Year 6 DD declining in maths, awful parents eve. How to address?

[CBGBs]

We had parents eve recently for DD age 10, year 6. She usually has excellent parents evenings with nothing but praise, she is in top sets.

However this recent parents eve was pretty awful, she has scored very low on a maths test, I’m not sure if it’s a mock SATS test or not. 16 out of 30 when she apparently should be achieving 24 out of 30.

We asked the teacher if it was just the one test, is it possible she was having an off day, and he said yes but if she carries on like this she will be very disappointed in herself in her SATS. The whole appointment was very focussed on this poor result in maths which is fair enough, the teacher did mention in passing that some of her English work was best in the class but then went back to talking about the decline in maths, so the overall appointment felt pretty brutal and DD was in tears by the end. However the teacher did state that she will not be moved down from top maths set over one bad test.

My son had this teacher and he says that it’s his style of teaching, the ‘give them a kick up the bum’ type of approach.

She has been displaying anxiety since this parents evening and it’s manifesting itself in all sorts of things, e.g. crying when she came last at bowling on Sunday as she’s a failure etc. Panicking over homework. It’s a marked difference as she has always been confident in her school work before.

We are trying to address her anxiety at home and have asked school to let us know what she got wrong in the test so we can try and work through it with her. At this point I am more concerned about her wellbeing.

Many of her peers in the top set are tutored but we never really saw a need to do this at the primary stage as SATS are to be a measure of the school. However I am wondering about a tutor for her confidence/wellbeing? Has anyone else experienced similar?

I wonder if there are other students not getting as good results as they used to now this teacher has come along?

That may explain his reluctance to put your daughter down one, as others would need to have that done too and the middle performance class would end up over subscribed?
And he’d get a rollicking.
Or perhaps that’s not how this works.

Years ago when everyone took the 11 plus there was pressure too. It’s not new. It’s just that it’s been forgotten!

I was a governor at a primary school and I was the maths governor too so I did get some knowledge about maths Sats.

Yes, to some extent it tests the school but all of us want our DC in good schools, don’t we? We want good teachers. Sats are the culmination in that. Results only form part of pay review. Not all of it! I found teachers cared deeply about DC doing well. Not for themselves or the school but for the DC.

I can also tell you that our pupils were assessed regarding progress around 3 times a term. So he’s done two assessments, most probably. This isn’t giving a true picture of how she’s managing the curriculum. One test definitely won’t do that. So I would say that he’s covering his backside. He’s blaming your DD when I think his teaching is poor.

Any decent school would have picked up her lack of progress (is it even regression at this stage?) and be doing something about it. Explaining the topic differently. Giving a bit more homework to get to grips with the topic. She hadn’t finished the KS2 curriculum yet, so what was she tested on exactly? What he’s taught? If so, he’s not a great teacher if she’s previously done well.

I would expect the school to have outlined the curriculum to parents. Do you have this? What is she stuck on? What do her maths work books look like? What work is completed and is it mostly correct? Is she doing work at the expected level or in greater depth? The teacher should evaluate all of this. One test mark is simply ludicrous on which to judge her since September.

Go back and see the maths coordinator. Hopefully it’s not her teacher. Ask for a proper evaluation of progress based on all her work so far this year. You might then get a fair picture. Ask how they assess progress? What’s their policy?

Reassure DD. Is this a private school? Go down a set if the teacher is better! Gaining confidence is key and don’t get a coach! More stress than ever! Go over with her regarding what went wrong and see where her weaknesses are. Or even ask the school! What are they doing to help her get her confidence back and do well again?

Hi OP. We were in this situation exactly a year ago. In fact DD's teacher said that she was 3 years behind in her maths .

We knew she had struggled but we didn't realise she was that bad. (In hindsight she can't have been).

We decided to get her a tutor,someone very caring and she had an hour a week after school. I didn't give a shit about the SATS results,I just wanted her confidence to improve and feel that she wasn't a failure.

So she had a tutor from nov and now she is in secondary year 7 we have kept the tutor going. She is now doing fine,and she did well in her maths Sats too.

Build her confidnece back up at home with either a tutor or on-line maths site - of which there are many good ones.

We had it happen much earlier in primary school - and it the drop in confidence was followed by a drop in apparent ability - so we did on-line maths at home and it took time but they caught back up and went on to do well.

I wouldn't be focused on the SATS - but getting her confidence back up for secondary school.

I do SATs tutoring. I would suggest that you find someone who can give her just a few sessions to build her confidence. I’m happy to do one offs or a couple of sessions but you may need to ask a few tutors as some will only accept a job if it’s longer term. I have also asked one of last year’s pupils to have a chat with one of my tutees for this year - to just share her experience.
I hope you and DD can get the support you need.

I would be furious with the teacher for saying that in front of a 10 year old. I’d get someone in for a few tutoring lessons to reassure your DD and make a complaint to the head, explaining the impact this has had on your DD’s mood and confidence.

I would also say that if your DD continues to feel pressured and you feel it is impacting her emotional health you will remove her from the tests. If you tell your DD not to put pen to paper there is nothing they can do.

Children really do not like being singled out and told by parents to disobey instructions in school, such as sitting there and not writing. This is pretty damaging to them. They do, as far as I can see, want to please the teachers so they end up with trying to please parents and teachers who are at odds with each other. It is far better to take a reasoned view and take the tests. It is better to support the school in this. After all it is not their choice. They do choose whether or not to go all out for good results though.

However, you do not really know what she cannot do, based on one test, so why get a tutor right now? The school can probably sort this out as long as they have made accurate assessments to date. Ask the Maths Co-ordinator for her assessment data and for an objective view of her progress. One test is ludicrously small data on which to base tutoring. The Maths Coordinator should be aware of how this teacher is teaching by classroom observation. They should also be made aware that what was said at parents evening is not acceptable. Most schools understand that encouragement and filling in the gaps in knowledge is what they do - not demotivating children at a parents evening.

Schools are judged by their SATS results. The school’s results suffer if a child doesn’t take them. If the OP complains about the teacher’s comments and points out to the head that any repeat of this ridiculous pressure may lead to a child not taking the test, the teacher is much more likely to back off. It is the threat of the child not sitting the test that matters. It won’t come to that.

Tutoring for SATs is madness, SATS test the school!

Right now the school is failing your daughter in a subject she was previously good at.

You need to ask the school how they are going to address THEIR shortcomings in teaching her

This teacher does not sound like a very good teacher

Kumon twice a week, practice SATs, get worksheets from the teacher and spend time with her on them every weekend before doing anything else.

I think it's appalling that your children have to attend the Parents Evening with you. I thought the whole point was for teachers and parents to have a frank discussion about the child in question, without the child being present.
I think your daughter's teacher was very unprofessional in how he dealt with the situation given your daughter was present.
I'm not a parent so I don't know how these things work but could you complain about his attitude? Plus not take your daughter to any further evenings.

I never see the point in threatening a school regarding withdrawing from Sats. It is far better to work with the school rather than make threats which you probably won’t carry out. They could call your bluff anyway and it’s making the DC a pawn in the arguments.

Ofsted do not judge purely on results. They are keen to see progress which is why I have suggested the OP sees a member of staff with greater responsibility for maths progress.

I don’t think DC should attend parents evenings either at this age. Maybe that should be discussed too. Although Dd would have known the test result and also realised all was not well.

I don’t think DC should attend parents evenings either at this age.

We've had experince of two primary schools - both of which insisted the children be there - even to the point when the first school ran school time appointments the children were got out of class to attend.

Downside is you do have to watch what is said.

I'd try having a word with the teacher and say it's knocked her confidence and see if they repond to that - they might.

I wouldn't threaten anything with SATS - as pp said you want to work with school not put child in middle of a battle - but just foucs on building confidence with maths.

Why do you think (some) teachers put so much pressure on children about SATS?

’Ultimately the results are used to hold schools to account for the attainment of their pupils and the progress that they make.
Progress is measured by comparing the results of tests taken at the end of Key Stage 1, by seven-year-olds, and those taken at age 11.’

BBCnews

Yes but the quality of teaching must be taken into account and it’s the job of the head to make sure teaching is good. Most posters have said it is just the results that matter. It isn’t. Progress matters too. There is nothing wrong with that. Most schools don’t have 100% of children passing Sats. Most schools try to ensure children make progress even if they don’t get 100 in the tests. Personally I don’t see anything wrong in measuring progress. Many schools are able to teach children in a non pressurised atmosphere. Also some parents love pressure cooker schools. It’s surprising how popular they are! I would not like to think of DC starting secondary school with incomplete curriculum teaching and a lack of basic knowledge because no one checked.

Hi all, sorry I haven’t been back to the thread. We have been upset as DD’s best friend has had a sudden death in her immediate family, needless to say events like this put things into perspective.

The teacher mentioned my son in the parents evening saying to DD “you need to be aiming to get what your brother achieved in his SATS” at which point DH and I winced, our DS is very able at maths and DD has to work a lot harder at it, it doesn’t come as naturally to her. We have always told the DC not to worry about what others are doing as we all have different strengths etc.

Teacher has now given DD star of the week so maybe he’s feeling a bit guilty after the dressing down at parents eve.

Onwards and upwards then! Perhaps reflection has ensured a more balanced approach! However few children are the same and all should be encouraged to play to their own strengths. Not the strengths of their siblings who might be very different in terms of abilities and character. Hope it now goes well and sorry you’ve not had a good few days.

I think a tutor would be appropriate here, because this could help her to gain her confidence back.