To think this is not "emotional abuse"?

[PeckhamPauline]

This school (in a deprived area) instituted a token system for good behaviour, attendance, etc throughout the year, with the promise that 100 tokens could be exchanged for a special reward party at the end of the year. Sounds fair, right?

But no! Apparently this is "emotional abuse" of the children who didn't earn enough tokens and the school has been made to apologise.

www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/st-michaels-school-bath-party-1808319

How ridiculous. Sounds a fabulous system. Children need to learn that hard work, good attendance and the correct behaviour is important for when they are adults.

The reward system sounds fair enough but I wonder about how it was implemented. The parents seem to be saying that they didn't know anything about it until the party photos appeared on social media. I think you have to have good communication with parents about things like this, because you can't rely on primary age children passing the information on.

I don't think on principle it's emotional abuse but for primary aged pupils I think a party at the end of the year is far too long term to have an influence on behaviour. I also think that if 95% of students attended the party then it isn't really a treat but a punishment for the few who can't attend. I think this kind of punishment excluding kids with behaviour issues isn't very effective it tends to just entrench them in the belief they're not good kids.

Depends how often the tokens are given out. To earn 100 tokens across 38 weeks of education you need to earn 2 or 3 a week. Are the teachers giving out at least 90 of these tokens across their class of 30 every week? Otherwise they are setting the kids up to fail.

And how about children who cannot control their attendance? Appointments to be attended, parents who don't care, kids who can't get to school independently?

Or those who aren't always in full control of their behaviors (SN)

One of the parents complaining did have a son with SEN by reading between the lines of that article, and they were excluded.

Also it wasn’t just a special end of year treat, it was a year 6 leavers party. Shitty thing to do imo!

Petty I think (and I'm in favour or reward systems). It smacks of the old school party conundrum - can I leave out the kid everyone hates.

I see the school have apologised and will be hosting another event.

What about children whose health means they are forced to miss school? That was DS2's problem and it also triggered attendance meetings even when there was an agreed protocol for missing school.

Jammydodger81 Absolutely this.

My dd has fortnightly OT and psych, no way would she win any tokens and would be excluded for being at appointments that are helping her control her meltdowns and emotions (she's autistic). These visits are of paramount importance right now, and I would be livid at her school for excluding her.

"He said things like 'I'm not good enough' and 'I've failed'". That is exactly how my dd would feel. She already feels like that and something like this would knock her already delicate confidence down so much.

I really feel for that little lad!

If the tokens were awarded on results rather than progress then it would be really unfair.

IE if (as in the OP) token were awarded for food behaviour rather than improved behaviour it would mean that a certain group of children would frequently get tokens and the "bad" kids never would, and would never feel they had a chance.

GoingTOBeFine I believe "improved behaviour" was also rewarded with a token.
DifferentName The children could also win tokens by, for example, being confident, contributing in class, and being organized. So a child who was frequently absent due to appointments, for example, could still earn enough tokens.

The previous policy at the school was "three strikes and you're out". Instead this is a system that rewards good behaviour, rather than punishing bad behaviour. Surely that has to be better?

The issue with any system like this is that some will go unrewarded. My dd noticed at her primary school that the majority of the reward stickers went to children with challenging behaviour - if they managed to behave for once, they got a reward. Fair enough. Except that all the children who were habitually well-behaved never got an award for anything. The quiet ones who got on with their work were forgotten about.

Well my dc would have been screwed since they are dyspraxic and have poor organisation through no fault of their own plus lots of medical appointments. I’m sure they’d get tokens for effort and attainment but perhaps not enough since there are categories they would have no chance in. If a policy is going to adversely affect those with disabilities more than others then it needs looking at again imo.

We've had a similar thing at our school to encourage reading. Kids get a token for every book they read outside of school. Parents sign the reading record.

Those with 24 tokens got to have a treat afternoon with own clothes day and a film with popcorn. The kids who get less than 24 had to say in school uniform and do extra work in the afternoon. My DS got the treat but I still felt angry and that it was awful for the other kids.

There was no communication to parents at any stage that they would be rewarded at the end of the year for hitting a certain threshold.

What about the kids who aren't confident, aren't big contributors, are often late due to parental neglect and perform badly both socially and academically?

What do they get?

I hate shit like this.

This is a local school to me. From what I've read, it was 100 tokens over the last term and letters were sent home to all the parents. 6 weeks = 30 school days and they got a token just for turning up on time each day, one for reading at home each night. That's 60 tokens already!

There's no mention of the whole year-group stuff the children have done like a disco, a few trips to a local parks and a leavers service. The ones bitching on facebook seem to think school is an entertainment service.

DS's school has a similar thing where they earn merits towards an end of term treat. I have no problem with that.

I think the difference in the case of this school is it appears to have been a leavers party for Year 6 - as opposed to some more random reward. That's an important milestone and I think it's reasonable to expect that all Year 6 children should be invited attend.

Behave well, try hard, and don't be a brat and you'll get rewarded.
Play up and be a brat and you'll miss out.

It's very simple.

There's no mention of the whole year-group stuff the children have done

Yes, no mention of that.

So do people who are opposed to this type of reward also think that any scholastic awards are 'emotional abuse' because they exclude children who aren't academic, and sporting awards or ribbons are 'emotional abuse' because children who aren't sporty don't win any prizes?

I think collecting merits or whatever can encourage some children especially 6-9 year olds but i'don't like the idea of a party to reward the 'chosen' children and leave out the less fortunate ones. Getting a ribbon or a badge for most points and runners up is more than enough. We all know that some children get points more easily than others and that it isn't always fair.

But kids who have lots of medical appointments aren’t brats! My dc does and also wouldn’t get any merits for organisation due to dyspraxia. Kids who have parents who just don’t get them into school aren’t at fault either - the parents are.

It sounds like an ineffective way to motivate DC, and unfair to some DC who missed out.

Because some people love to complain about any reward that doesn't include their child.

There's a petition by a child and parent ladt week protesting against school having report cards where students get marked down for sitting with their head on the desk and talking over the teacher. Apparently this wonderful young man (entitled brat) seems to think it's really unfair because he doesn't like that there's sanctions for poor behaviour.

Equally, there's been threads in the last few weeks about how unfair it is for schools to rewaed excellence because not everyone gets a prize.

Sadly, some people have a culture of everyone must always win othetwise it's damaging.