D'S, yr9, really hates his new language teacher

[bubby64]

I have twin ds, and they have both had this teacher before, and , I must admit, she has not made a good impression on either of my ds or ourselves (or, tbh, several other mums we know)
DTS1 was getting on really well with his languages, but this has resulted in being put up into a higher set, which is taught by this woman. Dts1 really dislikes her, and is getting himself really worked up and is hating his lessons so much he is claiming illness to avoid her class, and is now determined to drop all languages when he picks his options soon. I have spoken to his head of yr before, and she thinks it is a personality clash, but he can't be put in another class unless he goes back down a set, which she didn't want to do, and that dts1 needed to learn to cope with this. Now dts1 is refusing to go to school altogether on days he has languages. It is such a shame, as he normally enjoys school, and he also enjoyed languages up until now.
If anyone who has been in this sort of situation has some advice, I would be grateful, as I already have enough problems with his twin brother and getting him to both go to and do work in school

He needs to be told that we can't always like everyone but we often have to work with them anyway and so he needs to get on with it.

The "personality clash" line often gets trotted out by kids who don't like being told to stop pissing about and get on with their work. Is this a possibility?

If he is bunking off school, then make sure you support the school in whatever sanctions they apply.

What is the actual problem with this teacher? If it is that he finds her too strict, well that's probably a good thing for his chance of learning something. If she's boring, well maybe not ideal but school isn't about entertainment. It's unlikely she has poor subject knowledge if she has been given the top set but if she has then talk to the head of department. Without more information it's a bit hard to advise.

She doesn't have a lot of patience with anyone, dts1 actually works quite hard and, according to his other teachers, he doesn't mess around, unlike his twin, who, tbh can be an irritating pain in the backside
This teacher told off a mum at yr8 parents evening saying it was her fault her son wasn't doing well at his languages was because she was working instead of being at home and "making him sit and revise" This mum, who supports her family with her catering business and who is usually the kindest, most forgiving hearted lady I know, was absolutly fuming! And her son is not a bad kid either, just not very good at languages So it is not just my boys who don't get on with her, she has a terrible reputation, and has had official warnings twice for her attitude.

Dts1 went to school today dreading it, as he had her again this pm, and he has come home so downhearted as he got 79% in his German assessment, which he was quite proud of since he only recently gone up into this set, but she just said he could have tried harder

Unprofessional comments to parents are clearly inappropriate and that mother needs to contact the deputy head who deals with parent - school contact. From your ds's point of view I think you need to decide whether the teacher's style is actually likely to be impacting on his progress, if so contact the head of department with specific examples of the problems you feel he has encountered. The HoD may be able to give her some support in changing her approach.

Yes, her style does not suit my ds at all, he hates any sort of confrontation, and will work hard with gentle encoragment, shouting just makes him so upset he cannot function properly. I think I might go back to see both the HoY and HoD, as he was really making improvement by leaps and bounds with his last teacher, her style suited him perfectly. ,

When I was at secondary school we had a new German teacher who had no idea I spoke German, as I had lived there when I was younger. She used to make horrid comments about some of the students in German which none of them could understand apart from me such as 'you 4 eyed speccy so and so' to one girl. ' you ginger so and so' to another. I mentioned it to another student or teacher and she disappeared the next week to be replaced by a truly lovely teacher.

Dts1 has a German boy in his class with him, and it's him who is critical of the teacher, saying she is not that fluent in German, and she is making a lot of grammatical mistakes, although she is teaching the top set! Apparently French is her 2nd language, followed by Spanish and then German.
I have spoken to dts1 again, and he is going to stick with it atm, but I will be keeping a close eye on his progress using the Go for Schools.