Overzealous Teacher?

make_me_wise

dizzie wrote: »

He dropped music at GCSE options time, but IT is compulsory. He failed his Key Skills IT exam (quite badly) and the teacher was keen for him to retake this. He did not want to because his understanding is so poor that he did not think he could pass it. Therefore, he did not hand in the consent form/fee for the retake....but his teacher over-ruled his right to chose not to retake and entered him anyway, with instruction to make sure the money was handed into school. He failed the enforced retake as was expected and it seems that now the teacher has signed him up to a £56 after school course without parental consent, but expecting parental payment.

I agree with you that this teacher is out of order and going beyond his/her remit. As you advise the teacher overruled your sons right to choose and also ended up dictating to you and his father that a payment was required for this decision without any discussion first.

Now he/she has signed your child up for a course he is not keen to participate in with no parental consent and wants payment. Parental consent exists for a reason, it is not something a teacher should just over-ride on a whim. He/she sounds a little bit power crazy to me and needs to have this approach addressed.

I would write a letter to the head making them aware of the teachers conduct and ask for a repsonse at their earliest convenience. Advise in no uncertain terms that you will not be paying for a course that you gave no permission for. I think it would be reasonable to state that in future your son is not to be signed up for anything without your knowledge and permission.

Oldernotwiser

brokenlily wrote: »

But for most workplaces, at least a grasp of Excel is usually necessary.

For most offices certainly. However, most school leavers aren't going to work in offices.

pebbles88

ECDL - (European Computer Driving Licence) & Clait have been combined & replaced with the ITQ - Information Technology Qualification. Yes more & more jobs are asking for these skills. But if he or you decide he should do it, make sure it's not gonna be obsolete almost immediately.

I think it's awful they've just ploughed ahead without speaking to you first! Yes they are only trying to help but forcing him to do it won't exactly make it a success! Hope you get things sorted. X

patchwork_cat

This is seriously not on. No way should the teacher have done this. I would recommend that he considers doing a course perhaps the ECDL during the long summer holiday this time. As you say he has a lot on his plate at the moment.

daska

It sounds to me as if this teacher needs a bit of a reality check. For a start they should know that they cannot sign a child up to something that parents will have to pay for without consent. Secondly, they may be insisting on a resit but are they putting any effort in to ensuring the pupil that is failing is getting the support they need in order to pass the resit. Thirdly, I had no IT education at school, worked in reception and retail for the first few years and within 2 weeks of starting as a 'filing' temp was hacking an order management system (legitimately as it had no user interface). I'd been doing this for two years before I understood how binary code worked, largely because over the years people had spent more time explaining how simple it was rather than explaining how it worked, and I do wonder if the natural bent so many lads have for IT has caused this teacher to forget that it isn't instinctive for everyone. Personally I don't think you'll get anywhere by talking with this teacher; I think your best bet is to call and make an appointment to see the Head so you can, between you, plan how best to address your son's needs.

meritaten

Dizzie - Not every person can be computer literate especially the way it is taught at school! I would be telling the school that the teacher, although you understand his keen-ness, did NOT have parental consent for this course and you wont be paying the money and your son will NOT be attending.
I do have some experience teaching IT courses and I think your son would probably benefit by not taking it as a GCSE or ECDL. It may be better for him if he waits until he leaves school and then takes short evening classes aimed at complete beginners. He could then learn the basics. Or probably knows them already!
Most firms use a Programme of thier own and will train staff in their use. So I wouldnt worry about a work situation. My OHs firm use a type of programme which would flummox Bill Gates if he didnt know the work procedures behind the programming! MY computer illiterate OH understands it and uses it with ease - whereas I with my many computing qualifications dont understand it at all!

sooty&sweep

Hi

I would agree with everyone in saying that its very important that your son improves his IT skills and it is everywhere these days.
The thing I'm surprised about is why the teacher has enrolled a child on a course intended for adults ? It may be beneficial in terms that if he's away from his peer group the pressure may be reduced but also adult community courses will be structured for adults.
I've just checked my local authority's info on adult and community learning and they state that the minimum age for participants is 19. I realise this possibly won't be the same everywhere and I imagine there will be some flexibility but one of the reasons for this is that education for under 19's is usually free as the child doesn't have an income. So I'm also surprised that the teacher / school is also trying to charge you for this.

Jen

charlieann

make_me_wise wrote: »

I would write a letter to the head making them aware of the teachers conduct and ask for a repsonse at their earliest convenience. Advise in no uncertain terms that you will not be paying for a course that you gave no permission for. I think it would be reasonable to state that in future your son is not to be signed up for anything without your knowledge and permission.

OP
I would think it better to first contact the teacher or head of department and make them aware you are not happy with the situation first rather then getting straight onto the head.
Depending on what outcome you want, they could possible withdraw your son from the course, different courses have different deadlines. If there is a fee for withdrawing a candidate it would need to be paid from their budget as they did not successfully make contact with home.
If a child did not return a consent form then a phone call home would had been a better follow up.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If the school is so keen for him to do it, then they should pay for it. It doesn't matter if it's a computer course, Portuguese Tap Dancing in Drag or a visit to the local mosque/Buddhist shrine/Church/Brothel - if it's on the curriculum or they are making it compulsory, then they should pay for it.

I would refuse point blank to pay. And I would point out to the teacher - and the Head - that it's not a great deal different to signing someone up and picking their parent's purse out of their bag to pay for it. Outside a school environment, it's bordering on fraud to sign someone up for something and then invoice another party who has not given their consent for it either.

dizzie

Thanks for all the replies - they've been very helpful. What I've decided to do is to ask my son to see the IT teacher tomorrow to get more information about what he has been enrolled on. It makes sense to gather more facts before acting. The school office staff were surprised themselves when I phoned them this morning and although they initially thought it must be a mistake, they checked and confirmed that the teacher has indeed put his name down for the course. Who knows, it may be a genuine mistake yet.

If it is not a mistake, if the teacher can give us some information on what course he is proposing, then my son can make an informed decision about what he wants to do. We have spoken to him tonight and although he is really averse to IT at the moment, we've asked him to keep an open mind and at least approach the teacher about this issue and hear him out (I am sure that he is only trying to be helpful even if it is a rather unconventional way of doing things).

As many of you have said, these skills can be very valuable and I have explained this to my son. If he really does not want to go ahead with the course due to other pressing GCSE commitments then we've suggested he could revisit this gremlin at a later stage - perhaps during the summer holidays if we can find something (as someone helpfully suggested earlier)

So thanks again everyone for your opinions on this. It is very much appreciated:)