Do secondary school teachers know about individual children's learning problems?

[NaughtyNigel]

DD1 is rather dyslexic. not dyslexic enough to be classed as special educational needs though.
yet again she has come home with a note in her planner from her languages teacher (the 5th time tis year) telling her off for not being able to spell properly in german or french.
DD can't spell in english - let alone a language she has been learning for 6 months.
I brought this up with her form mentor at parents evening but it has made no difference.
she just gets hasstled for 'not using extra techniques to improve her spelling'.
She has a book to write down misspelled words and a pocket spell checker but as she points out by the time she's looked up a word she isn't sure of the class has moved on and she then gets told off for not keeping up.
Do teachers who only have a class for a couple of hours a week know much about them? considering that this is a class of 30 ish and there ar 9 other classes in her year group.
would it be unreasonable of me to write to the individual teacher? (DD does not want me to do this).
What do you think?

They should know as we all have access to the INclusion register , but when you have a large number of classes it can be easy to forget. Perhaps a polite note to the head of year which could be passed on to all teachers may be a diplomatic way forward.

I peronally wouldn't mind a reminder from you but if dd does not want you to do this try a more general approach.

Has your DD been tested officially for dyslexia, if so then it is the responsibility of the school to advise all her teachers of her learning difficulty.

So it would be fair for you to complain to the school and, yes, i would go in and talk to the individual teacher, (but not accusingly or aggressively)

if she hasn't been tested, then go and get it done as it will make everything easier.

I teach 15 different classes a week and I hold my hands up and admit that i have forgotten in the past certain pupils needs. If a parent put a note in a pupis planner or sent a polite note in to me I wouldn't be offended at all (as long as it was polite

It certainly isn't unreasonable!

Yes, personally I'd phone explain in friendly terms that you and dd know this, it been identified by every teacher in previous years & she will continue to use spelling strategies but realistically that area is always going to be weaker.

I used to support girls with dyslexic/dyslexic type problems and the written aspect of MFL was hard. Given your dd gets no extra support time, could she do the spelling book/language strategies at home as part of the MFL h/w (not in addition to it, but take 5-10 mins out of the time she would spend?). Or agree with dd that in lesson she writes the 1st 3 tricky words she encounters in her book and do no more. It's pointless listing them all anyway.

If this is the approach your dd goes for then I'd also mention it in the phone call (explaining that dd not keeping up with the lesson otherwise) Ask if it's a good strategy? Do they have any other ideas? That way they know it's being addressed but in a way that best serves your dd.

so i'm not being unbearably over reactive then?
will put a note in DDs planner and get DD to show it to said teacher if she hastles about spelling.
thanks

No, definitely not OTT

I hope you don't mind me saying, but note in planner might not be the most positive approach because:

a) your dd will have to show note in front of her classmates
b) teacher might see it as "I've asked you to do something" and then pupil pulls note that says a defiant "I'm not to do it", iyswim even though it's not meant like that
c) a note in a planner will not convey enough

A behind-the-scenes friendly chat often achieves a lot more ime and also stops dd having to deal with any more of it.

I think it is very difficult for teachers who see a class of 30 once or twice a week. They may have over 300 pupils on their books, and it can take a long time to get to know everyone.

I have 10 Yeaar 7s and I see them for 7 lessons per week, It is so different from the typical experience.

What I would suggest is that you write a generic note to go in your DD's planner, so if she gets hassle, she can show them it. You should also make an appointment to see the Form Tutor so that you an agree strategies.

(just reviewing the thread before posting, and I see that the planner route has already been suggested )

I think I'd actually give your dd a letter (in an envelope so it's not on display in the planner) just addressed to whichever teacher would need to know and ask dd to show it to those who need reminding. Make the letter friendly and state the learning difficulty your dd has. Then ask if there is anything you can do at home to help support her progress in this lesson and you'd appreciate some acknowledgement/advice on this.

To be honest, I doubt unless your DD is classed as School Action or SA+ (or statemented), the 'average' teacher would not have made a note.

I assumed that this is the problem - too many children to remember which is why i'm not going there tomorrow morning with my knuckle dusters polished.
so do you think a letter to individual language teacher - she has the same one for both French and German or a not in planner or both.
and what about a letter to form mentor? I already discussed this with him a few weeks ago at parent evening.

insert commas and e's where needed. don't know where she gets it from!

You say dd is 'rather dyslexic'. Ss she dyslexic or does she have issues with spelling? Because I wonder is the teacher has noticed the issues, wants to help but perhaps not advised you and dd about it in a sensitive enough way. Because if she's not medically [is that appropriate term?] dyslexic she needs help to become a better speller rather that possibly labelling her as someone who is a non - speller [rather than a kid who is learning to spell if you see what I mean)

Shame teacher don't give her more time to use spell checker.

Personally, if I have a student who seems less able at spelling I do advise them of the correct spelling [though I have to look in a dictionary myself!!!) and ask them to use 'key words' dictionary. Its a balancing act metween making to bigger deal out of a kid's weaker area but then I wouldn't want them to feel they are a hopeless case.

Best of luck. I was rubbish at spelling and had to use 'extra techniques'. I got better. I find predictive texting helps my pupils.....

However if dd is dyslexic she will also need to use techniques, she won't just be excused from spelling in what ever language she is learning in.

She was assessed in yr 5 in promary school and is mow in yr7. I don't expect her to be excused as i know only too well how people judge poor spelling and I won't be letting her use it as an excuse not to try harder to spell properly.

sorry am typing in the dark.
primary school
now

My son is in the same position NaughtyNigel. Unfortunately he has to learn French and German. His was on the special needs register in primary with lots of extra help for spelling.
He is now Year 7 and when he started he was getting upset about it. He has regular tests in both languages and is expected to get 75% otherwise he repeats the test and if still not good it was detention.
He spoke to his French teacher who said his problems were not an excuse.

I wrote on here and was advised to see the SENCO. She turned out to be lovely and said he was almost certainly dyslexic, put him back on the SEN reg.
His French teacher spoke to him after that and told him he was a very bright boy and on the g&t register (she is the g&t coordinator). The senco had spoken to her I think and this was a way of raising his confidence in his abilities

However she has not been very understanding at all and she was the only one to give him bad feedback at parents evening, saying he has to learn revising strategies etc, but not really giving him any advice on what they should be.Because he is very bright she expects a lot from him.
He got 7 out of 10 last week and he ended up resitting the test and getting another long lecture on revising properly etc.
He really doesn't like french anymore.

In contrast his german teacher has been very understanding and says he just lacks confidence. This confidence is growing and he has started to learn the rules of german spelling and is improving all the time.

Try and get an appointment with the SENCO. At primary they said ds wasn't dyslexic because he could read well. But his current SENCO says he reads well because he was taught phonics properly.

You are making a lot of sense christy. and sounds like our situation. will try to see the senco then.
many thanks

I would not be advised of a need unless the child is on the SEN regester.

I do know if a child has a SN if there are on school action , or higher.

I would wonder why your dd isn't on the school action level of the SEN regester since she has dyslexia.

I would raise the issue with the school

I agree with MB. Unless a child is on the SEN register we wouldn't know anything about dyslexia problems.

You need to contact the school, and ask for her to be put on the register. However they would want to see some evidence of her problems before putting her on the register.

I agree with MB. Unless a child is on the SEN register we wouldn't know anything about dyslexia problems.

You need to contact the school, and ask for her to be put on the register. However they would want to see some evidence of her problems before putting her on the register.

Also, bad spellers are not always dyslexic

Slightly off tangernt

How would you differentiate between a bad speller and a dyslexic speller Fizzbuzz?

i would write to the form tutor, she should have childs records, she should have past this on to the languages teacher

A dyslexic child will often show a lot of symptoms of which bad spelling may be just one. Eg, they may have slow processing skills, daydreaming, handwriting problems or poor organisation. They may have a low reading age, poor comprehension or delayed language development (late talker)

I think the general rule of thumb is, if there is a wide gap between understanding and writtn comprehension, then there may be some sort of dyslexia.

This can happen with even the cleverest of chidren. HTH

Also I think you need to contact the SEN dept rather then form tutor( I hold no records on my forms, they are all locked up in an office somewhere!) then you are going straight to the horses mouth. You could ask them to request info on your dd from all subject teachers which may throw something up. Or Head of Year would do same.

My son is dyslexic although he is now at uni. I am also a dyslexia teacher.

When my son was at sec school, I used to write to all his teachers every year and remind them of his problems. You can't rely on the form tutor to inform them all- in an ideal world, yes, but not always.

Sadly, very few SENCOs have SpLD training and although they might have good intentions, they often don't know much about dyslexia.
Has tour son had an assessment from an ed psych? if so, they should have included recommendations for school to follow. That can be a good starting point.

sorry- your DD! I have re-read your posts.

Christywhisty- if you look at the BDA website, you will find their statement about what dyslexia is. Basically, it is problem with working memory- this can affect learning to spell, numeracy ( times tables), speed of reading, organisational skills, speech, concentration, speed of processing information, poor handwriting, and poor co-ordination- usually with fine motor skills rather than gross.