The disintegration of the teacher/parent relationship

Dealing with difficult parents is virtually impossible for any one in education to escape and it is something that can be stressful, exhausting and has led to many great teachers leaving education. However, parents are vital part of their child's educational journey, research has proven that students with greater parental involvement typically have a leg up on students whose parents are less involved. So the reality is that with more parental involvement can come more parental complaint.

Parental complaints can come in a variety of  guises, there is:

The note on a piece of homework - this is generally any easy one to solve with a well worded and considered response, again just in note form, taking on board any concerns and reassuring the parent and rarely causes any stress.

The handwritten letter - again generally easy to solve but this one may require a phone call to the parent or a quick word at the end of the school day, again allaying any concerns.A bit time consuming but not stressful.

The 'quick word' - usually at the beginning or end of the day and still, usually easy to sort out there and then. Probably the least stressful because it is sorted there and then, face to face so avoiding any further misunderstandings between parent and teacher.

The going to see the head or SLT for a moan - getting a bit more tricky to solve now, and stressful, because of the involvement of someone else, along with the frustration it brings that the parent didn't just approach you first. Often, if you are well supported by your SLT or head, this is sorted before it even gets to you and the SLT concerned will listen to the complaint and concerns themselves and allay any fears, leaving it only to inform you what was said. Sometimes though you may have to have a meeting with the parent to do what you would have done if they had just come to you first!

The going to see the head or SLT with a more formal complaint - this may result into you being invited to the heads office which in itself signals the beginning of the stress caused. You may feel under scrutiny and threatened, depending upon how well your head deals with both you and the complaint. The result of this meeting is often the head seeking your point of view and then making a measured, reassuring response to the parent whilst making it clear that they support their member of staff. Sadly this may not always be the case and either way the stress levels are bound to be high.

The Email to the head - I think this is perhaps the worst type of complaint because I think people often elaborate a lot more in an email, adding content they definitely wouldn't if the complaint had been made face to face. This type of complaint in my experience is the most stressful but again needn't be if you have the full  backing from your head. This type of complaint may be dealt with in a similar way to the one above.

The 'complaints I mention are all generally 'he said, she said', 'too much homework', 'too little homework', 'shouting', 'getting picked on by a class member' etc. they are not child protection complaints as these clearly would take a completely different format altogether.

With parents increasingly treated as consumers of school services, to be consulted at every turn, it is perhaps not surprising there has been a rise in parental complaints about everything from the content of the curriculum to pedagogic methods.  The internalisation of the ‘pupil-centred’ model of education can mean parents have little regard for the authority of teachers. Parents at the school gate complain, ‘That teacher doesn’t have the right to say/do that to my child, just because they can’t control the class’.

Teachers want to do the best job they can for the students sitting in front of them. They want the students to excel and learn. They want to teach reading, writing, maths and science. They want to support the multiple learners who sit, waiting to be motivated and engaged. They want to spark that desire for learning in each student... but what expectations are reasonable?

Don’t get me wrong. Teachers expect parents to be their child’s advocate and they need to be. They should request meetings to discuss their child’s progress. Parents should be involved in their child’s education but, what level of involvement is reasonable? When do schools need to call parents on their expectations and say, “this is unreasonable?” Here are some examples:

• insisting that your child deserves more of the teacher’s time than other children
• showing up at the teacher’s classroom door making demands
• requesting daily updates on your child’s progress both academically and behaviourally, by email, phone calls or written notes
• expecting that ill behaviour be ignored because “that is just Johnny” or “Sarah has an identified problem, so her behaviour should be excused”
• creating such stress in the teacher’s professional life that the teacher ends up home on stress leave
• complaining about homework and school work and not holding your own child accountable for the quality of work completed, yet demanding high marks when the report comes home.

Both parents and teachers seem to be defensive, neither fully trusting the other to do their job properly. But what is the proper job of parents and teachers today? The 2004 Children’s Act put the responsibility for children’s happiness and emotional well-being with teachers, while home/school contracts are used to encourage parents to read with their children and help with homework. It seems that the roles have been reversed, or blurred at the very least. Can this lead to an improved partnership between parents and teachers? Or is it undermining relations of trust, without which neither teacher nor parent can do their work of developing the new generation properly?

If you are subject to a parental complaint, try to remember it is one parent out of the 30 something you have in your class. It is a 'lone' voice yet unfortunately a rather loud one that speaks to you through the night following a complaint. Seek support from your SLT, colleagues (who may have had problems with the same parent before) and from your family. Remember although it is stressful:

World Book Day Fun and a visiting author

World Book Day Ltd is a registered charity whose financing of World Book Day comes mainly from contributing publishers, the sponsorship of National Book Tokens Ltd, some literacy partnerships and other supporters, as well as the participating booksellers who fund the entire cost of Book Token redemption.

Schools around the country celebrate World Book Day to enthuse and excite pupils about reading. It is a great opportunity to get dressed up and have some fun.!

As the last topic in our class was based upon the Katie Morag stories World Book Day provided a great way to conclude the topic. This is a snapshot of our day:

Everybody in the school got dressed up as characters from their favourite book whilst our whole class got dressed up as the characters from the Katie Morag stories, it never ceases to amaze me the huge amount of effort the parents put into the children's outfits. The children were really excited to look at what everybody was wearing and they all cheered when the teaching and support staff appeared on the yard to collect them.

After register the whole school went into the hall for an assembly hosted by our visiting storyteller, author for the day Curtis Watt which was excellent, he had all of the children and staff dancing and performing poetry. The look on the children's faces was magic.

Then everybody returned to their classes for their own World Book Day Events. My T.A. and I spit the class into two groups, half went with me to make Porridgie (a flapjack recipe taken from one of  the Katie Morag stories) in the staff room. I think the best part was licking the bowl after the mixture was put into the baking trays for cooking. The other half of the children stayed in the classroom and made still life paintings of items washed up on the shore of the Bonny Loch. They really enjoyed using the watercolours which they have never used before and were really proud of the results.

After break we were greeted in our class by Curtis Watt complete with his Djembe. To begin with he used the drum to get the children to join in with a poem, then as part of a story that he was telling that also had a rhythm and call response which kept them engaged throughout the session. What is really special about Curtis is that he engages with his audience , he draws them in with his great storytelling techniques but more importantly his impromptu stories that you can see just pop into his head without at a moments notice. He visited each class from F2 to year 6 keeping them all engaged and enthused. Check out his website here.

After lunch it was time to make the whole Isle of Coll out of  Lego, Duplo and wooden bricks. The children in my class love Lego and relish any opportunity to build and create.

That just left time for a quick game of Chickenelly also known as Knick Knock, Knock and Run etc. Chickenelly is a game that the 'Big Boy Cousins' play when they visit Katie Morag for a holiday. The scene was set with me informing teachers and office staff that the children would knock on their door then run away and that they should open the door (after allowing a short escape time) and shout angrily along the corridor with calls of 'Whoever that was will be in trouble in I catch them!)

At home time the children all went home with a couple of pieces of Porridgie and huge smiles on their faces!

          

 

           

The Impact of Teacher Workload

'Primary state school teachers in England are working almost 60 hours a week, according to a survey by the Department for Education – a sharp increase on the previous survey. The snapshot of their workload is a grim portrait of a profession plagued by long hours and "unnecessary and bureaucratic tasks", according to the survey. Many of the 1,000 respondents cited preparations for Ofsted visits as well as form-filling and other paperwork as causing a burden outside the classroom.'

A quote taken from a recent article in The Guardian. 

Although this is a worrying statistic I don't think teachers will be surprised by it, teaching is a full on, full time job. In a previous blog post I referred  to it as 'teaching the 24/7 profession'. Whilst this was a very light hearted post about how teachers never switch off and are 'teachers' all of the time even when out shopping, It was really my way of trying to see the positives in teaching. However there is clearly a dark side to the fact that teachers never switch off.

It is one thing to be SO committed to your job and to choose to spend your free time trailing around car boot sales for wet play games or building volcanoes at home for a science lesson. But it is quite another when the workload means working in the evenings and at weekends just to stay afloat.

I have been teaching for 16 years and teachers workload has always been a big one but it has definitely got worse over the last few years and has not been helped by the changes since the coalition government came into power. Below are some of the changes taken from (Education in England - the history of our schools website) 

2010 Academies Act 2010 provided for massive and rapid expansion of academies.
2010 Budget cuts: government proposed cuts of up to £3.5bn in the schools budget.
2010 Independent review of the primary curriculum proposals: scrapped.
2010 Diplomas: Labour's flagship policy scrapped.
2010 Building Schools for the Future: scrapped.
2010 Higher education: fewer places and vastly increased tuition fees, the latter despite Liberal Democrat pre-election promises.
2010 White paper The Importance of Teaching  : wide-ranging document covering teaching, leadership, behaviour, new schools, accountability etc.
2011 Education Act 2011  increased schools' powers relating to pupil behaviour and exclusions, further diminished the role of local authorities, further expansion of academies etc.
2011 Tickell Report The Early Years: Foundations for life, health and learning  made recommendations relating to the Early Years Foundation Stage.
2011 Bew Report Independent Review of Key Stage 2 testing, assessment and accountability: recommended that published test results should be more comprehensive and seen as a part of a bigger picture. 
2011 DfE The Framework for the National Curriculum : a report by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum review. 
2011 HCEC Report Behaviour and Discipline in Schools : a report by the House of Commons Education Committee.
2011 Green Paper Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability
2012 HCEC Report Great teachers: attracting, training and retaining the best: a report by the House of Commons Education Committee.
2012 White Paper Reform of provision for children and young people with Special Educational Needs 
2012 Statutory Framework for the EYFS: Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five.
2012 2013 EYFS Profile Handbook published by the Standards and Testing Agency.
2013 The framework for school inspection published by Ofsted.
2013 School inspection handbook published by Ofsted.
2013 Subsidiary guidance: Supporting the inspection of maintained schools and academies published by Ofsted.

Of course amongst all of the Reviews, Reforms, Frameworks, Guidance and Handbooks are the pupils, young adult, parents, teachers and teaching assistants. Most of whom are bearing the brunt of changes and are yet rarely consulted. 

Curriculum reforms, the removal of statutory protections to limit classroom observations and ever-increasing workload with insufficient protections means teachers feel increasingly under attack. Pensions, the pay freeze, job cuts arising from funding cuts and  and threats to national terms and conditions arising from the privatisation of schools all result in huge amounts of stress.

Whilst my job is my vocation I still work to live not live to work and would quite like to have the right work/life balance. So how can this be achieved? Here are a couple of my thoughts:

Less lesson observations - I really do not see what they inform. Pupils results, team teaching and book scrutiny are less invasive and reveal what is actually going on in classrooms.

Realistic targets - for pupils, teachers and schools. Targets are an inevitable part of our job but unattainable, unrealistic targets increase stress and workloads. 

Smaller classes - class sizes impact upon everything from noise levels to excessive marking. 

Get rid of Ofsted! The constant changes to inspections and the mixed messages about school and lesson headings are damaging. 

The list could go on ....... What would you add?  

Boxing Clever part 4 The Finished Pieces!

As part our topic on Katie Morag the children in my year 2 class were set the task of writing their own version of their favourite Katie Morag story. To help them with this process we used the 8 boxes from Alan Peat's Boxing Clever. (See blog posts Boxing Clever Parts 1, 2, and 3).

The finished pieces of writing have astounded me! All of the children, including those who are usually reluctant writers, have written 8 pages of a story in the correct sequence and with lots of detail and their handwriting and illustrations are beautiful.

Their story is presented as a book with:

 A front cover which includes the name of the author and illustrator

 

A blurb to hook potential readers in

Followed by 8 pages which match the 8 Boxing Clever Boxes

 

Who?

Where?

 Where next?

 Why?

What goes wrong?

Who helps?

Where last?

Feelings

On Thursday (World Book Day) the children will read their books to the children in F2 and Year 1. Then the books will go into the school library for other classes to look at before being sent home at the end of term. Boxing Clever has improved the children's story writing and they are understandably really proud of themselves.

I would recommend using Boxing Clever with pupils in KS1 as a way of teaching the linear nature of story telling but also for any pupils in KS2 who struggle with story structure.

The continuing success of Friday Books

I continue to be truly astounded by the improvement of the children's writing in their Friday books. Below is a couple of examples of before (week one of  writing-way back in September and after (week eighteen of writing):

Before

After

                                         

All of this writing is independent,it is not drafted and we do not mark it.  The only support comes in the form of a class generated list on the board of what we have done in class that week, a small word bank for spellings and a weekly reminder of whatever our Literacy focus has been that week e.g. Conjunctions. This preparation takes about 10 minutes and off they go! 

The writing in the Friday books is in the form of a letter and the next part of the process is down to the adults at home. Whoever the child addresses their letter to writes a reply and the book is then returned to school before Friday the following week and the whole process is then repeated. They show each other what their adult had written which they really love. 

In our Parents Evening this week all of  the parents said how much they look forward to reading the books each week. They get to find out what their child has not only done in school that week but what they have enjoyed the most. From my point of view they are provide invaluable evidence of the pupils writing so it is win, win all round! 

The blog that saved a teachers life?

I was introduced to blogging when my brother was doing the three peaks challenge in 2009 in preparation for an expedition to climb Mount Everest in 2011. During his Everest expedition My class and I followed him throughout the whole journey via his blog. The pupils in my class then (year 6s) loved reading his posts and posting comments and feeling like they were really involved with the whole event. It was to prove a real inspiration to them and led to a variety of writing genres which had a real purpose.

My own personal journey into blogging though only began in August of 2013 when I was beginning a new challenge for me, teaching in year 2. Pretty pathetic compared to my brothers reasons for blogging and resulting achievements but a personal challenge nevertheless. I decided to blog about my day to day experiences in year 2 which I hoped at the time would encourage some reflection. Reflecting on my practice is something I didn't really think I did at the time but what I now realise is that I have always been a reflector I have just never written it down before.

My blogging journey coincided with what turned out to be really difficult times professionally and personally and I made a vow at that point to only blog about positive things or when blogging about my school experiences. The reason for this was to help me to focus on positive aspects of my life and teaching when actually I was not feeling positive at all and thankfully my plan worked and I am now in a much more positive frame of mind. I am still feeling cynical about teaching but at least am not at the point of wanting to walk away that I was at the end of 2013. Looking back on my early posts it is lovely to have that record of what I did and I hope that my reflections are useful to other teachers too, providing ideas, reassurances etc.

At the beginning of 2014 I set myself a huge challenge of writing a blog post a day for 365 days! A bigger challenge I know now than I realised at the time. So far I think I have posted almost every day but with the odd day off for good behaviour! The challenge itself has had a direct effect on my posts, they are no longer just class reflections. I am, I think, turning into a more 'professional' blogger, don't get me wrong I have always remained professional in all of my my posts, but what I mean is that I am now tackling lots more general educational topics.

I find my self trawling the internet, Twitter, Pinterest and the media for relevant topics. I even sit in the bath or in bed at night and have 'Eureka' moments about the title for my next post. A friend and colleague of mine says she has taken to playing a game for herself where she listens to me in the staff room at lunch, in staff meetings etc so that she can try to guess what my next post might be about! My blog has now taken on a life all of its own. I'm not sure if I own my blog or it owns me!

So what has been the result of all of this blogging?:

I am now much more informed about current educational topics - Ofsted, Lesson Observations etc

I have had contact with and shared ideas and practice with lots teachers around the world, some of my posts have been read in places as far away as Russia, New Zealand and Indonesia and this just blows my mind! I truly feel part of a global teaching community.

My own practice has without doubt improved. My mind and indeed classroom door are wide open to new ideas from around the world.


Blogging saved my career and perhaps my sanity by helping me to focus on the good things about teaching, reminding me that for me it is actually a vocation but also weeding out the bad by remembering for others it is not a vocation but a career and trying to get them to speak the same language is impossible and so I have stopped trying. How can they possibly understand when they do not have that passion? 

If helped me focus on where I was going next. After a few years of not knowing what or where to go next with my career I now have a short, medium and long term plan in place! (Blogged about obviously.)

So what has blogging done for you and your career?

Fear of Maths or Dyscalculia?

Fear of maths or Dyscalculia is for some of the pupils in our classes a real problem that causes anxiety, fear and is hugely embarrassing for older pupils.

So What is Dyscalculia? According to The National Centre for Learning Disabilities - 'Dyscalculia refers to a wide range of lifelong learning disabilities involving math. There is no single type of math disability. Dyscalculia can vary from person to person. And, it can affect people differently at different stages of life.'

Children with dyscalculia have trouble reading numbers and picturing them in their mind. For example, they might mistake a three for an eight because the numbers look similar. They also have trouble counting objects and organising them by size. Memory is another issue. Children with dyscalculia may not remember the correct order of operations to follow in solving maths problems. Difficulties like these can lead to a lifelong fear of mathematics. Of course, just because people have trouble with maths does not necessarily mean they have dyscalculia. But experts say parents and teachers may begin to suspect a problem if a child is good at speaking, reading and writing but slow to develop math skills.

Professor David Sheffield of Derby University's Centre for Psychological Research, who is one of the country's leading specialists in maths anxiety, believe it has a lifelong effect. So what would he advise? "The first thing to say is don't do more maths. More maths is unlikely to work because it's actually an anxiety problem. Try to deal with the anxiety with simple approaches like relaxation or breathing exercises. We did one study where we got people to do a relaxation exercise and then followed them up. Their anxiety scores had dropped and they were able to solve more problems."

As a teacher and Numeracy co ordinator I have had experience of pupils displaying signs of Dyscalculia, and have been frustrated by  the lack of information out there and therefore the ways in which to advise pupils, parents and teachers. A simple 'Google' search into the topic is a bit of a minefield, full of offers for online diagnostic tests, which worry me, and forums full of doom and gloom from young adults trying to manage their maths difficulties. As a professional it is worrying but for parents it must be dreadful. The main theme from site to site is that research into Dyscalculia is in its infancy.

So how can we help now? From my own research and experiencing I take a several pronged approach:

1. Dealing with Anxiety -  

Affirmations or positive statements to counteract stress. Teach pupils to take a break and say, “I am calm. I am relaxed. I am peaceful. I am happy. I am safe.” Write a positive statement and have them carry it in their pocket for the day. Put a list in the back of their school notebook for them to access at any time.

Create visualizations – imagining can be both fun and effective. Create a happy thought that children can “go to” when stressed or worried. Develop a short story or scene that they can think of when they are fearful or anxious.. Go for a calming ride on a cloud or float in a bubble. Slide down a rainbow and encourage them to create their own relaxing story.

Practice controlled breathing. Taking slow deep breaths can help lower a child’s anxiety and anger. All children can benefit from this important powerful stress and anger management technique. Children with ASD and ADHD, can learn to bring their energy level down a notch and feel in charge of themselves. Children can use breathing when they feel over-stimulated or on a verge of a temper tantrum, have them focus on their breathing and soothe themselves.  Breathe in 2,3,4 and out 2,3,4. In 2,3,4 and out 2,3,4.

2.  Focus on understanding the key mathematical concepts

Allow pupils that have a 'fear of maths' or you suspect have Dyscalculia to practice, practice, practice the key concepts of maths such a number bonds, one more, one less. Use concrete materials to help link mathematical symbols to quantity. Start at a level which the child is comfortable at, so that they experience some success, and slowly move to more difficult area.  Ask a lot of questions to get the child engaged and thinking about their own thinking. Reinforce the language of maths as this is often an area they struggle to remember,, give them the key mathematical language and get the to make a colourful poster for display in class/at home.


3. Provide a maths 'toolkit' 

Having access to a 'toolkit' reduces stress and provides that 'crutch' to support them during independent activities. This could include:  multi link cubes, 100 square, times table square, various numberlines etc.


4. Make learning as active and fun as possible 

Key stage 1 staff  teach lots of their key maths concepts through practical activities, exploration and songs. This is non threatening and allows pupils to learn in their own way and at their own pace. This type of learning is ideal for pupils with a 'fear' of maths and indeed pupils of all ages actually enjoy active learning so it is a good idea to have active learning on you general teaching toolkit.

5. Provide lots of time for learning new concepts

Introducing new concepts is clearly necessary but needs to be approached realistically Pupils with a fear of maths will need lots of time to explore and absorb new concepts so try to be patient.

6. Build Confidence

All children and indeed adults, like to be told they have done a good job. For pupils with a fear of maths this is hugely important, they think they' can't do it' so it is vitally important that they are given the opportunity to succeed. Try to discover what they are better at in maths, it might be 3d shape or co ordinates but whatever it is 'big them up' reward them, allow them to succeed.

Good luck and remember if it is frustrating for us as the teacher when a pupil forgets something they were able to do the day before, cannot do even basic things like number bonds then imagine what it is like for them. As the saying goes: