DD Y10 - What would you do?

[HappySonHappyMum]

My DD has a GCSE Biology teacher in Year 10 that is really ramping up the pressure on my DD's class. So far this term she has threatened each student with a call home if they don't get 50% in their tests and she is also threatening them with moving them to Foundation level Science if they don't achieve. My daughter's anxiety is going through the roof. She is continually stressed by this teacher. She has become so anxious about 'failing' that she has scratched herself until she bled. She wants me to get her a Science tutor so she will be 'good enough'. She is an excellent student and is predicted 7's in her GCSEs, she's in top sets and is doing really well - but this teachers continual pressuring is undermining the confidence that she has in herself. I really need to contact this teacher. How should I approach this? I don't want to undermine my daughter but this can't continue. If I emailed her - what would you say?

Sympathy from me... it’s not on when teachers transmit this sort of pressure to the kids. We had this in year 6 with SATS, but not so much specific pressure from teachers in secondary I would telephone the school.. in our school the pastoral team are responsible for fielding such enquiries, which is all to the good since your dd clearly needs some support.
Have you got to year 10 and not had cause to contact the school about anything prior to this?
Obviously every school is different as to how they deal with parents wanting to speak to teachers. Ours shields the teachers a LOT.

It sounds from your post like your DD is against you contacting the school.. is that the case?

I would speak to her form tutor or head of year as first and foremost it's a pastoral concern about your DC's wellbeing.

Calling home for less than 50% wouldn't be uncommon or unreasonable. Equally, dropping to a lower tier if marks are low wouldn't automatically be unreasonable, but that would come from the head of department and much later in y10/early y11 in my experience. It shouldn't be something a class teacher is threatening this early.
There's a healthy amount of "GCSE starts now so we work at GCSE pace and intensity for 2 yeads Vs chill for y10 and then spend months cramming and doing intervention in y11" that is actually a good approach overall, but it sounds like they've pushed too hard for the students in their class without knowing the students yet (it's too early to know what works for your groups).

If the science teacher is full of empty threats and piling it on then the form tutor or head of year will be able to do some diplomatic digging.

I haven't had to contact the school before - as I said she's a contentious pupil and not the sort to cause anyone any concern. My DD is reluctant for me to contact the school as she doesn't want to get on this teachers 'bad side' and be singled out because of it. She's not failing - she's in the top third of the class - she actually started her GCSEs in year 9 as they do three year courses at her school. She had the teacher last year so she knows my DD - but obviously not well enough to realise that pressure does not equal good results in her case. Maybe contacting her Head of Year might be the way to go here - it does feel like 'telling tales' though...

I imagine the teacher can't imagine that your DD is feeling threatened.
I can email the teachers direct so that's what I would do.

"I don't know if you realise but [DD name] is feeling quite scared she's going to fail. I wonder if you could give her a pep talk coz right now she's not enjoying biology at all."

Not sure I'd mention bleeding, but see if something like above improved things.

Poor thing having 3 year GCSEs.

Nobody has time to victimise a student for raising concerns and in this situation I wouldn't speak to the teacher directly because I think the focus could easily end up the wrong thing for moving forward (namely a discussion about who said what when Vs your child's wellbeing). It could be the teacher really is going overboard, but it could equally be that a stressed lovely student is worried about the subject and so picks up on some things more than others. Both are possible but neither are good long term

If I were in your situation, I'd talk to form tutor and head of year because if a child is experiencing anxiety, low confidence and self harm then that's an issue to be aware of for all subjects in teh background potentially. Explain that your daughter feels the dominant approach is a focus on calls home, dropping tiers and its overall has her feeling in this way. They'll be happy to help.

First of all, scratching herself until she bled isn't a healthy reaction to stress - its self-harm, which can escalate quickly. I would take her to the GP about that. There is also Young Minds.
The teacher sounds awful though. Of course some kids will be more sensitive and take this sort of threat personally, and be deeply affected. Being put down a set is not unreasonable if a student is struggling, but it's way too early to say. A call home for one result under 50% is harsh; if regularly getting that sort of score, fair enough. Working with the student supportively if they struggle should be the first approach, not being punitive - if it becomes clear the kid is taking the piss that's different. This sort of aggression is not an effective way to motivate kids. If some kids in the class are taking the piss teacher should deal with them individually or as a small group.
I would take the approach of contacting pastoral care to let them know your DD is struggling, and see what support she can get in school. In the course of that mention she finds this particular teacher intimidating and it's really contributing to her issues - take it from there.

My daughter generally scores 55-60% in her tests - but bear in mind they are always GCSE questions lifted straight from old GCSE papers so I think that is quite challenging in Year 10. Thanks for your suggestion @Broken11Girl about Young Minds I will be looking that up. She's not one to take the piss but is in a class where some do unfortunately. Thanks for your advice - I'm going to talk to DD so I am completely clear what is happening and then talk to the teacher I think.

GCSE questions in y10 on the topics they're studying is fairly typical for year 10. It's what happens everywhere I've worked.

Do follow it up though. I still think it's a form tutor or head of year issue rather than subject though.

One thing you could do is to make your dd understand that a teacher calling home is not a problem, or a punishment, and you would not be angry with her if it happens. It should be framed as a 3 way opportunity to discuss what is happening and what additional support (or effort if a child is not working) might be necessary.

Oh and one thing my own very eager to please (anxious) ds had to learn was that not every "general" message given to the class about needing them to knuckle down and work harder/look after their equipment etc was aimed at him. Understanding that was a great help to him.

We've had conversations about various situations that have come up. The head of science looked through the register and said that everybody in the middle needs to buck their ideas up - and of course our surname begins with K so DD thought this was aimed directly at her. I have told her that a phonemail home won't bother me at all and she won't be in trouble - it will just give me an additional opportunity to talk to her teacher and ask her how she is going to provide additional support if her lessons are not having the desired effect. 13 people out of 30 didn't meet the 50% score last week so there are obviously issues in that class. I have told her that she is attending her lessons, doing all her homework on time, every time and doing everything she can and that it will come. I've also told her that I know she tries to do her best and I don't expect anymore than that. But she puts so much pressure on herself as she wants good grades - she is just sabotaging herself.

AQA grade boundaries for Biology this year were from a raw score of 70 you needed

27/28 to get a grade 6 (that is paper 1/paper 2)
33/34 to get a grade 7 so 50% would scrape a 7
39/39 to get a grade 8
45/45 to get a grade 9

So you can see why they are hammering home the 50%. They are addressing the class as a whole to make sure they all understand that and considering the top set are not all getting above 50% then there is room for improvement. Sorry but GCSE pressure is huge, you are not just competing against your class but the whole of the country and the boundaries are tight.

she is sabotaging herself

And ultimately this is why the solution, whatever it may be, lies with her and not with the teacher. Schools will pile on the pressure and the emphasis on working hard - they're aiming this message at the low effort rump (all those kids who are lazing around). Your dd needs to learn how to ignore this and manage her own effort/mental well-being (easy to say, harder to do). Things that may help are putting more emphasis on extra curricular and self care activities- taking exercise, socializing, mindfulness, whatever, to get away from the idea that her whole life is tied up with and valued by GCSE grades.

I'd be fucking furious and taking it higher.

Foundation should not be used as a threat. Some kids are foundation in ability and that's not something to be ashamed of. The decision is taken in y11 anyway.

I'd be telling my dd that you don't care if you get a call from her. You know she works hard and that's all you want from her.

My dd did well in her GCSEs but there were sometimes tests that she didn't do well in before the real thing. They don't mean that she will screw up the real thing as it measures ability at a single moment in time. She was obviously much more ready by the exam date and that's all that matters.

to your dd.

pikapikachu
"Fucking furious"? Really? That sounds like standard MN go fuming to someone response.

If students aren't performing to the required level then a move to foundation would absolutely be appropriate. That's not a threat. That's fact.
Now that decision is not made by class teachers alone and it would usually come towards the end of y10/ start of y11 (though some classes may be foundation from year 10), but telling students that performance below a given level may affect their tier entry isnt unreasonable.

Equally a call home where students are underperforming is also entirely reasonable and is the norm at my school. Our school approach is to contact early and our late appreciate being informed of issues early rather than waiting for a low report or a parents' evening or waiting til year 11. I'd he a bit taken back if any parent decided to be "fucking furious" or report it higher for me being honest with students that I contact home (and would probably think the parent was ridiculously confrontational).

It's absolutely worth the sister's parent/guardian to talk to school about how she's getting on, but as ever on MN, it's probably best the OP responds in a reasonable and measured way to get a proper outcome.

@Capturedfairy Looking at your scores - the 55% she is usually getting is a grade 7. That's an A in old money so why do they feel it's OK to use threats to improve performance? I have rung the school today and am waiting for a call back from the teacher. Will see what they have to say - but with all the focus on mental health issues at the moment surely threats are no way to motivate students to improve.

It would depend happy.

E.g. 55% on an end of unit assessment on material they've just studied is very different to 55% on an unseen GCSE mock exam in exam conditions.

It's one reason why there's a problem using GCSE percentages to grade anything other than GCSE mock exams. It's a problem of the system more than anything else, but I do think it leads to some bizarre consequences.
E.g. In my subject we have a 20 mark questions. At question level the grade boundaries are small. Doing a 20 mark question on its own in slightly longer time is totally different to the 20 mark within a 1h45min exam. Typically students would score higher doing that not in a mock exam. Staff who grade everything then report that the child is working at a 6/7/8 etc but actually they aren't because norm referenced grade boundaries from whole papers don't translate properly to class work. Lots of schools I know have reported finding their marks this year in English were lower than expected and I wonder how much of that was misusing or misunderstanding how grade boundaries can/should be applied through the course.

Do talk to the school by the way. I'm not discouraging it. I thought you might want a bit of caution when thinking in terms of grades and %.

@HappySonHappyMum but grade boundaries move, so the mark for a grade 8 on English lit last year was a grade 7 this year! Because more children performed well on it and the bell curve kicks in.

Plus any test your child is sitting is not against their cohort it is against a previous cohort. Even when it is a GCSE question they are not sitting 23 other GCSE exams.

Only mock exams are the closest indicator of a possible grade but those questions don't come up again on their actual GCSE exam paper, so you can ace a mock if you know the topic well and can answer the question well.

The teacher wants the best for his/her pupils, they don't want to see them crying on results day because they didn't get the grades they needed to move onto the next step and the more work they put in now in year 10 and 11 the best chance they give themselves.

To quote my son's statistics teacher where this year was the first year of the paper so no previous papers to go off, all you can do is the best you can and hope that you do better than everyone else. That is the curve.

Sounds like you have made a good step forward there. Hope you get some help.
Seems like thie suggestions on here have been useful to tou which is great!

It is generally considered a bad idea to put your Children’s names in a post as it can be a bit identifying. Perhaps you could report your own post and ask to have it edited to ‘dd’ ?

@LolaSmiles Yes- fucking furious. The student is in year 10 not year 11 and is being driven to self harm. GCSEs are in 18 months time and there's no evidence that she is not working hard.

50% target for everyone in the class might be inappropriate considering different abilities. Some might need a 60% target while others 40%. In my experience students have strong and weak topics so getting 50% every time isn't necessarily an appropriate target anyway if some topics won't require as much revision as others.

It's not known if the school covers the information now then exam technique once the course is complete or they are doing both now. My child's school did the former and her grades improved as she could demonstrate knowledge in a way that would maximise exam results.

The threat of a call home is also pretty pathetic. Some parents dgaf, others will (rightly) realise that you can't make a child learn and that the teacher is covering themselves if case child does not make predicted grade. By year 10 parents usually know how much effort their child applies to school work and that a test is their ability in a moment of time and not the actual exam where they'd be more ready.

Yep - thanks for the delete - got carried away and used my DDs name - total fail!

pikapikachu
We have a student who is clearly quite anxious and a teacher giving potentially entirely reasonable whole class messages. It is true that lower performance can lead to a change of tier (though as I've said that would usually be later in the year or start of y11 and it would be a decision authorised above class teacher level)

Calling home to discuss progress is hardly a threat. Calling it pathetic is also a complete over reaction. Most parents would rather know sooner rather than later if their child is finding something difficult. Our school has a no surprises culture and parent-school relationships are generally good. It must be a fairly angry bubble to live in where a school making early contact during crucial times is deemed pathetic Vs addressing things early to give the kids the best chance.

Again, 50% on a test could be anything from reviewing quizzes of really recent material, an end of topic assessment for the half term or a full GCSE mock paper. There are also problems of attributing GCSE Grades to percentages that I've already mentioned. Without us knowing, none of us can say either way whether a basic expectation of 50% is acceptable, but even if it wasn't then being "fucking furious" is still a ridiculous response.

That's the problem sometimes with MN people get so determined to be fucking furious and go storming in (and advising others to) without actually considering any other relevant information or wider factors.

Thankfully the OP is taking a more sensible approach to raising this with school.

Have spoken to a teacher that my DD trusts at the school and she agrees that some of the language probably needs to be moderated in this class and especially around my DD. She has taught DD for the past three years and knows exactly the way to get the best out of her so I thought she would be a good person to mediate within the Biology department. She is happy to go and have a chat with the teacher and Head of Science but also with my DD to try and allay some of her fears and worries. I'm sure my DD thinks I'm just paying lip service to her worries because I'm her Mum and I love her so an outsiders opinion will definitely hold more weight and I hope this will help. Fingers crossed this works.