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.

grannytomine:

Of course they need to play, I have no issue with that argument. And you are right, the OP hasn't said her DD is being kept in because she is naughty, but nor has she investigated why she is being kept in. It could be that she is being naughty - she needs to check.

Alexander I am not in England and here there are no such provisions about break time snacks.

Granny the OP never said it was due to behaviour but also never said it wasn't. Unfortunately, as a result of that, the thread seems to have strayed from dealing with the OP to more generic thoughts and experiences.

I did phone and the school office confirmed this, they must have seen the teacher with her or something

The office can confirm that the child was kept in but unless she has spoken to the teacher then there is no way to know why.

This took me back. I'd forgotten that eldest DS was kept in most break times and lunch times.

He was always very slow at handwriting, he tried so hard, but couldn't get any faster. So his work was never finished, and he lost most of his break times. I didn't find this out until much much later, when he told me he never had much play time at primary school.

I think it's a disgusting way to treat children. Had I found out sooner, I would have spoken to the school and complained.

Missing out on break time is a punishment. Being slow at working/writing should not be punished.

Unfortunately, as a result of that, the thread seems to have strayed from dealing with the OP to more generic thoughts and experiences.

Actually, I think that's what makes threads interesting!

YANBU. In most sensible countries Y1 = kindergarten. Not formal school. Countries that come higher up the educational league tables and happiness leagues tables.

And just to mention - there are around 17,000 primary schools in England. I suspect practice around drinks and lunch box contents varies fairly widely among so many different schools, in so many different areas and socioeconomic circumstances.

I did phone and the school office confirmed this, they must have seen the teacher with her or something Even in the tiny school I worked in this would not have happened and certainly not in a big primary.

Trifleorbust Essentially you won't engage in someone who disagrees with you. As I and others have said there's a wealth of evidence (see here, here here here.

You completely, and very rudely dismissed the argument made by a parent because you're a teacher and you said it goes without saying that your opinion must be correct and there's not worthwhile (despite other teachers disagreeing with you) and when I cited evidence which contradicted your opinion you claimed I've been rude and won't engage.......Convenient!

And teachers have pretty much the worst mental health of any profession, there is lots of research that shows that.

This I would agree with, we have created an education system which allows a drip down of pressure which negatively impacts the mental health of both teachers and students. The answer to this isn't to just say "well teachers are stressed too so never mind if children are negatively impacted".

All the more reason for practitioners in the field to carry out their own work.

Mostly this is impossible though. You can't possibly compare one education system to another because you exist in one and don't have the power to change it. You would also have very limited statistics even over an entire teaching career. Every teacher is going to make small changes and find what works best for them but you couldn't possible decide to for example start school an hour later and see what impact that has.

I agree that I wouldn't put any weight in a single study or even a single group of studies and on that basis overhaul the entire education system but we do have some firm results from large scale education studies that we can now take for granted.

Trifleorbust if the child is losing her playtime most days I would expect the school to be in touch with the parents about her behaviour which is why I assumed the little girl was a slow writer, as her mother said, rather than a naughty child who wasn't working.

grannytomine:

That isn't a ridiculous assumption but a quick phone call will remove any doubt.

There is also the possibility that the frequency has been exaggerated by the pupil, or is being exaggerated by the OP. I'm not calling anyone a liar, but it really does need to be cleared up in discussion with the member of staff who is keeping her back. Assumptions help nobody.

So....for the wealth of evidence, we have a book (with no page references); a you tube video (albeit narrated by a professor); an article by an American professor citing American statistics about the decline of play, and giving his unsupported opinion that this is linked to declining mental health; and one academic paper which concludes (after a length description of the limitations of their study): "Our findings indicate that during children's time outside of formal schooling, participation in less structured activities may benefit the development of self-directed EFs [executive functioning], while participation in structured activities may hinder the development of self-directed EFs. Thorough testing of this hypothesis remains an important direction for future work.

Hmmm...

My 5 year old granddaughter just started in Year 1 and her reading and spelling are very good. She gets 100% in the frequent tests her class does. She came home very upset because she had been kept in at lunch break to participate in some kind of extra study reading group. Parents not advised prior to this, child very upset as she didn't understand why she couldn't join her friends in the playground.
Is this fair for a five year old?**