What to do about horrible teacher who seems to delight in humiliating the children??

[CookMeDinner]

DC is in Y7 and has transitioned beautifully. However, there is one teacher that we hear about all the time, who seems to delight in humiliating the students. She spends a lot of time nitpicking and criticising the kids. After nearly a month, she doesn't know anyone's name and apparently randomly chooses someone off her registration list, asks, "Who is so-and-so?" and then tells them they have a detention.

The subject she teaches should be a fun one, but our child is so stressed out every day that they have her class I'm starting to become concerned that it's affecting their mental health. FTR, our child has not been at the receiving end of this teacher's treatment but they are troubled by how unfairly the others have been treated and they're stressed out expecting to be the target any day now.

I've advised DC to speak with the year head but I'd appreciate other suggestions about how to approach this.

I'm not sure if us asking for a meeting with the teacher makes sense, or if we should speak with someone else at the school.

Thanks.

The who is so and so -> detention could be for lack of homework maybe? Anything else sounds weird.

No idea how to approach this if your DC's interpretation is accurate though.

DC is pretty reliable and truthful, so I think something is up with this teacher.

There was no homework due. She reportedly just looked down her list at the end of class and randomly chose some names to stay after for detention.

Seems to also berate them for not knowing enough of the subject already, which is silly given they're only in week 5 and have not had this topic before. She told them on day one that it was a very difficult subject and showed them lots of advanced-level work to prove it.

Positive encouragement and love of the subject and teaching seems completely absent.

I would go direct to the Head of Learning or Head of Pastoral Care for Year 7 and say exactly what you have said here.

I am a teacher. She will teach 100's of students. Not to know all their names by now is expected.

She may also have software monitoring so if they are on technology and she can see that they aren't on what she expects them to be on she will just have a name.and that will be why she has issued the detention. No teacher gives random detentions for no reason (it takes up their own break times!)

I believe your dc op. My ds was bullied by a teacher. They were soon sacked. Don't be afraid to approach the Head teacher.. It does happen.

Christ on a bike.

l was a secondary school teacher. Learning 500 names in 5 weeks is a big ask. Especially if they are in a rotation.

(She) apparently randomly chooses someone off her registration list, asks, "Who is so-and-so?" and then tells them they have a detention.

😂😂😂 Yeah OK.

I am not sure I’m buying she looks at lists and gives detentions for fun as she just loves to give up her breaks for that. There will be a reason, it’s just your kid doesn’t know.

not knowing the names is normal. You can’t really think she’d know them all so soon there will be hundreds. That’s a feat of memory that I’m impressed you and your kid could do but most of us couldn’t.

You need to speak to the HoY and the teacher. Maybe parents' evenings are coming up?

It's not unusual, or unacceptable to not know everyone's names after only spending- what? 20? 15? hours with them, and as others have suggested, it could well be that she's checking something on the electronic register/platform that your son knows nothing about as he isn't one of the ones being given detention.

Only by asking will you find out.

Transition from primary to secondary is massive. Factor in that we are noticing a much younger mental maturity thanks to Covid (our first year secondary for the last 2 years have seemed like 9 year olds, not 11 year olds) and you've got a hotbed of misunderstanding, fear and "too strict" teachers who, very probably are not. It will be the first time probably these children have been reprimanded for not doing something (like homework) and it takes some getting used to.

Approach the head of year, someone senior. Mention your concerns which they will have to investigate. That is the only way for things to possibly change. You mentioned nitpicking and criticising, so if this teacher is spoken to it can be something she can be mindful of.

Having witnessed something like this in my previous work place, really irks me, and this was in a primary school. So definitely make someone aware of it.

@CookMeDinner
This could be the crap school my stepkids attend.
The 13 yr old came home (yr 9) he's kind of nerdy and not a trouble maker- and said I got 2 detentions this week and I don't know why, I've not been naughty.
I asked who gave him the detentions and he said he didn't know - they are just announced at registration.
Talk about a crap system!
He's being punished but has no idea what for.
Head of year is utterley useless too.

The 15 yr old who is a bit of a bugger- gets constant detentions- but chooses not to attend. And then after so many times of not attending the detention he receives a headmaster detention. Which means once a month he gets to spend an hour with the head master.

It's an awful school but has excellent ofstead reviews. If they were my kids I would have moved them years ago. 15 yr old is in yr 11 and cannot wait to leave. Him and his friends are treated like criminals. And they are not- they are nice normal intelligent lads who refuse to be treated like morons. So they rebel by talking back. And then another detention. I just ignore all the emails and letters we receive now about the detentions. It's crazy.

We are in Cheshire.

Op don’t ask your kid to escalate, you ask to talk to the teacher. But remember this could be your child’s take on it and they maybe struggling with the transition. Secondary is very very different.

when you speak to the teacher just say you have some concerns, you’re unsure if this is your child’s take or reality but explain they are worried as they think kids get detentions for no reason, are feeling stressed and worried they will be next etc and see what the teacher says

id not assume that absolutely what your kid says is the truth of it. It’s their truth and their perception but it may not be reality

Thanks for the suggestions.

I wouldn't expect teachers to know every name but this teacher doesn't seem to know anyone's. From what we're hearing, she's just nasty to everyone.

I did suggest DC speak to one of the children who was "randomly handed" a detention to find out if they really did have to do detention or if it was something else the teacher wanted. Makes sense that no- teacher would want to sacrifice their break time for a detention if they didn't have to.

I'm going to see what DC says about the class today and if it's still upsetting them, I'll look to arrange a meeting with the school.

I wonder is it a Music teacher in the SW? 😆
Seems uncannily similar situation to my dd.
Tread carefully, we set up a meeting to chat through a number of issues including this teacher with the head of house, and it was her!

There are teachers who bully people. Tread softly, but also do not let it go. This happened to my DD1, who was one of those quiet, well behaved, hard-working students. She was getting behaviour warnings from her physics teacher in Yr 8 for the most trivial things whilst kids who were standing on tables and throwing bags around were ignored. She had a quiet word with her form tutor, who alerted the HoD, who did a random lesson inspection at exactly the right time and then had a word with the teacher.

It stopped. He never taught her again.

The thing that worries me here is the number of people who are so quick to dismiss the OP’s concerns, as though a teacher can never be wrong. Having seen it from the other side, some teachers just are nasty! It does happen. Believe your DC, OP!

After nearly a month, she doesn't know anyone's name and apparently randomly chooses someone off her registration list, asks, "Who is so-and-so?" and then tells them they have a detention.

You had me until this bit 🤨 I think your child has it wrong, but I will stand corrected if he gets a detention and when you ring up to ask why, the school say "dunno just fancied it".

You say that your son hasn't been on the receiving end of this teacher's anger, and that he is concerned for his classmates, then say she treats everyone like this.
Could you clarify which it is?

It sounds as though she's ticked their names off (eg for low performance in class or homework) and referred to the list when telling them they had a detention.

I went for an interview in a school - I'd been teaching in a sixth form. When I heard that the teachers for my subject never knew the names of the children until their GCSE options, I decided not to go ahead. I loved my sixth form students; I didn't want to face a mass of kids whose names I'd never know.

Calm down, no one is saying don’t believe the child. What’s being said is speak to the teacher but go gently as this could be the truth of what’s happening or the child’s perception of it as they are struggling as this teacher doesn’t baby them all, and it’s not reality.

sure there are teachers who are nasty to every child and who also give detentions for fun and no reason. But it’s not common place.

Fun subject. I’m guessing something like music where the teacher may have 6 year 7 classes alone so 180 new names to learn.

I had to speak to my son’s teacher for the same sort of thing . She kept dishing out punishments unfairly. Seemed to take great delight threatening the kids. She told the class that she was going to spoil their summer holidays by setting loads of extra work. I called her out on it. In the end she asked me what she should have done. She knew she had been unreasonable. I will back a teacher up if my child has done wrong, but I can’t stand unfair systems when it comes to punishments.

The only time that works is if she's passing on the message from the system - they've earned it somewhere else but she's the one who sees it and let's them know because the alternative is either finding out at formtime/the last lesson or not knowing and going home to then have to explain why they weren't there the next day.

If you want to escalate this, the place to start is the form tutor, who is the first point of contact for the children in his/her form. Then Year head afterwards if you aren’t happy.

'Nice normal intelligent lads' who get constant detentions and 'choose' not to attend.
And you ignore the emails and letters.

Yup, definitely the school's fault 🙄