punishment in primary schools

[jampot]

dd has come home today and said that tomorrow at break time (10-15 mins) the whole of the juniors have to stand in line because today "some" children didn't line up properly today. The playground is in full sunlight apart from the garden area which is shaded by trees (and not big enough for them all to line up in. Can I object to this punishment as my dd was not involved (this has happened before on a couple of occasions)? I'm getting a little pi$$ed off with the head's view that no-one should take responsibility for their own actions ie. make the buggers who weren't lining up line up and let the others run off some steam.

[marialuisa]

This is the sort of thing that some teachers seem to revel in doing. Have memories of the entire class being made to sit with their hands on their heads because 2 peple were playing with pencils and numerous other petty incidents that still irk.

have to say that if the weather is scorching I would definitely be inclined to make a fuss on health grounds, if nothing else. an hour in the midday sun with temps in the high 20s, sounds like a recipe for sunstroke to me!

completely agree with you about the message it gives about personal responsibility. also encourages the "if I'm going to get punished, I may as well join in and have some fun" tendency too.

[WideWebWitch]

ffs! I'd normally say stay out of school discipline unless it's totally outrageous but I think I'd be inclined to phone up and winge about this too, just on the grounds that making the WHOLE of the juniors stand in line because of trivial misbehaviour by a few is inappropriate. And pointless and annoying. And they NEED to run around at breaktime! Maybe you'll find out there's more to it though?

[Hulababy]

Class/Group punishments really shouldn't happen at all in schools now, other than in exceptional cases. Certainly at my school (secondary) we are not supposed to do them at all.

If you object - and it would seem with good reason here - then I would definitely go and speak to the head/head of year tomorrow about this and put your thoughts across. You will probably find that you are not the only parent who feels that this is wrong and inappropriate.

[jampot]

thanks ladies - the head is a bit of an idiot IMO - he tends to dish out punishment which is inappropriate in a lot of cases. A couple of weeks ago a yr 5 boy (admittedly with ADHD but also from a thuggish family) punched a yr 6 girl in the face and giving her minor whiplash because she wouldn't let him look in her bag. They both had to complete a think sheet as punishment! yet the infants can get detention for not handing their homework in