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Original poster

To return the class bear with a note saying thanks, but no thanks

248 replies

Wailywailywaily · 08/02/2015 16:15

DS has the Reception class Bear to entertain this weekend. The bear has two books full of his previous adventures and TBH he has a busy life.

I'm ashamed to say that he has now spent the entire weekend in his suitcase Blush.

DS gets a lot of homework for a reception child IMO - spellings, drawing and reading - and I can't be bothered to make him come up with an adventure for the Bear as well.

So I was thinking that the Bear seems to need a rest anyway and perhaps it would be just fine to send him back having had a good long snooze?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
Artfooldodger · 09/02/2015 22:23

Our class badger had a bottle of champagne last year, but clearly felt rather ill afterwards as he ended up on the toilet!!!!!

To return the class bear with a note saying thanks, but no thanks
To return the class bear with a note saying thanks, but no thanks
Leeds2 · 09/02/2015 22:43

I am sad that DD's class never had a class bear/badger/monkey. I/she would've loved it!

zipzap · 09/02/2015 23:08

When ds2 had the class bear, he went in the washing machine.

I also took pictures of him knocking back a bottle of beer and surrounded by empty beer and wine bottles that were about to go out for recycling that I was going to do as a separate entry - 'Poor old Bear was feeling very fed up of being shunted around from person to person, house to house and not having a nice loving stable environment to call home. The easiest way to deal with it was to raid the booze cupboard - nobody ever suspected him and most of the time he got to sleep through the next day when the Child (there were too many different ones to remember all their names) was at school. Those bottles were a bit difficult to grip with paws though and it could be difficult to find the bottle opener and cork screw, especially after drinking all the partially opened bottles first... etc etc'

But then I decided better of it as although I think the teacher would have found it quite funny, I suspect some of the other parents wouldn't or would have complained about the bear holding a bottle of alcohol (even though it was empty) and even though the children wouldn't have seen it. Maybe it can go in the end of the year thank you card Grin

JoffreyBaratheon · 10/02/2015 01:57

Oh I am so glad I left teaching. I couldn't be doing with this kind of crap. But then the sort of places I taught, a Class Bear would have lasted about 30 seconds. Can't really see the point.

egnahc · 10/02/2015 08:11

Oh I am so glad I left teaching. I couldn't be doing with this kind of crap. But then the sort of places I taught, a Class Bear would have lasted about 30 seconds. Can't really see the point.

Rubbish and probably a good job that you left with that attitude. I have worked at some of the most deprived primary schools in the country (and still do- 95% FSM)- they have animals that go home and they manage perfectly well. Of course the bear would have lasted 30 seconds- like any other school it would have been valued by the children. These are the very schools that need caring teachers with high expectations for their pupils- not teachers who are negative and write the children off based on their background. Rant over.

worldgonecrazy · 10/02/2015 08:29

joffrey has it right. It's crap. What does it teach? What is the lesson? Do the children actually learn anything from it or is it just another cause of aggravation for parents? And wtf does it have to do with deprived/non deprived areas anyway? Is a class bear going to make uncommitted parents (of whatever social background) suddenly start playing a supportive role in their child's education? Or is it going to throw into stark contrast, the difference between committed/uncommitted parents and just make the children feel even more shit about themselves?

egnahc · 10/02/2015 08:39

worldgonecrazy

Joffrey said that in her school she worked in the bear wouldn't last 30 seconds. That is rubbish. I work in socially deprived schools, a primary pru, SEBD special. They all have bears and they last (as well as any school animals do!)

BertieBotts · 10/02/2015 08:57

Does everything relating to school have to be educational? I think it's a nice idea, kids seem to like it. And if you want to talk "educational" well it's creative (taking photos, thinking of things the bear can do), helps language development (constructing a narrative, telling a story) and it can help them practice their writing too. Plus it gives them a sense of responsibility (for all of five seconds until they forget and leave the bear in the car anyway!)

In the past you would have taken home the school hamster or guinea pig for the weekend. Now we realise that's stressful and not fair on the animals, so we do it with a stuffed one instead.

TheCatAteMyTaxReturn · 10/02/2015 09:05

For some of the little ones in reception, the ones who are bit more difficult let's say, it's quite an honour if its given out for good behaviour, or good work.

If its just given out on 'buggin's turn', I agree it's a bit pointless.

We were proud our DS got chosen so early in his reception class - until he brought the fetid thing home...

Kaekae · 10/02/2015 09:37

Second child so I am well over the class bear. I can always tell the parents who are new to the concept, they write pages and pages of detail and the children in the photos are always eating raw vegetables made to look extra special and paying their violin. Grin. I usually just write a few lines and now get my child to draw a picture instead. We have had the unhygenic bear four times already this year! Hmm

Original poster
Wailywailywaily · 10/02/2015 11:47

Four times Shock
At least I now have a load of ideas for if we are ever graced by a visit again in the future. following our very poor effort I can't see it happening tbf

OP posts:
TheNewStatesman · 10/02/2015 12:01

"Does everything relating to school have to be educational? I think it's a nice idea, kids seem to like it. And if you want to talk "educational" well it's creative (taking photos, thinking of things the bear can do), helps language development (constructing a narrative, telling a story) and it can help them practice their writing too. Plus it gives them a sense of responsibility (for all of five seconds until they forget and leave the bear in the car anyway!)"

You could use a similar set of banalities to justify having kids doing absolutely anything for homework. Why not assign children to pick their noses for homework? After all, it develops fine motor control skills, a sense of determination....

chocoluvva · 10/02/2015 13:22
Grin

skimmed this thread OP - I hadn't heard of class bear before - must be older than I realised!

If the teacher stresses that there's no pressure to put a lot of effort into recounting bear's time and if parents/children who don't want to genuinely don't feel pressured it sounds like a lovely idea, but I can see how it would get competitive.

BertieBotts · 10/02/2015 13:29

Well it's not really homework, is it. It's supposed to be something fun to do. It's not like they're going to put five year olds in detention if they forget to write about the bear.

RuckAndRoll · 10/02/2015 14:32

We had nursery bear this weekend. He had a party with all of DS's other soft toys, went for a walk around the flat in the toy buggy and watched the 6 nations rugby. All exciting stuff! DH got really excited writing up the book last night.

shrunkenhead · 10/02/2015 14:38

Our class teddy always had a bath at ours (in washing machine!) as figured that toy had been handled by many sticky kids! It's a chore for us as parents but it's lovely to sit down with your little one and encourage them to use their imagination about what class teddy has been up to and the kids love writing about their "adventures" dull as they might seem to us! They're not little for long, embrace it while you can.

chocoluvva · 10/02/2015 14:43

ruck -aww.

goes all soppy

cuuute Smile

SkaterGrrrrl · 10/02/2015 15:41

TheCatAteMyTaxReturn, a much better song for you:

Grin
Bedsheets4knickers · 10/02/2015 16:05

My 2 year old brought home Bertie bear. I spent Sunday evening writing about what Bertie had got up to when he'd stayed in the bag in the boot of my car.

farewellfigure · 10/02/2015 17:17

When we had the class bear, I laughed my head off that previous 'owners' had found themselves, 'At Chessington', 'At a Spurs match', 'we just happened to pop over to France for the day'. Oh the one-upmanship. Then we went and did the exact same thing and happened to go to the Natural History Museum. To be fair we had been sort of planning it for weeks.

Then we really blotted our copy book and left him in Lidl. Ohmy that was one VERY scary trip back to the shop. I was having kittens. DS's teacher was blooming scary and I did not want to face her. Worse, there's no tannoy in Lidl, so the chap we cornered with ashen white faces asked politely, walked round the whole shop shouting at the top of his voice, 'Has anyone found a bear in school uniform?'. I swear every single person in the shop knew what we'd done. In the end a girl on the till stood up waving the bear and shouted, 'I've got the bear'. It was like something off the telly. DS ran up, grabbed the bear and gave him a big hug, and everyone was going, 'OOOH, AHHH'. The chap said, 'Another happy ending in Lidl'. I could have died.

farewellfigure · 10/02/2015 17:19

Oh, so I knitted him a scarf to make up for it.

SomethingFunny · 10/02/2015 18:48

One of the teachers at my children's school took the class bear on her honeymoon.

Now that's dedication for you!!

(She is a lovely teacher)

cakepopbakeshop · 10/02/2015 19:29

What does it teach? What is the lesson?

Worldgonecrazy it's basic literacy, innit? I.e. learning to tell a story. Bear saw... bear did... A variation on the theme of "telling time" or "what I did at the weekend".

Agree with egnahc it's rubbish a school bear wouldn't survive in "some areas". I'd hate a teacher who came in with that attitude - well, we're not giving you any coloured paper cos you'll only rip it up etc.

re the printing - I had to hotfoot it to Asda which stays open late on a Sunday night when my printer broke to print photos from my camera for the bear's story!

OP don't let your son's apathy rub off on you Wink

BikeRunSki · 10/02/2015 19:48

Isn't it meant to teach empathy too?

catseverywhere · 10/02/2015 20:21

Sorry, not RTFT, but about 15 years ago we LOST the class bear, his name was Barnaby. We were only allowed to have him if we were going on holiday in term time (times have clearly changed) because then the child going on holiday had to feed back to the class about what he or she had done whilst away from school, and, I suppose, parents were encouraged to think about how to show that the holiday had been an educational experience.

So, we got to the airport, fine. This was the first ever time my kids had been on a plane, we had really saved up for this holiday, and excitement was running high. Barnaby was sticking out of the top of DD's backpack, because he needed to see everything so he could report back about his adventure. By the time we were at the departure gate, Barnaby was missing, and despite pleading to be allowed to retrace our steps before the flight and numerous phone calls to the airport after we flew back, he was never seen again.

The conversation with my DD's teacher on our return was more than a little tricky, as she looked at me in a 'you can't even look after a small stuffed bear?' kind of way. I then sent a new small blue bear into school, saying that he was Barnaby's cousin and that Barnaby had enjoyed his holiday so much that he had decided to stay there, but his cousin was looking forward to having all his adventures. That teacher never looked at me the same again, though, and am sure she thinks I should never again have been left in charge of young children when it had been shown that I couldn't ensure the safety of a bear.