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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

French yr7- can I ask for DS to go down a class.

9 replies

Christywhisty · 10/03/2008 15:05

Just had parents evening, and every teacher was very pleased with DS, saying how interested, enthusiastic he is, knowlegable, well behaved.His work is of high quality g&t in science and geography, up for awards in history etc We came away very very proud
His German teacher just says he lacks confidence but is managing level 3. His only problem is French

He does have literacy problems and is on the special needs register, but his french teach has no sympathy at all for him and says as he is top set he has no excuse. DS now hates french and I think he turns off, I do help him with his homework, but he is often not getting the right homework down and is scared to ask, just in case he gets in trouble. His french teacher is seriously scary and scared me! She says he is falling behind.

I do feel he can't be good at everything and he is working so hard at everything, does it matter if one subject has got give , but I can't imagine his french teacher seeing it that way.

I do wonder if he could be taken down a class in French, has anyone elses dc done that in just one subject.

OP posts:

snorkle · 10/03/2008 15:23

It would only work if the other classes are timetabled to have French at the same time (ie it's true sets, rather than streams) but if so then why not ask?

ecoworrier · 11/03/2008 09:28

I don't see why not. At our school sets are relatively fluid, they are reviewed once a term and although children aren't moving all the time, it does happen that a child might move up or down.

I would talk both to the French teacher and head of year. It sounds like your son might be more confident near the top of a set 2 or even set 3 than struggling in a top set.

Like snorkle said, if it's proper setting and not streaming, it should work. The whole point of setting is that it recognises a child might be very able in one or more subjects but less so in other subjects.

If it's streaming, it's more difficult.

roisin · 11/03/2008 20:39

What year is he Christywhisty? At our school it would be difficult to move sets in MFL at this stage because of timetabling.

But given the scenario you describe he would be moved to a lower set for the following year.

Original poster

Christywhisty · 11/03/2008 23:42

Thanks
He's Year 7, He has been set as in english and maths he is in a the second class and the rest he is in the top class. There are 3 classes in the top set (have I got that right?) who do french and german, then the middle set do Italian and french and the bottom set just do french.
I don't necessarily want him to move down a whole set just a class or two, so that there is n't the pressure of "you are in the top class" therefore you have no excuse.

I will make enquiries,even if we have to wait until Year 8.

I have found out the class below his is at a different time, so it probably will not be practicle now.

OP posts:

stuffitllama · 12/03/2008 00:22

Have you told the teacher all this? Have you said that he is sometimes too nervous to ask about the homework? I think she should know. If he is a well-motivated child generally and he is losing motivation in this one subject because of her, then she needs to know imo.

miljee · 12/03/2008 16:45

Gotta be happy he didn't have the author of Longmans' Audio Visual French as a yr 7 teacher like I had in '73! God, he was a bar-steward (if you'll excuse my French, ha ha). He did a great line in humiliation and put me off languages for life! Stupid thing is I'm actually quite good at German, now, having done a gap year there!

SarahJones · 20/03/2008 15:24

Having a teacher that behaves like that can be disastrous to a child's confidence, I really feel for you... You mentioned that he probably won't be able to move down a class this year so maybe as an alternative you might want to think about getting him a private tutor for the rest of this year so that he can get help with his homework and hopefully get him feeling a bit more confident about his lessons.
I hope this is helpful!

Original poster

Christywhisty · 20/03/2008 21:51

I don't think he would be happy with a tutor. Thankfully they have had a french man come in a nd teach a few lessons lately which ds has enjoyed
Also been recording what he has to learn for tests onto his phone, so that he can listen on the way to school to see if that works.

OP posts:

FatZakAteAllTheEggs · 20/03/2008 21:58

Miljee, we did Longmans too!! Crank up the old projector and listen for the "bing"

Christy, I'm a French teacher and agree with the others that you should speak with his teacher again and also with the Head of languages. At this point in the year, if the timetable is an issue, then perhaps request a change of group for September. If he is managing the German then he is obviously grasping the skills required for language learning so perhaps it is now an issue with his teacher We regularly have notices that parents have requested that we double check that the children have noted their homework in their planners, so certainly do put that to Head of Department/Head of Year.

I hope he isn't put off French for life

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