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Disruptive in Geography - what next?

3 replies

Whatafustercluck · 21/10/2025 08:00

Ds is almost 15. Diagnosed with adhd, and on medication to help him focus in lessons. He's settled down in most of the heavily theoretical subjects and working towards his MTGs, which are mostly 6s - with the exception of maths and PE, which are higher. He's usually a polite boy, chatty, sociable, respectful of adults - unless he feels that something is unfair or unjust.

He has 8 behaviour points this half term, half of which are for Geography. None of the others are 'repeats', one was on a day when he forgot to take his meds, one was acknowledged by the teacher as a bit unfair and reassured him it 'wouldn't count towards anything'. All of them he has taken on the chin.

Last term I had two meetings with his Geography teacher. All very amicable, she said all the right things, said there were some supportive measures she would try. It improved for a while, but only for a half term and things began to slip again. His MTG for Geography is 6, he's tracking at a 3. I've asked his head of house for new ideas, because we feel like we've tried everything. The teacher called yesterday evening to update me on his behaviour this half term - same disruptions. She said he 'celebrated' when he was given a detention. Ds is adamant that another child celebrated, and he laughed (accepted this was unhelpful). She also told me he'd "been put on report, I don't know if he's told you", to which I replied that he asked to go on report (this was confirmed by his head of house) to prove that the only subject he has an issue with is Geography and to try to keep himself on track. Basically, ds hates his teacher and says she has it in for him. Moving class isn't an option. She told me last night that she intends to double down on behaviour management and get stricter (which ds scoffed at, saying she's already unfairly targeting him).

I'm not sure where to go with this now. His teacher has tried various seating plans. It's apparently 6 boys who persistently chat. We've spoken to ds about his behaviour and reinforced expectations at home in various ways. We're now at a loss to know what to do and I said this to his teacher. She feels the same.

I asked him if it's the content that's boring and he just said "no, there are other subjects with boring content which I'm doing well in - it's the teacher." He's got her now until GCSEs, so it can't go on like this (from her perspective, as well as his).

Any ideas of next steps?

OP posts:
flawlessflipper · 21/10/2025 11:57

Can the SENCO or someone else observe a lesson to see what is happening and give support in preventing and managing the disruption?

Could you request DS drops geography? It isn’t possible in all schools without an EHCP because of the issue of what DC will do/where they will go, but in some schools it is possible.

Whatafustercluck · 22/10/2025 11:06

Thanks @flawlessflipper tbh from the interactions I've had with the senco I don't think ds is a priority, so she's unlikely to agree to do that (she'll likely say that ds is only on wave 1 support measures, and greater interventions only apply to those in higher support waves). I'm going to escalate it somehow though.

I'm not sure they'll let him drop geography. Particularly because his MTG is reasonably high, so I think they'll want to persevere. Somehow.

OP posts:
flawlessflipper · 22/10/2025 13:59

If that is the reply from the school, I would point out if the issues in geography escalate, it has the potential to derail DS’s exam performance in all subjects. That is not in their interests either.

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