Originally Posted by moneypenny20

My youngest had a teacher in year 5 who hated her. Sounds strong and a tad dramatic but when each and every child would come out of the class, come up to me and tell me what the woman had said to my daughter that day I came to believe it was true. She was only a part timer and my daughter was desperate not to be put in another class as she wanted to stay with the children she knew and understood enough to just keep her head down, answer questions if asked but generally not get involved in anything that would put her on the teacher's radar.

Countless meetings with the principal and the other part time teacher led me to believe that Tiddler was working well in the other class and they didn't think it would help her to be moved when she was obviously not at fault. Didn't have a meeting with the bitch in question as I didn't think I would be able to be calm and polite and my daughter was terrified it would make things worse. She was spoken to by the principal on several occasions.

Anyway it wasn't until mid way through year 6 that everyone concerned realised how much damage had been done to Tiddler psychologically. The bitch had retired by this point but the principal and her grade 6 teacher were horrified by how timid Tiddler had become and how she seemed to have forgotten everything she had been taught up to year 5.

She is now in Grade 10, had extra tuition and it's taken all this time to get her confidence and ability back. The tuition was done just to encourage her to realise she is bright, she does know this stuff and to stay positive. We've had our work cut out with constantly having to explain that the info is there, she can talk, she can admit she knows stuff etc etc. It's been a complete nightmare in terms of watching her struggle when we knew if it hadn't been for the bitch demeaning her constantly that she would have been one of the brightest kids with the strength to go where she wanted in life.

We're getting there, she's not the girl she was a few years ago, she's back to being outgoing and fun and positive but if I'd known then what I know now, I would have got her moved regardless of what she wanted and what the school advised.

In short, if you're not happy, shout, scream and do something. Don't be fobbed off, don't accept anything other than what you expect the 'experts' to do for your child. The damage can take a long time to show itself and by then, without a massive amount of work, it could be too late.

Originally Posted by wooah

I have found this useful link on this forum but I was wondering if anyone could give me an insight in to how Australian state schools (equivalent to infant/primary schools) compare to ones in UK.

The reason I ask is that my eldest son is not even 5 but is years ahead of his peers in many areas. The school he goes to now is not capable of challenging him and we could never afford a private education. And it looks like his brother is going to be equally intelligent.

From living in Australia before I found people generally fairly laid back and I wonder if this translates to schools and whether the schools would have the resources to be able to bring the best out in him.

Thanks,
V.