I need to go in and see the teacher, don't I?

[LittenTree]

DS1 is 'able' as in 'is capable of 9 or 10 decent GCSE passes, and most probably university'.

He attends the 'best performing comp' in the county as measured by exam results.

They do 'Business and Communications GCSE' at the end of Y10, presumably because they recognise that to a 'good', 'school-ready', 'MC' cohort it's 'a gift'.

DS has just admitted, after some wheedling from me- he got a D in the end of Y9 exam.

I am Not Happy.

He and I revised the reasonably detailed 'revision sheet'. Block a business letter? Check. H&S? Check. Methods of reimbursement? Check. All his notes were presented in text boxes, as in:
-a
-b
-c
etc.

I am a H&S officer; DH is in IT. DS has had lots of help in his revision.

I have No Idea why he did so badly. He is a quiet, well behaved DS who is generally achieving well. Or as well as our expectation would, well, Expect.

So. D?

Why have we not received a personal communication from the teacher who is the Head of IT telling us of our DS's, well, FAILURE? Why has his exam not been sent home? Why did a 'D' from such a DC not ring alarm bells?

Why have our comprehensive schools not grasped that fundamental of a successful educational outcome, i.e. Child/Teacher/PARENT?! The famous Japanese three legged stool? Is that So Hard?

I am not blaming the teacher for his failure as such but I am suggesting that this glaring failure should have been immediately drawn to our attention so we can see what went wrong.

Did he give one word answers to questions? He claims not.

Miss the point entirely?

He has No Idea why he did so badly. He hasn't been told, just that his performance was 'disappointing'. And we have no exam to look at.

Like everyone, I am busy. I shouldn't have to go in and see, if not confront this teacher. They should have told ME there's 'a problem'.

Rant over but I am Not Impressed.

olivevoi8r so why didn'y your school give it an extra year if 50% are failing to get to A or A*

Because the school use this gcse as a 'barometer' to guage how well the cohort will perform in the other subjects at the end of Y11. They also use it as 'taster' for the year group to understand the level of work needed to achieve a gcse. Also the RE lessons are freed up in Y11 for English and maths. This is an historical arrangement. The school has always done this and doesn't do early entry for any other subject, not even for its highest attainers, of which there are many. Though they now do science gcse in Y10 as well (with additional or triple in Y11). I personally don't agree with early entry but think this arrangement is sensible.

Why have our comprehensive schools not grasped that fundamental of a successful educational outcome, i.e. Child/Teacher/PARENT?! The famous Japanese three legged stool? Is that So Hard?

This sweeping statement, based on your unfair extrapolation from one exam in one subject in one school, comes as a result of your anger and frustration at not understanding what is going on, yes?

Because it in no way reflects my experience and comes across as very rude and aggressive.

D is often not a fail.
It depends on context and personal targets.

If a kid has a prediction of an E but with tremendous work and application gets a D then thats a success, however you want to dress it.

As to what the other posters have said I would urge you heed their advice and relax a tad:)

sometimes D is a real success.

DS has just admitted, after some wheedling from me- he got a D in the end of Y9 exam.

I know it's a month old thread but I'll stick my two pennies in, I would be concerned that he is worried about opening up to you because your idea of whatfailure is is bothering him. Be wary about putting too much pressure on him, your OP suggests you might be a little intense.

As you were.