Not allocated a class for English in Y9??

[CardyMow]

Tonight I asked DD why she hasn't had ANY English homework at all this school year. She has told me that her and one other boy have been sitting in the library for their english lessons, unsupervised, just given websites to 'play maths and English games on, or doing wordsearch worksheets'. DD and this other boy both have SN's, and would normally be with Learning Support for this lesson, but when DD spoke to them today, she has been told that they "Haven't been allocated a class yet". We are almost half a term into Y9, why have two children not been given a class to bloody LEARN in?

Who do I e-mail? Her Form tutor is notoriously crap at sorting anything like this out, her HoY has left for maternity leave this week - no replacement yet. She doesn't HAVE an english teacher yet (which is what I want to complain about) and I can't seem to find on the school website who the Head of English is - and I'm not sure if it's a problem from the English Dept or the Learning Support Dept - who I also can't find an e-mail facility for.

I'm so that the school has basically left two SN dc, one of whom is my own DD, with just some wordsearches and a couple of websites as the sum total of their learning in English for an entire half term. What the hell do I do???

Contact the Head, NOW! This is disgraceful and the Head needs to sort it out!

Contact the head, the head of governors and the person in charge of the education authority for the LEA now. That's crazy.

Head. Local Authority. Ofsted. In that order. Never mind the head of English. That is outrageous.
So first of all phone the school tomorrow and insist on making an appointment with the head to sort this pronto. Explain that if an appointment isn't forthcoming within 48 hours you will be making a formal complaint to the Local Authority (they should have a parent liaison officer who can help you) and to the Governing Body. And if that has no effect contact Ofsted. Your DD has a statutory right to education in the core subjects, which includes English.
What arrangements were in place for her last year?

I am just , because up until now, the school has always been excellent with DD, and excellent at dealing with her SN. I wonder if The funding for Learning Support has been cut? I don't know if the other dc has a statement or if he is on SA+, DD is on SA+ as she has no behavioural problems, and in Essex it's almost impossible to get a statement without behavioural probs (I know blanket bans are illegal blah blah blah, I've tried to get her statemented 6 times at primary, but the primary refused to back me, and Secondary said she wouldn't get it because she HAS made progress since she has been there).

Head it is then, I will phone in the morning.

I bet it's a funding issue - DD and this lad are working WAY below where even the lowest set are working (DD has just hit NC Lvl 3b in English at the end of Y8), so they used to go to LS for their English, and it was helping (she left primary on Lvl 1b), if they have run out of funding to give the extra help they were giving the dc on SA+ (which is the reason I CHOSE this blinking school) then surely they should have INFORMED THE PARENTS and put DD and this lad in the lowest set class with a TA to help them access the lesson? Or even bloody without a TA??!! So that she at least has a teacher??!!

Hahaha at parent liason officer - I take it you are meaning the Parent Partnership officer? That position has been empty for over 3 fucking years. No-one at LEA or anything to help - North East Essex is left to get on with it, LEA don't give a crap if you need help.

To add - I have epilepsy, so it really would help me to have a Parent Partnership Officer at these meetings, but though every other area in Essex has one, North East Essex hasn't for over 3 years.

Sorry your LA is so shit. Is it a big school? It's entirely possible that the HT has no idea what is going on. I would insist on a conversation asap.
It is their responsibility to ensure that your DD can access the curriculum at a level appropriate to her needs.

I thought it was just something like the teacher hadn't been writing DD's homework in her diary (she can't write quick enough, teachers are meant to do that for her, but often at the start of the year that goes a bit funny with new teachers who may not have got the message as it often doesn't get passed on) - thought that's all it was, and that getting DD to remind the teacher that she needs help with that should do it - but when DD told me that she doesn't even HAVE an english teacher to ask, my brain went BOOM!

HOW can a school fail to make any provision for two dc? HOW can they just get 'forgotten' about?? Surely if there are 270 dc in the school year, you make sure that all 270 have been allocated a fucking class??

I knew that she 'didn't have a room to go to', thought that was just a minor issue where they whole CLASS was traipsing round looking for a free room - but the fact is, it's only DD and this other lad that don't have a flipping classroom. I'm STEAMING right now!

There was me, telling DD off for not bringing her English homework home, when it's impossible for her to because she isn't GETTING any because there is no teacher to set her any!!

Problem is - DD is quite enjoying not having to work! And she has said that she will be angry if I contact the school (not that that's going to stop me, but still, I shouldn't be PUT in this position of being the 'bad guy' with DD by putting a stop to her and the lad telling each other jokes instead of LEARNING ENGLISH). GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

depends on your definition of big! Big to me, as my Secondary in the Hebrides had 420 pupils. . Biggest in our town, yes.

Has Y7-Y11, 320 in Y7 & Y8 270 in Y9 & Y10, 250 in Y11.

1450 pupils.

BUT what possible reason can a school have for NOT having allocated two children in Y9 an English class? Because I can fail to see ANY good reason.

That is just awful! Poor you and poor DD. Without an english teacher she will get behind and then it becomes a vicious circle. I would def go to the head, follow it up in writing, give her a week max to resolve it. If you dont get satisfactory resolution then complain in writing to the Chairman of the governors who then have to investigate. If they dont resolve it to your satisfaction then go to ofsted and the LEA.

My DP is a governor and he would be all over this if it was his school. They have in the past sacked a headteacher for being incompetent.

The only reasons I can come up with are that DD and this boy are working so far below the level of the lowest set in their year that the curriculum is inaccessible to them. I assume that the funding for the TA they used to share has been cut. I also think that the school were kind of relying on the fact that my DD isn't very good at communicating these things to me.

The thing is, I am now homing in on a flippant comment DD made earlier about Geography. She was helping me in the kitchen to make pudding, and she turned around and said "It's not fair, the rest of my Geog class have to make a cake for h/wk, but I've been told I can't as I am in the wrong class, but they don't know what class I am meant to be in".

Does that mean that as DD is unable to access the lessons without a TA, that they school have just been bunging her in whichever class has space, as she's not going to understand properly in ANY class? If that IS the case, I'm going to be even more than I am right now. And I'm not sure if tat is possible without my head exploding!

Hunty - I am a trainee English teacher, so not very experienced as yet, but from what I have observed in similar-sized schools a child in Y9 working at level 3b in English should be perfectly able to access the curriculum with the right support, and furthermore, would not be by any means the only child working at that level. I find it very odd that they are doing this, especially as Y9 is crucial to your DD as the final year of a key stage. The progress she makes this year is very important, because it will determine what she is able to access in KS4. I would be furious with the school if she were my child - scream your head off and demand some answers.

The school is adamant that their bottom set is working on level 4a+. The only dc in Y9 working below lvl 4a are my DD and this other boy. At least that's what was said at their last parents evening in July. And it is showed by the fact that my friend's DD is IN the lowest set, and her end of Y8 lvl was 5b. In the lowest set - and my friend's DD is still IN the lowest set.

It IS the school that has the most expensive, houses in our town surrounding it - very MC area, I am on a private development in one of the 6 'social' houses here - all the rest are very expensive bought houses - very small, two bed plus study mid-terrace houses are going for £220K here.

I FULLY intend to 'scream my head off' tomorrow - just AAAAARRRGGGHHH!

I may need more help tomorrow after I have spoken to the HT.

What, if anything, would I be able to do if it IS a funding issue?

I have spoken to the Head of English - apparently DD and this boy were given the WRONG TIMETABLES by the school. So it's NOT just English and Geography that have issues - ALL her subjects she has been put in the wrong groups for, and probably has been unable to access a HUGE part of the curriculum for the entire half term.

I am waiting for the Deputy HoY to ring me - because I am about to rip her a new one! My DD is already behind her year group because of her SN, and now has basically been in the wrong classes for all her subjects for a whole half term, in classes where she will have been unable to understand the work.

How did NONE of the teachers in the classes she HAS been going to not notice that she is not on their register and do something about it? How did NONE of the teachers for the classes she SHOULD have been going to not notice that someone ON their register hasn't been in the class since September?

Oh - I got the school pupil numbers wrong, apparently there are 1750 pupils there now. God knows how many are in each year group!

HOW does something like this go unnoticed for a half term? A week, maybe, but 6 weeks?? FFS I'm STEAMING. The Head of English has said she will ask the Deputy HoY to ring me to discuss things - what I want to know is, as it is the SCHOOL'S fuck-up (as admitted by the Head of English), what THE SCHOOL are going to do to help DD catch up with the work that she has missed out on.

I just cannot understand how the teachers were given the correct timetable, must have KNOWN DD wasn't in their classroom when she should have been, and didn't bloody say anything? And why was DD given the wrong timetable in the first place? (Head of English blamed computer error).

Please don't piss about with Deputy Heads of Year etc. Call the Headteacher, do it now. Or email if you think that would be easier. And then ring the office and ask for contact details for the Chair of Governors. Ask the Chair for a copy of the school's Inclusion Policy, when their Inclusion Policy was last reviewed and whether he/she thinks that the policy has been followed.

That is truly appalling! My goodness. I definitely think a strongly worded letter to the governors would be appropriate here, stressing that the whole system is obviously clearly flawed if it took half a term for this to be flagged up.

Aparrently DD has been given the correct timetable for her ENGLISH lessons this morning - but not for the rest of her lessons. Because that isn't the Head of English's job. It's not the Deputy HoY's job either. Apparently it is the Head of TIMETABLING'S job - but I can't speak to the Head of Timetabling.

YY. I am going to write to the Governors - just uunsure of how to begin to word the letter - I will probably put far too much anger into it if I write it right now!!!

That is shocking.

Also, somebody knew that something wasn't as it should be because somebody took the time to tell your DD and her friend to sit in the library and use the computer. And then left them to it for half a term instead of following up where they were meant to be.

Zero initiative from various staff members my the sound of it.

Can't find an e-mail for the HT, no HoY right now, only a deputy HoY as proper HoY on Mat leave. School insists you follow a 'reporting chain'. Class teacher, form tutor, Head of Dept, HoY, Dep. HT, HT. As I already skipped the form tutor step, due to her FT being useless, I am already in hot water...

Hunty - write the letter once, then put it away for an hour or two and look at it again. Take out any bits that seem OTT.

Or post the bare bones here and we'll let you know if your (justifiable anger) is clouding the message you are trying to get across.

YY I agree that they knew and didn't bother to do anything about it! Head of English tried to claim it was only for yesterday's lesson, until I pointed out that after a conversation with DD this morning, it has DEFINATELY been happening since September - last Wednesday they were sat in the library telling jokes to each other (!). Only then did the Head of English admit that they were given the wrog timetable in September.

Bugger the reporting chain! hope you get it sorted

I can't even sort my head out enough to work out what to write, I'm just sooooo bloody ANGRY.

Dear whoever,

             There are clearly huge issues with the way your timetables are produced. I am saying this because it has become apparent to me that my DD has not had any English teaching for this half term. Her and another child were 'given the wrong timetables', which has resulted in them not having a class for English at all. They have been sat in the library looking at 'English and Maths games websites' and telling each other jokes - so I assume they were left unsupervised with no teaching input either. Also my DD has been put in the wrong set for Geography, as evidenced by the fact that her teacher told her this week that "You can't do this homework, you are not meant to be in this class, but I don't know what class you should be in".

I would like to know how it is possible for two students to be given the wrong timetables, and when they turn up to a classroom, the teacher only says "this is not your class" instead of actually finding out which class they SHOULD be in. And why have the teachers in the classes they should have been attending NOT flagged up that they have two pupils that have not been in class for the whole half term.

I would like to know how many other subjects this will have affected, that my DD may not have been able to access the full curriculum for due to her SN, as if she is in a class working at a higher level than she is able to, she will be unable to learn anything. I would also like to know how your school is going to ensure that this doesn't happen again, to my DD or any other pupils. And how, if it DOES happen how you are going to improve your school communication systems so that it doesn't take more than ONE LESSON in the wrong class, or without a class at all to sort out, rather than the entire half term it has taken in this case.

Could your staff please learn how to organise a piss-up in a brewery, as I would hugely doubt their ability to do so. And could they please stick to their school ethos of 'every child's education is important', because obviously that doesn't mean MY DD.

Yours sincerely,
Extremely pissed-off parent.

I think that sounds broadly reasonable. You've certainly got your main points down and remarkably calmly.

However the first sentence makes it sound as though your main issue is with timetable production rather than their failure to teach your DD properly. Perhaps drop that bit and start stright off with "I very angry and disappointed to found out this week, that my DD has not had any English teaching...."

It might also be useful to give details of who exactly you have already tried to speak to with regards to this issue - and what action (if any they have taken). It will help their investigation and prevent them from acting all surprised.

Do you want to raise the issue of where the LSA/TA has gone to?

Could you bullet point the things you want them to come back to you about - basically the final paragraph.

"I would like yo to investigate what has happened and provide me with the following information:

• How many of my DDs subjects have been affected by this timetabling error.
• Where my DD has been sitting in on classes working at a higher level than she is capable of accessing, what steps you plan to take in order to enable her to catch up with work taught in classes at her correct level.
• What steps you plan to take to prevent such a timetabling issue happening in future.
• How you plan to improve communication and reporting so that any future timetabling issue is identified and corrected immediately (and not after half a term)"

That way you will actually be able to tick off that they have actually addressed all the points you want them to tackle.

etc. etc.

This has taken ages to type - so probably 101 x-posts .

BTW - insist that this is sorted out before half-term. Your DD needs to know that she is starting afresh in the correct classes from the first day back after the break.