is the school being mean or am I being pfb

[brighton9]

So my dds school runs a drama club for year 5 and year 6. Good so far. However they hold auditions for places as the club performs at the end of the year to the whole school.
Dd went for an autition with 8 of her class mates and she was the only one not to geta place.
Aibu to think that they should be able to find something for each child wanting to be involved.
I can understand auditions for secondary aged children but these arr primary aged children.
Or am I being pfb.

I know people wont agree with me and I will get flamed for this but I honestly believe competition is good for children. It can help them develop healthy attitudes about winning and losing which will help them long term as adults. Children become competitive as they refine and practice skills which they can do without automatic inclusion in a competing team when they are not hitting the mark. Why would we penalise the children that are good? This surely isn't good for them? Competition can encourage growth and push children to excel. Surely we should be finding ways of helping children succeed in competitive (losing and winning) situations. Encouraging them to flex their competitive nature in a secure environment will help them learn they can lose a game or place on a play without losing self-confidence. Activities and experiences should promote physical and intellectual development, cooperation and a healthy view of competition. We should be stressing the basics of fair play, good sportsmanship, putting forth good effort and winning or losing gracefully. Adults influence the competitive nature of their children so surely we need to keep a healthy attitude towards competition. I am not saying we should push children to the extreme in terms of competition but I just think the whole concept of its about part taking, not winning and everyone should be included regardless is flawed. There should be some form of competition introduced from a youngish age (8-10). It never did me any harm as a child. It certainly hasn't and isn't affecting my nieces and nephews but maybe its because I grew up in a family which encouraged competitive sports and activities. I know the majority of people don't see it this way and I accept that view. Each to their own after all.

Agree that competition is good.
But in a drama club i think it is entirely possible and also productive to create a "position" for those kids who have put themselves forward. Even if it's a supportive or tiny role.
The greater goal could be a larger role but it's good to reward effort too, especially in this area.
How good can you be at acting at that age anyway?

Even I am not this brave. How good can you be at acting at that age anyway? .

I see drama the same as I see sport. The competitive edge comes in the form of limited spaces on a play in drama where as sports is in the form of winning.. Different form of experience and learning but the principles are the same.

Thats not on. They should have found her a part.

Ok littlebear I do agree with you on the whole.
But the "prize" is a larger role IMHO.
So it goes: Mary, angel, narrator, wise "man", shepherd(ess), ... Villager,...................there's always something they can do. No?

She bothered to audition. I think that deserves something i
It's tries that not everybody might be tight for a certain part.
Maybe she could do some backstage stuff. That's all part of it isn't it?

So should the school magic up extra teachers to support these extra children then? They give their time for free.

I agree Therealamandaclark that if she isn't successful in attaining a cast role and she still wants to be involved in the production then maybe an opportunity in a supporting role should be offered. Eg. Back stage, designing posters etc. I also think the value of the upporting role should be emphasised so she doesn't feel its a bit part secondary role. As brighton9 hasn't commented on this we are unsure whether this was an option.

brighton9 could she get involved in another way?

With regards staff shortage. I don't think teachers should be forced into giving up their free time unless they want to. So in tht case the parents should offer up their free time to support the production if by are that passionate about this.

Why would extra teacher volunteers be needed?

And magic isn't real btw.

Update?

LittlePea, in many schools the expectation now is that all teachers bar NQTs will run at least one club as part of the job. Most of us run two.
Without extra pay or reimbursement in kind or any other perks. Or support from parents on a weekly basis that can be relied upon.
I ran two clubs last year, both of which were oversubscribed by more than 100%, so yes, I did select who got in, and had a short waiting list.
How many spaces and how many applicants OP? How many other clubs is your DD a member of?

'Why would extra teacher volunteers be needed?'

Is that a serious question? I take 14 children in one club and 16 in the other because there is only one of me and that's how many I can do the activity with and not get stressed. I spend my teaching day with 32.
If I wanted to have 32 in my club, I'd want an extra pair of hands.

Silverapples Exactly. The parents that expect more should be providing the additional support. It shouldn't be down to you. You are doing enough IMHO.

My DH is a drama teacher. He does an annual school production and has 100+ kids involved. He never leaves anyone out. If the child has made the effort to go along to audition and turned up to drama club regularly, they get a part in the show. He even does double casts and makes parts up for people if there aren't enough parts to go around.

Leaving children out is mean.

That's lovely, but it is his job, his focus and his particular skill and training, which is somewhat different to a primary teacher running a club.
Not knocking his dedication or his generosity, but it isn't the same thing.

Yes it was a serious question. Sorry.
I wouldn't have thought that 8 rather than 7 10 yr old girls being involved in a project would necessitate the drafting in of another teacher.
Always happy to be corrected though.

Okay fair point, and I didn't get to see all the posts (page didn't load properly).

I also see that it it is a club with limited spaces. In which case why hold auditions? Just give out places on a first come first served basis (or random selection) and those not picked are on reserve list for next time.

It was 8 of the OP's child's friends who auditioned not just 8 children.

What about all the others who want to be in? It's a Y5/6 production, if you had an open invite then most of them might turn up, which in my school would be around 100-150. Then they'd drop out bit by bit, until you had the core enthusiasts.
There has to be a limit, based on what the overall objective is and what is possible to ask from staff. If it was just an informal drop in and mess about dramatically club, then that is very different to trying to aim for a polished and outstanding dramatic production.
Perhaps some of the parents could set up a fun drama club?

Again, random selection?
I have dropped children from my club lists because they weren't suitable for different reasons, and included others that needed to be in. Children apply on a term by term basis.
It's my club, I'm running it for free, I get to choose. I'm not a babysitter, and I want to enjoy the experience as well as the children. I've also given warnings and refused to have someone in the club who ignored the warnings.

And what are we teaching children when we just hand things to them on a platter? It's ok when you go out into the big world you will get whatever you want . No wonder I get so many applicants that seem to believe they should get the position just because they applied.. Some off them have no concept that they are in a competitive situation.

Well, they are only 9-11 years old LittlePea, so they have lots of time to learn about competition and stuff later.
Understanding that you can't always have what you want, and sometimes there are things that you try for and don't get is as far as it needs to go in primary I think. Resilience is a key skill.

Silverapples I agree with at. As I said earlier we need to ensure its age appropriate. Children are not born with a competitive urge. They learn it. They don't begin to compete with and compare their skills to others till about the age of 5 and i agree with your point about starting to teach them they cant always get what they want or try for and slowly developing that through their teenage years. But what I disagree with is this concept that everything should be handed to them on a plate because any form of competing for a position is mean. It's not mean, it should be part of the development process in a safe and encouraging environment.

Spoke to school again today. Will try and update. It is a large primary so maybe 30 kids applied, I know of a few who didn't make. However, she is on a reserve list and will next a place if people drop out. If not will get a place next year.

She hasn't applied for any other clubs. Most sre chargeable anyway as run by outside agencies.