Complaining about a teacher - would like some advice

[muffinmonster]

DD has asked me if I could complain to her school about one of her science teachers (she has two). Her grounds for complaint are:
? poor teaching - teacher shows them powerpoints and gets them to take notes. (I asked what else she would expect, she said worksheets etc. - he is giving them information but not getting them to engage with it, I think is what she means).
? he has only done one practical so far this term (I don't know what would be normal, though)
? he sets very little homework
? he ignores them if they ask questions in class
? he has a very strong foreign accent which makes him difficult to understand.

(I'm particularly doubtful about complaining about the last one - on the other hand, if the children can't understand what he says it's hard for them to learn)

To put this in context, DD is in Y10. She has already sat two GCSE modules and will be sitting two more in January, one of them in this teacher's subject. She is putting together a revision timetable as I write and says she is 'furious' looking at the list of topics as she feels they haven't covered any of them properly.

Schools complaint procedure in the first instance is supposed to be to complain directly to the teacher involved but that doesnt' seem appropriate here; I'm thinking of contacting the head of Science. My questions are:

(a) are these reasonable grounds for complaint, and
(b) what can I reasonably expect the school to do?

(I'm trying very hard to be reasonable!)

[Independentandproud]

Go in and discuss, no sense in not doing so since it definitely will not get any better with inaction. IME the HoS will look like he does not agree with you but then will have a quiet word or even pop in. DC was a bit suspicious when deputy head turned up to watch a lesson after I had mentioned it in passing at teacher meeting. Actually, DC was quite embarrassed and accused me of making a fuss!

[Stillunexpected]

OP you have posted on a very old thread which was about a different topic to the one which you are posting about. I suggest the best thing would be for you to start a new thread as people will probably not read to the end of this one to realise you are posting about something new. However, very briefly I would say that it is very normal at secondary school for teachers not to allow pupils to go to the toilet during class, particularly if there is a constant stream of requests. Sixteen year-olds are expected to be organised enough to go at break/lunch/between classes. Also normal if work is not finished in class to keep students in at break or to send the work home. How is your son going to keep up otherwise?

As your son has autism, the school SENCO should be involved and I suggest you request a meeting with the teacher and SENCO together. It sounds as if the teacher doesn't have an understanding of your son's needs but equally throwing a chair across the room and slamming doors is unacceptable. Why do you say this is made up? Were you there at the time?

[seandovey4]

my 16 year old son has got autism and is always misunderstood at school his teacher is always saying seans been rude or naughty once he said the words sausages sausages and the teacher told him off in the meeting teacher said she got affended because she is a muslim we are not racist at all recently my son asked if he could go to the toilet teacher told him no finish your work and go at break also teacher kept my son in at lunch time to finish his maths and wasn't allowed to have a break my son was sent home with exam assessments to finish at home also my son did say teacher told his friend who has cerebral palsy to pick his feet up which I think was bad people with cerebral palsy struggle to walk all I here is my son picked up a chair and threw across the class very exaggerated and slammed door in teachers face again made up .this teacher clearly doest understand autism sean comes home upset I did notice scratch marks on his arms

[GnomeDePlume]

MuffinMonster it is good that the HoS has come back to you. The thing now is to keep up the pressure. If there is any backsliding then be straight back onto them.

This isnt nagging this is holding them to account. At the end of the day if they see that you wont give up then they wont (in the end).

[Francesca22]

I would also contact the Head of Science to express concern and find out if there is a chance of moving to a different teacher. What is good is that your DD cares enough to be concerned about what is happening and what you don't want is for her to lose confidence or become demoralised. I would invest in revision guides for whichever board she is taking and would also start asking around about a tutor in case you have no luck with the school. As other posters have said, schools often find it hard to deal with teachers who are not performing even when they know there are problems.

[DanFmDorking]

1. Keep a diary of what your daughter says about the lessons, date and time and what was said.
   
2. Write to the Head of Year (or Headteacher) about the problems. It needn?t be long and rambling just short and to the point. ?My daughter is not making any progress at school because ??
   
3. At the end of next week, check with the school to see what has been done. Ask them what progress has been made regarding these problems.
   
4. If you are not happy that the problems are being addressed then take it up with the Headteacher again. Ask what progress has been made regarding the problems.
   
5. You may choose to approach one of the Governors about the problems ?I?m concerned about ? I want to make sure that I?m going about this in the right way?. The Governors should just check that the correct procedures are been followed.
   
6. How the school addresses parental concerns is a measure of how good the school is.

[TheFallenMadonna]

Well, he might well have been sacked by then, or well on his way anyway. Sounds like capability to me...

[GnomeDePlume]

I would certainly raise the concerns with the school. Had to do this for Maths. My intial approach was via form tutor (this was the approved method in the school). The form tutor then involved Head of Year, Head of Maths and also the specific teacher.

My concerns were taken seriously and acted upon.

Keep the focus on how the various issues are affecting your daughter:

• your daughter does not feel that she is getting sufficient learning material to allow her to engage with the subject
  
• your daughter is concerned that she is not carrying out enough practicals
  
• your daughter is concerned that she is not being set sufficient homework
  
• your daughter feels that her questions are ignored
  
• your daughter finds his accent difficult to understand
  
  By keeping it specific this is then not an attack on the competence of the teacher but an expression of concern about your daughter's realtionship with the teacher and therefore the subject.
  
  Good luck, poor teaching can be so dispiriting.

[muffinmonster]

Has taken me a while to report back on this, but here goes:

After I posted initially, things went from bad to worse. As a result, a group of Y10 girls, including my DD, went to the Head of Science to make a complaint. He was quite receptive and told them he would see what he could do. I decided this would be a good time to add my voice so phoned him a couple of days later, armed with a list of bullet points put together after re-reading this thread.

He listened, but didn't listen, if that makes sense - that is, he was quite ready to acknowledge that there is a problem, but didn't really give me a chance to say all I wanted to - so I didn't even get to mention the accent! He did promise that he would observe a class and then get back to me.

DD came home from school a couple of days later to say they'd had the best biology lesson in ages, as Head of Science had sat in on the class. She was worried he would think there was no problem because the class had been so well-behaved.

HoS then got back to me promptly and said he is going to take DD's biology class from now until they sit their biology module in January and try to help them catch up. His own unfortunate class will be getting Mr Useless - how long before their parents start to complain?

So I'm reassured that our complaints have been listened to and taken seriously, and I feel that the HoS can't really do more than he is doing - but they still have a problem science teacher and I don't know what will happen after the biology exam in January. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.

[breatheslowly]

I would complain about the accent. Teachers are regularly observed by colleagues and it won't be too hard for the school to investigate to see whether this is a real issue or one that pupils are focussing on unjustifiably.

[bossboggle]

My neighbour's son got his whole class together and went and complained to the head about a particular teacher - they thought they were not getting the standard of teaching that they were entitiled to - they were in year 10 too and they stood their ground sensibly and put across their argument well and the head teacher agreed and they were given a new teacher in that particular subject, a more experienced teacher when the other teacher was given another class lower down the school and help in improving their teaching so that they were eventually ready for a GCSE class. Good luck.

[Minx179]

I would complain about the teachers accent; and have previously done so myself. It has nothing to do with racism.

DS complained he couldn't understand his maths teacher. The teacher would stand at the front of the class and explain the subject, then have to go round each table and explain again, as his accent was so strong the children could only understand him when they were face to face.

We complained, as I believe did a number of other parents. DS got a new teacher the following week. Unfortunately a lower set then got the foreign teacher.


Presumably in shortage subjects it is better for some schools to employ somebody rather than nobody.

[marriedinwhite]

Actually, I would complain about the accent. It is not racist and there have been cases upheld at tribunal about this. It is imperative that a teacher should be able to communicate with students and that they are able to understand what is being said. If that is not happening there cannot be sufficient teaching and learning and it is a performance issue.

[twinklytroll]

I suspect quite a few professions have to make a similar decision. My dp's work computer was too slow so he bought a new one. His thinking was that his time was worth the money. I will spend my own money if it saves me time.

[twinklytroll]

It does paper over poor resourcing and if I think the money is there I will kick up a fuss and get the school to pay. However the money is not there this time and my classes need to learn.

[ilovesooty]

I suspected you were serious, actually. It's a ridiculous state of affairs. Can you imagine any other profession where that would happen? It just papers over poor resourcing, imo.

[PotteringAlong]

I pay for my own laminating. Paying for photocopying is certainty possible

[twinklytroll]

Yes I was serious . Many teachers print at home already especially if they need colour. I already buy stationary, artefacts, craft materials and books. Paying for photocopying would not be beyond the realms of possibility.

[MindtheGappp]

Not every science topic has a lot of practicals.

It will have even fewer if the class are rowdy.

What topic is she studying right now?

[muffinmonster]

Thanks, everyone. There's lots here that will help me make a better case to the head of science. I'll come back and let you know how I get on.

[ilovesooty]

Have you established that he is in fact a teacher and not a cover supervisor covering long term (they shouldn't do that but abuse is common)?

I ask because CS don't teach (or shouldn't) and it might explain the note taking and the reluctance to answer questions about the work.

Pay for your own photocopying, twinkytroll ? Are you serious?

[IloveJudgeJudy]

I also would contact the head of science. You can mention the accent as this happened in my DC's school. Teacher was Russian and very difficult to understand and in fact is no longer at the school.

It's also true that badly behaved classes don't get to do practicals very often. I know this as DS1 was in lower badly behaved sets and didn't do them and DD who is in top sets, has done loads. I know why this is - when DS1's class did practicals they mucked around too much and were a danger to themselves and others.

Y10 is too important a year to let this slide.

[mummytime]

I would raise your concerns with the head of science. I did the same for my DDs French teacher and she was moved sets with no questions asked.
Other than the ubiquitous Bitesize she could try scool or skoool which might also help. The podcasts by the "naked Scientists" on the Bitesize website are also recommended.

[TheFallenMadonna]

I am a head of science. It's worth contacting them, but be aware that you will not necessarily know what is going on behind the scenes. I have had the situation where I have fielded complaints from parents knowing that the member of staff concerned was on targets, and I'm sure the parents thought I was just fobbing them off (although I also suspect the students noticed and increased presence of other staff in their lab...). It's very hard to just remove a class from a teacher, because, well, there isn't the capacity to do that!

He should be getting support. If the department/school is a good one, he will be. Talk to the HoD.