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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

School displaying DD's attainment levels on the wall

248 replies

Erinsboroughrocks · 05/01/2018 12:02

DD is in y6 and working towards her SATs. The teacher has a chart on the wall with each child's name listed. Next to each name is a colour for each subject. Green is working above, orange is working at and red is working below. All the children know what the colours mean. DD doesn't like having this up and I feel a bit uneasy about it. WIBU to ask them to take it down (or instead put up a board of colour coded teacher observations in the staffroom 😉)?

OP posts:
DullAndOld · 05/01/2018 15:49

and others...:)

gamerwidow · 05/01/2018 15:49

YANBU it’s hard enough to motivate kids who are struggling. If they are being shown to everyone to be failing it’s even harder to make them see the point of trying.

twofingerstoEverything · 05/01/2018 15:51

Fortybingowings We’re quite literally breeding these snowflakes who are finishing formal education with no resilience.

Are you sure? We are "quite literally" breeding snowflakes? Do you know what "literally" means?

gamerwidow · 05/01/2018 15:51

Also as a very bright child I died a bit inside every time a teacher publicly praised me. It just breeds resentment from the other kids.

Littlewhistle · 05/01/2018 16:03

We have been told not to have ANY pupils information on the walls - so not even reading or spelling groups.

Slightly off topic but we're also not meant to take anything out of the school building that has children's names on it. Quite how we're supposed to mark books and do any sort of work at home I've no idea.

Original poster
Erinsboroughrocks · 05/01/2018 16:06

Thanks all. DC's headteacher is really thoughtful re self esteem etc and so this sort of thing doesn't happen often. DD does well overall at school but found this list thing a bit stressful. I expect that at secondary she will be in a mixture of sets over the years (as she has been at primary) and she's ok with this. I totally take on board the comment about sport etc. I guess that I think that the difference with this was that it was constant rather than a day a year if that makes sense.

OP posts:
Allthetuppences · 05/01/2018 16:09

Why are school governors discussing the (meaningless SAT) attainments of individual children at your school? That is really inappropriate.

TabbyTigger · 05/01/2018 16:12

I think sports day isn’t the same concept because there isn’t the same pressure to be good at sports. Yes, you’re praised if you’re good at sports/art/music, but it’s more accepted that some children just don’t enjoy or aren’t good at these kind of activities.

While that one day a year isn’t great for the non-sporty kids who come last in everything and don’t enjoy taking part (my DS was always last in races but never cared and enjoyed it anyway!), ultimately they don’t have to get a C in PE gcse. They can sack any serious PE off at the end of year 9 and be horrific and netball and football and running and no one will worry about it or put pressure on them to keep working at it. Kids who struggle with maths and English don’t have the same opt out.

horatioisabrick · 05/01/2018 16:14

Ah... humiliation. Makes me slightly nostalgic Wink

I had teacher that would comment on our tests when correcting them... (Horatio! This is appalling!)

Oh. And doing conjugation exercises, standing infront of the whole class... we had to repeat those until the teacher was satisfied.

Or starting with the best (and ending with the worst) when giving back our exams.

Also had a teacher that liked to throw his keys... and was once made to stand outside for a whole French lesson (winter, it was raining and she didn’t let me get my jacket).

CheesecakeAddict · 05/01/2018 16:15

I'd be hanged, drawn and quartered if I posted everyone's data in my classroom. :/

BitOutOfPractice · 05/01/2018 16:18

Those were the days eh horatio and I bet it never did you any harm Wink

Well done on getting this sorted OP

Like Miaow I have recently given up giving a shit if I'm seen as "that parent" about "my special snowflake". I simply got sick and tired of keeping quiet about the shit my DDs' school dished out for fear of repercussions on them. Now I'm happily "that parent" all day long

tictoc76 · 05/01/2018 16:19

I’m surprised they are allowed to get away with this. The top end of the class will find it motivating because they can work hard to get their chart all green - I know for my oldest it would motivate him. However my next child struggles to get to expected level and I am certain if that was shown for all to see she would be embarassed and stop trying and would probably drop down below this level.

I wouldn’t say I am a complainer but would definetly ask for that to be taken down.

Yes exam results are known when they get older but even for Sats (ks1) my sons class were not aware how others had done and I know this was the same for ks2 unless the kids themselves discussed.

Hardwickwhite · 05/01/2018 16:19

Well done OP. That was nicely caught.

grannytomine · 05/01/2018 16:20

My vote for banning a word for 2018 goes to snowflake.

horatioisabrick · 05/01/2018 16:22

I detested nocturnal hikes and sports class, btw.

One was dark and scary. The other one bi-weekly humiliation. With very public exams...

But still better than early morning worship Grin

Anyhow, I see where your daughter is coming from.

Llangollen · 05/01/2018 16:23

What's the big deal? I fail to see how children benefit from being told they are doing amazingly when they are not. When will they face reality?

What's next? Banning sport competitions and medals for the winner not to upset others? Oh.. wait...

x2boys · 05/01/2018 16:23

Ah yes Horatio along with the joys of standing in line In pe waiting while the two most popular kids picked all their friends on their teams praying you wouldn't be picked last a little bit of humiliation never did Anyone any harmHmm

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 05/01/2018 16:27

I knew of one school (private) where weekly test scores were published at the school gates at the end of every Friday.

The boy that I knew was so stressed by the need to be at the top of his class each week, that he developed anxiety and tics, twitches etc.

I thought it was cruel. Ther's no problem with healthy competition, but this was very public, for any parent, visitor or random person to see.

DullAndOld · 05/01/2018 16:27

" I fail to see how children benefit from being told they are doing amazingly when they are not. When will they face reality? "

it's not a direct effect of not putting results on the wall you know, being told they are 'doing amazingly', is it?

Very silly comment.

TeaAndToast85 · 05/01/2018 16:27

Well done for getting that taken down. If I saw that on any of my colleagues walls I would wait until they went home and then put it in the bin! Ridiculous idea, poor kids. Like you say, we would hate to have our observation records on public display! Angry

BashStreetKid · 05/01/2018 16:30

Llangollen, how on earth does refusing to put results charts up on the wall equate to telling children they're amazing?

horatioisabrick · 05/01/2018 16:32

BitOutOf

Those were the days eh horatio and I bet it never did you any harm wink

Seeing as this is an online forum (and I therefore have the illusion of privacy): it did... And my best friend’s self esteem was completely destroyed.

And the fact that bullying and hazing was seen as normal (probably even expected)...

Gilly22 · 05/01/2018 16:36

YABU. Children in Year 6 need to know exactly how they are performing compared to their peers. Too many chidren are wrapped in cotton wool and believe that they’re amazing when they’re barely average ! This comes as a hard shock for them at the start of secondary school. If parents treat their children like snowflakes they will never succeed.

BitOutOfPractice · 05/01/2018 16:38

horatio I was being facetious. A bit like I assumed you were being when you said you were nostalgic for those things. Sorry if that didn't come across.

As I posted way up thread, I wonder if people who yearn for the "good old days" remember how awful some things were

horatioisabrick · 05/01/2018 16:39

Ah yes Horatio along with the joys of standing in line In pe waiting while the two most popular kids picked all their friends on their teams praying you wouldn't be picked last a little bit of humiliation never did Anyone any harmhmm

Yes... ;-(

Btw:
I fail to see how children benefit from being told they are doing amazingly when they are not.

And I fail to see how children benefit from public humiliation, verbal abuse, corporal punishment, bullying, hazing...?

I was once thrown into a pool. I couldn’t swim... The PE teacher was watching.

How did that prepare me for the ‘real world’?

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