Primary school "Star of the Week"

[littlemissmoomoo]

At my children's school, each class teacher picks a child who is"Star of the Week". The names are announced in the weekly newsletter. In assembly on a Friday the children all go up to the front and are given a chocolate medal. And the end of each half term all the chosen kids have a tea party (cake and juice) with the head teacher.

The same children seem to get picked all the time. I know this because I have 3 kids at the same school. One seems to get picked every 3 or 4 weeks, one has been picked 4 times this school year and one has only been picked the once.

I personally think each child should get picked once and then repeat throughout the year.

My child who has only been picked once gets upset every time one of his siblings gets picked.

How does it work at your kids schools?

Overheard a rather grand friend whose son had once again not got it say briskly “ we don’t needs external validation from other people in our family darling” which I thought was brilliant

That seems a lot of carry on for star of the week.
It’s normally just a printed certificate with the child’s name on and stand up in assembly.

It's only done in the lower grades. Different child each week and that child has to make a poster about themselves which is displayed for the week so everyone can get to know more about that child. They also get to be the teachers helper and run errands etc.

With the little ones, I don't think it should be a reward system. Young children act out for a variety of reasons and we can't know everything that is going on with them all of the time. I think giving each child some special attention regardless of behaviour helps with their confidence and may turn poor behaviour around. A poorly behaved child who spends the year watching the 'good kids' receive all the awards isn't necessarily going to improve, they might just give up and the behaviour sets in.

There's usually a bedraggled list hidden in a cupboard somewhere to make sure everyone gets it at least once during the year... however in my kids' school even with them trying to do that... there are still kids who get it umpteen times versus kids who struggle to get it once - there's one in DD1's class who has had it about 6 times this year (kid's not a stellar member of the class - kid's just good at making sure someone else gets caught when they're chatting when they shouldn't be etc) and other kids who've scraped by and only just got it once. Unfortunately the one who's had it 6 times has a very over the top mum with a photographic studio in the house who drags them in for a photoshoot with the certificate to be posted all over FB every time they get it so we bloody well ALL know!

Same in DD2's class - there's one kid who gets it constantly who is very much the teacher's favourite, and other kids (often the SN kids - there's a huge issue in that class with the teacher not wanting to engage with the kids who require a bit more effort) who get completely ignored.

What if kids are brats in the class and get star of the week cause it's their 'turn'. Not fair on the good ones is it?!

But if the kids who struggle stand no chance, being disincentivised will be really counter-productive.

What if kids are brats in the class and get star of the week cause it's their 'turn'. Not fair on the good ones is it?!

But this is a bigger issue. If a child in primary school is just seen as a brat and there is never anything positive to point out with them, then something serious has gone wrong. And this is the child who will most need some positive reinforcement somehow somewhere.

I think it's good practice as a teacher to focus on those who you wouldn't naturally think of. Makes you look for the little things that are still an achievement for some.

My DDs' primary had this. It seemed to work out that all the children eventually had a crack at it. Fair play to most of the teachers, they seemed pretty good at finding genuine reasons for awarding it, even with, what I would see as, the slightly more difficult children (ie any child but mine ) but making sure everyone had it at least once.
However, in one year it had nearly got to the summer holidays and younger DD hadn't been awarded it once. Her friend (and namesake - careful reader can see what's coming next...) had had it three times.
Obviously, I think DD is an unfledged angel, but - at the very least - she's cheerful, not disruptive, tries hard with lessons and liked school.
She was starting to get quite upset and worried, so I popped in to ask the teacher if there was a problem I didn't know about.
Teacher was amazed I'd asked and insisted DD had had the award, at least twice.
I said I was pretty sure DD or I would have noticed. However child-with-same-first-name-as-DD has had it three times...?
"OH! I must have thought I'd ticked off DD on my list already. Difficult when they've got the same names".

Godssake! She'd had nearly a whole school year to tell the difference (and DD is very recognisable due to her halo and the flowers that blossom in her wake*).
And what was the point, if it was just a "crossing children off a list" exercise.

To cap it all, despite there being 4 or 5 weeks before end of term, she gave the award to DD the very next day. DD managed to put 2 and 2 together (see? Other teachers had done a good job) and realised that that particular award was pointless.
I presume the teacher had to do it before the whole class coalesced back into one amorphous mass in her head.
*It's possible only I can see these. I suppose....?

At my school we're encouraged to do it on a 'rota' basis. For example not giving a child another certificate if some children have not yet had one.

For some children, it's a real struggle to think of anything, sadly.

I've gone through the whole class twice (usually 2-3 children per week) and now in these final weeks I will be choosing only those children who genuinely deserve it.

As an aside, DD loved the fact that brat is Russian for brother.
Again, we are talking about young children. If they are a PITA, it’s often a consequence of poor parenting, crap circumstances or additional needs. So a bit of positivity and support can go a long way.

Quite agree Isatis

We keep some sort of list. The names on the back of the door with ticks or the best one ...each child gets their name written on a star and the star is put on a board. That way the have recognition within the class and we know who has had it. Sometimes a child gets it more if they produce a fantastic piece of work.
Everyone gets it and I can imagine how awful a child must feel if they never get it. That is totally wrong.

I don’t like the chocolate medal 🏅 we promote healthy eating and we are band from rewarding with sweets. Some of our kids have no teeth in Year 1.

The problem is that not every kid will genuinely be a star, some quite frankly are mediocre, not naughty just average. Far better not to have such an award weekly because it's either going to keep rewarding the same high achievers or be a fix

Banned. Need to press harder on iPad!

My dd has got it loads this year as her and her teacher have clicked get on extremely well as they both love books and fashion and dd has worked with the teacher to support a child who was having mental health issues reintegrate. She is going to struggle next school year as no other teacher will be the same

They had this when I was at primary school. The naughty kids who showed some kind of even tiny improvement during the week would be the ones to almost always get it all the time. The children like me who were compliant and worked hard anyway and would have loved to get it but would have worked well regardless of the incentive would barely ever get it. I remember feeling it was so unfair when every week the children who were far naughtier than me even when I priced in some way woukd always get it.

We have a theme each week. The children know on Monday and work to achieve it.
If you can’t find something good about a child then YOU have the problem.

We do something similar but it only goes to children who earn it otherwise it is pointless

DDs school does two things - a child gets to bring the class mascot (a cuddly toy) home for good behavior. It's not on a rota, but I think that they're pretty careful to make sure each child gets recognised for something. Then each child has a card that good behaviour and achievement stickers are put on throughout the term, and that is a genuine reflection - some are full, some only have one or two.

I'm not sure a rota is fair either as then a child who really has made a ton of effort might not get recognised because it's not their week, but I agree that the same child getting it repeatedly seems a bit insensitive. However, I'm sure your child will have bigger problems to cope with in their life than this!

Its given to the children who have problems or do something good eg my youngest nephew...he sat down at the table when asked for a week instead of running around the classroom and being sent to hand master. He was vvv pleased about his star. Its not given ever week. His sister got it before for amazing piece of writing. As not given every week its viewed as special. His sister whos very well behavioured in school (not at home always) only got it that once for that written work.

Just an excuse for teachers to pick the kids who fit into their mould and give them the least amount of hassle

Usually quiet pretty girls IMO

I think the trouble with all these awards (our school has millions of them, star of the week, dinner ladies award, the class toy, Head Teacher Award for Pupil of the Term etc etc) is that the more aware kids quickly realise that everyone gets it at some point in the year and so don't value it DD1. I do think it's valuable for everyone to be recognised, all teachers have their biases (DM loved teaching the cheeky boys) so it's good to try and even that out.

It's Golden Work at DDs school. Some of the reasons can be oddly specific sometimes. It's only one per class but there's 7-19 kids in each class it averages once per term (and you get the odd week where there is more than one per class, given by one of the extra teachers).
As a parent... I know it's a loose sort of rota
For the children... It can be a needed boost.
DD1 did get one at her previous school for safe cycling during their campaign to encourage helmets and discourage going the wrong way around the one way system and parents on the pavement. Holding up a 5yo as an example on how to do it...

This is timely, my DS (7 - year 2) hasn't been this yet this year, despite working really hard and being really good even though there has been very bad behaviour from some peers which he's consciously stepped away from (backed up by parent's evening etc). Now, with 4 weeks to go his confidence has been shaken by the fact he's not been star of the week. We're doing all the resilience chats etc. but my heart is breaking for him! He would have really benefited not from a rota (I agree that's pointless), but someone noticing that he hasn't been it yet despite being great. I really hope he gets it before the end of the year!

Ours has a separate thing called on a rota where everyone gets a turn but that is class based not announced at assembly. Our star of the week tends to be a reward system for outstanding work or behaviours so some kids will win it more than others and that's fine. That is given out at assembly in front of the whole school and there's also a star of the term ( not sure what they get neither of mine have had that honour yet!).

I’ve worked in school for over a decade. In my experience the “brats” get it more than anyone because they just need to act like the other children for a day or so and get praised for massive improvements in behaviour. That pisses me off more than anything else. The fact they get a sticker for putting pen to paper makes them even less likely to work.