New Headteachers craziest rules

[glitterelf]

Last September we were appointed a new headteacher at my child's primary school. A few feathers have been ruffled and long standing school traditions abandoned. Today my child has come home and informed me of the latest crazy rule, all children are to wear their coats whilst eating their dinner as the head does not want children in the corridors after eating. AIBU in thinking this is batshit crazy and that children will undoubtedly be uncomfortable and too hot ? I'd love nothing more than to get the headteacher to sit and follow her own stupid rule.

Let the Head run the school.

Batshit

It's not the worst thing in the world. If they get too hot just take it off. I suspect it's not that they have to keep their coat on just that they are expected to take it into the hall. It's so they don't have unsupervised children roaming the corridors getting up to mischief. I can't believe some people are suggesting arranging a meeting with the HT 🙄.

I am shocked that any parent could claim that teachers work for them. I have heard this from time to time from very rude and disrespectful students who are doing their best to do as little work as possible whilst disrupting the learning of others. Now I know where they get their breathtaking arrogance from. Teachers are tax payers too. I do not consider myself to be the employee of anyone in the public sector.

I would hope that parents feel they work WITH us to support their children, not that we work FOR them.

Nice Daisy7654, nice.
It was lovely to read your heartwarming post.

Not rtft but the primary school I just left (worked there for 12 years) always had the children wearing their coats whilst eating lunch, we just accepted it, it's weird seeing everyone on here thinking it's batshit etc, it seemed normal to us.

Calling supervisors by their surnames is s basic sign of respect. It's probably a move to improve behaviour at lunchtime. Perhaps some of the children are not treating them with respect.

Sorry, but it’s batshit in my opinion. How many adults would like to eat their meal whilst wearing a thick winter coat I wonder? And I wouldn’t be best pleased if i had to keep washing my child’s coat because they got food down it, either.

This is why I focus on the children in my class and have as little as possible to do with the parents.

Much as head teachers should have some discretion and freedom as to how they run a school, perhaps given some of the examples of strange rules that have been cited over the years, there should be some clearly defined no-nos.

And some things parents try on be not acceptable either, and I would support a ban on mobile phones in schools.

What's wrong with putting the coats on the bench and sit on them? Or if there is noone to supervise the corridors then maybe suggest a big basket/box at the end of each table for the kids to put their coats in. Absolutely shocking if they're expected to wear their coats while eating!

Wow, this thread has gone a bit OTT.

Ok, I teach in a primary & a secondary school and both DDs are now at uni so I have experienced primary & secondary school as a parent too. FWIW, I think coats on to eat lunch is silly but we've established it's just for the older children. There seems to be a "thing" in education that when a new head comes in, they need to make changes. I started in my primary school 4 terms ago. I ran things for a year, and only now am I making changes to things that I know could be improved with a tweak. Because I've done a year, the other staff have got to know and trust me, so they are onside and some of them have asked for particular things. However, I am older than the vast majority of them (old enough to be their mother!!) and very experienced in my subject if not with KS2.

Been there, done that with new HTs. Best thing is to smile, nod and ignore. It seems to be the new thing to come in and change everything about the school. Hopefully it should settle down soon. You could always ask sweetly and innocently what happens when they don't wear a coat in summer. Do they need to bring one in for lunch?

I'm a lunchtime supervisor, I can only Speak about the school I work in. Neither I or my fellow non teaching staff are Hitlers, stupid or any other derogatory term. We work hard to help look after the kids. At our school all kids take coats in dinner hall, no backs on chairs, just stools attached to benches. Kids put coats on stool then sit.

Not rocket science. We ensure they are not sticking out causing a hazard it all works fine and having the coats with them help us get them quickly on to the yard without fuss.
Sounds to me like message just hasn't been passed through effectively or just a new rule bedding in with teething problems. All can easily be cleared up and it could work very well.

@fairlyplump It wasn't just my child's account but several children's account. There was no demanding to speak to anyone as the deputy meets and greets parents in the morning so I simply said hello and did she have a moment to discuss something to which she said yes. I don't get why everyone automatically jumps to children must be telling lies or can't be trusted and that an adult always has to confirm as if adults can't lie or bend the truth. As it happens the deputy told me this morning that no key stage 1 children should be taking their coats into the hall yet my child's told me she sat on hers today, I have no problem with this but it sounds like all the staff have had mixed messages too so it's completely understandable that the children don't know what they should and shouldn't be doing.

Our school also asks children to take coats into dinner with them too so theyre not all wandering the corridors unsupervised afterwards. Tell her to take it off and put it on the back of her chair. I doubt shes forced to actually WEAR it while she eats

Sounds like bad communication all around between the Head,children and the staff. Hopefully it will get sorted now they are aware of the confusion and it will be mentioned in assembly/staff room/email so everyone knows what they are supposed to do.

Ah Glitterelf you reminded me of when I was a student on teaching practice with 5 year olds. The school dinners were inedible. Even the carrots tasted vile. One small boy was really struggling and there wasn't too much food left so I said eat three more spoonfuls and I will take your plate. He ate the 3 spoonfuls and I walked over to the food bin to scrape the leftover food in. The head was on duty and saw me just as I was poised to push the food into the bin. She made me take the plate back to the boy and he had to sit there until he ate all of the food. Most teachers are lovely, some are bullies.

What I find funny is that some of the most vocal opponents of school rules I’ve met are parents who are in fact also themselves teachers at other schools. There are quite a few threads on the internet by teachers about their own crazy SLT in their own schools as well.

To me this shows that not even teachers think it’s sensible to blindly view as perfect every rule a school introduces

I wouldn’t be happy about this op because my dd gets very hot (she’s naturally one who gets warm) and her winter coat is really warm

Sounds like you handled it brilliantly with a chat to the deputy and glad it’s now sorted

Ok so my class have always worn their coats in to lunch so they can go straight out to play. Never had a problem with food going over them. I also insist on surnames. Maybe I should give up teaching now!

Ours either wore their coats or sat on them. It was that way so the pupils weren't in the cloakrooms unsupervised at lunchtime, and with budgets so tight, there is every chance that this is the school's only viable option. It appears though that some of the younger kids got the wrong end of the stick. The new system can be explained again at an assembly, with no necessity for some of the hysterical over-reactions and horrible insults being flung. Looking at you @StreetwiseHercules and @Daisy7654

@Downton57 It wasn't just the younger children's account but even pupils in YR6 so evident that it was explained properly to all parties. I did tell my little one to just carry her coat in and sit on it before speaking to the head. I want to support the school but I will raise things if they don't sit right.

Yes , it's clear there was a lack of communication. I wasn't accusing you of being over the top, but some of the reactions on here have been downright bizarre.

On the subject of coats, here's one: My DDs' (C of E) school is just down the road from the local church, which they visit once a week after morning break. The kids wear their coats in the playground during break when the weather requires. When break finishes, they return to class, remove their coats and line up on the playground without them (including when, like today, it is pouring with rain). The staff stand around in coats, holding umbrellas above themselves while the chi8ldren get soaked. They are then "walked" to the local church, where they have assembly in soaking wet clothes. Why would that be a good idea?

Coats and food. Always the number one causes of parental ire.

The coat was left on the floor and got dirty.
Somebody took it off the peg and left it on the floor.
Somebody took the coat.
The child's been told to wear a coat when they didn't want to.
The child hasn't been told to wear a coat.
The child's damaged the coat whilst playing.
The coat's been used as a goalpost and got dirty/been left on the field.
The coat's been left hung up and not placed upon said child at the end of the day.
The coat's been used instead of being kept locked away because Coats Cost Money.

Child wasn't made to eat their lunch and they went to play.
Child was made to eat their lunch and didn't get to play.
Child didn't like their lunch.
Child ate something from somebody else's lunch.
Child has spilt something at lunch.
Somebody else's child split something at lunch.
There was too much food at lunch.
There wasn't enough food at lunch.

Etc, etc, etc. It would be so much easier if everybody took their children home for lunch & brought coats with them. But there will always be complaints about food and coats (and hats, gloves and scarves to a lesser extent).

The only thing heads can really do is change policies every year or so, just to make sure it's a different variety of complaint each time.

@thenovice the alternative is complaints about children leaving their coats at the church. Better than £500 violins (school property, by the way), phones and toys, but there would be kids insisting they didn't have a coat when they got there.

Another coat related lose-lose situation.