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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wish school would stop labelling my son

55 replies

rockybalboa · 09/09/2014 23:40

With actual sticky labels. With notes on. Last year (Reception) he came home with one saying 'please can I have a water bottle for school'. I sent him back the next day with a new sticky label saying 'please remind me to get my water bottle of my book bag' which is where I had put it on Monday morning as they send the bottles home every Fri for washing. Today he came home with one about needing his PE kit. I am tempted to send him in with a new label tomorrow saying 'he brought his named PE bag containing named PE kit in on the first day of school last week'. We don't get anywhere near the classroom or cloakroom at either drop off or pick up

OP posts:

dramajustfollowsme · 10/09/2014 07:50

It might be that every child in the class was getting the sticky label at the end of the day as a reminder for the next day. It is easier and more efficient to stick them onto the kids than get their diaries out and put them in there, for the diaries to get left behind.
I do this in infant classes. I'm sorry it offends but it does seem to be the most effective way of getting the message across. I wouldn't be speaking to each individual parent about something like this but would talk to parents about concerns particular to their child.

Hakluyt · 10/09/2014 07:50

I think it's a good idea. They used to do it in my dd's primary- it works. You would have to be very precious indeed to object.

ilovesooty · 10/09/2014 08:00

It's ok pudding

23 years a teacher - definite joke.
Now in a job supporting "heedless" adults!

Hakluyt · 10/09/2014 08:05

Mind you, they used to put "praise" stickers on them too- and once dd and her gang all came out with big stickers with gold stars and "money problems" written on them..........

cashmiriana · 10/09/2014 08:06

Why can't they use a text system? The ones in schools can be set up so you can select as many people as you like for the same message. I used to send e.g. one on Tuesday with a reminder that PE was on Thursday, one on Monday to say homework was coming home, due in Thursday etc. Then I also had my little hardcore group that needed at least one text a day about things they constantly forgot. We kept stickers for FS children with positive messages like "I was kind today" "I shared my toys" etc.

Bunbaker · 10/09/2014 08:08

"Why can't they use a text system?"

Cost

I am on the finance committee at a large secondary school and they only text parents for really important things like school closures on snow days etc.

Kerberos · 10/09/2014 08:09

Sounds like a great idea to me. Can't understand why you'd be offended by it. Particularly if the notes back are received in good humour.

KleineDracheKokosnuss · 10/09/2014 08:11

I like the idea of sticky labels. So long as they are not used for things that really should be done in person (such as telling you your child keeps misbehaving). Better than a random it of paper in a book bag.

I'd definitely send notes back that way.

fcukip · 10/09/2014 08:15

I also like the idea of labels!

MyFairyKing · 10/09/2014 08:42

YABU. It's a great idea. The nursery I used to work at tried many methods and stickers were the most effective.

SpaceStation · 10/09/2014 08:50

DS has had them saying "I bumped my head today" which I am v happy about, I think that's a good idea.

I don't like them if there could be an element of humiliation, like it's telling everyone they forgot something. Especially if they didn't!

Yes, schools do have emails, our school has recently brought in an emailing system (with much fanfare and excitement, 20+ years after emails were invented ) and it is a huge improvement on all the annoying bits of paper that DS would lose but it is more for school-wide info, not individual reminders. I guess the next step is for primary schools to become aware of text messages!

The reason they are wary of using those systems though, is that if it's possible to reply, the teacher would constantly be inundated with long-winded demands from the more "involved" parents. Out school email system is plastered with messages saying "YOU CANNOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL" etc.

redexpat · 10/09/2014 08:57

I thought you meant labelling as in saying he was lazy/dyslexic/g&t and came onto say YANBU, but actually I think it's quite funny! Sorry OP.

DownByTheRiverside · 10/09/2014 09:05

'the teacher would constantly be inundated with long-winded demands from the more "involved" parents. '

I had separate folders for the dozen or so very precious parents who emailed me about every and all details.
Parentmail works well for most, but for individual parents a note is better, It's just a question of where you stick it...

HavanaSlife · 10/09/2014 09:10

Mine have always had diarys that you write in, ds3 would not take kindly to the sticky labels, he refused to wear one with his name on yesterday on his first day of pre school

SaucyJack · 10/09/2014 09:15

Next time you have summat to say to the teacher write it on a sticky note and just slap it on the front on her cardi and walk off again.

mummytime · 10/09/2014 17:07

"DS has had them saying "I bumped my head today" which I am v happy about, I think that's a good idea."
I agree except one of my DC so loved stickers that she went to complain about bumping her head at least 4 times one week. This would worry me about writing notes and sticking them on children. Oh and what happens if the parent doesn't notice until the jumper has been in the washing machine and you are left with a horrible black mark.

Pigriver · 10/09/2014 17:35

If your child can't remember to take his water bottle out of his bag it remember that his pe kit is on his peg do you really think he will manage to get a letter home?

Letters get left behind/lost/forgotten about in bag.
Texts are a faff if it is just 1 or 2.
If kids are at after school club or picked up by fiends parents etc it is difficult to speak to the parent plus it is the busiest time of the day with everyone coming or going.

I think the sticky label idea is great. They probably print of a number of sheets of each at the beginning of the year and just pop one on relevant child as and when, 2 second job. Might do it with my class....please wash my jumper

MollyHooper · 10/09/2014 17:50

Aww, he's like a little carrier pigeon.

Teach him to coo when they stick labels on him.

mineofuselessinformation · 10/09/2014 17:57

When they have a fancy dress day, make him a costume out of post-its....
If you used different colours, the possibilities are endless.

Original poster

rockybalboa · 10/09/2014 18:01

They aren't printed labels, they are handwritten. The labels for bumping heads are printed. It was more of a tongue in cheek AIBU really. I've never had a problem with notes/letters not coming home in his bookbag tbh. It's just the carrier pigeon nature of it which makes me a bit . I appreciate it is an effective means of communicating, it just feels a bit weird!

OP posts:

koomkebear · 10/09/2014 19:38

mine or you could just slap on a single label that says 'This is not a school uniform' and leave them to have a nice philosophical discussion about uniforms, labels, sticky labels and Magritte etc

mummytime · 10/09/2014 22:25

We'd use the Reading Record book for this kind of communication actually, and the after school club were also good about passing on messages (and teacher's were often still in school until 6 pm anyway).

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 11/09/2014 00:50

Goblin. Your talking about reception child (4-5 years old) A baby ffs. Not a 40 year old.

OfaFrenchMind · 11/09/2014 01:02

It's hilarious :)
And ingenious. That's indeed a good way to communicate with the parents while avoiding the cost and serious time loss of emails, because, seriously... and also wards off the very "involved" super-parents that plague a teacher's every day life.

Bulbasaur · 11/09/2014 01:20

How about you teaching your son to know where his possessions are, instead of instantly criticizing the school?

While he's at school, it's the teacher's job to look after him and help him out. The thing about children is that they are very literal and immediate. You can show him to find a toy in a crate, and they learned to find a toy in a crate, not their PE kit at school. They don't transfer ideas and knowledge to other situations at that age.

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