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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

Am I over reacting?

77 replies

Smileyduck · 05/11/2021 20:16

'Good Afternoon,,

Please see attached the work S completed, after A LOT of effort from me to get him started.

It is becoming physically and mentally draining for me to get him to work.

I am also attaching the work completed by another child. The presentation and level of effort between the two is clearly visible.

I appreciate your continued support in this matter.'

My son is a young Y2, is high average to above in reading and maths but has always struggled with writing.

AIBU to think the teacher is being out of order here. I am upset by her comments

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Clementineapples · 05/11/2021 21:00

Your yr2 has so much better pencil control than my yr7! Thankfully nobody has ever compared his frankly appalling and misspelled handwriting to any other child’s. That’s awful and I would speak to the senco.

fruitypancake · 05/11/2021 21:01

That is appalling. How dare she? I'd be furious

Sunshinelover2 · 05/11/2021 21:01

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

purpleme12 · 05/11/2021 21:04

Jesus that's awful
It comes across like she's telling you off

HBomberGal · 05/11/2021 21:05

@Smileyduck

Dear Teacher

Clearly I wasn't in the lesson. This was a maths lesson. I see 2 pieces of work - one child has them all right, the other doesn't. We know S struggles with fine motor control and letter formation - you have put him on the SEN register this week for it. It is unreasonable to expect him to be presenting the same as the other piece. Personally, as a maths teacher, I can see which piece shows the better grasp of multiplication.

Best wishes

This was my knee jerk response, I wish I had waited and thought about it some more.

Nah, I think you were spot on tbh, I'm impressed you didn't outright swear at her. Primary teacher here. Her email is so unprofessional, take this to the principal.

Strictly1 · 05/11/2021 21:08

As a HT I would not accept this from my staff.

Ginfilledcats · 05/11/2021 21:08

10/10 response op, you win Mumsnet tonight.

What a tittish thing to do!!!

casinoroyale4ever · 05/11/2021 21:22

I thought the first one was impressive - that much multiplication this early in the school year. I'd talk to the HT too, at best, that teacher isn't coping with the class and needs more support. The teacher has taken out her feelings on the parent of a child with SEN in a directly critical and not encouraging way.

LolaSmiles · 05/11/2021 21:26

The teacher was rude and unprofessional.

I've sometimes been quite frank with parents from my secondary school tutor group, but this is petty.

EcoCustard · 05/11/2021 21:29

I would be furious with the teacher if they ever sent me a comparison of school work.

Your response was fine, I don’t think I could of responded that politely. I would speak to the headteacher about it.

TaVeryMuchLove · 05/11/2021 21:30

I am a teacher. This teacher is an arsehole.

Original poster

Smileyduck · 05/11/2021 21:35

@casinoroyale4ever

Don't even get me started on the way she teaches maths. 6 x 4 in Y2???? I'm hoping this was extension work or I dread to think how the littlies coped with it...

OP posts:

Original poster

Smileyduck · 05/11/2021 21:36

@TaVeryMuchLove

I am a teacher. This teacher is an arsehole.

that made me LOL

OP posts:

ballsdeep · 05/11/2021 21:40

Op this is awful.
I am a teacher and I would be pleased if a child produced this in my class!! He has the answers correct, surely that is the main thing? I hope your son is ok . I would be complaining and I think your email was perfect.

bluesky45 · 05/11/2021 22:03

I'm a primary teacher (year 2 is my usual year group, currently on supply). 2 points to make here.
First, that is an incredibly unprofessional email and sending another child's work home to compare to your child and say how terrible your child is, is awful! I would definitely raise with the head and I don't say that lightly.
Secondly, at this stage of the year, the work your son is producing is absolutely fine! I don't know the context of the work in terms of support etc but he has the questions answered correctly and his work is actually set out fine. Yeah a little work on handwriting would be beneficial but it's perfectly legible, his work is set out how the teacher obviously wants it to be. I have had children struggle with the presentation much more than this.

specialsauce · 05/11/2021 22:09

Horrendous comments from a teacher! Definitely complain. They really need to totally rethink how they critique children's work. There will be other offended parents no doubt.

bizboz · 05/11/2021 22:11

I teach Year 2 and agree that's a very unprofessional comment. If the teacher feels some additional work at home would be helpful then the appropriate thing would be to provide some handwriting resources and ask if you would be able to work with him to help him improve. I would probably complain.

FWIW I agree with PP that this is not particularly unusual for Year 2. The numbers are formed correctly which is the most important thing.

Hellenbach · 05/11/2021 22:32

Highly unprofessional as everyone has already said. But I suspect she's starting to drip feed the idea to you that she can't teach your son. Is this a private school?
There's something going on here. Either she's having a breakdown and can't cope or she's not capable of teaching children who require additional support.
I'd be concerned that the subtext is she doesn't seem to care about your child or treat him with respect. I imagine he is picking up on this in class too.

crimsonlake · 05/11/2021 23:08

Your son got them all right, neatness will follow. As for the teacher I would be going straight to the Head over this matter.

Moonlaserbearwolf · 05/11/2021 23:24

A teacher should never be comparing work like this with a parent. I’m also surprised at the four times table in Y2? Must be a private school or not in the UK?
If this is a one off, I’d address it first with the teacher, but if you have greater concerns about this teacher you should go straight to the Head.

kickupafuss · 05/11/2021 23:43

Your post reminds me of why I left teaching. Our Ofsted report was critical of the presentation in books so our new head became obsessed with presentation. Each year group had non-negotiable presentation standards in all subjects and frequent book scrutinies to check we were all making the children follow the rules. We had staff meetings where books from other schools were shown and compared to ours purely on presentation. Teachers not enforcing presentation standards were named and shamed.

I had a boy in my class who always said ' I love maths!' but he struggled with presentation. You can guess what happened to him - he stopped loving maths. He was six.

Atla · 06/11/2021 00:01

Is she for real? Ridiculous - year 2 is very young, bear in mind also all the time they have lost over the last 18 months due to lockdowns/covid.

Sending home another child's work is so unprofessional. Your response is totally reasonable and very restrained in the circumstances!

LooksLikeImStuckHere · 06/11/2021 00:07

I’m going to echo all the others regarding unprofessionalism. Not just for sending home the other child’s work but also for somehow insinuating that it is your responsibility to get him to do the work and that it’s draining for her.

As a teacher, if there was a child in my Y2 class struggling to access the learning, I’d be looking at my own provision first.

I’d absolutely be asking to speak to the head. This is something that needs to be addressed at a higher level.

HeyMoana · 06/11/2021 00:18

@tunnocksreturns2019

Her comments are horrendous.

She would have torn strips off my DS’s work (dyslexia and inattentive adhd - neither of which were diagnosed at that age).

I was just going to day that. Knows what to do but struggles to start and finds it challenging to get down on paper....that's my daughter too, recently diagnosed with ADHD at 6. I'd not be pleased either.

Original poster

Smileyduck · 06/11/2021 06:27

@Hellenbach

Highly unprofessional as everyone has already said. But I suspect she's starting to drip feed the idea to you that she can't teach your son. Is this a private school? There's something going on here. Either she's having a breakdown and can't cope or she's not capable of teaching children who require additional support. I'd be concerned that the subtext is she doesn't seem to care about your child or treat him with respect. I imagine he is picking up on this in class too.

Definitely not a private school! Though a sought after school in the diverse area we live in - so lots of aspirational but generally not professional parents,

Yes I get the sense she was drip feeding too. She can drip feed as much as she likes but, for various reasons, he isn't going to be changing schools anytime soon.

I teach in a much much tougher school so I have absolutely no sympathy for her!

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