Humph

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mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Humph

Post by mystery »

Went to see year 4 dd's ever so helpful teacher today to ask her for the tenth time if she has any guidance on planning and structuring the different genres of writing they are supposed to do. Homework is frustrating as her writing looks worse to me than in year 2. Answer is no. Got any maths targets she can't already do? No. When does the schoold do C A T thingies to give an idea of whether or not 11plus suitable. School has stopped doing them.

Great.
scary mum
Posts: 8841
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Humph

Post by scary mum »

School has stopped doing them.
I think they are quite expensive for the school to administer, so quite a lot are stopping them.
scary mum
push-pull-mum
Posts: 737
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Humph

Post by push-pull-mum »

Sounds horribly familiar, Mystery, except that school have never taken any interest in 11+ so would have known better than to ask.
Went to see Year 4 teacher last week because DS is so unenthused about writing. I asked the teacher for some ideas to get him a bit more motivated.
Her reply "Well, I could give him more stickers."
scarlett
Posts: 3664
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 10:22 am

Re: Humph

Post by scarlett »

Mystery, just do it yourself.....you know how to. Why do you keep asking at the school? I don't think you will ever get the answer you want. Just ask on here instead! :D
JRM
Posts: 301
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 7:32 pm

Re: Humph

Post by JRM »

I asked for a specific target for DD because she has had the same targets for a year and a half and I would like to know what I can do specifically to help her. I just got another print out of the level 3a targets. They used to get 2 or three things to focus on. I might just wade my way through them all and send in my observations!
The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.
Dr Seuss
KS10
Posts: 2516
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:39 am

Re: Humph

Post by KS10 »

I have no idea what DD's targets are. I know she'll get her written report in July but I don't think anything specific has ever been mentioned. I was told her levels though.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Humph

Post by mystery »

You are all right ... but from time to time I like to try and change the world. DD1 has learned almost nothing from this particular teacher this year in either literacy or maths and sometimes I like to ask for things that take the teacher no extra time ... less time even than saying no to me .... but which would mean that she would spend less time on homework but get more out of it. My DD is at times 8 going on 18 and if I ask her to do something with the homework that the teacher has not spelled out is necessary I don't get too far.

Told the teacher we both just feel like putting the homework in the bin some days. Maybe I just will. The contrast with the year 2 homework at the same school is just mind boggling. At the same time my year 2 is doing some decent pieces of writing homework following the teacher's instructions my year 4 is doing depressing pieces of rubbish which do comply to the letter of the half-baked instructions.

Why would it be so hard for her to provide a few sheets that they use at school on planning, and tips on what is expected from the different forms of genre writing etc.

I'm not going to get very far if we ever have to appeal with no CAT scores and English exercise books which compare unfavourably with a year 2 child. Hopefully next year will be a world apart and this fallow year (or year of going backwards) will be successfully dead and buried.
push-pull-mum
Posts: 737
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:52 pm

Re: Humph

Post by push-pull-mum »

DS has definitely been having the "year of going backwards" too - and I have vivid memories of hijacking the "Open Parents' Evening" on the same subject when DD was in Year 4. Maybe not a co-incidence?

I don't think schools care enough about Year 4 and it's a pity because it is such a teachable age.

Keep on trying to change the world, Mystery. I'm right behind you.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Humph

Post by mystery »

Thanks. Feeling a bit better after venting on here. Some things have improved over the years - not that will help mine but that should lead to greater things in the younger year groups. Also, there's a new maths co-ordinator who is worth her salt and I think is going to try and do her best to bring the two remaining wayward years into shape ... she'll have to be superhuman though.

By the end of year 4 DD1 should have completed her quota of bad years (only 3 out of 5 of those years have been poor ones - maybe that's good) and on to what I hope proves to be a well taught and fun 5 and 6. DD2 has had a worse hand so far with about half her first three years being pretty poor, and it looking as though either year 3 or 4 or both will be pretty desperate too.

Scarlett is right - you can make up for a lot of it at home in bits and bobs here and there. But it's not the most desirable way. Children should get through what they need to at school and then come home to play. And when you are picking up the school's pieces you might hope they'd be a little bit helpful now and then with imparting some tricks of the trade or a few worksheets on planning a story or such-like.

I hadn't thought of year 4 being generally a "neglected" year. That wasn't the case at our school last year. It looked good. Maybe though it is a year in which a school can hide a few sins. I'm not asking them to change though - just to hand out a simple bit of free info to me (everyone actually).

I've volunteered quite a bit there too. Humph again. Glad you are all nice and helpful on here.
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: Humph

Post by Belinda »

Keep plugging away!
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/ ... iction.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With school not going so well... This link might help with ideas for writing tasks. It's about the kids knowing the what 'format' different writing styles need to take, and what needs to be included in various articles. There are so many. They just need to follow the 'rules' for each genre.

As for handwriting, it might have changed... but DC1, uni finals, dyslexic, has handwriting that could be mistaken for a primary aged child! She got A*A* in both her English GCSE's, doing better than her siblings who have neat handwriting and are not dyslexic. Content is far more important.
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