Bucks 11 2008 + How are we all doing
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Sally-Anne wrote:
You are forgetting someone ...
OMG I'm so sorry Sally-Anne
- I thought it was next year you were in the fray again! Don't know where I got that idea from. Hope it all goes well for you. Andy - a scathing report or parents evening can sometimes be what is needed to get them to pull their socks up! (Speaking from experience of eldest daughter at both primary and GS !) Even if there is only very little justification for it, such a report can provide a positive basis for focussing on problem areas. However, I do get annoyed when the first I hear of a problem is on a parents evening or in an end-of-term report - I would rather be told about a problem before it becomes significant enough to merit an ear-bashing! And don't forget that it is only one teacher's view of your child and, as Sally-Anne pointed out, if they don't get on well then the overall picture could well be affected somewhat. It's good that your son likes RGS - it seems such a long time between seeing the school and taking the test, though. I take DD2 to her sister's school at every opportunity (evening concerts, fetes etc.) which is easy if you already have a child there. Does RGS they hold a science fair or something similar for the feeder schools in Y5?
Hi Hope and Blanca! Blanca, I'm sure a break will do DD good - we are going on holiday the week after next and I don't plan to take any work with us. (Well, possibly a game of Travel Scrabble! )
Marylou
Hi Hope glad it all worked out in the end for your daughter and that was without this site!! imagine this time round, hope it's a walk in the park for you and your son.
Thanks for your encouragment marylou, I will keep plodding on but am sure to question myself many times between now and november! hope you have a great holiday,
Thanks for your encouragment marylou, I will keep plodding on but am sure to question myself many times between now and november! hope you have a great holiday,
That's what I hope she meant - he is in the top set for both English and Maths and is most definitely not struggling so maybe she is frustrated that he is not using his ability. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the meeting as I had flu so I only have a secondhand report - other half was fuming when he got back said he felt like he was a naughty schoolboy! If things were really that bad surely we should have been contacted sooner rather than letting him do half a school year thinking he was doing OK.BLANCA wrote:Hi Andy,
Meant to say, sometimes it can feel like teachers are just going through the motions at parents evening this is fine, thats fine, no problems... maybe teacher can see he is really able and is trying to push him on???
Anyway we expressed our disappointment to son (!) and in the 2-3 weeks since he does seem to be putting in more effort. I have told him that I will be making an appointment with his teacher after the holidays to make sure he is doing better (should keep him on his toes if nothing else!).
I have also discovered that he responds well to financial incentives! When doing his practice tests I have promised him 10p for over 80%, 20p for over 85% etc and as a bonus £1 if he can hit 100%. He sees it as his mission to take as much cash from me as possible which is great because he feels he is doing the tests for his benefit not mine.
AndyB
Yup - we've been left feeling like that on numerous occasions courtesy of eldest DD! I think Blanca is right, though - in retrospect, teachers have only ever been really cross with DD when they know she can do better but simply isn't trying hard enough. I'm glad that there are teachers who care enough to do this even if it is a bitandyb wrote:other half was fuming when he got back said he felt like he was a naughty schoolboy!BLANCA wrote:Hi Andy,
Meant to say, sometimes it can feel like teachers are just going through the motions at parents evening this is fine, thats fine, no problems... maybe teacher can see he is really able and is trying to push him on???
at times. We left our last parents' evening thinking our daughter was turning into a Jeckyll and Hyde character - some teachers praising her work and effort, and others hopping mad with her! 
That's the big difference from primary school - you get a range of views of how your child is doing, which is certainly enlightening and really shows you which subjects (and teachers) they like the most!Regarding incentives - you can't beat some good old bribery, but in our case it is usually in kind (i.e. chocolate). I can safely predict that Cadbury's won't be issuing any profit warnings between now and October...
A good thing DD also gets plenty of exercise... Thanks for that info - extra incentive to get it right first time round!Guest55 wrote:Andyb -it will be hard to get a place at RGS via 12+ they are usually full -
Incidentally he has just done a practice test and scored 77/80 - only actually got one question wrong but didn't mark the answer sheet for the other 2 - he'd crossed off the incorrect options leaving the right answer but didn't put the mark in the box - aaaaahhhhh.
Dear Andybandyb wrote:
Incidentally he has just done a practice test and scored 77/80 - only actually got one question wrong but didn't mark the answer sheet for the other 2 - .
Whenever my students make this error, I just say...
"Unfortunately the computer that marks your test is not going to ring you up and ask whether you meant to put XYZ for your answer"
One of my 'rules' is that at the end of the test, they MUST check that the answer sheet is fully completed, if they get used to this check now, it becomes second nature to do so.
Patricia
