My DD who is seven had s class assembly this morning in the school hall. All of the parents of her class were invited as were all of the pupils and teachers in the primary school.
The assembly was lovely, the school is a catholic one and so the message was regarding growing in Gods love and being kind to one another etc.
At the end of the assembly the headteacher thanks DDs class for their efforts and congratulates them on the assembly.
She then proceeds to call four children from year six to the front of the hall to present them with awards for various things.
One of the children called to the front is Ella* the sister of one of my DS's friends. She's known to be quite high spirited and perhaps even naughty on occasion but the only reason that I know this is because her mum has told me. She has never been discussed between other parents, at the school gate etc as far as I'm aware.
The headteacher hands out the awards to the first three children in year six. She then asks Ella to "come and stand here next to me for this rare occurrence" Ella does so and the headteacher places her arm around Ella even though she is visually uncomfortable with this attention.
She carries on; "this award is being presented to Ella due to her efforts to improve her attitude and behaviour recently. She seems to have had a change of personality very conveniently just in time so that we can wave her off to Saint Hilda's*" (local catholic secondary school)
At this my jaw is swinging open. Ella stands, shoulders hunched, blushing, headteacher a arm still around her shoulders.
Unbelievably she carries on "In fact Ella even arrived in school on time to make it to this assembly today!"
At this I glance around, incredulous and note the sniggers from the assembled teaching staff and parents from my own DDs class.
Am I being unreasonable in my response of almost visceral disgust at the headteachers lack of professionalism in making a spectacle of Ella in front of parents, teachers and her schoolmates?
Nobody else seemed to react other than to chuckle along at the 'joke'
Am I being oversensitive? I feel that I would like to express my disappointment to the headteacher directly but having seen her actions I fear for her reaction towards my children if I did so. (Cowardly)
I'm just having trouble getting my head around what I witnessed.
AIBU?
To express my disappointment in my children's headteacher
EllenDegenerate · 01/07/2016 20:16
I'm a deputy at a primary.
We've had "spirited" pupils, very spirited, the type that would escape the school grounds and be found at the beach several miles away or throw tables etc.
If these children won an award then I'd deliberately notmake a big deal out of it. They'd be handed the award with warm, genuine praise. The same as any other pupil. The fact that you are treating it as normal will (hopefully) encourage it to be a normal behaviour.
You should hear the banter at senior school assemblies 
It really does depend on the child but I know a few teachers who sometimes feel unable to have a laugh with the kids, not because the kids cant take it, but because the parents cant.
I think "almost visceral disgust" is an indication of why some parents avoid it altogether.
Hosta, gosh you must have had some awful experiences then 
Banter generally means a good natured exchange of words/having a laugh with someone.
Bullying however, means bullying.
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