esperanza

I would approach this carefully and not go in all guns blazing until you have heard the teacher's side of things as well. It is possible that what your side has reported may not be the full story, or another kid said it and she smiled meaning to be supportive but your son thought it was smirking....
I'm not saying your son is lying but just try to get it all straight before talking to head teacher or governors or anything like that. I would definitely approach the teacher first. If what he says is completely true then you should get it on record and get an apology and make sure as far as you can that it will not happen again.

Wilgar

I would certainly ask teachers side of story first ( having been at school 3 weeks in Oz my eldest son hates being called a Pom -but I`m not sure if he is called it in a derogatory way or not. He thinks/percieves it as derogatory.he had never heard the term before) If you are not satisfied speak to the head. I would as my main objection is with the child being called stupid. Do not let him bunk off school tho` as that gives wrong message to child. Good luck.

esperanza

You could even approach it from a totally non-confrontational perspective and use the line that you are worried because your son is having some difficulties settling in and feels that he might look stupid sometimes and please could she keep and eye on the situation and help to bolster his confidence.
Then if anything else happened you could approach the head teacher.

louisec

This can sometimes be a difficult one im sorry to say if you go to the head of school who are they going to believe the 8 year old or teacher! My sister has been in situations before with teachers and her 10 year old son and she was always told about kids telling little fibs and a person in a teachers position would never treat a child like that. (bull**** as we can know) What ever you decide to do I hope you get the outcome you are looking for. I have two sons and would be fuming if that happened to them. A childs school experience should be a good one not where they are made feel small and not important as the rest of the kids. I wouldnt let it lie I would make sure my son got a apology of her.
Good luck in what ever you decide to do.

stuckinblighty

theres nowt as stupid as a teacher

those who 'can' do
those who 'can't' teach

sel

As luck would have it she was the teacher on bus duty this afternoon when I collected the boys.

I chose this opportunity to politely confront her about it. I was very tactful and she did admit to saying it and although she said it in jest did realise after that it was the wrong thing to say and she promptly apologised to him and me for any upset caused.

I thought cool, I'm happy with that and so was my boy. I know she was only covering her ass but the fact that she didn't attempt to lie to me made that ok. She now knows that he will tell me if she says anything like it again and if was to happen again I wouldn't hesitate to report her.

Thank you for all your replies ... It was mainly her calling an 8yr old child stupid that peed me off as pom doesn't bother us and the spur of the moment chat I hope will make her think twice in future that she could have got herself into trouble for being so "stupid"

Clippy

That's great, really glad you had the opportunity to chat to her - glad she knows you are aware of it and that she admitted to it.

Hopefully you are right and she will think twice in the future

curly

That's good it's sorted, as you said it's not the 'pom' bit, we've all got to get used to that! it was the 'stupid' that was so wrong, and as you said she did admit to it. Hopefully that will be the end of it.

esperanza

I won't retort to that as I might get myself banned. Hope you are joking tho.

Regarding 'who will they believe' - as a teacher, I can tell you that very often children's claims are believed above teachers. Eg the teacher reports a child telling them to F off, child denies it, teacher's version is questioned by senior management... It sucks! Just wanted to make that point.

Sel - sounds like you got it sorted amicably, well done you. Teachers are only human and do sometimes say things that they regret afterwards. As you said it is good that she did not lie and that she apologised. Here's hoping things get better for your son at school.

stuckinblighty

nope sorry..not joking

Teachers tend to go to college after leaving school,university then back to school again to 'work'...never actually experiencing the big wide world

Lots of them havent got a clue.....just my opinion

sel

He is fine thanks You as a teacher would know how kids can be when it comes to their mates and I think it was more the embaressment he felt in front of them than the actual comment ... so harmony is once again restored

Phoenix

My thoughts entirely - poor lad

Oops read rest of post before replying ( i am a muppet write down 100 times )

The only thing that worries me about that is that it took til you pointed it out to her before she apologised to your boy ? If she'd realised it was a mistake why didn't she do it straight away and in class in front of the others.

Kapri

Glad it's sorted out amicably Sel. Hope your boy is ok about the whole thing .

Wilgar

Well that sounds better but I wonder if she would have mentioned it had you not raised subject. It still rankles that a teacher would say anything like that to children in her care. I hope she doesn`t regulaly put children down in class.
Glad its sorted but keep an ear out!