Shouty teacher & small class

[venusmay]

Ds is now in Year 2.Hes finding the new work harder and he’s been coming home telling me he thinks he’s rubbish at it.His class teacher is what ds describes as shouty.She yells at one boy in particular all the time because he looks out of the window and ds said he finds this noise upsetting. She also shouts at ds to ‘get it right’ if he makes mistakes and he’s been waking up in the night worried about school the next day.

There is also a social problem. His primary is very small so there are only 9 children in his year group. It’s always been a problem but he’s muddled through and I thought he was more settled these days.But he’s finding it hard socially at the moment,the other three boys have been playing and leaving him out.I think he’s feeling lonely during lessons because of shouty teacher and then playtime is no fun either.

I am going to speak to the teacher next week but I’m wondering should I move him to a bigger school?Its a combination of social problems and class size teaching that concerns me (small class is very intense).

I think this would concern me too if it were my DS. You should absolutely consider a move if your son isn’t happy here, or doing well, and it sounds as though he is dreading school each day which is a red flag for me. I would speak to the head about the shouty teacher as that shouldn’t be happening. And then look around at other schools, involve your son in the process so he feels empowered. Does he have friends outside of school that you could arrange more play dates with? And could you look into their schools? Otherwise I would be looking to arrange play dates with each of the three boys in his year separately so that he can build friendships with them x

Thanks yes he has friends outside school & I try to arrange to meet up when I can.I work full time and odd hours so find play dates hard,I went to a big primary and don’t remember having these problems.Ds is a very sociable happy boy (normally),I think sometimes bigger classes can be less intense and more chance of finding friends to click with?

So, is he in a class of only 9, or is he in a mixed age class with more children from other year groups?

The work jump from Y1 to 2 is a hard one for them anyway - I have one very academic high flier (ended up greater depth across the board at the end of Y2) who struggled last year, and one doing it this year (bright but with SN) - and both were having or are having wobbles at this point in the term (went on for about a month as I recall) but our teacher is most definitely not shouty and that bit's a separate issue... hell our Y2 teacher (both my kids have had her) is absolutely the perfect balance of being bubbly but taking no shit - she can stop my eldest child who doesn't shut up ever with a single raised eyebrow!

These are both issues I would expect a good school to be able to deal with. I'd speak to the head and give them the opportunity to make things better for your son. There are likely to be issues that crop up for any child at any school, but it's how responsive and effective the school is at resolving them that would be the deciding factor for me.

That sounds horrible. In the first case I'd be going into school to speak to the teacher about his anxieties as a 6 year old shouldn't be so anxious about his school work or feel like he's failing. I might also look into a different school to be honest as it sounds not great on general withso few on his year.