Really cross with DS's teacher

patchwork_cat

My son is currently in yr10 and doing GCSE english. He wrote a draft for an essay for his coursework about 2 months ago and is due to do the actual essay in school a week on friday.

The teacher has now lost half the classes draft essay unmarked!

To top it all they have said that as DS is not hitting his targets for English he is to have a mentor, which I thought was a good thing, but in retrospect I think they are putting too much onus on him as failing( all relative, just not hitting his target for the predicted grade) whereas in fact it is his teacher.

He did a coursework essay about 6 months ago and he wasn't happy with the grade and thought he could do better so with the teachers agreement he re-wrote the piece only 5 months on for it to still be unmarked.

He is really losing faith and is very fed up.

Gingham_Ribbon

If you KNOW your son is telling the truth, you need to make a complaint to the teacher first and if she doesn't sort it out, go to the head of English. A little late marking is understandable - teachers are under a lot of pressure. But if you're sure the work has been handed in and not returned to him after this long, you must pursue it.

If the head of English doesn't give you sensible answers, try his form tutor. As a last resort, get the head involved to find out exactly what is going on.

candygirl

If the essay genuinely has been lost, then that's not good at all, and as GR says, you need to speak to his HOD.
On the other hand if I had a quid for every time a pupil said i'd lost their coursework, i'd be a billionaire:rolleyes:
Has he not saved it on the computer?Also a mentor would be great for him, if he is experiencing any probs at school.Don't see it as a negative thing;)
As for the work not being marked, don't worry it will be.The teacher is accountable for all the coursework, and will be in trouble with the HOD and SMT if it isn't
I ma currently teaching a lad whos Mum is an English teacher at my DD's old school.He is a lovely lad, but has no intentions of ever doing any coursework.Obviously Mummy doesn't believe her son could be like this, which makes my job all the more difficult:rolleyes:
Good luck and let us know how he gets on xx

patchwork_cat

I trust my son implicitily he would not lie about this. No he had written the essay, but even if he had done it on the computer she wouldn't mark it in time. The coursework is to be done in school, but I saw his draft, and repeat essay so know that he did it. He said that it is not just his work she has lost. I have spoken to his head of year and she is getting back to me.

He wasn't experiencing any problems at school until his English teacher lost his work and failed to mark it.
The essay is a repeat of coursework that HE wasn't happy with and redid off his own back because he wants to hit his predicted A*, he also volunterred the info that the teacher had lost his draft essay,

Broken_hearted

Do you still have the draft if so you might be able to get marks for that, not as good as the real thing but better than nothing.

patchwork_cat

No that is the thing it is the draft she has lost. All his notes as he didn't do it on the computer ( he says lesson learnt on that!). He could have taken the draft in with him to do the coursework along with teachers comments on said draft, but she has lost half the classes drafts. I feel for her, but she is simply not doing her job. He has asked her time and again to please mark his repeated coursework for a previous essay and she keeps saying yes, but it is 5 months now. As I say the other thing that gets me is the mentoring is very student based and as far as I can see he is doing his best. Repeating essays that do not get high enough grades and handing in drafts, it is the teacher that is not doing her bit. It is important to him to get the best grade he can.

scottishchick27

Did you get it sorted out?

misty

Once a piece of GCSE coursework has been marked i.e given a grade then the teacher shouldn't be allowing students to redo it - a lot do and it is wrong and the school would be in trouble if the exam board find out.

It is ok to read and make brief comments on a rough draft but not mark or correct work.

If he is in year 10 then he has time to do another, fresh piece of coursework and submit this one instead of the one he was not pleased with.

I would speak to the teacher in person and ask for clarification and if your son is going to be given time in school to complete the extra work. The written coursework in English is only 20-30% of the overall grae on most spec - which equals 5% per piece of work. the focus should be on developing skills rather than doing and redoing one piece of work.

I realise this isn't exactly what you were asking but hopefully - if she has lost the draft - you can see it is only a fraction of the overall mark.

patchwork_cat

Scottishchick - no she didn't find it, the head of year got back to me and said they were doing it now as an oral and they would do his last. I appreciate what you are saying about 5%, but he is targetted an A* and wants that grade. He wants to do Medicine or Dentistry and they are both very competitive the more A* the better!

One problem that he has with developing skills is not getting his work back with feedback!