Oh dear - my relationship with my dds year 3 teachers is terrible.

[Encre]

There are two teachers that teach part time (I think, we were never introduced to them so I have never fully worked it out). I dont LIKE them very much - the first thing they ever said to me was that dd1 was chatting too much in class (she is a conscientious child but very average academically), we tried to address this. Then we had a problem with her drawing faces 'wrongly' with big eyes and very cartoon like. Then her handwriting was not good and needed improving - she had one extra lesson with the TA to help this then she was on her own. Anyway, she needs loads of help at home with her spellings and times tables so tbh I am very frazzled with the whole thing.

She didnt give her homework in on monday, I saw it in her book bag yesterday and asked her why she hadnt given it in, she said she didnt think she was supposed to. Thsi morning I took the homework to the teachers and said 'sorry this is dds homework, for some reason she forgot to give it in' - very long faces from teachers and TA 'well she knows she is supposed to' 'well it isnt the end of the world is it? She said she wasnt sure whether she had to give it in or not' (cue teachers sucking teeth and shaking heads 'no thats not true she knows she is supposed to put it on the pile' - me, freaking out slightly 'Look, dd1 finds organising herself hard. She has worked really hard at it this term so I would appreciate the carrot, rather than the stick' 'o alright' mutters teachers to which I stalk out of classroom.

They hate me dont they.

Well first of all I am at 'drawing faces wrongly'. Handwriting and organisational problems could suggest a degree of dsypraxia and you might want to look into this. Don't worry about whether they hate you are not, they don't sound particularly helpful and you are doing your job which is helping your DD.
There is always one year when you don't gel with the teacher for whatever reason IME, just smile, do what you need to do to support your DD and hope for better luck next year.

Agree with Rosa, these things are linked with dyspraxia but they are also linked to being 7 years old and finding yourself in the Juniors rather than the Infants, with all the related new responsibilities and pressure. I think they could be a little less judgey.

It is not good that you have never been introduced to these women, that should have been done at the beginning of term and is probably not helping you get on with them.

Do you have a parents evening soon? A lot of Yr3's seem to have done so far. You need to stress that DD needs some positive feedback occasionally not just being told what to do. If she gets some positive feedback it will have a knock on effect with you that your efforts are being appreciated. I don't think a lot of childless teachers, particularly, realise what a struggle it is to do homework with a tired and fed up 7 year old who doesn't want to do it and is more than happy to let you know this and kick up a fuss in a way they wouldn't at school.

Apart from that try not to think about them unless you don't feel that your DD is progressing properly. Let them get on with their job and before you know it it will be time for another teacher.

Good advice, thanks. I do think part of the problem is that we (parents) were not introduced to the teachers OR told about the huge leap our children were supposed to make going from year 2 to 3. It took me by surprise (this is my oldest child).

Some degree of dyspraxia/dyslexia has been suspected before (by ourselves and a private tutor who helped her with reading) but the school have never mentioned it.

Personally, I think she forgot to give it in (surely it wouldnt kill the teachers to remind pupils to do it?) and was then too embarrassed to do it late (likes to obey rules).

we have the same problem tbh - I think it is quite common in yr3. My dd is not good when it comes to organisation and the step up from infants to juniors has hit her quite hard.

oi foxy you are not on facebook any more I need your email

aah enid

I think I've just sent you an email (let me know if you don't get it!)

in fact Encre, dd 'forgot' to bring home her homework book last week and I got really cross because we'd had an awful parent's evening when basically, her teacher had listed everything she does badly (err a lot it seems!) and I got quite upset afterwards about the whole thing.

But then I spoke to other parents and it does seem like quite a few got similar feedback (focussing more on the negative than the positive) and I do think this seems to be par for the course in juniors.

We have had to draw up little charts for dd and help remind her about stuff but we can't be there for school and I've tried to get her to understand this (she is also afraid of breaking rules a bit - I photocopied the homework from someone else when she forgot her book but she was nervous of explaining to the teacher what had happened).

Don't be worried about sticking up for dd though. I think it has struck me that I need to be a lot more positive at home with her if this is the sort of attitude they are having to deal with at school!

sorry have warbled on there a bit (can you tell this is on my mind!)

if you are concerned about the dyspraxia, could you get her assessed for it? It may mean she gets some extra help at school (which may help with the organisation thing and would hopefully mean the teachers were more understanding!).

My DS1 is in Yr 3 and I don't think I have heard a single parent either on here or in RL who has felt very positive about the first parents evening in Yr3. It is like there is some national requirement to tell parents all the things the children are doing wrong or not very well and skimming over the good bits.

Have you spoken to the school about the possibility of dyspraxia, Encre? My DS has it and he see an OT who leaves a schedule of exercises with the school and us too. We don't see her very often though. She has recommended some special pencils for him to use which will help his grip although DS's is complicated by the fact he is left handed! It might be worth speaking to the school about it if you think it is a possibility.