School calling children piglets?

[GoToSleepBabyPlease]

Came across this on another thread but felt discussing it there would constitute a derail, so bringing it up here.

On a school website (link below):

'To make table manners fun at Hanford we have devised the ‘Manners Table’, a ranking system of eleven different levels with ‘Piglet’ at the bottom and ‘Royal Guest’ at the top. Each level has a different name to describe the behaviour, for example, a messy eater will be a ‘Panda’ or even ‘Cave Lady’ whereas those girls who have mastered dining rather than merely eating will be a ‘Favourite Auntie’ or ‘Best Granny’. When new girls join they start somewhere in the middle with the aim of working their way up as quickly as possible. If they should become a ‘Royal Guest’ they are allowed to bring their own jam to breakfast. Every Friday after lunch, Miss Morrey reads out the week’s manners rankings. If a girl is moved up then they are given a sweet while others may be warned or some even moved down.

1. Royal Guest (allowed to bring their own jam or other spread and can also move people up and down)
2. Best Granny (allowed to move people up and down in manners)
3. Favourite Aunty
4. Primrose
5. Panda
6. Cat (can go to Tuck Shop on Sunday)
7. Squirrel
8. Hyena
9. Boa Constrictor
10. Cave Lady

10. Piglet'

AIBU to think that referring to children as piglets doesn't exactly model good manners?

hanfordschool.co.uk/wellbeing/manners/

Aside from boggling because so far removed from any of my life experience I don't feel qualified to comment without being a bit scathing, and finding the "hostessing" to build confidence quite regressive, can I just say that I have had many cats and none of them have mastered the art of tidy eating.....

Many experiences of standing on cat biscuits in darkened kitchens, skirting boards spattered with gravy and that's without the obligatory discovery of half eaten prey in many inconvenient places.

Sooooo...... is this a category where hunt and kill your own dinner is praised???

One of my close friends went to Hanford and had a wonderful time there. If I could afford it I would consider sending my daughters there too.

You know, it sounds like the kind of silly game you might play with children and they would probably enjoy. The unwise part was in writing it down on their website.

And if you watched my son shovel his food into his mouth at a height of 3cm followed by all manner of disgusting gravy slurpings, I really don't think you'd feel so sympathetic to the poor "bullied" little piglet.

Bizarre. Whoever came up with that many levels & weird names has wayyyyy too much time on their hands . My DM was House Mistress at quite a quirky (bordering on totally bonkers) small private girls School but even they would be open mouthed at this.

Those saying it's an old/listed building, making accessibility difficult, virtually all Oxbridge colleges are Grade 1 listed. Yet vast majority have made all their communal rooms, e.g. dining rooms, common rooms, lecture halls etc. (including those not on the ground floor) accessible - you can fit lifts, ramps etc., though I won't pretend it's cheap. But permission is virtually always granted; the real question is cost.

@MistressoftheDarkSide point taken re the cats!
I agree with you that hostessing seems regressive. But I also think that everyone benefits from learning how to be polite and learning how to gather up the courage to approach people they don't know. Whatever they go on to do in life, that can only help - however it was taught (also, I waitressed a lot as a teenager and in my early 20s, it taught me a lot.)

I remember looking around it in the early 80s. I loved it and wanted to go there, but my Dad thought even then it was a bit small and quaint. And thought they’d quickly be priced out of the pony set! But the girls at my secondary that came from Hanford all loved it.

@Puffykins

I do agree that nurturing and encouraging politeness and confidence in social settings is important, and similarly I had a variety of jobs in my teens that helped me with that - it just wasn't something that my grammar school engaged with in the manner described here - we were very academically focused....mostly my parents sorted out the foundations but I appreciate that in a boarding school there is an even greater focus on the in loco parentis position.

As I say, I've never moved in circles where rocking up at a local hunt was even imaginable!

And, because this has unleashed my mischievous side, the listing for Primrose did make wonder if that was about achieving photosynthesis.........

Apologies, it really is just a case of seeing something that seems quite anachronistic made flesh so to speak!

And I was an avid Enid Blyton fan, and fantasised alot about Mallory Towers - I'm 52 though and was deeply influenced by my Mum and Nana. Nana had been in service so I knew alot about how to "ape" one's betters, for want of a better phrase.

I am struggling with piglet though, to be fair......

Totally bonkers, lol. I'd be writing a polite email to the HT.

My daughter and her pony really want to go.

They're not going but they've been campaigning for over a year.

I think it depends how all this this is meant. As parents we all say ridiculous things if they were written down. The school does have a lovely reputation.

Oh, actually I tell a lie - DP and I were handfasted at a small festival hosted by a Lord and Lady on their estate, and they were the loveliest most eccentric people who thoroughly enjoyed a bit of debauchery

I still have them on my FB and see updates about their horses and lots of things that that are just a million miles from my life - like their two storey Christmas tree in the hall for example.....

This is appalling. I say this as a teacher.

@roguetomato

Piglet is kind of cute so I think it's ok. But Boa Constrictor/Cave Lady/Hyena is very weird and uninspiring. And why do they want to be Aunty/Granny?

I think (although, what would I know, I'm just a council house guttersnipe) it means the manners that you would be expected to display when going to tea with your (obviously Posh) Aunty and Granny - just like the Royal Guest would be the manners expected when eating in the presence of Royalty (something I suspect is actually a real possibility with the girls that attend this prep).

I had some wonderful telephone conversations with somebody I believe was one of those actual Grandmas recently (GGM owned the Granny title, apparently). She was lovely - and absolutely determined to resolve the issue at hand (and did so as well!).

In all honesty, I think I would have adored a school like that. Ponies, dogs, lovely grounds, a great education. But as a lowly scumbag once my Grandmother died and could no longer influence my upbringing or offer to pay for a private education, it would have been rather like putting Tarzan's kid into Edwardian school.

It's terribly complicated. I'd simplify it: Pig at a Trough - Safe in Restaurants - Hyacinth Bucket.

what the

What sort of person actually sat down and thought that up let alone released it to the public. I always remember my 30+ yr old niece commenting on a career move made by some primary school classmate of hers by saying that was surprising because he had never got out of the squirrel reading group.

Good Lord, what a complex structure!

On a more serious note though, one thing that does occur is whether this would be difficult for those with hidden eating disorders, and whether it would also encourage anxiety and pressure around eating in general. Yes, good manners at table - important - it so very much depends on the way all this is applied as I assume it would be operational over three meals a day.....

Also the whole thing of pupils policing each other and applying demotions sits very uncomfortably with me.

Dreadful.

Meh, had similar at my school and I can't quite see the issue with it.

I think this is a very interesting exploration of the "class divide" tbh.

@ineedaholidaynow

I would have thought paying for LSA is quite common in Private schools

Oh I never knew about this. Our boy is at a private school and receives learning support with no extra fees.

I think its a fantastic idea! Nothing wrong with going back to past times when teaching manners! Good manners in all areas is something that is very much lacking in society today! Its a thing im an absolute stickler for with my children, two of whom have additional needs but still understand basic manners.

Just looked at the website. The manners thing aside, I think it sounds lovely. DD would have loved it, and so would I.

If there was an original thread on this school can someone link it please I’m fascinated.