Help on approaching issue with teacher with the Head

[cleareyes]

My DD is in year 4 and generally loves school and always has. This past year she has on and off been upset about going in on a Monday - this is because on a Monday they have a different teacher to the other 4 days.
She says she shouts all the time, is horrible to everyone, and she hates being in school on a Monday.

I don't think my DD is the one being shouted at directly, but whatever this teacher is doing it is affecting her to the point that she was sobbing this morning not wanting to go in. She won something for her sport at the weekend and didn't want to take it in to share as she had this teacher.

This has happened one too many times now (the Monday morning stress) so i messaged the class WhatsApp group to ask if any other kids have issues (as i vaguely remember things being said in the past) Well... i had a barrage of messages from other mums all saying pretty much the same thing. One kid was even off today and their mum said it was because he gets that worked up every Monday she just didn't have the energy for it today. Some mums have raised this with other teachers and the head before as well.

I have now contacted the head teacher (who told me off for use of the word mean! as said by my 8 year old) and did say that I don't think this is an isolated incident. She replied along the lines of 'All our staff are professional, teacher has many years of experience and teacher has high expectations and only wants what is best for the children'
She then put that she thinks by DD's difficulties may be due to the change of teaching style and personality ... no shit.

Anyway, I have a meeting face to face with the head tomorrow now and I'm after advice on how best to approach this is the head continues the defensiveness without acknowledging there may be a problem.

I am happy to formally complain and have several parents from the class willing to co-sign a letter, but would obviously prefer not to go down this route.

I realise there are only a few weeks of term left, but there is also a possibility that this teacher may be DD's full time teacher next year :(

@Megifer I think you'll find there are a lot of teachers not enjoying their jobs anymore, but that's for another thread.

@Seashor
I don't really get this because we've been through several teachers through the years at school with the same parents WhatsApp group and no one is 'bitching like a witches coven' in it.
If you're a good teacher and doing your job properly there's nothing for parents to be bitching about. In my experience anyway as this is the first teacher of many that I or anyone else has had issues with.

And the headteacher didn't 'wipe the floor' with me. It was actually a really positive meeting. She agreed that the 2 teachers needed to work better together, and that the stark contrast between the 2 was something that was up to the teachers to sort to create the best environment for the children in the class.
She said she would speak to the teacher in question about her 'tone and volume' which led me to believe she knew exactly what the issue was and that I was likely not the first to raise it.

Why are people upset that she went on the WhatsApp group?! Her daughter is crying and not wanting to go to school, she asked the other parents if they had the same problem.

I don’t agree with the shouty and shamey way that some adults talk to children.

The teacher sounds like she can’t cope. When adults can’t cope with kids, they get often get shouty.

i don’t have any advice on what to say to the head, Op, but had to comment to let you know that I don’t think you “whipped up a frenzy” or “bullied” the teacher.

I don't know if it's any consolation but in our WhatsApp group for the class we actually very rarely talk about the teacher. The content is 50% are you coming to little Johnny's party and 50% has anyone brought a tie home that is not theirs, do you understand the homework and is my child the only one who didn't bring their book bag back today? Actually the one time someone put a bit of a critical comment, no one responded.

And that's with a teacher that I have personally not been that happy with this year (academically she's been great but the pastoral care has not been brilliant) the vast, vast majority of parents are not just using these WhatsApp group to slag teachers off

I agree with this.

School WhatsApp groups are “come to this party”, “help with the school fair” and “donate to these end of year teacher presents” And that’s it. I have three kids in school (oldest is upper end of secondary and youngest is reception) and no one has “bitched” about teaching staff on WhatsApp.

It’s really unusual for what Pp mentioned to happen. To me, that is a real red flag about that teacher.