To think this teacher is fucking loopy?

[OverReactionMuch]

DS2 (just 5) apparently broke a branch off one of the trees in the school playground. He was swinging on it (normal boy behaviour?).

Teacher, who is Head of KS1 then paraded him around all the KS1 classes with the offending branch lecturing the other DC on how naughty my DC was and what a terrible thing he did.

She also phoned me (I did not know she had taken him round the classes) to inform me of my DS's 'crime'. I said I would talk to him. She also took the 'dead' branch into the afterschool club and showed all the DC there and so the staff could show me the offending article when I picked him up.

DS has said that he did not mean for the branch to come off.

I am actually quite furious that she has demonised my DS to the other DCs. DS has found it very hard to settle into school and I actually had a meeting with this woman before he started at school as I was concerned about how he would settle (undiagnosed SN is my mother's gut instinct) and she has totally ignored every thing I said.

AIBU to loudly voice my displeasure on Monday?

From the OP and her comments and reactions, I suspect that there is a LOT more to this story, aside from her darling little precious can do no wrong, and if he does, it's because he's obviously undiagnosed SN. Child may have mouthed off after being told not to do it, child may have hurt another student by hitting them with the branch when it broke, child may have deliberately done it. I also doubt that a teacher would "parade" and "demonise" a child around if it were an accident. I'm voting for deliberate act with mouthing off included. Probably behaviour he learnt from his parent.

Nice irony in the OP stating that her child has undiagnosed SNs- but seeing nothing wrong in calling the teacher 'fucking loopy'..

op Just go to the school in the morning eh?

Honestly nutters abound on here .

The certainly do!

Unless they have been told not to keep off the tree's, your son was not breaking a school rule.
The teacher was way out of line making a spectacle of your son.
The days of sitting wearing a dunce cap at the front of the classroom are gone.

Opps, I meant to say
"Unless they have been told to keep off the tree's"

Of course they had been told to keep off the trees.

Add message | Report | Message poster OverReactionMuch Sun 17-Feb-13 10:19:41
Honestly nutters abound on here .

I think there are a lot of defensive teachers on this thread OP.

Yes, PessaryPam (ewww) - weird that, isn't it; especially when you consider the first reply encouraged 'giving her slap'?

Who would have thought anyone would object?

She's being over the top but that does not warrant calling her 'fucking loopy' or needing a 'slap'

Some really lovely people on this thread.

I'm surprised that there were low branches in your school - our H&S rep wouldn't allow it in our area (after a little one lost the sight in one eye after jumping and hitting a branch ).

We would point out an incident to other pupils in the class or other classes to point out its unacceptable but would never march a child into another class. I would speak to the teacher and ask why this happened and ask for their discipline policy.

We don't actually know yet what the teacher did, as OP has not asked her. I suspect OP is not coming back to this thread anyway.

Fwiw I took a parent to see the damage her son had caused at school one day. It was not deliberate, but he was mucking around and misbehaving. He was only 6 but the damage was huge.

The best way to inform the parent, was simply to show her. She was shocked and her son was upset. This was all a natural consequence of seeing the damage, not due to anything I did or said.

BUT, she could have come on mn stating that,

'ds was only doing what little boys do, but she came marching over to me on the playground and insisted I look at the 'damage'. My ds was distraught at being paraded back into the building and I was humiliated'

It just depends what slant you put on the story.

On the brightside if the OP goes in to the school with this attitude she will at least be banned from the premises.

Our Primary has an adventure playground with monkey bars in the playground.

In the 8 years that my DC's have attended the school, 5 DC's have had broken arms. Not one parent has sued.

Risk is a natural part of growing up. Why do we as parents feel the need to wrap our DC's up in cotton wool these days?

I know that my DC's would be very unhappy if they weren't allowed to play on the adventure playground.

Of course there's going to be accidents. It's a normal part of growing up.

Swinging on trees IS normal behaviour for a 5yo, boy or girl.

The teacher overreacted, AND humiliated the DC afterwards. I WOULD be going into the school.

God what depressing reading some of this is! Of course swinging on tree branches is normal - for boys and girls

Do we actually want to produce a generation of children so fearful and risk averse that they never challenge themselves or explore their limits?

DS went to a fabulous little school ( now sadly shut and still much lamented, most of all by him) which encouraged the children to climb trees in the grounds. The trees had bee graded on how difficult they were to climb and colour coded accordingly. They also had dens and playing out clothes so they could run wild at break times and burn off their energy

He learnt more in two years there than every other school he's been to - and he ran out the door for the bus on a morning, he loved going so much

As for parading him round the classrooms - that is unacceptable and I would be giving her what for. What is wrong with having a word at morning assembly and just asking children not to do such things?

You may not sue/complain/go to the papers etc but a certain kind of parents would - I include the OP in that.

PessaryPam - what a very silly remark to make.

No one is saying that climbing trees is not normal behaviour! But if a child has been told not to, does so, breaks the branch then he has behaved badly. Simple.

Comparing one school to another on this is pretty pointless isn't it? Policies differ,schools differ.

There will be other things in school which are 'out of bounds' though Merry, such as sliding down banisters, jumping down stairs. Things which are fun, natural but not appropriate for school. We have all sorts of play equipment in school and we have trees.

The children are all taught that the trees are not for playing with. They can sit in the shade under them, they can search for insects crawling on them, they can do 'rubbings' on them, they can run around them and play hide and seek behind them. But they are not for climbing.

None of the children have trouble understanding this. I'm surpised that so many adults on this thread do tbh.

swinging on a branch til it breaks is NOT normal behaviour. it was bad behaviour and warranted punishment, but this was disproportionate. Something like being kept inside for a couple of breaktimes would be more apropriate.

so she was YABU for humiliating your son, but YABU in utterly excusing his initial bad behaviour.