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Original poster

Super strict schools like the Swan in Oxford?

126 replies

Deisogn · 29/11/2021 23:35

We went to see the swan school in Oxford and came away fairly horrified. The no talking in the corridors or halls seemed fairly extreme. The punishment for talking to a friend was isolation which seemed harsh and not in the best interest of the child? I do understand trying minimise disruption but at what cost? They don't stop emotionally developing at 11. Surely all those soft skills come from unstructured interactions. It seems like it would produce very brittle kids and SEN need not apply or they'd spent the entire time in isolation. I wondered what others thought of the super strict school model?

OP posts:
Suzanne999 · 30/11/2021 02:00

My only knowledge comes via a friend who works in a school that sounds utterly miserable to me. She has to do a regular duty where she stands in a corridor looking for violations of school rules. Uniform things such as wrong trousers, buttons undone, wrong shoes, dyed hair as well as talking. The school seems to be obsessed with the kids all looking alike and hating any individuality.
It seems odd to me that 100% attendance was rewarded with a treat day and names were drawn for a helicopter flight over the town. Not students who’d made most improvement, most effort etc.. but those who’d been lucky enough not to be ill or have a condition that sometimes kept them off school.
I did qualify as a teacher but glad I left fairly quickly if this is what it’s come to. I’d be all in favour of home schooling now.