to be annoyed at school for giving DS 'a mark' if we have walked to school and him feeling bad if he gets a dot

[majorydoors]

DS is in reception and has said he gets another mark (other than register) if he has walked to school. He told me today he got a dot and said it as if it was a bad thing (we used the car this AM)

I asked him why they are doing these marks and he said it is 'because of exercise'. I dont know how this has been put across to the children but DS seems to think it is bad if we use the car to go partway, as I do if I am going somewhere instead of doubling back to collect it.

So I said to DS if anyone asks you explain what exercise you do, and that he wasnt in any sort of trouble.

The school have not informed us that this data is being collected. They did write home about the measuring height and weight last week, is it related?

I feel a annoyed as if I want to use my car to goto shops/gym/work I bloody well will and not have DS feel its wrong. We are an active family and feel like shoving this in their faces - or on their chart!

The problem is, though, how can they otherwise get people to walk to school, who could but otherwise wouldn't?

Seriously, in the last 7 years, the number of cars on the road has risen massively and will continue to rise. The only place car journeys have declined, has been on the school run, where these schemes have been running.

I agree it's bad to have a scheme which makes kids feel bad, but firstly, teachers shouldn't be emphasising the ones who don't walk and secondly, the alternative is to just accept gridlock.

Lots of schools were built at a time when there were no cars on the road or if they are more modern, very few. The surrounding area simply doesn't have the infrastructure, to cope with masses of traffic and in many cases, the only way you can deal with it is to cut the traffic or close the school.

HerBeX, that's what annoys me, there's no joined up thinking about communities at all, and it just blanket blames the individual for having the temerity to have a job in the next town which starts at the normal working time, rather than finding community level solutions such as school buses.

The model of every individual family walking their individual children to schools for 9am and 3pm is regressive and requires one parent, usually the mother, to work part-time (even a twenty minute walk to school is nearly an hour and a half a day). Hence why lots of women do jobs which are far beneath their qualifications just to fit round school hours.

Oh god yes I know onetoomany.

It pisses me off tbh that so much emphasis is on school run traffic when that accounts for 1 in 5 cars on the road at those times, when 4 out of 5 cars are containing people with no passengers who could be car-sharing. But it's alawys easier to bully mothers than business peopel...

Having said that, the last government was due to shift its emphasis over to trying to encourage businesses to develop travel plans to get their employees to car share, get rail and bus travel loans, put showers in for cyclists etc... but not sure whether the new govt. is going to run with that, will probably say that it is too much red tape for businesses.

i'm liking the fairy violence

he problem is, though, how can they otherwise get people to walk to school, who could but otherwise wouldn't?

is the #they' you talk about schools?

becuase if so - i would say its not in their remit

if someone lives 5 mins away and wants to drive to school and can't park

hard shit

if the only place to park is a 10 min walk away and you have to get to work - you have to get there 10 mins earlier

and none of this is a school issue

and if people complain to the school - the head should tell them its hard shit

and if there is a safety issue the traffic department need to be contacted to ticket people

We do the WOW thing at work - walk once a week and the children get a badge each month if they have walked to school four times during the month. WOW here
At our school the attitude of many parents who insist on driving their children to school is appalling - arguing about who gets to park on the zig zag lines , complaining to the HT if they get a parking ticket for parking on the zig zag lines, generally making it very difficult and dangerous for children to cross the road to get to the school. Regular letters home make no difference. An accident outside the school, which could have been prevented if only parents hadn't parked there, made no difference. Regular visits by parking wardens and the police make no difference. But it is amazing how many parents can suddenly manage to walk/park a few yards further away when they think their child might get a badge for it!

FWIW, I too have seen parents who live a few yards away from school get in their car, drive the 30 yards or so and then drive the return journey! It takes longer to get everybody in and out of the car and to lock it than it would just to walk!

But this is why they should look and learn from elsewhere. Car sharing is a disaster for the working mum who may need to go and pick up early if they are sick, or go to a school performance or any of the other reasons you can't go at the same time every day. Where I live, rail and buses aren't an option, the school mine attend (the only one with places) is miles out of town, and to travel back into town, then go to my work by rail would get me there about 11.30 am, I've checked!

It's not rocket science, but things like school buses that pick up around 8am, after-school clubs/activities that are on school premises and cheap or free, cheap childcare, these are done in other European countries who want their citizens to work (although there are exceptions like in Germany where the children finish early). In Britain we have the worst of all possible worlds, in that we are made to feel simultaneously guilty for working (and using a car to get there even though there is for many of us no alternative) and not working.

I tell my children to be proud that their mum is driving to her professional job and that the school are simply wrong to poke their noses into our private lives.

I can see it's a good idea to encourage walking, but a 5 year old should only be rewarded for something they can control. For every lazy person who gets in the 4x4 and drives half a mile with their children and then drives back home, there is somebody who needs to drive on to their work, or needs to do a combined childminder/school drop, or the parent is disabled or there is a disabled sibling. Maybe they should have a "more walking week" where you can get a mark for doing a walk at the weekend as a family, instead of skipping the school run.

So, Custardo, you think as a full-time working person, I should spend an extra 40 plus minutes a day getting the children strapped in the car, driving ten minutes, parking, getting them out, walking for ten minutes, walking back to the car, getting in then driving my commute for 40-60 minutes. Then driving 40-60 minutes back, parking 10 minutes away and doing this all in reverse. Really? I just don't get it. It is my private life. How I get my children to their statutorily required school is my business and mine alone. If the government wants to provide school buses, better public transport and so on, fantastic. But to make my child feel bad because her mum drives to her work every morning. Not in my household.

Seriously, I dread to think wtf schools will come up with by the time DD starts in Sept '12. I feel like I'm going in fighting already.

I don't think it is right that children are "marked down" over things like this.

For all the reasons others have stated very eloquently upthread

"Argh why doesnt our school do this! I walk every bloody day where is my recognition"

Me too! Half an hour each way. Two hours a day for me, one for my little dude. And on the way back I'm usually carrying shopping and stuff.

I want a walking star chart! [Stamps foot and scowls]

It is within the school's remit though.

They get complaints from local residents about congestion, inconsiderate and illegal parking and they ahve to deal with sweary parents upsetting kids before school.

children who are not driven to school, arrive more alert, better able to concentrate and behave better because they have let off some energy before school This affects how they learn.

It is very much the school's business, the same way that kids not having breakfast before they come to school is. That's why they introduced free school milk originally, because they recognised that schools are the best way to get good things to children because most children go to school.

Kids are not marked down.

IF they are, teh schemes aren't being run well.

Employers who run car share schemes are encouraged to guarantee taxis in an emergency.

It happens so rarely that it's worth their while. It costs something like GBP1500 per year, to maintain a work parking space. That's space that can be freed up for other stuff.

All schools around here do a month or six weeks Golden Boot challenge. If you get to school by: walking, bike, scooter, bus or train (or similar) you get a point. The class with the most points at the end of the week gets applauded in assembly, and a trophy for the week. The class which wins over all, all the children get a badge. The class which wins out of all of those in the local area gets in the Council paper, and an award of some sort.

You can park 5 minutes away and walk, and still get a point.

However you need to grow a thicker skin to such things if you aren't always going to be able to do it. Last year my DD got dropped at school in the car most of the time, as she had to get to breakfast club and then I dashed for work. Your child will frequently come home with the latest "message", lots aren't even an option for the school but dictated by the government.

I work with a school which has a car park 3 minutes walk from the school.

Parents still park on the zig zags because they are lazy, selfish philistines and the safety of all the other children is of no interest to them whatsoever.

It is very irritating to be preached at, but honestly some poeple are so selfish that they need more than preaching, I don't know what they need...

suggest he asks the teacher and TA how they get to school and supply him with some star stickers for them if they walk?

As for local residents complaining about congestion, if the school was there first, you should have bought a house elsewhere!!!

And yes, I do believe that!

And if schools and businesses don't tackle it who will?

The government?

Whcih you're all complaining about for being the nanny state?

Doing nothing isn't an option. Lots of areas will be in complete gridlock within 15 years, if they don't get some cars off the road before then.

shesparkles I totally agree.

But if you are a small village school, for example, you need local support otherwise next time a government decides that small village schools are too expensive to run and wants to close one down, when the consultation process reveals that all the residents hate you and will be glad to see the back of you because they can't get out of their drives between 8.30 and 9.15 every morning, you are not going to have much chance of keeping your school open...

LOL I think schools are full of fucking star charts and tick charts