to think it's quite concerning how 19 year olds have such easy access of 11 year olds in a school setting?

[Zootopials]

Most schools in this area have a sixth form and there is no separate building. These sixth formers often do 1-1 reading etc with the Year 7s. AIBU to think it's a bit concerning??

Christ, probably best we all just live in individual glass boxes. Only way to be safe.

We're in the States, and DS attends a school that's PK-12 (so that's ages 4-18). DS is in Kindergarten, which is ages 5-6. There is a Senior-Kindergarten Buddy program, which 'buddies up' each kindergarten student with a senior (ages 17-18) for the year.

The school organizes S-K Buddy activities (reading, fun sports etc), and it's just one hour per week, plus one big event each month. December's was a 'Happy Holidays' party.

DS adores his buddy, and even felt able to confide in him about an issue he was having with another student, and the buddy spoke to the teacher about it. It was dealt with. I've met him a few times, the first time was when he came up and introduced himself, and he's a lovely young man. I'm not surprised he's been accepted early action by Yale!

The 'buddy program' has never concerned me, not once, although a few friends (both here in the US and back in the UK) have recoiled in horror at the thought of it. What they think happens I don't know. It's all supervised, it's never a case of the senior and kindergartner being left alone together, it's always a group thing.

YABU, I think. It's a good idea to have age mixing in schools, as long as there are good standards of behaviour expected and monitored. My DS has a couple of "vertical" classes - where kids in different years are studying for the same GCSEs - and generally I think it's great.

The only problems arise when there is bullying or sexual assault, and the school should be looking out for those in any case.

PixieMiss

It should concern you more that schools can't afford the staff to read with Y7s and have to use older pupils.

Eh?

schools apply safeguarding principles to peer reading. That's why they are usually in quiet, but still public areas. It protects the mentor and the mentee.

OP you are looking in the wrong place.

I was at school in the 80's, in the first year (age 11-12) a rather unsavory sixth former used to hang around our classroom block with aviator shades and a long trench coat, he was an object of ridicule but his persistence paid off and managed to get himself a girlfriend from our class, no one thought to put a stop to it, different times indeed!

I'm not really sure what you think can be done about 11-18 years old's mixing at school? Do you want all children to be put in locked boxes for their own protection?

When I was in sixth form we walked around the rest of the school just like any other pupils; we had to otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get to our classrooms. In sixth form I also used to do a couple of 'free' afternoons a week helping out with year 7's in various lessons. How is this anything but a good thing? Do you think all pupils over 16 are rapists and child molesters?

These are the same sixth formers that the younger DCs are friends with on FB/Twitter/Snapchat

If a year 7 is doing paired reading with sixth form then a member of staff will be in charge of the scheme. The sixth former won't have randomly picked a younger student from the corridor and forced them to read.

I've worked in a school that was 11-18 and the sixth formers volunteered for reading/handwriting schemes to boost their UCAS etc. Aside from that they ignored the 11-16s.

On the DBS topic - it is only relevant until the date of the check and obviously can't show crimes that people haven't been caught for, so really it isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Maybe all parents should be dbs checked as well... What with them being alone with kids all the time.

Ffs.

It was exactly this kind of attitude that led to the scrapping of the old CRB checks and introduction of limitations on who could be subject to a check.

DBS Checks can only be carried out on people who undertake "restricted activity". Not any adult who happens to come into contact with DCs.

My daughter goes to a school that has children from aged 3 up to degree students. (Admittedly prep up to year 6 is in a separate self contained building)

Input from older students is generally a positive thing as they can be excellent role models. you have to remember that they are still students, classed as vulnerable in the eyes of the law themselves.

Yabu, sorry. If I was to be that suspicious, I would be even more of a nervous wreck than I am now!

And a dbr/police check isnt a shining becon, it just shows the ones who have been caught. Tlots if abuser and paedos would pass the checks

This.

What? What an utterly depressing and ridiculous post OP.

My sons school has vertical tutor groups - so 3 or 4 kids from each year group are in each tutor group and they are all together for registration etc - specifically so that kids can integrate, there is less of a divide amongst age groups (Year 7's are not intimidated by the older kids and have friends throughout the school). It is brilliant and I would not for a minute have any concerns about it. It says a lot about the way your mind works OP that it has even occurred to you. Very odd.

Parents should definitely be more concerned about the followers on instagram or friends on snapchat etc than the real life older students they spend 1 to 1 time with at school.
The ignorance of so many parents about their child's online life and contacts is staggering.

I was going to say Im amazed at the level of things people worry about but sadly Im not, hopefully its just MN though. Its a wonder some people actually function and can go about day to day life with the levels of anxieties and paranoia I read about here.

Pathetic

A childminder's children must be DBS checked at the age of 16, so I don't know why some posters are being so unpleasant to the Op - it's a legitimate concern.

The fact that schools already have procedures in place means they take it seriously, too.

But presumably that's because the childminder's child will be present in a home environment, present much more time than a sixth former doing 1 to 1 reading for an hour in a school setting.

YABVU & more than a bit nuts TBH

When i was in sixth form and did voluntary work with y7s, i was crb checked (as was then)

What kind of voluntary work was that madein1995?

I can't imagine being worried about this.