School where children must smile all the time, follow whistled commands and never glance out of the window

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/parents-slam-school-rules-always-24451911

Sounds horrific. I'd home educate a child rather than send them to a place like this. I can't help thinking one of the responses on Twitter I saw may be right - are they trying to drive out children with additional needs who might pull down the GCSE results? My daughter is an adult now but she would have been destroyed by an environment like this. She's very bright but on the autistic spectrum.

Parents have criticised strict new school rules which include "always smiling", never looking out the window and even asking permission to pick up a pen.

Natalie Teece, the newly-appointed headteacher at John Ferneley College in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, has drafted the guidelines ahead of the school reopening in September.

The new rules were delivered to parents in an e-booklet, along with three videos explaining the research and the reason behind them.

Ms Teece said that when 11 to 16-year-olds students return to class, they will be expected to "always smile" and learn to respond to a series of whistle commands given by staff.

They also must enter the classroom in single file, "never forget to say Sir or Miss", always sit up straight and must thank their teacher as they leave the classroom after a lesson.

Walking in a group of more than two people and looking out of windows in class are also banned.

Turning around "even if you hear a noise" is forbidden and pupils have to maintain eye contact with the teacher whenever they are talking, the rules say.

Kids have to wait to be told they may pick up a pen or ruler and if a teacher says hello to them they should make sure their reply is "upbeat".

.......

One rule about lining up said staff will be using whistles to direct kids, with five sounds meaning they must move to their line up area, and one indicating pupils should be silent.

Another about "tracking" the teacher said: "You don't pick up your pen or your ruler, or anything else, until your teacher gives you the signal.

"You never turn around - even if you hear a noise behind you. You don't look out of the window. You don't lose focus."

A rule on sitting up straight said: "You never slouch. Be sitting up straight you are demonstrating physical respect. [ ...] No exceptions. No excuses."

And another said: "You always smile. You are polite and welcoming. When you greet somebody you smile, when a teacher says hello to us in the corridor you reply with an upbeat 'Hello Miss!' or 'Morning Sir!' and you smile."

The guidelines inform students that they are "extremely fortunate to be in a school that is very popular" and must walk around the school only in single file or pairs.
*

They read Hard Times and thought to themselves 'that Mr Gradgrind knew how to run a school!'.

@MotionActivatedDog

Some children will make a performance out of not putting it down. "Miss, miss, don't you want me to do any work? How am I going to work without holding a pen? Miss doesn't want me to learn!"

Simply would never have happened at my school. No one would have done this and if they had the other pupils would have told them to cut it out.

Yes, exactly - mine too! But there are some schools where sadly, that wouldn't work, and that's what's being addressed here.

@pickingdaisies

Are they expected to line up in height order like the Von Trapp family in the sound of music?

That's the first thing that came into my head. Ridiculous!

The bell usually lets kids know when lunchtime is over

Lots of schools don’t have bells. Plus, why is a bell more acceptable than a whistle?

@SchadenfreudePersonified

Apart from the constant smiling stuff, it just sounds like the sort of rules we had when I was k id.

Discipline isn't so bad.

Not picking up pens etc until told stops chidden faffing with stationery or getting distracted. Walking in single file/pairs prevents bottlenecks in corridors, or smaller/more vulnerable pupils being knocked over or hustled.

Whistles carry further across a noisy break time schoolyard than voices.

I don't see a problem (except for the manic grinning)

DS2 would try so hard to obey these rules, particularly the one about not picking up your pen, then would cry because he couldn't. He has ADHD.

@SmileEachDay

If you head over to the school website, you’ll find this behaviour policy

It’s an enlightening read, compared to the click bait headlines. No fixed grins all day. A sensible solution to getting lots of children in after break times. A focus on learning, good manners, everyone being able to get the most out of lessons.

There is also a comprehensive SEN policy which includes reasonable adjustments (in fact, one of the articles that has slated the school even mentioned this - can’t recall which one).

Might be worth a read for everyone comparing it to Gilead/a prison camp.

Yes, but that's not the new policy. It's clearly dated 2020.

Sounds very much like Mercia School in Sheffield, whose ethos is if you don't like our policies find another school. My neice is a pupil & you wouldn't believe the pressure kids are put under, they are put in detention if staff don't think they are trying hard enough, not obeying any order within 2 seconds, daydreaming or something as simple as losing a pen, they have to take part in discussions at the table at lunchtime & can be punished for not making enough effort during the discussion.

So many of these academy schools seem to be run by Captain Mainwaring types.

I like some of them but lots are just BATSHIT

Yes, but that's not the new policy. It's clearly dated 2020

I noticed that - but it also got several snippets that have been getting quoted by the papers, so I think that’s what they are going on. It includes details about smiling at the start of class and the use of whistles at the end of break 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes, exactly - mine too! But there are some schools where sadly, that wouldn't work, and that's what's being addressed here.

I can see that. I was pretty gobsmacked at the behaviours on shows like educating Yorkshire. I felt so sorry for some of the children who wanted to learn. And felt very lucky to have attended where I did, particularly that it was all girls and there was no sexual harassment.

@SmileEachDay

The bell usually lets kids know when lunchtime is over

Lots of schools don’t have bells. Plus, why is a bell more acceptable than a whistle?

A bell isn’t more acceptable than a whistle if it’s just for signalling the end of lunch. But as it was presented in the OP the whistling was a set of commands such as “line up” and “silence”, with each command having a different whistle sound.

I often wonder what it's like to teach in these schools, and whether a parallel set of rules, punishments and detentions are posted up in the staffroom.

When I first read this I thought it was North Korea not fucking Melton Mowbray. Wtaf are the governors of this school doing? They all need sacking and the local authority imposing a new set. Why would any parent in their right mind accep this?

@NotMeNoNo

I often wonder what it's like to teach in these schools, and whether a parallel set of rules, punishments and detentions are posted up in the staffroom.

Pah! You just know that staff makeup of these kinds of places are basically a miniature of the Tory party. I'm sure all kinds of debauched rule breaking goes on.

Rules are for thee, not for me.

Walking round school corridor in single line or in pairs max - OK but not talking at all? Huh!
Greeting teacher at the start of lesson - OK ish (while I remember the droned class greeting - not that bad)
Only picking up pencil when told (that only happened in tests & exams for us)
OK if we stared out of the window instead of concentrating on lesson we would be told off ditto not concentrating or forgetting homework or having untidy desk ect - but we didn't have written rules the relevant teacher would tell us off & deal with it & we knew this.
I went to convent school with nuns no less & I am an ex servicewoman & those kind of petty rules? We did have things expected of us & we did have to conform in certain circumstances but nothing like this - it sounds way over the top to me & I wonder what the affect will be later?

I often wonder what it's like to teach in these schools, and whether a parallel set of rules, punishments and detentions are posted up in the staffroom

Well yeah staff have to follow certain rules. In my extremely liberal school, we were all told if we failed to follow up on a certain school rule it would be a disciplinary matter. I totally agree with the headteacher on this, some staff were ignoring a school rule and it wasn’t causing a safeguarding nightmare for the majority of staff who were following the rule.

Schools have rules. They need to be followed by staff and pupils.

It wasn’t causing a safeguarding issue

Should be was causing a safeguarding issue (sorry)

It sounds extreme however it’s soul destroying and exhausting to teach in a school where pupils are disturbing teaching and learning every lesson. My daughter is in a very strict school and it’s absolutely brilliant. Very little low level disturbance results in great grades because guess what teachers can spend time teaching! They do a lot of outside sport too. I do think parents need to wake up to the fact that their children are not the angels that they believe that they are in school and perhaps this style of school is the result of their ineffective parenting. Of course you can always home school!

Because a person blowing a whistle at people with instructions is not the same as a bell.

It has very different connotations.

Ah yes, someone mentioned that Michaela school, where children whose parents are broke or disorganised are punished and isolated at lunch:
www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jul/29/headteacher-defends-policy-of-putting-pupils-in-lunch-isolation

Not at all surprised to read she’s a Tory. These schools are a tory dream, aren’t they - churning subservient worker drones. Wonderful.

It’s also horrifically ableist, in a country where every disabled child is entitled to a mainstream education if the parents choose. And let’s face it, this isn’t a new school where parents are aware of the rules and can choose to apply, this is a change to an existing school. What is going to happen to the neurodiverse pupils of this school?

Does it really say smile all the time? Or just essentially don't do sulky scowly etc when talking to a teacher?

It's still a stupid thing to say tbh.

This is a mixed school?

Whistles are for dogs.

Everyone knows that.

What is going to happen to the neurodiverse pupils of this school

A significant number will thrive due to the calm learning atmosphere created. Possibly you would expect a reduction in bullying too.

I agree with the previous poster who said I do think parents need to wake up to the fact that their children are not the angels that they believe that they are

it is the job of a parent to teach their kids how to manage well in the world, not expect special considerations all the time (excepting SEN who even then have to learn how to manage their difficulties). Schools should not have to teach basics like paying attention, being polite, listening, etc. A school near me in the US hired an etiquette coach - it was a tough inner city school but they saw attendance, grades and numbers going on to college shoot up.