Keeping child in at lunchtime for failure to complete work

[Elizabeth1970]

Is this reasonable that my child's school have decided to keep her inside at lunchtime if she has not completed her work, she is in yr 1.
She struggles with writing so takes a long time even at home with no distractions ( only child ) to complete a writing task so I feel it's very unfair she is banned from going out after lunch, instead being sent back to class to continue the writing task.
Break times are unaffected so she has 15 minutes at 10am and another 15 at 2pm but this is all most days now.

YANBU I wouldn't accept this at all. There's a lot of evidence that our kids don't get enough play time and time outside as it is there is absolutely no way I'd allow her to be punished with lack of play time because she isn't a quick writer. It negatively affects concentration, behaviour and mental health to deprive kids of playtime. That aside it's ridiculous and unfair to punish her for something that isn't deliberate.

Are you sure it isn't deliberate?

What do you mean by 'struggles'? Attention, motor, letter formation, structure, attitude...

If the teacher feels she could and should do better but isn't because she's decided to underperform then this could be fair. 1-2-1 help can be very valuable. Have you discussed this with the school? What did they say?

Are you sure they keep her for the whole lunch time, not just a few minutes?

Depends on the circumstances. My ds2 is now y4 and has fine motor issues and all the difficulties mentioned above by Mars, plus a stubborn steak a mile wide. He gets kept in with my entire support when he flatly refuses to put pen to paper. However when he's tried his best despite all his difficulties but hasn't managed to complete much if anything then he's allowed out, which is as it should be.

How much of the work has she completed by the end of class?

I think it's entirety reasonable to offer a child additional support during lunchtimes to work on tasks that are as important as writing.

Bear in mind that the teacher will be giving up their lunchtimes to help her too.

I used to give up my lunchtime to help children struggling with their work and to make sure I heard all the children read.

Maybe that's what's happening, not a punishment but extra support.

Bit much in y1 but maybe it was so the teacher can give a bit if extra help.

By the time they get to us at y7+ yeah, dont get the work done, catch it up in your own time e.g. break lunch or home.

Has your daughter told you this or the teacher? It sounds to me like it probably happened once or twice and she has exaggerated it. I can understand the teacher doing it if she was not working as she should have been during lesson. It is a tactic I have used many times. If time is not being used constructively in the lesson and there is a very clear expectation that a certain bit of work should be done, then any student that has not done that work will be kept in until it is done (although in all fairness I teach secondary and not year 1!). That sounds like the most reasonable explanation. Also, who is your daughter sitting with in class? Would that affect her concentration? You have to speak to the teacher to get to the root of it.

There's not enough information here to know whether the teacher was right or not.

Why not go in and talk to him/her and then you can discuss whether your child needs extra support in class.

Good luck with asking for 1:1 though

I think that's unacceptable at that age. Our school do this from P4 but they're usually kept in at breaktime instead of lunchtime. They offer a lunchtime homework club as well. But tbh it happens so infrequently i can't get worked up about it, think DS has been kept in twice all term, he also has issues with slower writing as he finds cursive writing tricky being left handed, particularly as all their work sheets are designed for right handed people . I've always said i don't mind them being kept in if they've been mucking around and failed to complete their work. OTOH if it's due to poor time management then I'd have an issue with it. In your situation OP I'd be speaking to the teacher as i think 5 is far too young for this sort of thing.

I know a few sen children that lose their lunchtimes because they have not completed their work.

I have taught Year 1 for a long time. If I child hadn't finished their work because they were messing about, talking or refusing to work ( it happens) I would make them come back at lunchtime finish their work and then go out to play usually they finish the work very quickly when they know it's playtime they are missing out on. Generally after a couple of times if that they learn it's much better to get the work done during lesson time not their time. I had one repeat offender spoke to his mum and she was happy to take the work home and make him finish it there. Speak to the teacher if she is being kept in repeatedly but by this point in year 1 the expectations of work are getting higher as they need to be ready for year 2 and sats.

This is one of my pet peeves.
My two have occasionally been kept in during their lunch/break since at least Y1. Most of their teachers have been absolutely lovely regarding everything else, so I've never mentioned it, but seriously, Y1 detention - for not completing work!? It's one thing if they've been messing about, but if they've tried their best they should not be missing breaktime.

The teacher will not want to keep a well- behaved child back as a punishment. Therefore, it stands to reason that this is either meant supportively, or your child is poorly behaved, or the teacher is under pressure from elsewhere.

Thoughts?

As with all of these threads you need to speak to the teacher rather than posting about it on MN.

If it had been my DD in Y1 I wouldn't have had an issue with it, I'd have assumed she wasn't concentrating/ messing around when she was meant to be working. But if you think she's being punished for struggling at writing then that obviously isn't fair. But you won't find out which it is by posting about it on here.

I wonder are the school offering extra help? In a positive sense. Have a chat with them to clarify? Do you do any writing with your child at home?

Depends on the reasons she struggles. If it's genuinely because of aptitude and she's trying her hardest but just a bit slower...or if there are SEN...then I would be unhappy.

However ds2 is in Year 2 so similarly aged and has been kept in a couple of times. But he has no SEN and is perfectly able to keep up and only doesn't finish if he's messed around or chatted too much...the twice he's been kept in it's been both him and the same two other boys as they've all chatted together and not focused. That's fair enough, they know the consequences.

The amount of mandatory work/writing set in Years 1 and 2 is IME geared towards the slower dc. Those more advanced at maths/quicker at writing then get asked to expand or do additional work if they finish early.

The amount of mandatory work/writing set in Years 1 and 2 is IME geared towards the slower dc. Those more advanced at maths/quicker at writing then get asked to expand or do additional work if they finish early.

Yes and no. Tasks are adapted or differentiated to meet every child's needs. It isn't necessarily a base task + extension work. In our current Year 1 cohort, there's a boy who'll bash out 3 A4 pages of cursive writing in the same time another child will write 4 sentences which only a teacher or parent who knows them could decipher (she doesn't have SEN). This kind of range isn't unusual. Setting a single task to meet both their needs would be pointless. Teachers may look at a single objective or task but right from the outset, different children will be asked to do different things.

There isn't really any such thing as mandatory work unless it's for assessment and these are rare.

As a teacher , I don't think it's acceptable for any primary school child of any age to be kept in for any length of time during break or lunch, regardless of how many breaks they've had or will have later . Children in this country already have very limited free play play outside and fresh air, which actually does wonders for their brains .

So a 5 or 6 year old? No I don't think it is reasonable. I think it is a great way to turn them off learning if it's all about punishment and missing out on playtime. If it's a one off or even twice then fair enough but if the child still isn't finishing their work then that strategy isn't working.

As some others have said, it depends. Child trying their best but struggling? No, they shouldn't be given a punishment. Child pissing about (and, yes, it does happen even in Y1!)? Yes, fine to punish them.

The teacher might be trying to help them. Ask the teacher.

Only had parents evening a fortnight ago and nothing mentioned regarding needing extra support or anything so I would be surprised if that's the reason behind it
More likely that she just takes longer than others to complete a writing task therefore had to stay in
Even if she were just chatting away to a friend and that's what delayed her I wouldn't be happy that a 5 year old loses her entire lunch break because of it!
We do lots of writing and her formation is very good, but it takes her longer than her peers

I'm a teacher. I fully support making children complete work at break/lunch IF they haven't worked their hardest or been messing around. Obviously if the child simply hasn't completed as much as everyone else because of their ability they shouldn't be kept in. If they haven't completed as much as they are able to for whatever reason then yes they should make up the time.

Teachers do know their pupils you know. We know what they can and can't do and what to expect of them.