queen's birthday party at school

[prepschoolinsanity]

my son's school is having a party for the queen's birthday. The children have to make bunting with a picture they have drawn themselves of something to do with the queen - a corgi say, or a crown.

I'm debating whether our picture should feature a flea or a hookworm...

We are having a Royal 'street party' in the playground, on the Friday of the first week back, to celebrate the event. We are very mixed, multi cultural, multi heritage school in a Yorkshire city. The event is party of a full History day, with a focus on Britain in the 1920s - family life, childhood, etc. Our children are aged 4-7y and it focuses on the kind of things that are relevant to them. It will be a fun, engaging and interesting day looking at the plans we have been sent by the teacher organising it.

We are a state school in England. We have a long reigning monarch, who is hitting a milestone birthday. Why would we not acknowledge it?

OK Silvercatowner, explain how the queen's birthday is related to 'British Values'?

poor old queenie...its all been rather crap

Acknowledging and celebrating (i.e a party) are two different things.
learning about things surely should encouraged viewing them from various angles and understanding that people's views vary.

Children can learn about different religions and understand that not everyone believes. Same applies to political institutions.

Is she a reigning monarch though dumb.....
What does she have leadership or influence of ?
My understanding is that she is an impartial figurehead. My dc school are also having a party described similarly in the op, imo time would be better spent on discussing the referendum.

Who cares? I want to see more photos of corgis please.

My mum remembers running home from school with her Coronation mug only for her dad to throw it down the path smashing it to bits whilst shouting about 'imperialist propaganda' - she was so upset

Now she is not a royalist, as a family we where raised lefty and generally not pro royal but it's a party at a primary school - let the poor kid draw a Corgi and have a bit of fun - plenty of time at home for you to counteract it (but be careful not to fall into the same trap of trying to force your views on people)

Oh alright then....

Seriously, Fairuza, do you mean to be so rude??? Do a google, see how schools are using the queens birthday to coat hanger the notion of exploring British culture, mutual respect and tolerance for each other and for different faiths and customs. For KS2, great opportunity to consider democracy and the role of the monarchy. Think outside the box, its what teachers do.

So, not really related to British Values unless you have an agenda and try to shoe horn it in.

If the alternative to the Queen is someone like Donald Trump . . .

OP, your DC can enjoy the party, he doesn't have to celebrate it.

Jeeze, just let the kids enjoy an afternoon of fun! Will they really be bothered that its for the Queen's birthday? Erm, no!

The "alternative" to the queen would be someone democratically elected. Why would it be someone like Donald Trump.

skinofthericepudding

A bit blurry but our old girl in my earlier post as a pup.

So, not really related to British Values unless you have an agenda and try to shoe horn it in.

But it's an agenda that schools are being forced to have, so it's an easy way to make the medicine go down.

I think you're being angry at the wrong person here, Fairuza.

I very much resent the implication that my child will be a barbarous savage unless the school make the children attend in red, white and blue at least once a year, but it's happening and I don't see why silvercatowner is being jumped on for pointing it out.

Celebrating a pampered family who have inherited vast wealth whilst others are sleeping on the streets is grotesque

I just do not understand the increasingly royalist tendencies of the nation, alongside increasing poverty and inequality. It must be one of those odd psychological paradoxes - the poorer people are the more they scrape and bow to those they are encouraged to think of as superior.

Yes. My son won't be participating in anything royal-related if his school is misguided enough to have them, He's four, but doesn't seem to find the first point quoted above difficult to understand.

Love this debate! I'm glad others feel like I do.

Luna - I want to give my son my values, and they are not being supportive of the grotesquery that is the royal family, particularly during these austerity measures where people are literally starving to death (see David Clapson).

I really wish the school wasn't having this party, but I'm don't want my poor son to be singled out, so we have spoken about the role of the monarchy, so he has a balanced perspective.

And may employ the British values of mild subversion to the day, but will probably mainly focus on the core British value of grinning and bearing it.

IPity - I get that some schools are choosing to link British Values to the monarchy but they can't blame the government for making them.
Schools/teachers shrugging their shoulders and saying 'oh but we have to for British Values' are just being lazy and unthinking.

This is what the government is actually telling schools to do:
• include in suitable parts of the curriculum, as appropriate for the age of pupils, material on the strengths, advantages and disadvantages of democracy, and how democracy and the law works in Britain, in contrast to other forms of government in other countries;
• ensure that all pupils within the school have a voice that is listened to, and demonstrate how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes such as a school council whose members are voted for by the pupils;
• use opportunities such as general or local elections to hold mock elections to promote fundamental British values and provide pupils with the opportunity to learn how to argue and defend points of view;
• use teaching resources from a wide variety of sources to help pupils understand a range of faiths, and
• consider the role of extra-curricular activity, including any run directly by pupils, in promoting fundamental British values.

So school councils, mock elections, teaching about different faiths.
Don't see any mentions of celebrating monarchy or waving flags.

Those corgi puppies are just the cutest! I might like the theonarchy more if we got those on our banknotes and stamps!