More Meetings

Last week I received a letter from Angus' school requesting I come in for a meeting in regards to his report for last semester. I thought it was odd that a meeting was required for subjects that he no longer does and probably wont be doing them again. Some subjects were only for the first half of the year. Any way I made a time to see them to find out what they wanted to say.

Yesterday evening Angus & I went back to his school to meet up with one of the Year 9 coordinators. It turned out that it was Angus' English teacher we were seeing. Of course Angus wanted to be anywhere else but at school. He knew exactly what his teacher was going to day.

Angus has a very hard time doing his work. Well not really doing his work its more like completing his work. He just never finishes pieces and then decides that since it isn't finished he isn't able to hand it in. How wrong is he! Angus now knows that regardless of whether it is completed or not he is to hand it in on the due date or beforehand if it is completed. It is better to be marked on what you have done rather than getting a BIG FAT 0 as your grade.

Homework is also something that Angus has problems with. He wont do it. No matter how much I nag he is often caught playing on facebook rather than completing his assignments. If it isn't FB he is watching movies or playing games. Either way he isn't working. Education Department policy recommends that Year 9 students work an hour a night. We have currently compromised. If Angus works a completely 'solid' 30 minute session then its okay to stop but that is minimum he can work longer if he wants to.

We (the teacher and I ) reminded Angus that it is okay to ask for help if he is having a problem. That he can always ask us at home and if we can't help it he can always ask the teachers. He knew this of course but he said he gets embarrassed. He is afraid that some of the questions he wants to ask might be silly. I told him there is no such thing as a silly question. Any question is a good one. He is worried about asking in front of the other kids in his classes then he can ask the teacher privately. In fact I am sure that his teachers wouldn't even mind if he sent them an email and asked that way. He didn't like that idea but I thought it was a good one. What ever he decides it doesn't matter as long as he asks.

I am crossing my fingers that this new strategy helps Angus improve his grades. Otherwise the school may place him in other classes. Ones he may come to realise are for the kids who don't try. It's not like Angus isn't an intelligent kid. He is. He knows the stuff he just doesn't always apply himself.

It must be the month for meetings at his school. Tomorrow night is an information night in regards to subject selection for next year. My baby will be in Year 10 *sob* he's not allowed to grow up. Then there will be another meeting next week or the following week (depending on time) so that we can have a chat and submit the preferences for the subjects Angus would like to do next year. There are some fantastic units on offer that Angus can choose from.