachers are usually quite adept at realising what is important and what is not. Just because the teacher had supposedly finished a sentence does not mean they had finished what they were doing.

Were the children told they were acting like dipsticks, or where dipsticks - there is a subtle difference!

Again, what was the interesting thing?

OutofTyme · 15/07/2018 11:14

No teacher should make personal comments about a child. It’s highly unprofessional.

OutofTyme · 15/07/2018 11:17

Hopefully in September she’ll have a better teacher than this one!

EvilTwins · 15/07/2018 11:20

No teacher should be personally insulting but with regards to the second thing, let it go. I’m a teacher. I have lots to do and more than one child in the class. Last week we were very busy doing an assessment (I teach 6th form drama) and one of the girls came over and asked if we could “have a chat” (her words) I simply said no. It wasn’t the time or the place as we were very busy. Perhaps your DD caught the teacher when she was busy and actually, waiting til she’d fonished typing the sentence was still interrupting what she was doing, wasn’t it?

MidniteScribbler · 15/07/2018 12:26

Children need to learn that interrupting, for anything that is not an emergency, is not on. I see it so much these days, that children will just interrupt when they have to tell you something now. I usually say to my students 'is your hair on fire?' and tell them they can catch up with me later. A teacher typing on a computer is working, and should not be interrupted unless it is an emergency. Learning the right time to talk to someone is an important life lesson.

woodhill · 15/07/2018 12:46

Yes teacher is trying to catch up with work in a free moment and dc should not be interrupting

bandito · 15/07/2018 12:50

I don't understand what's wrong with 'dipstick'? It's an affectionate term surely, like 'wally' or 'doughnut' in my experience when said to a small child.

MissLingoss · 15/07/2018 13:00

Did the teacher say "Go away B" or did she say GO AWAY!!! There's quite a difference. (And even GO AWAY!!! might be ok, if the teacher had said it six times already.)

Your dd might have been the tenth child to approach wanting to tell her something interesting, while she was trying to finish what she was doing. The file she had open on the screen might have been something your dd should not see. Your dd was probably supposed to be doing something else when she approached the teacher.

NataliaOsipova · 15/07/2018 13:04

I'd have thought "dipstick" was an affectionate term too. Depends on the context of how it was used, of course, but it wouldn't bother me too much. Bit like saying silly billy or something.

teachergirl2011 · 15/07/2018 13:08

And they wonder why nobody wants to be a teacher?!?! A dipstick i can imagine was a term of endearment meant lightheartedly when making a small error.
As for before School it's madness. We are as teachers under so much pressure with deadlines, data etc etc, i don't want to be interuoted before School as there on only so many hours in the day. If I didn't have the huge accountability regime on my shoulders I would love to chat but sadly the government has taken this away.

OutofTyme · 15/07/2018 13:17

It's certainly a stretch to assume dipstick is a term of endearment. But this is mumsnet where a teacher Can Never Be Wrong

likeacrow · 15/07/2018 13:26

Teacher here. I call children silly nugget, silly sausage in a v obviously jokey way (mainly teach young children) but wouldn't seriously call a child any name. The "go away" thing might have been in frustration, maybe the teacher was super stressed. She doesn't sound particularly patient with young children, which isn't great, but unfortunately quite common.

Risksrevealvalues · 15/07/2018 13:29

I think teachers are frequently wrong but I wouldn’t be arsed by dipstick. Depends on context though.

AppleKatie · 15/07/2018 14:13

I’m a teacher and have occasionally used the term ‘dipstick’. It’s categorically a joke though- I don’t think I could make the term dipstick sound aggressive if I tried I don’t teach primary though.

‘Go away!’ To a shy child trying to tell you something isn’t great but it’s not crime of the century either.

Haisuli · 15/07/2018 14:24

Go away is horrible however it is said, and particularly to a shy child. I hope she has a better teacher next year.

missyB1 · 15/07/2018 14:35

“Go away” is just rude and unnecessary, “tell me later as I’m busy now” would have been far more appropriate. I’m a TA and can’t imagine calling any of the kids a dipstick or telling them to go away.

As for the pp who said they ask the pupils if their hair is on fire, my answer to that would be sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.

bandito · 15/07/2018 15:03

Just curious, those with their own kids who would never call them a dipstick, silly sausage, wally or whatever, what do you do when they make a daft error? In year 1, the teacher is very much in that affectionate parent role all day, I wouldn't bat an eyelid at my kids being called any of these things in class.

SadieHH · 15/07/2018 15:12

Does the same apply to doughnut, silly billy and dingbat? Only I'd better hand in my notice if so.

missyB1 · 15/07/2018 15:32

I think how you speak to your own kids at home is one thing, it doesn’t mean that’s how you should speak to kids you teach. Your own kids know you better and know if something is being said in jest, you also know your own kids much better than the kids you might teach. Other people’s kids might be much more sensitive than your own.

It’s also about different people’s interpretations as well, to me dingbat or wally would not be considered affectionate terms, so you have to be aware of the possibility of misinterpretation.

JimmyGrimble · 15/07/2018 17:38

Oh for goodness sake. Has your child made progress in the class? Is she happy and settled? I have frequently told children to ‘go away’ if I’ve needed to. It doesn’t have to be nasty and you only have your child’s word that it was meant that way. As for dipstick... really??? It sounds like you’ve got it in for this teacher and now you think you’ve got a bit of ammunition. Get over yourself.

Clairetree1 · 15/07/2018 17:43

I don't understand what's wrong with 'dipstick'? It's an affectionate term surely, like 'wally' or 'doughnut' in my experience when said to a small child.

exactly, its affectionate, what is the issue?

My daughter said "I went to her at her computer and waited until she had finished her sentence [typing on computer] and I said "Mrs A" and she said to me "Go away B" Once again, is this acceptable???

yes, of course it is acceptable, this is the teacher's preparation time, children should not be intruding.

I don't really know what your gripe is, the teacher calls the children affectionate terms, and insists they don't disturb her in her private time.

What is your problem exactly?

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