Can I let off some steam??

[llisa32]

Arggghhhhhhhhhhh.........apologies in advance, I'm being a not so great at helping others with advice at the moment as struggling to remain in a 'state of calm'..to add to my current frustrations re ''waiting in limbo now' for the diagnosis appt in feb we had a parents evening tonight.

 

We had fantastic reviews from French and Science and Technology!! , and they were great to hear...J even asked for more writing in french lesson!! - even the teacher was stunned cos she knows how much trouble he's been having in other lessons with writing.

 

Then moved onto Maths which is with his old form teacher...he's in top set maths, and his IEp states that teachres should not be expecting him to copy work down from a board, and that sums etc should be written down for him. J had let slip ealrier today that he'd only done 3 sums in maths today - I asked him how comes and he said that was all I could copy down and do.

 

he said the teacher doesn't copy down for him anymore. So went into the classroom tonight and the entire whiteboard at the front of the class was covered...and I mean covered with sums.

 

Teacher said when questioned...'well....I don't really have time to copy down for him...maybe if I had someone to help me I could!! - she's got 12 flippin kids in her class!!! - how difficult can it be to prepare a handout!!!

 

Also had a bit of a barny with dep head who point blank refused to let me have copies of the tests they took before xmas (the ones where marks were awful) ....I wanted to see them so we could get a better idea of what questions phase him...she said no way ....in the end she agreed the ed psch could see them in school!

 

I am now thinking of waiting to see how ed psch gets on on monday and then just going straight to the head and demand they address this maths issue - especially as he was one of the people adamanent wen J changed classes that he remained in top set maths! - but if he's unable to produce any written evidence of knowledge etc how will they ever know, and he certainly failed the exam before xmas.

 

Phew!!...thats me done - apologies for the rant...just needed to get it out!

[Nic m]

Lisa,

i don't know what to suggest but i share your frustration, my only thing is write it all down to keep it fresh, if i am frustrated i end up forgetting to say something.

Take care, you will get there

nic

[Clare63]

Lisa,

Its good to let it all out, and where better than on here, sounds as if you have most things in hand, but of course its very frustrating when you are awaiting a dx.

 

Surely the teacher must have copied the sums on the board from a list, why an earth could she not photocopy it for him !!!!! Good news about the other subjects. C is also good at languages, he says its like a code and that's how he learns it. he does French and Spannish and is now trying to learn Japanese !!!!!

 

Take a deep breathe and start again tomorrow.

 

<'> <'> <'>

 

Clare x x x

[justamum]

Surely the teacher must have copied the sums on the board from a list, why an earth could she not photocopy it for him !!!!!

 

because her list will have the answers on them so she doesn't have to work them out. If the IEP states the sums should be copied for him then she is not adhering to the IEP

[Tally]

If she's taken the time to write them onto the board, it would be just as easy to write them onto a piece of paper and have it photocopied.

[justamum]

but that's thinking outside the box

[lisa]

Also had a bit of a barny with dep head who point blank refused to let me have copies of the tests they took before xmas (the ones where marks were awful) ....I wanted to see them so we could get a better idea of what questions phase him...she said no way

 

I've read a few times recently about schools not allowing the parents to see copies of test papers. I can't understand this attitude. You'd think the school would be grateful that the parents are showing an interest in the child's education and are prepared to spend the time going through the test with their child, helping them to see where they went wrong and how they could improve.

 

Surely it's in the school's interest for the kids to get the best results possible. We had parents evening last night and my son's science teacher had even taken the time to do bar charts showing how well the child performed in the practice tests for each topic. It was really useful because it shows straight away his strengths and weaknesses, and what he needs to work on to improve.

 

It seems to me that it boils down to an 'us and them' attitude some schools adopt. They are almost affronted and appear to take offense as if the parent is suggesting they're not doing their job and you're checking up on them. If you don't take an interest, it's bad parenting, if you do, it's interfering, overbearing parent. Damned if you do and damned if you don't!

[BusyLizzie100]

It seems to me that it boils down to an 'us and them' attitude some schools adopt. They are almost affronted and appear to take offense as if the parent is suggesting they're not doing their job and you're checking up on them.

 

Oh Lisa, you're describing my sons' school to a T!! The head even rang me up at home after school a couple of years to tell me off. I'd written what I'd intended to be helpful, considered input regarding DS1's IEP and apparently I made the teacher cry. Well, the head managed to make me cry, too. What a bully. And because I was crying, all the boys started crying, too.

 

Lizzie

[llisa32]

Thanks all for the replies <'>

 

I did sent a rather 'to the point' note into the headmaster on Wednesday espressing my 'confusion' as to why no one had time to copy his maths out for him in a class so small, and that I felt they were hindering his progress by not following the IEP.

 

Today J says the teacher asked him if he'd like his sums written out for him, and he got some help with how to do them!

 

I haven't yet had a reply to my note but it would seem my 'message' got to the right place!

 

I spoke with the Ed Psch yesterday and she is requesting access to the test papers