To ask you not to buy fidget spinners or any other shit and let your DCs take them to school?

[StrongerThanIThought76]

I'm a teacher. The current fad for Things To Piss The Teacher Off In Class is fidget spinners.

Before anyone jumps on me I recognise and accept that for some SEN kids they are a godsend. I know that. I really really do.

But there are so many kids that are now telling anyone in their vicinity that they are to help them focus etc etc.

NO THEY FUCKING DON'T!

They're a distraction not only to the kid in question, to the kids around you and to the poor sod at the front of the room trying to teach.

If your kid has SEN speak to the SENCO at school who will advise you if your kid would be allowed to have one. Even then (as it is in my school) they should only be used when appropriate.

If your kid is 'normal' then please don't send the damn TOYS into school. The only thing most kids should have in their hand during lessons is a pen or pencil!

And don't call in demanding that your kid gets their TOY back immediately - they've had it confiscated because they're pissing about in class. We wouldn't be happy with them playing with an Action Man or remote control car in class, and neither would you be.

Rant over. We have a hard enough time as it is in schools, keep the extra distraction out of the classroom please?

Thankyou

My OP was absolutely not about removing support from kids that need it, every teacher should be pushing for the best outcomes for any student, and if that means additional support for some then I'm fairly confident most will positively embrace that!

Dd1 was recommended a fidget cube by Camhs, as she tends to scratch her skin off when she is anxious. She has always had to have something in her pocket - a smooth stone, some putty etc. Her hands look so much better since having this cube (which we got before the craze started). She finds it quite funny that everyone has one of these or a spinner (which she says are just irritating), and said before she felt embarrassed and his it in her pocket, but now she is a trendsetter! I hope they don't ban them at her school.

By the way, sen blah, blah, blah, normal etc - jog on.

Dd1 was recommended a fidget cube by Camhs, as she tends to scratch her skin off when she is anxious. She has always had to have something in her pocket - a smooth stone, some putty etc. Her hands look so much better since having this cube (which we got before the craze started). She finds it quite funny that everyone has one of these or a spinner (which she says are just irritating), and said before she felt embarrassed and his it in her pocket, but now she is a trendsetter! I hope they don't ban them at her school.

By the way, sen blah, blah, blah, normal etc - jog on.

Banned at my school, thank god and frankly just distracting the kids it's meant to help focus. They're also noisy and the weights drop out and get lost.

@hazeyjane all the schools I know of that have banned things like these do mention that they are allowed for the children that do need them,if that need is supported by teacher/TA/SENCO/gp etc.

zzzzz

I have to say, I am not completely sure what you mean.

I am sure they would let her, but knowing dd1 she wouldn't want to stand out, and wouldn't want people wondering why she was allowed one, although I guess she could hide it in her pocket.

If your kid has SEN speak to the SENCO at school who will advise you if your kid would be allowed to have one. Even then (as it is in my school) they should only be used when appropriate.

DS has SENs. We bought him a fidget toy a couple of years ago, (before it was popular). He had his confiscated, and I shit you not, 'because he was fidgeting with it'. I'm sure the lad who stole it off him twice that day (yanked it from round his neck) didnt feature in part of that bonkers decision

I've given into the DCs today and let them have one each after weeks of being pestered for one. I've made it absolutely clear that there not to be taken to school.

I'm pretty sure my DCs school have banned them too and even SENs kids are only allowed them, at specific times, and outside the classroom.

Think of it this way OP, there'll be as distant a memory as loom bands in a few months time.

You see I'd have a lot more sympathy with teachers managing an integrated classroom if I didn't have extensive experience of it working incredibly well and it going to hell in a handbasket. The difference mainly being the teachers ability to think outside the box...or in some cases think at all.

But this is all unfair as I am still trying to rid myself of the bitter taste left by a school who almost destroyed my sons self esteem, confidence and progress. None of this is your fault and should not be directed at you. Sorry.

zzzzz

I know they need more support. That doesn't make it fair on the other children. As a class teacher I can push all I like; I get the square root of bugger all and I think anyone who has worked in a mainstream classroom will know that.

And silent work is a vital part of teaching children to think, practise and reflect. If I don't set silent tasks, most children will learn very little beyond surface/shallow concepts and facts.

I also operate on the principle that my children should be making progress as rapidly as the students do at Eton or Harrow. Education is their birthright. Some of them haven't experienced a lesson in which they can make excellent progress for five years, because there is constant, serious disruption in the classroom. As loathe as I am to say it, I think it is impossible to provide an excellent education in the context of inclusion of children with SEND that mean (through no fault of their own) that they will monopolise the attention of any adult in the room. It is horrible to say it but after years of seeing the impact, I can't come to any other conclusion.

zzzzz

I get so frustrated when I am called names for saying what I believe, when I really, really don't want to say it. I would LOVE to have suitable provision for those children. I spend my lesson time DESPERATELY trying (and blatantly failing) to balance their needs against those of the majority. I can't do it. I don't know any teacher who can do it. Your condemnation isn't helpful.

FanjoForTheMammaries

Again, this frustrates and upsets me. I work in a Special Measurea comprehensive because I want to contribute to providing a good education to all children, not just to rich children. No teacher I work with and know well disagrees with what I just said.

Total ban at DS school
Anyone remember Clackers in the 70s? My (much) older cousins were obsessed and had them in multiple colours

They've just been banned at our school too, whether the owner has SEN or not (unless their Ed psych sends a letter specifically recommending it - which won't happen because they're a ridiculous and distracting gimmick).

They're SO distracting - for all children, whatever their ability, additional need or processing difficulty. I teach children with ASD who fixate on them to the point of not being able to hear or see anything else going on around them, children with ADHD who pop the metal bits out and throw them round the room and children with concentration difficulties who enjoy having a toy to play with.

And why do they have to make a noise?! Surely the supposed benefit is in the movement.

I'm all for stress balls or blutak if they help any child. But not something that distracts the whole room, including the child it's supposed to help.