Overzealous Teacher?

bambinaUK

Lots of outdated information on here. IT Key Skills no longer exists (I used to teach it) it was replaced with Functional Skills. Im not surprised he is struggling with it, as after 12 months of attending training sessions for Functional Skills, I came to the conclusion that it was ridiculously hard for those students who have weak ICT skills.

Another post said that the ECDL no longer exists, that was incorrect too, we were considering offering it last year as an alternative ICT qualification, but eventually opted to go for BTEC Level 2 instead. Problem with the ECDL is that very little learning actual takes place, they are just crammed with information in order to pass the tests, of which there are several.

The ECDL was a qualification that was originally meant to be taken in the workplace, but schools twigged that it was a very quick way for a student to gain a Level 2 qualification really quickly. Those students who pass forget every single thing they supposedly learn, as it doesn't go beyond what is actually on each test.

I would suggest that the teacher is concerned with achievement rates and realised that your son needed to be offered an alternative ICT course. The teacher will also be being pressured about success rates, however I think it is outrageous that he has been signed up for a course that you were expected to pay for, without your permission. I would also be challenging the fact that the students are expected to pay the fees in the first place.

If this whole ECDL issue is stressing him out, then I would let him drop it, it just isn't worth risking his ability to focus on his other GCSE subjects.

Lunar_Eclipse

Just caught up on this thread. On second thought, I'd switch my response to a reactive rather than proactive one. I'd write a short note/e-mail in to the office about an incorrect course billing you haven't heard about nor authorised, hence no payment has or will be made.

It doesn't bode well for a teacher to sign a child up for an adult course, out of school hours, with no discussion let alone consent from the parent/s.

This means someone at their end has to instigate action, if only because they've been told they're not getting payment for something they think is due.