Dealing with an incompetent teacher

If you’re not happy with a school you can’t move children around like chess pieces. They have friendship groups and it takes time for them to settle in at a school
Judith Robinson, parent 

Property developer Judith Robinson* lives in North Somerset and has three children – step-daughter Chloe (24), Olivia (20) and Josh (18). All of her children have attended private schools.
* Names have been changed in this article

“People often think that teachers in the private sector are going to be better than those in the state system, but that is a myth. If a child gets into difficulty it can be down to various things: there may be a personality clash between the teacher and your child; the teacher might not like your child, or he or she doesn’t convey the subject in a way that works.

“The first time we had a problem was when Josh was in Year 6 of Prep School. He went from being a child who loved school to being almost school-phobic. He would cry in the car on the way to school and became uptight, frightened and very clingy. I went to the head, explained his behaviour and emphasized that there had been no change in his circumstances at home.

“It turned out that his teacher at the time had had a nervous breakdown – her boyfriend had chucked her and her mother had died. The classroom assistant had taken over some of her duties and the head had done nothing about the situation. Josh was starting to show signs of dyslexia and the teacher had been running the class way too fast for him. She was getting very exasperated with his lack of progress, which really knocked his confidence.

“I didn’t get any support from the head and he said there was something wrong with Josh, which I suppose was his defence strategy. The teacher was taken out for the last few months of Josh’s time there and when we changed schools he was fine.

Rudeness at parents’ evening

“My step-daughter, Chloe, came to live with us when she was aged 11 and attended a local senior school. At a parents’ evening we talked to her form teacher (who was also her English teacher) and she was bloody rude to Chloe. Some teachers don’t have management skills and the direction either by the head or the school does not culturally endorse the fact that you have to speak to children with respect.

“I think that she was using attack as a form of defence. In English lessons she wasn’t allowing the children to use revision guides because she was using them herself in the classroom.

“Chloe wanted to change schools in sixth form so I wrote a constructive letter to the head explaining why she was leaving. I tried to provide a base of useful criticism for him to work from. For instance, I explained that the teacher had marked work negatively and hadn’t come up with any support or constructive remarks, just unrelenting criticism.

“The head asked me to come in and I gave more reasons as to why Chloe was leaving. He listened and was respectful, but he rolled his eyes because there is real difficulty in knowing how to deal with this situation. Olivia was at the same school, so I rang the secretary and said I didn’t want her to go into that teacher’s class, but the secretary told me that the teacher had left.

“I believe that my management principles and skills helped me to evaluate this teacher fairly. I’m always appalled at the looseness of the way in which teachers will talk about a child at parents’ evenings. They should be more measured and constructive.

Challenge the teachers; champion your child

“I’ve always had to champion Josh because he’s dyslexic. He wanted to study chemistry at GCSE, but he really struggled so I organised private tuition for him, which worked very well. The school, for ease of administration, said they wanted Josh to go for the basic foundation level chemistry, which meant he couldn’t get anything higher than a grade C. Josh’s private tutor challenged this and said he could easily get a B. So, I went to see the science teachers and said I wanted him to do intermediate chemistry. He did this and achieved a grade B.

“A friend of mine had a similar problem. Her daughter wanted to become a dentist and needed grade A for physics A-level. The school, however, said she wouldn’t get that grade and that she would have to rethink her career choices. The family ignored this advice and she’s now qualified as a dentist.

“It takes time to work with a school to change a teacher because of employment law, so if you want the best results for your child don’t take any risks and get a tutor. People say ‘why pay extra when you’re paying already’, but it’s more complex than that. If you’re not happy with a school you can’t move children around like chess pieces. They have friendship groups and it takes time for them to make new friends and settle in at a school before they even start to learn.

“My advice is work in partnership with your child and listen to what he or she is telling you. Evaluate what that subject offers to your child’s career and, if it’s important, put together a diary of the issues that have emerged, report the facts, and go to the school to talk it over. Note sloppy things, like teaching materials that are out of date, technical skills not being used to invigorate a subject and poor lesson planning. If that doesn’t work, go through the complaints procedure.

“Examination results are a defining moment for kids. Helping them to achieve the best results makes them feel more confident about themselves and job/university applications. This is why it is important to monitor teacher/child relationships.

“Perhaps I am a demanding person but I wanted to do it as a pathway for parents who were struggling. Ultimately, a headteacher knows how good a teacher is by the results they achieve at the year end and through the degree of complaints that they receive from parents. Many inadequate teachers simply move on to other schools, but that just perpetuates the problem.”

Find out about the parents who are taking legal action against schools because they have grievances

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