Re: School reward system.

[Madamecastafiore]

I have a bit of a bee in my bonnet and am not sure whether I am over reacting or I should be taking this issue further for DS.

He got a little despondent at the end of the last school year and when I asked him what was wrong he said he was upset about the reward system at school. Everyone works towards getting 5 attainment badges and to get these you need to be awarded 10 stars for each badge.

DS is a good kid, never in any trouble, tries hard with his work and is above where he needs to be academically. His issue is that he never gets rewarded with these stars as he just flies under the radar. He has actually said that if he was naughty and then was good for a short while he would be rewarded with stars and so receive his attainment badges.

I did tackle this with the class teacher last year and she seemed shocked that DS felt like this and said she would tackle it. She showed me that he had only 5 stars left to get the whole set of badges and in fact was owed a badge.

DD had had this same class teacher and was the same sort of kid whilst at junior school and also felt despondent towards the end of the same year. It does seem like they are bothered about getting your children to the level they need to be and no further so they reach their targets.

So fast forward to this year. Parents evening and I flag up what DS feels like sometimes and was told by the teacher that he would make sure that this didn't happen.

So I thought he would be coming home with badges periodically throughout the first term as only had 4 stars left to get the full set as it were.

Oooooohhhhhh no. Now they need 20 stars to get each badge so last years 4 stars for the full set are now this years 34!!

Do you guys think this is as wrong as I do? There was DS on the verge of getting his attainment badges and now he is half way back to the beginning again. This is not doing anything for his self esteem in terms of rewarding his good behaviour and it has really knocked him thinking that he was almost there and now is halfway back to the beginning again.

I always felt like this as a child. They encourage naughty/lazy kids by rewarding them when they do well but ignore those who are consistently good.

What about your own reward system at home to compensate? It might help to give him a boost and feel noticed?

Seems a bit crap for him but presumably they've all had to go up to 20 stars per badge, so he's not been singled out.

In guessing that 5 stars was too easily achievable for some.

I know you are saying he is well behaved, achieving above etc but is he actually doing anything specific to merit a reward?

I personally am not a fan of the 'reward general behaviour' idea. You reward above and beyond behaviour/acts.

No he has not been singled out but still feels that he can do no more to get the stars that the other kids are getting for doing as in his mind they should be anyway and he is.

Yes everyone has gone up to 20 stars but this is not my issue, my issue is that its not on to create a reward system and then change the goal posts half way through. Effectively you can get hundreds of the bloody stars but never get the badges as you move up each year group.

How annoying.

Give him lots of praise for the things he does that perhaps aren't noticed/assessed/rewarded at school like being patient/kind/a good eater/tidy/funny/whatever and reassure him that his time will come. Let him know you love and value him just because he's him.

Try not to run your lives completely around the school. (Many primary schools give the impression that they'd like you to do this IME). But don't criticise his teachers in front of him. Don't let him think that you place a lot of importance on getting badges at school.

YANBU, these systems always seem to punish well behaved quiet children. Ds1 is 5 and has already noticed the same, he told me that the best way to get star of the week is to punch someone mon/tues then be good for the rest of the week and then you will get the badge.

I should add he has never followed his own advice.

I see where you are coming from, my son's school have a housepoint system they aim to get 100 in a year.
So far my DS has 5, yet his reports say say excellent for behaviour as well as effort. Ok he isn't very bright but he tries his best and they acknowledge that. And as you say some of the kids that play up then are good for a few days get 5 or so in a week.
It is frustrating but I think these systems are aimed at the children who get given the rewards as the teachers know children like ours will be work hard and behave with or without them.

Lunar1, my son worked out exactly the same when he was 5.

So frustrating.

It's such a shame that quiet kids essentially get ignored much of the time because they're not acting out/ attracting attention. It was the same when I was in primary school!

lunar1 I actually laughed out loud at that! How observant, welcome to the ratrace my boy!

This seems to be a common problem. I think my dd flies under the radar a bit too.

I think only answer is to praise them alot at home, and to let them know that although they have to respect their teachers, they are not perfect.

Would a reward system work where all children started with a specific number of points and then they would lose points for misbehaviour/lack of effort - but with the opportunity to earn back points? Then at the end of the term children with a specified percentage of the points could get a certificate.

At least then the children who are good all the time and not recognised for their efforts would not be overlooked for rewards.

Just a thoughyt - what problems can people see with this?

I like that treas.

I suppose because one is negative reinforcement and the other is positive reinforcement Treas. Personally I think star charts/reward stickers are a waste of time anyway.

But Ifcatshadthumbs negative reinforcement is not necessarily a bad thing

Can't you have a reward system at home? It would rely on him telling you about his day and you could give him some stars. Then you could give him some kind of special treat and he could smile to himself each time he works hard / does something well, knowing that you will give him a star / sticker etc at home.

No it's not treas but I still think these reward systems are pointless because they assume all children are the same and should be rewarded/punished the same way. It can never be completely fair someone will always benefit more and others through no fault of their own will miss out.

But surely they all get stars etc for home reading, homework, good work in books etc? We have housepoints at school and I give every child points for the above mentioned, plus answering questions well, thinking of others, general behaviour. The children in my class with the most are the ones who work hard, do their homework, learn spellings etc, and I have a difficult class. They all get rewarded the same for putting in through effort that's relative to them and their needs.

I don't rewards "sitting still", "listening", "being polite", etc. This behaviour is an expectation, not something that should be rewarded as if it is out of the ordinary. I also don't like point systems/star systems because students spend all their time counting and comparison to others. I will reward behaviour such as going beyond the requirements of a task or put themselves out to help out (eg offering to stay in to help me change the boards around, etc). I also prefer to write personal notes in their diary for good work as I think personalised positive feedback is more valuable than a mass produced certificate with a sticker on it and it helps to build intrinsic motivation as opposed to seeking external praise.

"personalised positive feedback is more valuable than a mass produced certificate with a sticker on"
completely agree with you Midnitescribbler.

DS has autism he regularly comes home with a star sticker for something positve but as he has a speech delay he generally can't tell me why he got it, especially as they are given out at the end of the day so if it relates to something he did first thing he will not see the connection between the two and then he will get upset the next day because he doesn't understand why he hasn't been given a sticker and others have. He needs an immediate praise and all that needs to be is a "well done" or "thumbs up"

I would speak to the teacher. I hate it when teachers only reward the super good or the naughty child who sits nicely for 5 minutes when everyone else can do it every day. It is easy to miss those children though.

"personalised positive feedback is more valuable than a mass produced certificate with a sticker on"

I personally agree with this statement but in my experience this is not the opinion of the children. For some reason they thrive on stickers and certificates.

Because that is what they conditioned to believe these days. Parents place value in their child coming home with Star of the Week and the children think that is what they need to aspire to. We do use certificates in our school, but they are for exceptional behaviour or 'going the extra mile'. I also do put a sticker when I write a note in their homework diary, because yes, they do like that, but I don't like seeing children comparing themselves against others, I want them to strive for good behaviour for personal reasons, not so that they get more gold stars on a chart in the corner of the room.