PICA training?

lauren_1

I had a phone call from a company called pica training a while back, my dd's school had given out details of yr 3 children :mad: anyway i said i was interested as they made out dd's teacher had recommended she do the course, fast forward a term and I get a phone call from pica training again asking me as they are at my DD's school would i like to make an appointment for the next few weeks and find out more info, i said yes (pica training claims to be extra ICT tuition, a subject dd is behind on) fast forward to today.....

I have never met such a rude person, the meeting was at school, I genuinely forgot about it and he turned up at my house! He constantly avoided my questions of 'how much is this course' and put so much emphasis on how my DD needed to do this course (its blinking touch typing, that is all) basically if dd didnt do this course she wouldnt be able to cope with typing the amount of coursework needed for secondary school.

At the end of the course dd will be able to touch type 24-30 wpm, she's 8, i would rather she could spell them all correctly and WRITE them before having a need to touch type

In the end I got the cost from him, just 5 very small payments of £30, as if i am supposed to be impressed?

He kept tag questioning my DD about it as if i was meant to crumble and pay up and harping on about her window of opportunity closing, maybe if i budgeted properly we could afford it etc etc etc

The thing that made me angry was I asked the first time they rang how much this is going to cost me, I was told it was free:(

anyone else experienced these idiots?

andrealm

Never heard of them. What's the school doing, giving your phone number out to companies like these?

Rainey_LB

I would be letting the school know how you were treated.

RAS

Hi

if the school have passed on details of the children without your express permission, they have broken the Data protection Act. You need to ask the headteacher how this came about. Before school ends for the year.

lauren_1

when dd started i filled out a load of forms i.e taking pictures and info about playschemes and beneficial extra education, they say they just gave them my details and that i had a child in yr 3, not her name.

RAS

In that case, I thionk you still need to speak to them. You are hardly going to reject pictures and playschemes but you cannot get them without getting hard sell techniques re expensive extra study packs.

At the very least there should eb a tick box for each catagory, IMO.

And "beneficial extra education" means that they are effectively endorsing all the companies to whom they give the details and is emotional blackmail.

xmaslolly76

Tell them to get stuffed why on earth does an 8 yr old need to touch type, if its that important try this linky out its free. you may need to sit with your DD to explain how to do it but its pretty straight forward after that :-)

PinkLipgloss

I teach infants and use this free resource to teach touch typing (the kids love it!):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

onlyroz

If you're motivated then you can learn to touch type (i.e. be able to locate all the keys without having to look at the keyboard) in around 3 hours. After that, it's just getting up to speed. You can buy books or simple software to help you learn, for much less than 5x£30. Either way, age 8 is probably too soon to learn.

teacherandmum

we always get the PICA stuff through at the school i teach at (they send us leeters of information to send out to parents).
After the first year when people felt the same way as you, we send a letter with the PICA letter now outlining that it is just typing and doesn't complement the national curriculum for ICT at all. Even in the word processing element of the curriculum, it doesn't matter how fast you type.
It's a worthless programme that, in my opinion, is of no benefit to any child under 16. If you use a computer to do coursework, you soon learn where the keys are!!!!!!!

lauren_1

I thought everyone used 2 fingers to type with until the age of 13? lol