Failing school watching World Cup

[Mallowmarshmallow]

My DS' school, with no consultation with parents, showed the whole World Cup game this afternoon and allowed the children to colour while watching it.

The school has been considered 'requires improvement' by ofsted in 2019 and has failed, thus far, to make any improvement. Last year there were six different heads.

It feels like such a kick in the teeth that they chose to forego a whole afternoon of education, and indeed, didn't even take the opportunity to do a bit of a geography lesson in the mix.

There are a number of reasons DS still attends the school, despite the position it is in.

Any school that gets through 6 headteachers in one year has serious problems, that go way beyond 2 hours watching an England match in the school hall.

Maybe they thought it would bring the school community together in something nice? I couldn't get outraged about the missed 'afternoon', to be honest. Whatever their issues are they won't fix them in a couple of hours.

Most schools did this.

Parents can also give a bit of geography lesson.

My football disliking DS came home today really excited about the match he'd seen. He said he might even be a football convert. I was surprised but then realised it's a major event and probably did the kids good. Our school is a good one.

My school did this and it is the best primary school in the area. I was surprised but thought it was a nice thing to do.

YABU

Lol yep, 6 different heads in a year but 90 mins of football is the issue here.

Priorities...

They had no need to consult with parents about their decision to watch football. Did your ds want to watch the football?

As a teacher in previous tournaments if we didn’t show the games at school it badly affected our attendance.

We embraced it and had great fun doing so.

So kids in a failing school don't get to enjoy the World Cup, which you'd be fine with if the school was performing better?

Feels a bit unfair on the kids.

@foghead, I did give a geography lesson at home, as I have attempted to fill in the many other gaps left by the school in the last school year.

@FishnetsNightdressCrisis the six heads is a far larger, ongoing issue as is the general state of the school, the football is today's concern.

@MelchiorsMistress DS would be happy for any excuse to avoid an afternoon of schoolwork.

I guess im just confused as to why the school would sacrifice any teaching time that they could otherwise be attempting to assist the children to make some progress in their education.

I'm sure there was a mixture of children that did/didn't enjoy the experience as at any other school.

God I'd have had my child out of there long ago (or never sent him there), I can't think of any reason good enough to keep him there. Literally his whole future could be ruined by that.

YABU, they were doing the same as many other schools today.

What @FishnetsNightdressCrisis said

Both my children ( different schools ) came home super excited to tell me they had been allowed to watch the football today at school. One is a football fan, the other definitely not, but both still loved the experience of watching it together with their friends. I really don't think missing 2 hours of lessons will make any difference to any child's education.

I can't believe I'm reading this. Ds loved it. I emailed the school to thank them.

We did it too. The last time England played we had 67% attendance on the day and 60% the day after. The Head made the decision to show the match last week and told the parents. Kids that didn’t want to watch did fun football related learning in another class.

Attendance today was 98%.

I would be so annoyed if my ds' school had done this. What about the many children who don't even enjoy watching football? My ds would have been very bored. They also already lose a lot of teaching time with the endless Christmas events and nativity rehearsals at this time of year.

This is not something you need to focus on. The fact that the school is requires improvement and has had six heads does not have much to do with the showing or not of this match. Lots of schools showed it.

What about the kids who love football that get forced to watch some Disney film that equally they dislike at the end of term or whatever? FFS why is it always football that attracts so much hatred on this site.

Most kids are just happy to have an afternoon off maths or whatever anyway, whether it's football, Disney or anything else.

Our outstanding rated primary did this. The kids loved it.

Better to let the classes watch it. It's only 90 mins and in previous years attendance rates take a hit if you try and ban it and the kids miss the whole day which has a greater impact on their education.
Makes good memories as well.

I’m a governor of a school like this. We’ve got a huge focus on attendance and building a positive school community. Like a PP said, if we didn’t show it we would have been at 50% attendance.

And nativity rehearsals, god there must be loads of kids who hate it, and that 'wastes' far more time that a football match.

@CurlsandSwirls I wish moving him was that easy. All other local schools are full so no local options. DD is very anxious and would not manage a move of schools and I can't have two DC in two different schools.