What is an appropriate punishment from school in this situation? Bit long - sorry!

This is far too harsh especially when he had a really valid point.

Yes ,how's it going ?

lillibet - what happened?

does seem very harsh in the circumstances. DS's school are suddenly handing out punishments which seem very very extreme, to include the threat of expelling (or excluding as they call it now) a student just months before A levels for something which I thought sounded very very minor
What on earth happens to pupils in that situation? Assume they can't finish their course/take exams/go to uni?

Hope you manage to get it resolved as amicably as possible OP

I think you're in danger of picking a fight that can't be won. For starterd, the teacher is less likely to back down now that letters/emails are being written. It's a shame there was no opportunity to aplogise and reschedule the meeting but then he knew the rules, he knew the consequences....this is how lessons are learnt. It may seem tough but it's better learnt this way than later on in life when the stakes matter far more. Of course, my inner tiger would be raging if was my DS so I can understand! :)

I'm sorry but to me it sounds fair enough. Maybe that is because my boys are at a strict independent though. He knew the policy, he didn't comply, he didn't apologise.

Terrible, sounds like teacher is making it up! Eloquently!! But still making it up. completely out of kilter with the misdemeanor, particularly as the point was valid.

The pe teacher should have given detention for the tone of the dc and fornot turning up and maybe punished by also missing a match, but to ban for rest of year is just bordering on cruel. he should have given punishment in keeping with behaviour but should have retained respect by addressing the boys concern about treatment of team members which was commendable of the boy even if expressed badly, but after all he is 14 - what does he expect, the boy to act like an adult would in expressing an opinion?

this is sadly a practice at many schools, whereby players that are committed and always turn up are not given a chance over those that don't. This boy exposed this and was punished ott for speaking out over a very unfair and non inclusive practice.

This is ridiculous,I hate to say it but in my experience PE depts have little or no sense of perspective!

The bit about him not clearing it with school official channels because it is extra curricular is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.If he is representing the school then it is an official school matter.You can't say extra curriculars are exempt from child protection rules or health and safety etc...If it is under the auspisis (sorry sp)of the school,takes place in school grounds with school staff etc then it is a school matter .

I would take this further this smacks of mini dictator to me and sometimes these people need to be reminded of their responsibilities.

Having said all that I do think there should have been a punishment but this is out of all proportion

Well, the football/rugger seasons are ending soon, so presumably he wouldn't be playing either in the summer term.

I would hoist the school with their own petard and see if there are teams outside school with whom he could play, and make sure he doesn't play for school again. I loathe the fact that those who turn up regularly don't get picked, whilst the teachers pets ( and that is what they are) are chosen regardless. That's the way to discourage those who are interested, and I'm glad your lad can see through that and has the guts to challenge it (albeit perhaps not in the right way).

I was threatened by a teacher at ds's school recently regarding an extra curricular activity I run. She threatened me with the head of secondary - my response was fine, and let's run what you're saying past your HoD and the Principal as well, bring it on! She backed down rapidly.

This is ridiculous. He forgot the bloody meeting for heavens sake, he did not smoke behind the back of a bike shed or swear etc. An innocent mistake.

If he had forgotten and then been given a warning e.g. we will reschedule but if you forget that time then we will stop extra activities etc. but they did not.

He is 14, yes that's getting responsible but still young. Do they simply expect perfection ALL the time/

What a horribly inflexible school (or just PE department).

They are using him as an example and exerting their power. Totally OTT.

berlimey! That sounds very ott punishment to me.
So does that mean he is now doing neither football nor rugby teams for the school?

I would have thought fine, ban him from the football training, watching matches or whatever. But not "all extra curric", that's mahoosive.

(I feel compelled to comment that the standard of English from your PE department is better than most though )

Mmm ,bet PE teacher didn't go through " formal channels " because unlikely this type of punishment would be supported .

Don't know what to suggest ,sorry .
Would vote for mtg and involving head ...but but they'll close ranks .
I think something warranting so serious a punishment needs to be explained to parents ( so that they can support the school of course ) in advance .
ie should appear in school's behaviour policy ,you know where they spell out behaviour a warrants punishment b ,further incidents of behaviour a warrants punishment c etc .
They do have a published behaviour policy don't they - easily accesible and clear .
They don't make it up as they go along do they ?
And claim ," this is what we always do ? "

And frankly this bit
As the problem was related to extra curricular activities I didn't consider it necessary to formalise the situation in the way that would have been the case if it had occurred in, or been related to, curriculum lessons. As a consequence the matter hasn't been recorded on Ds2's conduct log or been referred to the pastoral managers. I apologise if you would have preferred a more formal resolution. Should any further issues of this nature occur I will ensure I contact you directly to avoid any confusion
sounds like a threat .
I guess it should have been referred to pastoral managers - perhaps their role is one which rises above knee jerk punishment where the miscreant isn't even sure exactly what he's being punished for .

Was your DS aware of this policy? I thought it sounded like they were making it up as they were going along, but if he did know the consequences, than that's slightly different.

I would question the fairness of the policy. If he had done this after Easter, the 'banning till September' would be a much shorter punishment, which isn't fair. Better would be a certain number of weeks.

Hmm...are you sure this is the first time he has challenged members of staff? It just sounds like a response to a continuous attitude, rather than a one off. Perhaps the school feel that his involvement in sport is becoming detrimental to his academic performance as well as his behaviour? I wouldn't ask about the team (at this point) as that could be seen as supporting your DS's attitude in the first place?

It sounds like the Head of PE isn't going to back down so I'd suggest a face to face meeting with you/DS/Head of PE and Head of school.

If your DS wants to carry on with the extracurriculars then he'll probably have to apologise again. The head will be in a very difficult position as he can't really over rule the punishment particularly if it has been given in the past.

A meeting is the way to go.

It sounds ridiculous! Almost as if they're saying "OK, if he doesn't want to play, then we'll make damn sure he can't!"

If you're in correspondence with the Head of PE, I'd ask why kids who couldn't be bothered to turn up to training still made the team.

What has the Head of PE said?

And what was the punishment for? Missing the meeting? Challenging a selection procedure? Dropping out of the team?