Guest Posted November 28, 2005 Posted November 28, 2005 I really have to get this off my chest. I have a parent who seems to be negative about everything i do. Her child has come from a very formal school. He was in Reception and has now moved to my school in year 1. Although he can write a couple of sentences his letter formations are poor. I explained to her that he needs to write bigger in order to form his shapes better because he has been introduced to a formal way of writing too soon. Anyway she came to me today and showed me a tiny postcard he had written before starting with me and then another tiny postcard he had written yesterday. He was trying to write much bigger but obviously could fit very little on the tiny postcard. Her argument was that he was writing much better before and she feels his writing is worse now. I told her that i would not expect him to do good writing on such a small scale and went on to say how important it is to form letter shapes accurately before writing on a small scale. I am just worried because she is in a group of not very nice clicky parents and i feel sure she will talk about me. She told me that her son had an excellent teacher last year and i felt very insulted by that remark. Have you got any suggestions on how i can handle her because I have 2 more terms to go and she is getting me down. Also because i am Foundation stage trained i sometimes feel a little unsure if what i am doing is enough. Therefore could you put me on to any good sights which will outline what children should be achieving at this stage in year 1. I have very little support in the classroom and a very difficult class. I have a lot of children who need support in all kinds of ways and find it difficult to give anyone my full attention as well as hear readers as well any suggestions how you do things would be much appreciated. Sorry for the long post and big moan.
Guest alisonjayne Posted November 28, 2005 Posted November 28, 2005 Hi Rocket Poor you sounds like you are having a rough time all round, do you have a TA in with you? Or do you have parents in at all. I am Nursery based so can't help but felt I just wanted to say something. I am sure there will be someone who will be able to offer advice soon Ali
fay Posted November 28, 2005 Posted November 28, 2005 Rocket you have my sympathies. and don't worry about having a moan when you need to! I have taught all the way through primary but my heart lies in foundation stage. I think the current pedagogy for FS is very good for all children up to about7, but we need to educate parents, senior management and some KS1 teachers. As a FS teacher you will have good observation skills and be able to tell if you are working at an appropriate level for this child, whatever his mother thinks and you are right to encourage good letter formation. I am afraid patiently and politely explaining yourself over and over, is par for the course for many of us as is developing a thick skin because you will not please everyone and some will complain. The worst are the ones who won't speak directly to you but who complain in the classroom at just the volume which allows you and every one else to hear. This sounds very negative, i don't want to be but I want to reassure you that you are not alone and sometimes the parents who seem the least happy and question everything you do will turn out to be you greatest supporters As for you're other query I am working in nursery so KS1 sites will need some digging out sorry.
Guest tinkerbell Posted November 28, 2005 Posted November 28, 2005 Hi Rocket You have my sympathy also.I have had many years of teaching in R/yr1/yr2 and you will always get the odd parent who has to have a gripe.Often its because they are feeling guilty,a lot of our parents work late and the children go to afterschool until 6pm, they forget reading books,pe kits etc...so they have to blame some one...The point is the child is at your school so the mother knows that you are the best place otherwise why has she not sent him somewhere else? I teach a mixed year1 and Reception class and I too wonder if I'm too formal or too play based ,have i got a good balance etc???I have just got some good assessment stuff off the Cleo (Cumbria) website which knocks the maths attainment targets down into sensible chunks. Hope this is helpful you are doung ok!! Tinkerbell
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