Year 7 Parents Evening

[ExmoorPeace]

My son is quiet and practically never gets in to trouble. Always does his homework. He may not be an academic high flyer but he does his best. We saw 10 teachers at parents evening. 9 out of 10 teachers said exactly as I have said above. But his English teacher was just plain unpleasant. She said he doesn't listen and is more interested in his friends then his lesson. My son sat there while she went on and looked a bit shell shocked. She implied he was not good at English. He got 116 and 110 in his SAT tests. He was quite upset when we got home. I told him just to forget it but I am a little confused. Should I forget it and see how he gets on in English? I am half tempted to email her. Seems like she was talking about a different person.

Just to add this teacher has given him several commendations since september for good work in class although none in the last month.

Anyone?

Perhaps you could E-Mail her saying that as a follow up to your conversation at parents evening does she have any suggestions as to how your son might improve his performance in English? You could say that as he got a lot of commendations in the early months you're a bit worried that he seems to have tailed off. That way you're pointing out the discrepancy but in a way that doesn't sound like you're questioning her judgement.

Double check with your DS re his behaviour in English.

Was he shocked as he realised his behaviour had deteriorated, or shocked because it sounded not like him at all?

If the former then tell him to pull his socks up. If the latter then would he be brave enough to approach teacher after class one day to ask for clarification?

He says she has never pulled him up in class for behaviour. She has never given him behaviour points. He is very shy and there is zero chance he will talk to her about it. I just find it odd compared to all the other teachers feedback.
He was upset that she didn't say anything positive like him always doing his homework.

Id email her and clarify. You need to know whether he's messing around or not, and also if she's mixed him up with some other student.

Has she mixed him up with another student in the class with a similar name? It happens occasionally!

Seems very strange, I'd ask for more clarification if I was you.

It sounds like he was mixed up with someone else.

Have you had a recent report for him? If his English report was good could you forward it to her and ask how long the deterioration in his behaviour and work has gone on for?

Could she have mixed him up? I used to teach the whole of year 7 and by March I could put 80% of names to faces. But quiet decent workers might fly under the radar a bit.

I learned on mumsnet to always say the child's name at parents evening even if the child's there, so i always do that now.

Thanks all. I think it is a case of a mix up or that because he is quiet she mistakes that for not being engaged. I had that at school but ended up with a DPhil at uni. His English has progressed a level every 3 months so I think I will leave it for now. He seems ok noe and said she asked him quite a few questions in class the day after parents evening, so I think me pointing out his high SATS scores at parents evening may have helped.

I would speak to the school and clarify she was talking about the same child. We've just had similar at a year 8 parents evening, report said achieving level 7, attitude outstanding- teacher said struggling with the subject and very distracted/distracting in class.

Hmm, I think that occasionally a teacher just doesn’t “get” a child and/or dislikes them and that can really cloud how they perceive the child, including their academic performance. Sad but true I think.

I would definitely speak to the school, head of lower school perhaps? Sounds like you need to clarify, especially if there might be a mix up.

At our parents eve we didn't got to se the Drama teacher as my DS didn't want to. This teacher has a reputation for not liking Yr 7's. I'm in 2 minds about the effect her low marks have had on my DS. He had always wanted to act and performance skills had always been praised. The secondary Drama teacher doesn't praise this but can't fault his written work. It's put him off acting as a career. But the main reason I want to speak with the teacher is that her marks are out of kilter with all the other subjects. However, if she hates Yr 7's ...

Year 7 parents evenings are hard. The teachers haven't got to know children yet like they did in primary, although I think a mix up is less likely to happen at a face to face meeting, than in a written report.

Personally, given that all else is good and you're happy he's working hard, I'd perhaps wait for the end of year report and get in touch if there are any concerns then. Hopefully he'll have a different teacher next year.

I think she's mixed him up with another student. I teach 160 different year 7 students and do get them confused sometimes. I'm not a core subject though so only see some of them only once a fortnight. It's my day off today before anyone tells me to get back to work!

Have a word with the Head of Year. There may be bigger issues with this teacher, and Head of Year would be in a position to look into further.