Why do schools bother with the star of the week

[Massivecoffeecake]

It seems it's an exercise in going down a list and ticking off names rather than anything else

Curious as to others thoughts - assuming it's as common place as I see it being locally to me.

It gives an incentive to children to behave well and try their best. Recognising their peers also gives them an identifiable role model who embodies the behaviour. It takes it out of theory into practice.

While every child wins at some point, they do highlight to behaviour that meant they won that week, even if they have to try harder to find something for some kids.

So "Jenny won for doing fantastic listening during carpet time" is also a reminder for everyone else to listen better so they can be like jenny.

Forgot to add, it's also used to boost confidence, as some kids don't get as much parse or notice at home.

My school do star of the day. It's a nice way to recognise each person's little achievements and let them know that we see their hard work and appreciate the results of that. My class can get it for specific pieces of work, for behaviour, for being kind or inclusive or helpful, for meeting various targets etc. Although I try to make sure it's not the same person every week, I don't take particular pains to ensure everyone has had a turn before someone gets it again, it's not a list ticking exercise (though this is easier because it's daily so it's guaranteed everyone will get a few goes to be star of the day).

I think genuinely picking the most outstanding pupil each week could get a bit samey and be demotivating to most pupils. Going down the list is good as each child is celebrated for doing well at some point and they feel special as they don't realise everyone gets a turn at some point.

Star of the day sound like a much better option than the week due to the number of opportunities available for each child.

Children do love getting the award, and they probably don't realise it's a tick list.

Oh you know where you are on the list when you only get star of the week in July every.single.year.

Some children are not praised at home. Some children are not acknowledged at home unless it is negatively. Some children are not encouraged at home. Some children are academically clever and some are not. Some kids have learning difficulties and some do not. Some have horrible home lives and some do not. Some struggle with behaviour and some do not. Some find school hard and some do not.

Star of the week can be anything from being kind, to getting all spellings right to being a good friend to improved behaviour. The important thing is EVERY child gets one, EVERY child succeeds and EVERY child gets praised.

Every child needs praise.

Hate them. In my experience they don't go to the 'good' kids. My primary schooler soon cottoned on to the unfairness of the system.

Okay I get that it might motivate those who struggle to conform but those that do anyway then don't get the reward until way down the line.

I'd rather star of the week than the prize for "table points" that goes on in my child's class. The idea being that children get points for good behaviour and then the table with the most points all get a prize. Except the tables aren't all the same size, so if you are on a smaller table and have a badly behaved child on it with you then there's no chance. All these type of incentives only work if they are actually fair and if they aren't then even really small children can get frustrated with the arbitrary nature of tgem

I’ve seen a nice way to do this where a lolly stick is picked from a jar with a child’s name on (so truest random) and then the class brainstorm to find the good behaviours - it shows that every child is worthy of praise every week.

Many children don’t get much praise or notice so it’s good to praise them when you can!

Also hate them, the middle of the road kids never got them it was the more challenging kids who did.

In DDs last school it was a contributing factor to her destroyed self confidence and lack of esteem. It was handled really badly and lots of children didn't get anything due to Covid lockdowns while others got lots of recognition.

Current school they can get awarded with raffle tickets through the week and there's a little prize draw on Fridays... just things like pencils and sweets and keyring. All the achievements are noticed then.

It makes a difference to some children, but others can become cynical. My DD2 was delighted this year when she got it - she'd had a great week and finally really shown her teacher what she's capable of, so a great time to focus praise on her.

DD1 has noticed that she either gets the first one of the year or gets one when her teacher can't think of anyone else to give it to. So the reason she gets it is either 'settling in well to year X' or 'having a fantastic week'. She's very meh about it as she'd like to get one for something specific like her friends, but she's an all-rounder, so finding something out of the ordinary can be a challenge.

We have star of the week and then during the week WOW moment, where a child's' efforts are recognised and shared. I think it is a good balance - it is lovely to hear the kids congratulating each other on the way out the door. There was a few eyebrows raised when certain awardees who were displaying challenging behavior were awarded - which allowed me to have a discussion about how sometimes children find things harder than others.

We told dd2’s teacher we weren’t a fan, she asked if we could feedback in writing to the Head. Then both my children were Star of the week in the next two weeks!

It certainly doesn’t motivate my kids, even the 5 year old sees through it. Younger children need praise at the time, a weeks a long time when you are 5.

Agree a week is ages.

It's a waiting game every week for the kids and when you are one of the few who hasn't had it wondering why you've not been picked and others have had it again is pretty hard going.

Kids around here know how it works. While it's not actually like this at all, I'd imagine it feels like a waiting to be picked for the teams in PE. when down to the last few in the class to not have your name chosen (reasons given aren't academic ever) it's hard to swallow.

Well done they're great. Badly done they're not.

I found Star of the Day which was only done in one year more of a downer because it seemed to go almost every day to the child who'd been a problem all day and reformed for the last half hour.

One teacher mine had had a real gift for finding something for every child that sounded meaningful and the children genuinely were proud about. And all very individual. That year it worked. The children would hear that one child had got it for being especially helpful, and you'd hear them offering to carry things, or help each other. It was lovely.

Unfortunately the next year the teacher clearly couldn't be bothered to even bother thinking up something half reasonable. I remember one conversation.
"What did you get your golden award for?"
"Getting all my sums right in maths on Tuesday?"
"Were you the only one to do that?"
"No, most people did."
"Was it better than you usually do?"
"No I normally get them right" (she's doing a maths degree now, so probably true!)

Another child got one for "wearing the right uniform"... as all the children did every day.

When ds was at juniors I'm fairly certain they just went down the list alphabetically for the first one and by birthday for the second. He got his 2 awards for the year on basically the same week within one each time. One of those weeks he'd been off all week...

DS(7) loves getting one, and never twigs that it's basically given out on a rota. He tends to get "good participating" or "being a good friend" .

It's not given out on a rota in my DDs school. She's a good girl and was always overlooked . I never mentioned it to the teacher because I didn't want her to have a pity reward. I'd just ask every parents evening if everything was ok and it was always yes, she's great etc First time she got it was in year 2 , having been in the school since nursery. A boy who strangled her got it twice before her . Other 'disruptive ' kids got it numerous times a year . The good / quiet ones always get overlooked .

Well my 5yo has already clocked that it is bollocks so i do wonder how effective it is. She couldn’t understand why one of the boys who hit her got star of the week when she hadn’t got one. We had a long chat about how some children find it harder to behave nicely but she wasn’t really having any of it. To her, it was a massive blow that the child who had hurt her had been rewarded and she hadn’t. When her turn came round it was for something pretty random and she was cross about that too. She wanted it for something she had felt proud of not something inane.

ExplodingCarrots There is a shared theme in our posts.

I hate the bloody thing. I have a very well behaved 8 year old who always does her best and didn't get star of the week at all last year. She has the same teacher this year so asked her why she didn't get it. Teacher's answer 'I marked down that you did' (she didn't). So far this year she still hasn't been awarded star of the week. This week the rules were changed and to get the award you had to work on certain things. My daughter worked her socks off doing those things every day working towards this bloody award and came home today utterly dejected because she didn't get it yet a child who only did the work on one day did. She's now decided there's no point in trying. At 8 years old. I really feel for her poor broken spirit.

It’s what schools think Ofsted want & will be included in the school behaviour policy. Like most things with schools these days, it’s just another tick box exercise.