School Prizegiving

[Bathsheba]

Been on the verge of tears most of the day...

School prizegiving day today...prizes going to disruptive, badly behaved children (no SN - small year group, know the parents socially etc) who have "turned it around" (my DD has been petrified in that class for the last 2 years because of their violent outbursts) rather than any acknowledgement made of the children who haven't HAD to turn anything around as they have always sat and pleasantly got on with their work.

Academic prizes give to those who "try" rather than those who excel.

Sport prizes being most important.

Absolutely gutted for my well behaved, hard working, focused children.

donating a trophy

Thinking about doing this for my Y5 DS. I asked the school to recognise 5 years of 100% attendance last year. I feel this is a big deal and quite unusual. They ignored my request.

This year he'll have 6 years worth of 100% attendance and if he gets to the end of Y6 without ever having a single day off - it bloody well had better be recognised

I fear it won't be. So I'll get a trophy in DSs name and ask it be awarded to any future Y6 pupil with 7 years of perfect attendance.

Why would you give an award to someone for not being ill for 7 years? It's absolute chance that they haven't contracted a d&v bug in that time. Either that or they have and they've gone in anyway and spread it to others who would then have to miss out on am award for being responsible and staying off!

Because my husband gets a £50 thank you each year if he never doesn't have a day off work for a year.

I don't see a problem in recognising good attendance. Many businesses do the same

Evidently my children's primary don't feel the same tho. Hence rather than making a fuss, buy and donate a trophy.

Am sorry but also don't agree with attendance awards, yes it is unusual to have attended for 7years but its also just very lucky that he doesnt suffer from an ongoing illness or hasnt contracted anything.

My son has a compromised immune system and asthma and eczema which affects his attendance and I hate to see these awards go out when it is mostly something the child has no control over whether it be illness or feckless parenting.

Plus I'd much prefer some of the children who do get these awards woudn't be sent in when they are clearly ill and spreading it around, not saying thats the case with you FATE your little must have an immune system of rock

**little one

'a prize for a child who finds something easy would be meaningless' I'm so out of touch with what goes on in schools these days as I don't have any children. But I won the language prizes every single year...because I got excellent results...because I found languages easy. I was rubbish at PE, maths, all sciences... never won any prizes for those. I wouldn't have expected to either.

You have well behaved, hard working, focused children who excel? Instead of wallowing in the fact they didn't get a prize be happy and proud about what you and they have

This X 1000

I'm sorry your DC was/were upset by those children... But I would give anything for my children to be hard working, focused and excel (I was very academic at school; my DC find even concentrating for 10 mins straight a nigh on impossible task).

Please try to focus on the positives here. Your daughters academic talent will be her own reward in terms of exam results and job prospects. A certificate really isn't all that in comparison.

Attendance awards at work, while unfair, are primarily to prevent sickies. Whereas It is generally a parent who decides whether a child attends school so maybe they should get the trophy? Or even better just don't reward children for being well and deal with parents who are keeping their children off without reason. I'd much rather my kids aimed for awards they have some control over. Rewarding attendance is exactly the same as rewarding cleverness. If schools reward effort it encourages all children to do better.

I agree with attendance certificates, why not? My DH gets a letter of recognition from management. If you are ill you are ill, so what it can't be helped.

From our Primary school days, prizes awarded to:

Naturally clever/mums a teacher at the school
Naturally sporty, esp football/Headteacher football fanatic
Average child/dad is mates with Head teacher
Average child/parent is Parent Governor
Naughty child 'character child/awarded for something relevant to character

The best one was in Foundation Year - 'always smiling'

The thing is, children who achieve highly always do so at something they find easy or enjoyable. The gifted piano player is never someone for who music was struggle, likewise the footballer or the runner, the artist or the mathematician. This shouldn't in anyway negate their hard work though. It's perfectly possible to find something easier than other children, but to achieve highly dedication and hard work are still required. Shouldn't this be rewarded?

I really feel for anyone who has a child who struggles and their efforts deserve recognition. However, overcoming a difficulty doesn't mean that they have worked any harder than a high achiever.

YANBU. I don't think you can win with prize-giving. There are plenty of forgotten hard workers who are overlooked, my own two DC included.

It's when the children start commenting between themselves that the two teachers' children are getting all the prizes that you begin to worry. It must be beginning to look really obvious especially as one was awarded a subject prize for something where he's middle of the class.

But with only a few weeks to go of Primary, i'm stepping back from the whole thing. Life is just too short to be bitter about these things. Just be proud of what your children achieve rather than a piece of paper.

I do see your point. However, back in my grammar school 20 odd years ago, we had a prize for coming 'top of the class' in exams. I have a weirdly good memory, so used to get near 100% in every exam. I won that sodding prize every year for 5 years. I hated it.

I think we should do away with the things altogether. Every child is great at something.

DS2's school seem to have found a good mix since the new head started. Their awards primarly recognise effort rather than natural ability. This meant that the footballer who trains religiously every week and attends school matches in the pissing rain still won, but the girl who excels at Maths and then deliberately disturbs her classmates for the rest of the lesson didn't. The new Head also added awards like Responsible Citizen which was lovely for the girl who came up with, and organised all year, the new start buddy system as she won the first one. The lad who won the Best Overall Effort award last year wasn't top in any subject, but he worked his arse off to be middle ground in pretty much everything as well as becoming a better behaved pupil.

The nicest thing about the awards is that she came up with some ideas and then let the children vote. They voted to scrap the attendance award because there is a couple of children with serious long-term health conditions and they felt that everyone should stand a chance of winning every award.

When dd left her primary school every child in her class got an award.
All very carefuly considered and appropriate for each recipient.

The HT of that school is a fantastic person and had clearly put a lot of thought into each award. It was really heartwarming to see.

There were things like most academic improvement, being a good role model for younger children, contributing to group activities, as well as all the usual things. You could see that every child felt valued.

I don't, in general, like prize-giving. Even if they do an academic prize and an 'effort' prize per class, and my children are in a huge school, so that's 6 per year, that's still lots of kids sitting there who make a huge effort and do really well who don't get a prize. I don't even get the point of the prizes, I don't think they motivate younger children anyway.

It's the same at my work in the recognition scheme. I've done well out of it lately, but that's because I'm in favour at the moment, there's lots of people who have equally done an excellent job who just didn't get rewarded.

I think prizes and recognition schemes often lack transparency and actually demotivate rather than the other way around.

I agree to an extent. I went to several secondary schools due to a peripatetic childhood.

In my first - academic prizes had been discontinued as it wasn't fair to reward clever children. But it was fair to reward sporty, musical and arty kids as their awards continued. That really rankled as I hadn't got a hope in hell of winning any of those prizes.
School 2: had mostly academic prizes. It was quite frankly embarrassing.There was an overall best in year prize and then subject prizes. I got best in year and then the subject prize for pretty much every subject I was doing. I think I should have got the best in year award and maybe one subject prize. It really didn't help me settle which led to school 3.
They had a mix of prizes. Huge sporty/arty/musical ethos. Nobody got more than two prizes. It felt fair.

July belly and bum sec how do you explain that the talented sports children and musicians get rewarded though. Presumably they find those things easy.

3little

that's lovely. that's what I'm talking about.

if all they can think of about a kid is 100 %attendance then there's something really wrong.

it's basically admitting g ypu can't find anything move to say about most your class

You can always reward your own child yourself?

In adult life it is success that gets reward, not effort. Maybe it's a good life lesson. I'm in two minds about it.

How are we measuring 'success'?
How do we measure 'reward'?

YANBU.

I completely agree with you, OP.

Dd was invisible in primary. We were utterly gobsmacked to be informed at the end of Y7 that she was to be awarded an Achievement Prize. (At our secondary only those awarded prizes and their families are expected to sit through invited to Prizegiving.)

Afterwards I expressed our surprise to the Head, mentioning that dd is just a bright, hardworking, quiet child. The Head smiled and responded "Exactly."

My primary aged kids already eye roll about star of the week awards. They always go to the little toads who manage not to actually lamp anyone that week. Whole system is meaningless - the really good kids rarely get them.