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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Should I question my child’s teacher?

58 replies

Survivingontea · 24/06/2021 05:06

Hi,
My child is in year 1 and is a bright kid. He likes his teacher although she is not very friendly and avoids running into parents or conversations.I am sure she has a lot going on.I try not to take much of her time unless it has something to do with my kid’s school work. She has been posting brilliant stuff on the app seesaw that my child has been doing in class, but the assessment results do not add up.I have had a meeting with her regarding this and she showed me his work which was well above standard.She also told me that he will be moved up to the top most spelling group.Term 2 is coming to an end and she hasn’t moved him yet ! My son is very good with clocks and could tell time to the minute while he was still finishing Reception.So, he was excited for his asssesment recently.To my surprise he got a satisfactory grade. Yes, like every other parent I think highly of my child but I honestly feel this was unfair. I checked the criteria based on which they were marked, and I 100% believe that my son falls in the WELL ABOVE STANDARD mark. My son felt deflated and disappointed. I don’t know what to say to him.He is always very enthusiastic and thriving. I don’t want him to lose his spark. It could be tricky but should I politely ask the teacher ? I am afraid she might get low key offended. I don’t want her to have any angry feelings towards my child. It makes me feel frustrated and angry inside.

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FortunesFave · 24/06/2021 05:12

@Survivingontea

Hi, My child is in year 1 and is a bright kid. He likes his teacher although she is not very friendly and avoids running into parents or conversations.I am sure she has a lot going on.I try not to take much of her time unless it has something to do with my kid’s school work. She has been posting brilliant stuff on the app seesaw that my child has been doing in class, but the assessment results do not add up.I have had a meeting with her regarding this and she showed me his work which was well above standard.She also told me that he will be moved up to the top most spelling group.Term 2 is coming to an end and she hasn’t moved him yet ! My son is very good with clocks and could tell time to the minute while he was still finishing Reception.So, he was excited for his asssesment recently.To my surprise he got a satisfactory grade. Yes, like every other parent I think highly of my child but I honestly feel this was unfair. I checked the criteria based on which they were marked, and I 100% believe that my son falls in the WELL ABOVE STANDARD mark. My son felt deflated and disappointed. I don’t know what to say to him.He is always very enthusiastic and thriving. I don’t want him to lose his spark. It could be tricky but should I politely ask the teacher ? I am afraid she might get low key offended. I don’t want her to have any angry feelings towards my child. It makes me feel frustrated and angry inside.

Honestly. You should not be sharing his results with him at this point so he feels "deflated".

You sound beyond pushy. He's got YEARS to prove his intelligence. He's in year 1 and you sound like you're creating problems.

0None0 · 24/06/2021 05:16

No, you shouldn’t question your child’s teacher. You are not in any position to assess how your child performs at school. You only know how he performs at home, with you, one-to-one, with support and unlimited time.

His ‘real world’ performance will always be significantly lower , and as this is his actual reliable independent level, this is what he’s scored on, not what he can achieve with mummy holding his hand, which is always considerably higher for any child with a normal relationship with their mother.

However well you think he can do is irrelevant. How well he performs independently in an educational setting, without you, is what counts.

Just congratulate and reward him for trying his best, and encourage him to keep trying

Original poster

Survivingontea · 24/06/2021 05:35

Well, his teacher posted the work he did in class ( without holding mummy’s hand ) and was also marked on it the day before and she had ticked all the answers correct.So I don’t understand how can he do any better. I think I could ask her that how can he improve or the areas of growth for him. Haha ! Thank you for replying and the laugh

OP posts:

0None0 · 24/06/2021 05:43

Bring correct does not mean scoring highly. If a child is struggling, I will stop assessing them before they start going badly wrong, and just give them easy questions.

The teacher had made a professional judgement. She is qualified to judge, you’re not

RosesandPumpkins · 24/06/2021 06:05

Teachers sometimes have to be conservative with assessments. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t know his true worth or potential. It just means he’s a really secure Working At as opposed to Greater Depth.
Some teachers especially this year have been asked to assess very conservatively because of gaps in children’s knowledge due to the various lockdowns.
By all means have a chat with the teacher, but also trust that she knows what she’s doing and a satisfactory grade at one point in a child’s life isn’t going to stop him getting all those ticks.
Try and step away from this being the overall judgement of your child’s ability, it’s not. She’s clearly proud of the work as she’s sharing it.

IWantT0BreakFree · 24/06/2021 06:19

She is looking at a much broader picture than a tiny sample of work posted on an app, and as PP have said his performance at school is likely to be very different than at home. It's fair enough to ask if there are areas where you can offer your child additional support, but if you start questioning assessments (in year 1!) you will definitely be noted as "that parent".

We all want our kids to succeed, but the level of pressure you are putting on this is excessive. He's very young. There is absolutely no reason to be sharing these results with him, so the fact that he's feeling deflated is totally on you.

Make sure you are doing everything at your end to support his learning and then let his teachers get on with their jobs in school. Being "top of the class" is not the be all and end all, and it's definitely not something that a 6 year old should be feeling pressurised enough to be "deflated" about. There many other indicators of future success than doing well in assessments. It doesn't really mean all that much.

cariadlet · 24/06/2021 06:31

Firstly, I will have children with all ticks in their maths books. Some of them will be at age related expectations. Some will be below but have ticks because they only did the easy questions at the beginning of a worksheet or because they had a lot of support in the lesson. Some will be working above and have ticks because they completed the core task and went on to answer problem solving and reasoning questions where they had to apply their knowledge. The same is likely to apply to assessments that you've seen.

Secondly, you are really overthinking this. In the grand scheme of things, it really isn't worth stressing over.

Thirdly, even if you do talk to the teacher, she won't turn any irritation with you into negative feelings about your dc.

GuyFawkesDay · 24/06/2021 06:33

I'm sure as you clearly know better you can retrain and show her how it's done after your qualifying years.

SpaceRaiders · 24/06/2021 06:43

In all honesty, back off a bit, he’ll have a new teacher next term.

If you’re concerned about the school stretching him and dc is happy to do work with you at home, buy some Maths and English workbooks and do a page a day.

LobotomisedIceSkatingFan · 24/06/2021 06:45

I'm struggling to imagine how you arrived at the decision to share with your six-year-old child that a) you think he's a greater depth child; b) were sure that that considered opinion would be fully endorsed by his teacher any day now; c) that it in fact wasn't. Oops.

She won't have any 'angry feelings' in respect of your wunderkind, or be 'low key' offended 🙄 She'll be feeling sorry for him and doubtless privately thinking that you're loopy.

brittleheadgirl · 24/06/2021 06:47

You definitely need to back off before your attitude starts to impact on your son.
Is he happy at school, making friends, enjoying the work, reading with you everyday?
If so, please just back off.

thepurplepenguin · 24/06/2021 06:59

Our school is not assessing any children as 'working above age related expectations' or 'greater depth' this year as they have not been taught the full curriculum for their year group due to Covid and it would therefore be impossible to justify.

rainbowfairydust · 24/06/2021 07:02

I would wait for the new term and address it with the new teacher, we did actually have a teacher sacked a few years ago at a school because her pupils never reached where they should have been... So you can sometimes get teachers who need more training or just aren't suited for the job.... I actually don't think it's such a bad thing to keep on top of this and ask why he wasn't moved up in spellings like you asked etc.
But I wouldn't be sharing this info with the child

NCTDN · 24/06/2021 07:05

Are you in England? If so wait until September and approach concerns with the new teacher after he's settled in.
What did the end of year report say from reception?

LobotomisedIceSkatingFan · 24/06/2021 07:11

'I actually don't think it's such a bad thing to keep on top of this and ask why he wasn't moved up in spellings like you asked etc'

I suspect moving kids up because their mum asks, isn't the yardstick by which these decisions are made . . . 🙄

HeyGirlHeyBoy · 24/06/2021 07:17

Please do all you can to avoid linking your child's worthiness and spark to school results!! Separately, yes you can have a chat with teacher but I find a lot of teachers are slow to give the top mark, ege here we have a tick box of all of the time, most of the time on the report and an all of the time tick is rare. But again, please don't emphasise grades with a young child.

rainbowstardrops · 24/06/2021 07:22

Stop telling your child his grades because you are making him feel deflated. It's not necessary. Just praise him and make him feel secure and happy.

Quitelikeacatslife · 24/06/2021 07:23

You need to back off , no child should be disappointed in their grade in y1.
Read with him maybe do times tables and keep him enthusiastic about school. Do not compare him or worry about top sets you are setting both of you up for years and years of worry and stress. He sounds bright, leave them to it.

cansu · 24/06/2021 07:24

The judgement will not just be based on that one bit of marked work. It is based on class work and also how much support he needs in class. You won't know that as you are not there. You need to chill a bit. You are setting yourself up for a lot of stress!

Stevenage689 · 24/06/2021 07:28

You could ask "what can my child do to improve" and follow up about spelling groups but the teacher is not going to change her judgement because he is good at clocks. A maths grade is based on the full curriculum.

Are you sure that "satisfactory" is attainment and not effort? It's an odd word to use for attainment.

lollipoprainbow · 24/06/2021 07:32

Pushy mum much ?? Is this a post just to brag about how clever your child is? Yawn.

Rizzoli123 · 24/06/2021 07:37

My child is also in year one and a very bright child. The teacher has been amazing. She has been so encouraging and so forward thinking. He is in the top Spelling group, reading 8 year old books (he's 6) and he can do maths to a year 2 level. I know it sounds like I am bragging and I am we are very proud of him.

I think if you have concerns and want some reassurance then speak to the teacher. I know there is only a few weeks left and it might not be worth the hassle so maybe wait until September.

While on school holidays continue what they would be doing at school so when he goes back in September the teacher can see for herself how bright he is and work accordingly

brittleheadgirl · 24/06/2021 07:52

@Rizzoli123

I think if you have concerns and want some reassurance then speak to the teacher. I know there is only a few weeks left and it might not be worth the hassle so maybe wait until September.

While on school holidays continue what they would be doing at school so when he goes back in September the teacher can see for herself how bright he is and work accordingly

What on earth do you mean by '8 year old' books? An 8 year old child maybe reading anything from a stage 1 up to a 20+ book! Unfortunately, you do sound as though you're bragging. There is a vast difference between feeling proud and 'showing off' Teachers can spot this a mile off!

Quitelikeacatslife · 24/06/2021 08:14

The more I think about it the more I feel that there is so much pushing to be top top top or best or ahead of their years. Build up self esteem, resilience snd love of learning instead, we undervalue this so much and wonder why our teens are stressed and anxious.

Original poster

Survivingontea · 24/06/2021 08:15

@lollipoprainbow

Pushy mum much ?? Is this a post just to brag about how clever your child is? Yawn.

Brag about how clever my child is to whom ? No one knows no one here.Plus, what will I achieve by doing that.

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