To be a bit pissed that ds1 has been watching shrek on the first 2 days of school?

[Phantomteadrinker]

I genuinely don't know if iabu or not so interested in opinions...

Ds1 went into year 1 yesterday and told me today that for the past 2 afternoons, they have been watching shrek. We have received a letter saying that the whole school is doing an 'at the movies' project but the only information is that there will be a junk filled feast for them all next week.

I'm no fan of the school, it was not one of our choices and its a school that has many social problems and struggles with very poor attendance. Whilst I get that there should be a balance with fun and learning,watching kids films on the first days of term is not filling me with confidence for the coming year. Am I missing something or does the whole thing sound like a massive cop out...?

Cross curricular learning. Ofsted love that shit.

I would say with almost 100% certainty that they are watching Shrek to inspire the term's topic. I imagine there will be a post about me tomorrow after the children watch a film on their first day back after the holidays.

Lots of schools use movies to lead and inspire their topics. Shrek, in particular, is great for a Y1 class because it includes nursery story characters, dragons and castles - all of interest to a 5 year old.

Give the teachers some credence. (And really, all you have to do is ask the teachers why they're watching it rather than rant.)

Thanks all,some really helpful advice here and interesting to see a difference of opinions.

I definitely need to find out a little more as 5 year olds aren't known for giving full and complete information! It does seem to be supported by topic work which is great, i just have concerns that the school tries a little too hard to have fun to increase dire attendance and the academic side gets a bit pushed aside. There are countless projects in the school to support families and its long been a worry of mine that kids from families who don't need additional support and turn up for school everyday tend not to be a priority. I'll have a chat with his teacher as suggested.

This could be what's known as a topic launch; a really exciting launch of the topic for the children to make it exciting and a real experience so it then means that it will hopefully inspire them with the topic work that follows on afterwards.

Go in and ask the school if you're not sure what's happening.