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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

New recruit teacher is inadequate

459 replies

BoboChic · 15/09/2015 06:41

This, basically. DD in Y7 started secondary school 2 weeks ago. One - and only one - of her teachers is totally inadequate. He is a new recruit. Parents and pupils have noticed pretty quickly that he doesn't have the first inkling of the subject he is supposed to be teaching. One approach has already been made to the school to alert them. What are the best words to use to describe this situation? Inadequate? Lacking subject knowledge?

OP posts:
Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 07:27

colley - whatever your value judgement of the school system you are in, the ability of parents to make changes to their DCs' educational experience is confined to optimising existing possibilities. It's fruitless to be too frustrated by the "system".

OP posts:
stopfaffing · 17/09/2015 08:03

Bobo. good luck with your meeting on Monday. After reading your posts I am confident you will make good progress in expediting this matter.

Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 08:15

Thank you, stopfaffing Smile

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guineapigpie · 17/09/2015 08:39

BoboChic - you still haven't said what will be happening in your dd's actual lessons in the meantime. Does she retain the same teacher? Does the HT think this same teacher would be an OK teacher if it weren't for the flawed curriculum? You seem to have gone in with one issue, come out with another and forgotten the first issue.

I loathe the sound of the US system, btw. Not so much the land of opportunity as the land of entrenched privilege and massive inequality.

Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 08:45

I haven't forgotten the first issue. I have clarified the fact that the first issue is a symptom of a bigger underlying issue. It will be impossible to recruit a better teacher (in a tight market) until the underlying issue is resolved. So I am dealing with that.

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BitOutOfPractice · 17/09/2015 08:47

Yes OP, you are studiously avoiding the question of what the fate of the "inadequate" teacher will be when you seize control of the world

BitOutOfPractice · 17/09/2015 08:49

How very very odd you are OP.

So have you asked for the removal of your DC's teacher? While you organise the rest of the school?

And why is the education of your DC's peers your concern?

guineapigpie · 17/09/2015 08:54

BoboChic - So in other words, you are stuck with the inadequate teacher? I hope you got some reassurance from the HT that he would be providing more support and supervision for this teacher whilst you work on the new curriculum!!

BlowOnMySackbutt · 17/09/2015 08:59

I'm certain that I wouldn't send my children to a school that hadn't identified such a glaring flaw in their curriculum before this. One has to consider what the previous teacher/s of this subject were doing and whether the assessment of their teaching was accurate in light of what the OP has uncovered. It doesn't say much for the management of the school.

Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:06

I'd love the problem to be solved tomorrow but, pragmatically, that's impossible. The solution will take more work and a bit longer than that. Life is often like that!

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Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:07

Blow - how lucky you are to have a perfect school Envy where staff are always on top of all new developments.

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guineapigpie · 17/09/2015 09:07

Yes, but did you get any reassurance that they would be supporting the teacher better in future? That can be done straight away...

Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:17

Short of sending the teacher back to university I'm not sure what support can be given - there is currently no HOD. Yes, there is peer to peer support but given that there is a flaw in the curriculum it would hardly be reassuring to be told (or to request) intensive coaching on the existing curriculum.

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Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:18

to be told he would receive

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BitOutOfPractice · 17/09/2015 09:18

I have a feeling that the teacher is history which is why the answers are so evasive

Nobody has said their school is perfect OP Hmm

CultureSucksDownWords · 17/09/2015 09:32

One of the reasons I left teaching was being put in the position where I had to manage a subject teacher of an exam class who had zero knowledge of the subject area. It was a flaw in recruitment as they shouldn't have been hired for the role, plus it was a failing of that specific teacher. They should not have stated they were prepared to teach the subject, or if they did say they were happy to teach it, they should have done a huge amount more prep. ????I think that the OP is right to get stuck in and try and change things at the school. If she removed her child then nothing would change. I'd much rather a parent who cared and wanted to get involved than one who wasn't interested in their child's education. Although, how you approach the school matters, as if you come across as aggressive and irrational you won't get anywhere.

pickledsiblings · 17/09/2015 09:46

Bobo, what is the flaw in the curriculum?

SheGotAllDaMoves · 17/09/2015 09:50

pickled I think the flaw is that it's the wrong one. It's a syllabus that is highly unpopular and puts off prospective teachers.

I suspect (though I don't know) that teachers in France are not as used to the variety of syllabi as in the UK where shopping around/chopping and changing exam boards is perfectly normal and teachers are happy and competent to cover many.

Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:51

pickledsiblings - to explain that on MN is beyond me. It's going to take me several days to finalise on paper how it came about. It's to do with people and their cultural background and long-held beliefs that are now exposed by science/the market. It requires a certain amount of sensitivity to unravel without hurting egos Smile

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BitOutOfPractice · 17/09/2015 09:54

SO WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE TEACHER?!

That's what your OP was about - why won't you tell us?

Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:55

Sure - the short answer is that it's wrong.

The best analogy I can think of is that it's like a cake made to a very old family recipe. People who are in the family are deeply attached to this homemade cake and want everyone to eat it and enjoy it.

But modern people want Laduree or Pierre Herme, not great-aunt Clotilde's quatre-quarts Smile

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Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 09:55

Bit - stop shouting and read the thread.

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Original poster
BoboChic · 17/09/2015 10:16

The teacher is the pastry chef who has been employed to bake Aunt Clotilde's cake. Trouble is, no self-respecting pastry chef (in a market where good pastry chefs are in short supply) with an eye in his professional development wants the job. So a supervisor from an industrial food-processing factory specialised in frozen chips has been employed instead.

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pickledsiblings · 17/09/2015 10:20

Thanks Bobo and SheGot.

So how did you miss this in your research Bobo?

I'd have thought it (the curriculum) would be one of the first things you would have looked at given how passionate you are about your DD's language education.

I know you said it took an in depth conversation to get to the bottom of things and uncover the flaw but was it not evident in the school's choice of textbooks/previous pupils work etc? Or in exam results further up the school in that subject?

It is an interesting debate that has unfolded despite your rather clumsy plea for help and providing a little more specific information would be helpful to me and other posters on this thread. It might also help you get things straight in your mind before approaching the 'big guns' who could in theory be just as clueless as I/we are.

pickledsiblings · 17/09/2015 10:22

The analogy is not working for me.