DD trainee teacher horrible situation

[FixYou]

Hi all,
DD is 24 and so far too old for her mother to be worrying as I am, I want to tell her to quit and come home. I am a primary teacher too.
She is doing school based training in a midlands primary school. Having been deemed competent enough by her university, she is meant to now have the class on her own from January (this was the agreement with the university as the nature of the training means it is very full on early on but then trainees are given space to develop their own practice). She is meant to have her induction tutor (another teacher at her school) just popping in to observe every fortnight and for a progress meeting each week.
Instead DD's tutor hangs about in the classroom, butts in when DD is teaching and tells the children DD has 'got it all wrong'. DD has sobbed all weekend about it. She is under immense pressure anyway - as we all know teaching is pressurized enough as it is. It is a year 6 class so sats pressure too. I can see the school want to get as many teachers in the class as possible to boost progress but DD feels any confidence she had is crushed on a daily basis and the children are picking up on the fact she is inferior to the tutor.
My dd went into teaching (as we all did) full of determination and energy. She is now unhealthily anxious about school and unable to really discuss it due to a scary SMT who don't listen.

Any advice?

Get the uni on to discuss it, with school mentor and dd there, too.

Yes she needs to discuss the situation with her uni and ask for advice and if necessary mediation between them and the school. If she doing school.direct? If so is this primary the lead school in the cluster? If not she should be able to talk to the person overseeing the programme from the lead school to get additional support.

Thanks - she has done that and been told to breech it herself first so we will see how it goes.
She is cautious to not be too direct/make it worse as her tutor has powers to make her life even more hell.

How helpful of uni. I suppose really then she needs to ask her tutor to explain exactly what observation expectations there are and what tutor feels her main areas of strength and weakness are. If no improvement, then she tells that to uni and they have a meeting. Doesn't the tutor have a class if her own?!

I feel for her. Husband has just gone through the same thing (on schools direct) and quit. I don't understand why it has to be like that. In our LEA, all schools direct people minus one are going through this shit. Never seen anything like it.

The uni might be right when they say to go via the school first. We went via the uni and look where that got us. The train to teach line also told us no one would listen until we complained via the school's complaints procedure. But we did not trust the school, which was very good at not recording meetings, pretending things weren't discussed when they actually were so husband gave up. When I think these people are actually in charge of children, my blood boils.

Sorry I have no advice for you.

Wishing you and her all the best.

Is this at a Midlands teacher traing uni beginning with a W ending in k?

I went to do a teachingqual at this place - horrendous. I never went back and took my bursary elsewhere.

uni beginning with a W ending in k

I went there, and lasted 3 weeks. They messed up my start date, claimed to have "lost" emails, told lies basically, to cover their backs. Cancelled lectures, with no prior warning. After paying good money for a course, I wanted my money's worth. I was fortunate to get a quick move to a different Uni, which was slightly better.

Actually, not being funny, but I don't think she is supppsed to be on her own with a class. I am a mentor and have always been trained to be around, even in 2nd placement (secondary).

Having said that, the teacher shouldn't be undermining her in front of pupils unless serious. If the year 6 class is "too impprtant" the school shouldn't have used them for a trainee. I wouldn't normally use a year 11 class for example-not this close to exams.

I would advise your dd to contact her uni tutor again.

I feel for you and your DD. My DSis is going through similar. Her tutor is just an unprofessional prick who makes snide comments (on one occasion to another student about DSis.

I work in student welfare at a different university and I told her to speak to student support or, even better, the student representative council. If she does want to lodge a formal complaint later, a paper trail of recorded incidents which does NOT need to be seen by the tutor will help her case. She won't do it, though, because she only has a few months left and is so desperate not to mess up. A few months back, she was so down and it hurt me so much to see her crying all the time. Having worked in academia prior to my current role, it sickens me that people abuse their power like this. This woman made my DSis make her a coffee, then mocked her for making shit coffee.

Please ask your DD to see what the student representative council at her uni can offer in the way of confidential reporting. These people shouldn't be able to get away with this shit. They get paid enough so they should do their bloody jobs or suffer the same consequences as any of us would.

Agree with today, I am a a secondary mentor, and we are not allowed to leave our trainees unsupervised, after all they are essentially unqualified, it might be worth her trying to clarify that with both the uni and the school.

Doesn't it depend which route they are on? Pgce are not allowed to be left unsupervised but gtp (or their equivalent) are, I'm sure. Cover supervisors are not qualified but are in solo charge of classes.

What on earth are they doing giving her a Year 6 class so near to the SATs? It's daft. If I were a year 6 teacher of that class i'd be twitchy about that too, and find it very hard to give the trainee the reins. After all, the progress they make decides the wage of the teacher!

Even GTP students, who can be left unsupervised, should not be given exam classes. I wasn't given any Year 11 or 13 when I did my PGCE for my second placement for precisely that reason.

The teacher has been rude, and shouldn't undermine her, but that said, she shouldn't be in that position. I would be screaming inwardly if a trainee got my current Year 6 class and got things wrong in front of them, it's too late in the day for them for that. They need to feel confident at this point and trainee just isn't right for that, however good they are.

I'd be asking the school, myself, for a Year 5 or 4 class. Or i'd be asking to team teach with the year 6 teacher and get a chance to observe the pressure the teacher is under this term. Another teacher in the class could boost progress, but the class needs their qualified teacher at this point. It's a five weeker! We have only 4 weeks left to make required progress. I feel for your trainee, but I feel for the teacher of the class too! I'd be livid if I got a trainee in now.

GTP doesn't exist anymore, it sounds like she is school direct and if so you really need to contact the lead school in the cluster (often a secondary but not always, it could be that this is the lead school but that would be unlucky! ). WRT being left alone, on either route you can leave students on their own but you do have to be nearby and ready to respond to any problems immediately.

It is utterly daft that she is being put with a Y6 class. I am also quite surprised that she is being left alone with a class from this point of the year.

However, if she was trying to teach a concept and giving incorrect information which would lead to conceptual misunderstandings, then I do think that a teacher who overheard this would be duty bound to step in - but should do so in a way that was respectful of her role.

It's now March. SATs are in May for Yr 6, as you know. There is no way that a (controlling, scared and ambitious) teacher who's worked hard to get her pupils to where they are will even leave the room for anything other than PSHE.
I experienced the same treatment on my school placement yonks ago. It's miserable. Sadly, she may have signed a contract promising to ensure that X number of children achieve Levels Y and Z. It's a sorry situation and I do feel for your daughter. This won't be her only placement. There's always 'one' (awful nightmare). Hang on and get through it. Is it a 6 weeker?

And certainly DO write a letter to her course tutor. If she's being treated in this way, it is likely that her mentor's observatins are negative, too - and that the school sees this for what it is.
She will have observations carried out by her course tutor. As long as they are aware of the situation, she will get through it. THAT is the key person to impress with her teaching skills.
It's a 'teaching life-skill' to deal with certain characters in the staff room and at meetings. This will certainly prepare her for seeing what's 'her stuff' or theirs.

I do not know WHY she would be given a placement in Year 6 at this time of year!