Is the following normal or reasonable teaching practice?

[popperdoodles]

I and many parents in my sons's class (Year 4) have issues with the teacher. We want to all get together and make a formal written complaint to the head but before I get too carried away I wanted to check what others may think of things in case we are all just being a bit precious.

She is generaly grumpy and miserable and gives the impression that she doesn't want to be there which really doesn't help. One morning she shouted at them in the playground before school " I've had enough of you lot already and we haven't even got into school yet!" This was in front of all the parents, many of whom had to bite their tongue. All the children were doing was chatting a little as they lined up. They were all lined up in the military straight line she insists on but with a little bit of quiet chatting. Makes me wonder how she speaks to them in the classroom.

Ok, if a child in the class misbehaves it seems the whole class is punished e.g misses play time or has to stand with their hands on their heads for 5 mins. I really feel this is wrong why is a whole class punished for the bad behaviour of one or two children?

The standing with their hands on their head thing. I don't like it. Seems a bit 1950s to me. I am told they have to all stand like that in silence for 5 mins and if someone talks they have to stand longer. Is this not physical punishment? I can remember having such punsihments at school as a child but then the teachers were also allowed to smack us. I thought we had moved on from such things?

This teacher has only been back from maternity since christmas and since then the level of homework as diminished to practicaly nothing where as previously they had at least 2 or 3 pieces to do a week plus spellings and reading.

Praise seems very thin on the ground. My son said to me that no matter how hard he tries she never says well done makes me very sad.

So what do you think? Are we all being pita parents and are these acceptable teaching practices or is she a terrible teacher and we should all complain ASAP?

Thanks

I would definitely raise it with the HT - I am completely against punishing the masses for the actions of one.

Complain. Yes that is a physical punishment and yes, those are frowned upon. You don't sound precious at all - there are so many fantastic teachers out there that it really hacks me off when cows like this spoil a child's experience of school.

If you're not happy with the Head's response, then write to the Chair of Governors. In fact, copy the Chair into the letter to the Head.

Oh dear, it does sound like she is not coping very well with her return to work! I am in awe of any teacher who returns full time after having children - it's exhausting!

It sounds like she has turned the class into a 'me versus them' situation, with the mass punishments and comments like 'you lot!'

I wouldn't be too concerned about the homework situation if the children seemed happy and stimulated at school, but sadly this does not seem to be the case.

I would make an appointment to see her in the first instance, to talk over your concerns. If nothing changes then it would be time to see the HT. I wouldn't start a petition at this stage.

I agree - your concerns are valid and need addressing - but an informal chat with the head may be the best route to start with. Its possible a little extra support from the school could help the teacher settle back into work better. A petition is quite confrontational and could make the teacher feel quite isolated. Remember the teacher will be teaching your childs class for the remainder of the year and I imagine it would be extremely difficult for her to continue knowing she didn't have the support of the parents. A petition to the head would be more suitable if you felt the HT wasn't taking your concerns serioiusly.

I would see the Head individually. My ds 's have both had a miserable, generally ineffective teacher. I didn't say much when ds1 was with her as I didn't trust myself to be reasonable and ds1 has his own issues which she generally used to explain away her own crapness. (she was that bad!) When ds2 went into her class I waited to see what would happen, but when he began to lose interest in learning I went to see the Head. He was very nice and took all my concerns on board. He then took a special interest in ds and started giving him stickers etc and asking him to show him his work.

Thank you.

I am very aware that ds will have this teacher until the summer so need to handle this right. I don't want to be seen as a problem parent either as I will have children at the school for many years to come. On the other hand I don't want to just leave it.

Your post took me straight back to my days at school in the 70s and 80s! Hands on your head, standing perfectly still in line etc. Horrible and totally unnecessary - there are far better ways to handle discipline in school now.

I agree with other posters - I would make an appointment with the Headteacher for an informal chat and take it from there.

Don't be distracted by the HT's waffle though - our HT is very good but sometimes it's hard to get a word in and you can come out of her office thinking "What did I go in there to talk about????!"

Your post took me straight back to my days at school in the 70s and 80s! Hands on your head, standing perfectly still in line etc. Horrible and totally unnecessary - there are far better ways to handle discipline in school now.

I agree with other posters - I would make an appointment with the Headteacher for an informal chat and take it from there.

Don't be distracted by the HT's waffle though - our HT is very good but sometimes it's hard to get a word in and you can come out of her office thinking "What did I go in there to talk about????!"

Whoops - finger slipped!

I think if I was this teacher and I knew you had gone behind my back to complain about me before confronting me I would be really offended. Everyone has the right to defend themselves. Perhaps she does not know the way she is coming across to the parents. Put yourself in her shoes, would you want someone to go to your boss about something that you were not even made aware of yourself?
I think it is only fair to meet with the teacher first, let her know your concerns, with concrete examples to back up what your saying. Tell her what it is you would like to see happened as a change. Express within your concerns that you will contact the Head/CofG if things do not seem to improve within a certain time frame (say for example, two weeks to be fair). Perhaps even suggest that if there is no improvement you would like to have a meeting with her, the Head and yourself to discuss your concerns.
Going behind her back to make a complaint before she is even aware of it is cowardly.

Make sure you address your complaints from the childs point of view - not just that you as parents don't like it. If the children are unhappy and not achieving their potential - that is the real issue, not that it is old fashioned (although I agree it is!). A school has to meet the needs of the child, not the moans of parents!! Don't think I am disagreeing with you, just helping you frame your objections Oh, and as a teacher, formal homework IS a pain to manage, with little gain for the children

standing with their hands on their heads! Bloody hell! This woman is clearly NOT enjoying her job and may not be coping with a new baby and full-time job. What was she like before the baby? I would chat to the HT ASAP.

There is supposed to be a parents evening coming up. Was supposed to be last week but was cancelled due to the snow. This week she has been off sick and ofcourse then it is half term. I have to say I don't feel worried about offending her. She has made no effort to meet the parents. In the morning before school most of the teachers come out 5 mins early and say hello to parents and are there if you need to speak to them. She doesn't seem to do this, comes out to collect the children at the last minute. I think it is a matter for after half term now anyway. I will speak to her. Probably phrase it" ds has said such and such is happening in class is that right?" kind of way and take it from there. If continues as things are after the holidays I will speak to the head. maybe a letter from lots of parents would look like ganging up on the school so may not get myself involved in that.

Sounds as though she might be depressed and it is affecting her performance at school. Definitely raise your concerns with the Head. Much better if you can get some other parents to back you up.

I think it is important how you word it to the teacher, you want to get to the bottom of whats happening so making accusations is going to immediately put her on the defensive. Remember, your just getting one side of the story. It is also important in how it is dealt with because if she feels she is being ganged up on or attacked and is a member of a union, you may be treading in some difficult waters.
Don't get me wrong, I am not at all saying that what she is doing is right, I am just trying to stand up for her, and give her the benefit of the doubt, because by the sounds of it, there may be more to the situation than meets the eye (eg; her returning to work from her mat leave, pressures from admin, personal circumstances.) This is not to say that what she is doing is right, but you just need to make sure you get all sides of a story before you accuse someone of something.
IMO what you have written you would say in quotes would come across as accusatory, what about a gentler version such as "I have some concerns about some things that DS has said has happened in the classroom. He has said 1,2 and 3. Is there a reason this has been happening?" IMO that approach is a bit less harsh.

oh, and in reference to the homework, spula, I entirely agree...it is a pain to manage, and you only get it back from about 1/4 of the kids, and these are usually the kids that don't need the extra at home support. We had a whole inset about it in my staff meeting this week, and homework is not a national compulsory thing, it is up to each teacher or year group how they do it. A Head cannot force homework to be sent home, so if the teacher is deciding not to send it, then you cannot demand it. Perhaps if homework is a big concern, doing some of your own at home activities might help.

Please don't go mob handed to the head. Go individually to express your concerns.

I don't want to be accusing to her, but I am not happy and want to make sure the school know that. I am not going to tip toe around it. If I went straight to the head could she not keep an eye on things a bit and deal with her performance as a line manager no need to mention a complaint. Or is that not possible?

Yes, that's possible. She will, however, ask you whether you've spoken to the teacher directly.

This would give you an opportunity to say that you find the teacher unapproachable and not particularly friendly.

Re. homework, I think I will have to partly disagree with Melissa . Although homework is not a statutory requirement, if the school and therefore, the teachers, have an agreed policy to send a certain number of pieces of homework home each week, then she should be sticking to that agreement. Perhaps you could ask to see a copy of the homework policy.

With reference to homework, I don't necessarily want homework just for the sake of it but I do feel at some point they need to prepare for secondary school. Things like learning spelling though, does it help when children take them home to learn? I though homework was about things like being responsible and self disapline as well e.g getting it done and handed in on time?

In my experience, taking spelling home to learn has almost no impact on a child's writing. They know their spellings for that one week, and then don't apply them in work.

Interesting. Maybe schools should revise their homework policies if it provides little benefit.

As I said this is a matter to review after half term I think. I am not happy with how she punishes the whole class for one child's bad behaviour and don't like the way in which she does it.

I am glad that people think her methods are not appropraite and that I do have grounds to say something.

I agree - her methods are absolutely not acceptable - particulary the physical ones.

Littlefish, actually, it does not matter what the homework policy says regarding homework, if a teacher feels it is not necessary to send it home, then the Head cannot force it nor can the teacher be disciplined as a result. We had a WHOLE 1.5 hour inset about it the other day and my Head follows everything by the book to a T so she had all the paperwork about it from the government, and this is what it said. I agree, it would be strange if every other teacher was sending home homework, and this teacher did not, but she cannot be disciplined as a result....outcasted, perhaps, yes. I do agree with the spelling homework sit. though...it is very true, I would say maybe 2% of my pupils benefit from their spelling homework by using their words properly in their writing. Popperdoddles, totally agree with you re homework being handed in on time, but again, not a statutory requirement, so unfortunately if it is not handed in on time, I, as a teacher can do nothing about it. The only thing I can say is that I will not mark it after a certain date. But you as a parent can go in and say to the teacher that you do not want your child to have homework, and then the teacher would not be able to send hmwk home with your child. I actually was not aware of this prior to my inset about it the other day. I agree with littlefish, the Head will VERY likely ask if you have raised the issue with the individual teacher before discussing your concern, as with unions, they too have to tread carefully when concerns are raised about a teachers performance. Again, from the union rules (can you tell I am a union rep!), if you went straight to the Head and asked her to "keep an eye on things a bit and deal with her performance as a line manager" then she would have to tell the teacher involved that this was happening. It cannot be done behind her back. However if she is not a union member (which would be really dumb on her part considering todays schooling world) then it is up to the Head as to whether she lets the teacher know that she is doing this, but it would likely be seen as bad practice if she did not let her know that she was watching her to evaluate the teachers performance

That's interesting Melissa - I didn't know all the stuff about homework!!!! I'm obviously just too compliant! However, I've also worked most recently in a school which had a really sensible homework policy, so the issue never came up.