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Secondary education

Do teachers tell parents this??

36 replies

alwaysandforever123 · 23/10/2018 09:21

I have a friend who is constantly making comments like, "my dd is the best in maths (as in achieving higher than everyone else)", "dd's teacher showed us how she is way ahead from everyone else in French"... etc.
I'm just wondering if teachers do this, do they really say that your child is the best and how ahead they are of everyone else?

OP posts:
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hertsandessex · 23/10/2018 19:48

Actually teachers do sometimes say things like this at parents' evenings. Some are also extremely open with the children about scores in tests so everybody knows if somebody is way ahead.

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Copperbonnet · 23/10/2018 19:49

We had a very similar, very contentious thread in this subject not that long ago. It got a bit rowdy.

I have been told that my D.C. was top of the class and how much further ahead they were from the next person down.

I should note that I’m in the US. There’s lots of testing so they are pretty specific about what they say.

I have never ever told any friends in real life what was said at parents night though, either in the U.K. or here. I always just say “they’re doing fine” if anyone asks.

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Bestseller · 23/10/2018 19:52

I was at a (sixth form) parent's evening recently where the teacher complained at length at the lack of effort from the whole class, including telling me the predicted grades of several of DS's classmates!

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Witchend · 23/10/2018 23:40

Not most of the time.
However I have certainly had friends who interpret comments as such, when they definitely weren't meant to be taken that way.

Ime those who really do have children who are working way at the top of the class don't tend to talk about it.

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Bitchbe · 23/10/2018 23:49

I watched a documentary where the school put all the boys positions in class on the wall after tests so it's feasible. I suspect they were told top of the class and the parent is the one saying better than everyone.

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JellieEllie · 23/10/2018 23:51

At my SDs parents evening we were told that she is the very top of her classmates in all subjects.
So yes it can happen. I aren't sure whether they are allowed to tell us that but they did.

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Hoppinggreen · 24/10/2018 06:46

I have been told that dd is “ one of our top performers “ a few times but I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone else the teacher said that

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MaisyPops · 24/10/2018 06:53

Most staff I've worked with don't say things like that because 99% of the time it is a waste of time and a pointless topic of conversation.

I've been asked regularly by parents and my answer is almost always the same 'I don't get involved comparing children as I'm sure you'd agree that you'd want me to see Timmy as Timmy with his strengths and weaknesses, not Timmy who is behind Sarah in reading but better than Daniel in writing'.

I'll say Charlotte is a very talented writer or the last piece of Robert's Shakespeare work was exceptional etc.

Some parents love the competition and feel their child being better in curriculum areas is somehow a good star for their parenting. They are also the parents of children who fall apart at GCSE from pressure and we have children upset in y10 because home have told them they better get an 8 on their first piece of work otherwise they are having a tutor. It's such a horrible attitude.

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KingBee · 24/10/2018 07:28

The Year One teacher used to rank the kids in Maths from first to last and stick it up on the wall!

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MrsPworkingmummy · 24/10/2018 07:32

As a teacher, yes, we would generally say if a child was one of the highest achieving in the class, or if he/she had achieved one of the highest marks in the class. Absolutely. However, we would also point out positives for all of the children, whether highest attaining or not. I definitely think students are aware of the 'pecking order' anyway. They'll know which set they're in for example. My dd is only 6, and she is currently getting really upset about not wanting to go to school today. This is absolutely because she has a lack of confidence and is aware that there are other children in the class who are cleverer than her. She would admit that mind you, but me - and her teachers - know it. She gets upset as the most able students are always the ones who are rewarded and she's desperate for a certificate.

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purpleflowersarebest · 24/10/2018 07:35

Ds's secondary school tells the dc their marks out loud in the lesson so they know exactly how well they've done. In reports we get dss' mark, year average mark, dss' target and years average target. It's ok if your dc is above average but id hate it (and think it could potentially be quite demoralising) if he wasn't.

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