Having a few issues with this right now.
DS2 is in Y6, is shy, quiet and small but has a nice group of mates and table-mates in school. He does have to wait til last to get his coat and bag from the by-that-time jumble sale on the floor every day, as he can't compete with the other 'normal sized' kids and gets elbows in his face.
The teacher is fairly young and keen and is in his second year at the 'outstanding' primary.
Things have been going 'okay'. DS2 struggles a bit academically (I suspect some dyslexia but have given up pushing as no one is interested and DS just might get a 4 in his KS2 English SATS- we get him tutoted once a week). The teacher is apparently 'happy' with his progress, so all well and good BUT:
Just over the past week or so, since Xmas, DS2 has been coming home initially 'fed up' and now in tears as he feels, in his words, 'victimised'. He tells me of being moved from his 'comfort zone' maths table onto one with quite challenging DCs on it to sit between these 2 boys as DS is regarded as a 'calming influence'. One boy and another girl ended up fighting for possession of the information sheet on the table, it tore in half- so the whole table was kept in at break to redo the work. He tells me how all the Y6 boys have been banned from playing football on the astroturf pitch by an irate YR teacher when a stray ball knocked into a younger child (I have been roundly abused on here recently for suggesting that I was fed up with the older DC in a primary playground constantly having to acquiesce to the younger DC- when the younger ones have strayed into an area they're not supposed to be... but this is an object lesson on why I'm not very happy with the arrangements). My friend is a dinner lady there and actually witnessed this banning taking place.
Then earlier in the week, the teacher decided it was OK for the DCs to go out to play even though it was 'frosty' (scared of DC slipping, I guess, though ). Half a dozen raced out then the other Y6 teacher who is the HoY came in and said no, they were to stay in, she called to the DC who were already outside to come back in but, because they didn't instantly rush in- the whole class got a lunch time detention.
I understand the thinking behind this sort of discipline, these 'mass punishments' but my feeling is they are a) lazy, b) it's unreasonable to expect Y6s to apply peer-pressure to the miscreants to behave (with a real risk they'd be up for bullying if they tried!), and c) I think it shakes a DC's faith in what's 'fair'.
Do you think I just have to wear this, reminding DS2 he's only there 2 more terms, or should I address this? I don't know if I'm alone in thinking this or not though I know the dinner lady who is also a Y6 mum is also getting fed up with it.
FWIW -My DS2 isn't very articulate so I am aware I have had to piece together events but all have been corroborated by my friend's DS who is way more articulate than my DS. The big issue is that her DS is on course for 5s, is physically the 'right' size for Y6 and has a way stronger personality than my DS so isn't crumbling beneath it like my DS is
And finally I barely ever 'go up to school' regarding 'ishooz'. I am not at all pfb but of course sometimes in any DC's school career you have to ask yourself whether you should intervene on their behalf!
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School discipline: Whole table, or class detention/ban for a few miscreants!!
5 replies
LittenTree · 20/01/2012 12:59
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