Is this fair? School reading competition

[RosieLemonade]

There has been an extreme reading competition at school Basically children had to take pictures of themselves reading in extreme situations. One child posted themselves reading on a horse. Is it fair they win as not many children would have had the opportunity to take a picture like that?

@Tal45

I just think it's all very bizarre. No one actually reads doing these weird things so what's the point. Even for the photo they just pick up the book click the camera and put the book down, no one actually sits on a horse and reads for ten minutes do they? I just don't understand how this is encouraging kids to read, it's just encouraging them to take unusual photos IMO.

My thoughts exactly.

Can anyone confirm if the school has said "For World Book Day please take 10 minutes to read a book or have one read to you". My kids love dressing up but it has frustrated me that WBD seems to be a costume competition that has absolutely no purpose in encouraging reading

Jesus it’s just for fun! Chill out.

My son read under a rose bush and my daughter read while sliding down a slide. It’s just for fun!

@lioncitygirl must've been a long slide if she managed to get some reading in

It’s only unfair if everyone had to be photographed reading on a horse and not everyone has a horse.
The focus is on creativity:
Read in the shower under an umbrella
In a supermarket trolley
On a swing
Up a tree...

There are lots of accessible, dangerous places you could encourage your child to read if you don't have access to a horse...

In a skip, for instance? Or in the middle of a busy road? Hanging off the upstairs banister? Dangling off some scaffolding?

We had this, we sent a photo in showing DD reading a newspaper in a train.

It is just for fun, the school puts the photos up just before parent evening so parents could see. There were photos on the toilet, slide in the playground, upside down and lots of normal ones like on the floor in front of a fire place or upside down on the bed etc.

We all had a laugh and that was it.

For those asking about the point of all of this, there are adult sports such as ‘extreme ironing’. Nobody partaking actually plugs an iron into a mountain - they just take the iron there to be silly. Then they take a photo. The silliness makes them all laugh. Perhaps it’s not your humour but the sole aim is simply to liven up the impression some children have of reading as something boring.

You do need to credit the teachers with a bit of judgement - they will reward what’s fun and inventive. It’s impossible to make everything in life equal for every child. Maybe a child bouncing upside down on a trampoline with a book will win. Lots of kids don’t have a trampoline.

Our school did this last year and I thought it was fun. It was over half term and a few kids had done their photos on their holidays. Others at local landmarks or just hanging from a tree or halfway down a slide.

Why do you think the child on a horse will win? Why can't you think of somewhere creative and exciting for your child to read? You sound envious and defeatist. Some people have things that you don't. You won't win everything or even anything. That is life. Better to get your children used to it now than they have a shock later when they realise mummy can't fix everything for them. Why does it even matter to you so much anyway? World Book Day has become such a pain in the arse pile of wank and has very little to do with reading these days.
Or, are you the parent of the reading and riding child and have suffered a backlash because of it? If so, my comments above is what you should think of those who have complained.

Fgs. Yabu. It's just a kids competition to encourage reading. My kids loved doing this. We spent the day reading up trees, in my car, in the bath; whatever. Who cares who wins?

You can't analyse stuff to this extent

You are saying some kids don't have horses

Well some kids don't live in households were there are devices to take photos or where there are books

And worse, some kids live in households where the parents would prefer to beat them than to take a photo for school

If everything was 100% fair then we would all be walking around in uniform boiler suits like 1984.

Our school does this for the new y7s starters. They print some of the winners in the newsletter but it's stuff like reading in the rain (umbrella protecting the book), on a ladder, pretending to be on a scooter, sat in the shed etc . I wouldn't assume that the horse would win or that there would only be one winner.

We did one of ours sitting on a tractor 🤷‍♀️

These things are never going to be fair. Would you stop your child entering because some kids don't have access to a camera phone or someone to brainstorm ideas with?

You could go with photoshopping your child in extreme situations like standing in lava if you're keen to win?

My dd did hers on her pony maybe it's us you're talking about. Honestly this was the easy option for us and felt like a bit of a cop out. I was much more impressed by the child hanging upside down from a tree.

This child hasn’t even won 🤣
Calm down!
The teachers will look at that, and not even think it’s extreme. Not to be socio-economically “fair”, but because they’ll think - oh that’s fun, but it’s not exactly extreme.
Maybe some kid in your class will get a shot of himself reading in the background whilst his dad (no - better! - his mum’s latest low life boyfriend) is getting busted for dealing class As. Will that suit your sense of fair?
W

Actually if the child on a horse rides the horse every day and is the owner of the horse it’s not that “extreme” for her. If I were judging the competition I’d be looking for someone doing something they don’t do every day or in a place they don’t go to every day. There’s not much creativity involved if you have a horse and ride it every day but one day you hold a book in your hand too. That would be like me reading with my dog next to me. He’s next to me every day.

@MessAllOver

There are lots of accessible, dangerous places you could encourage your child to read if you don't have access to a horse...

In a skip, for instance? Or in the middle of a busy road? Hanging off the upstairs banister? Dangling off some scaffolding?

😆😆😆😆

I'd have bloody lived this competition when my DC were in Primary. DD is severely dyslexic and struggled massively with school so I made her entree very stupid competition like this, and she usually won. I'd have made her "read" sitting on top of a traffic light or made her out on a wet suit and get into the local pond. Horses shmorses!

What a bizarre way to encourage kids to read.

@TakeTheCuntOutOfScunthorpe

No, but they can probably do something different instead. On a roof, dangling over the parapet of a multi-story, sitting in the central reservation of the dual carriageway - arguably more extreme than reading sat on a horse, and just as stupid.

Both your comment and your username amused me this evening.

Our school had this. DD1 sat on the back of a statue wild animal in a public park to read (and the ranger took the photo as it was locking up time!) So you can be 'extreme' without being extremely fortunate.

This thread is so random 😂

I sort of know how you feel. kids school did it. it just highlighted the difference between the haves and have nots in some cases anyway. dd read to a local statue. without climbing frames or gardens or horses or other other random possessions that show some financial well being it was a lot harder to be creative.

But the child didn't win (yet). They might or might not.

If the winning child is doing it in the shower will you complain because some people only have baths?