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.

All this shite makes me so glad that my schooldays were during the liberal, easygoing 1960s, when no-one would have dreamed of making a child wear/not wear a coat, or of stopping them from going back to the cloakroom during a break.

@thenovice That is crazy and no doubt when they get to the church for assembly it's cold and they are sitting there feeling really uncomfortable.

And yet kids at schools all over the country go back for their coats after lunch and live to tell the tale. Bizarre. I would write in saying your son has said he has to eat lunch wearing his coat and you would like her to please clarify to the kids that they can take the coat off and put it on or under the seat, because your son is under the impression that he has to actually wear it. Which must be wrong because that would be uncomfortable, anti-social, anti-healthy eating, and require near- daily coat washing.

@MitziK You know what I don't think any pupils go home for lunch but I remember doing so when I was at school. I personally have not complained about the possibility of my child getting food stains or her coat getting dirty I just want my child to feel comfortable and that's been rectified.

Eating all their food or no playtime is really bad policy. I have a stomach disease and was never able to finish my plate as a child and this is a way to cause serious issues with food as well as ostracizing the kids with eating issues.

@windycuntryside - very off topic but what decisions do you think governors should make? Triggered, moi 😂.

OP, may I ask, is your new headteacher called Mrs Simpson by any chance???

I'm glad you handled it in a reasonable way.

I don't think posters were automatically assuming your DC was lying, more that it is quite an unusual rule to have (even by the standards of very picky schools with long lists of rules) so it was more likely that there's another explanation rather than a whole school rule. I must admit when I first read the thread my gut instinct is that there's been miscommunication somewhere along the line.

@hotsouple I completely agree food should never be used as a form of punishment it's unhealthy and will cause issues surrounding food.

@Pigwig10 No it's not.

@LolaSmiles it's a shame that the school itself didn't pick up on the miscommunication themselves yesterday. But thankfully they now know and I have a happier child.

I agree OP. It sounds very poorly handled.

Sometimes a friendly phonecall to clarifying is very much needed.

How are children meant to get the benefit of their coat if they wear it inside during lunch

@PixiePowered - how about the rule that children must finish everything on their plate?
My school had that rule too. Then, one day I came from school and promptly vomited said dinner all over the stairs. We never had to do it ever again as my DM, who was normally from the old “school is always right” brigade complained straight away.
The delicious school lunches also left me with an intense dislike for some dishes, e.g. mashed potatoes- 40 years later I will eat potatoes in any form but this. I have always been the least picky eater in my family and my Mom never had to cook anything extra for me but at the sight of a mash I went to slice a piece of bread straightaway.

Eerie I’ve never forgotten seeing a child at my school being sick at the table itself when they were forced to eat everything

In my niece's secondary school the headteacher decided to get rid of the lockers and replace with pegs to hang coats. Lots of coats were stolen and her suggestion was just not to bring a coat to school (they weren't allowed to bring coats with them during the day).

And won't the ones who can't sit still long enough to negotiate getting the food into their mouths look lovely with food stains all down their coats?

Crackers, on all levels.

What about the old adage: "Take your coat off, or you won't feel the benefit!" (when you go outside).

Roll on summer.

It won't work it'll get extremely hot and bulky and annoying.

If they sat on them/backs of chairs they'd get forgotten and lost. These are primary school kids.

Stick to the cloakrooms and have lunchtime supervisors patrolling, or have the head teacher supervise the corridors herself!

@glitterelf. Thank you for your comment. (Highlight of my dull morning)
Imo why call them governors if they are mere figure heads? (that is my experience, others may report differently).
Governors support the school and the staff, all good. However they are not the only stakeholders. The children and parents are too.

@windycuntryside I think you've got the wrong person but glad whoever it was has brightened your morning

EerieSilence I had the same argument with a teacher, but went one better; I knew, as a not-fussy feeder, that ginger makes me vomit.(Yes I know it's weird and ginger usually cures nausea! I can't eat raw honey either.) I didn't realise that the sponge pudding I'd taken was ginger until the first taste (school dinners were very "take it or leave it" back in the day.) The teacher on duty, quite well aware that I usually cleared my plate without a grumble, wouldn't let me leave the hall until I'd eaten it, and I eventually conceded as I didn't want to be late for afternoon lessons. The Latin mistress was less than impressed when I vomited all over my desk during her afternoon lesson, tearfully complaining that I'd told the duty teacher that ginger made me sick, I hadn't realised it was ginger, etc. I think words were spoken in the staff room, and my mother, also of the old school "school is in the right, don't be a picky eater, etc." also complained, unusual for her.
Teachers can suffer from bonkers rules as well, and complying to the point of bloody-mindedness is sometimes the best cure. Our best was an edict from the new Head of the Senior School, that everybody should stick strictly to the time shown on the classroom clock (sloppy timekeeping in the Senior School causing issues) without checking that all the clocks in the Junior School were properly synchronised; we had been relying on our own watches and running our timetable quite happily in our separate building....…..that was tremendous fun.

Teachers can suffer from bonkers rules as well, and complying to the point of bloody-mindedness is sometimes the best cure.

Complying to the point of bloody mindedness has its uses.
I rather like doing this when it comes to sticking up for students and someone in an office hasn't considered the impact of their policies / ideas.

DD’s school is the same. They are not allowed back in the cloakroom at playtime or lunch time. Coat has to be taken to dinner hall.
Also they have a very small dinner hall which is also the PE area and the assembly area so tables are fold away with attached benches so no chairs to put coats over the back. Also they are in a rota so sometimes out in the playground first for a while before they get called in for lunch. She has never said it bothers her and to be honest until this thread I didn’t even think about it.

My secondary school you had to take your coat every where, and all your books and stuff. We didn’t have lockers at all so had no choice but to wear/carry them. TBH I think that’s why the trend of tying a jacket round your waist was so popular in the 90’s.

I'm so glad all this will be over for me in 2 years.

I've had 6 children go through various schools and the rules just get more idiotic.

Rather than just DEAL with the day to day issues these stupid rules are implemented.