To think this is normal practise in most schools?

[Edenspirits]

My kids school have always used ‘grown ups’ rather than mum & dad so this isn’t actually unusual - the mail kicking off about it though (probably because its Brighton) in

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10527267/amp/Parent-fury-Brighton-primary-schools-tell-students-NOT-say-mum-dad.html

I haven't read the article, but yes, always "grownups". And I haven't been in a primary school for five years so not a new thing.

@Beth13579

I haven't read the article, but yes, always "grownups". And I haven't been in a primary school for five years so not a new thing.

....Although I don't think we would have stopped a child talking about their "mum" or "dad" which I think is what the article is implying.

No, we use mum or dad or parents.

I've never worked in a primary school where referring to children's parents as 'grown ups' is a thing.

We wouldn’t say grownups, no. Parents, usually. We know our students and their family set-ups well, though.

@Diablo2 What about the children who don’t live with their parents?
I always say grown ups unless I know for absolute certainty that every child has parents at home.

I’m a teacher, if I’m talking about the people at home I would either say ‘your grown ups’ or ‘the people at home’. I wouldn’t ever tell a child not to refer to their mum, dad, grandad or whoever though.

The family set ups are very varied at our school though.

I've certainly heard teachers say things like "can you see your grown up?" at pick up time for example. That isn't political correctness or anything, it just reflects that kids get picked up/looked after by mum, dad, grandparent, childminder, nanny, friend's mum etc etc. I can't imagine a school banning the use of mum and dad though.

Primary school teacher - we've always referred to "adults" or "your adult" in the three years I've been in a school. Sometimes "grownups" too. Completely normal and inclusive for those children with unconventional home life. Of course parents are mentioned by the children and that's fine.

We say 'grown ups' or 'at home', when talking to a group or class.
But I would expect a child to use mum, dad or whatever they call the adults they live with, and would use the same terms back to them when in conversation.

Utter nonsense article. It is usual for staff in schools to refer to ‘adults at home’. As an example, many children are cared for by family members who are not their parents. So ‘adults at home’ is a catch all. To my knowledge, at no point does any school stop children from using the words ‘mum’ and ‘dad’ and to claim that schools are ‘cancelling’ the words is Daily Mail nonsense. They have to fill their site with something but this is no more than filler.

I teach secondary but I always say 'the people you live with at home' as that covers everything

I say mum, dad or grown up. Children have different circumstances and this is a sensitive way of acknowledging and including.
If it's true that they aren't allowed to use mum or dad, that's bonkers. But I am sceptical tbh.

I doubt the schools in question have ‘banned’ or ‘cancelled’ the words mum & dad- they just prefer the use of grown ups - it’s the mail getting it’s knickers in a twist over wokeness as per...

@MsJuniper

Primary school teacher - we've always referred to "adults" or "your adult" in the three years I've been in a school. Sometimes "grownups" too. Completely normal and inclusive for those children with unconventional home life. Of course parents are mentioned by the children and that's fine.

Do you hold Adult evenings? 🤣🤣🤣

When I was in primary school (30 years ago) everything was parent/guardian.

I remember we had to make Father's Day cards when I was around 5 and the teacher discreetly told me I could make one for my Papa if I wanted as I lived with my grandparents for a while.

Completely normal at all of the schools I've ever been at. It would have to be a very sheltered teacher to presume that every child had a mum and dad at home.

When handing out letters if say give this to your grown ups. Likewise if making a card it would be for their grown ups or someone special.

If the child was talking about their mum or dad of course I'd use the words and model the conversation using teh words they were comfortable with but grown ups is 100% my default.

Even at tots we say grown up because some live with grandparents

We address letters to 'parents and carers', and use your grown up or your grown-up-at -home a lot when talking to the children. We cant always recall family circumstances as staff move around a lot.

We wouldnt stop a child saying mum and dad and if they were saying mum we would use that term in that conversation as it would obviously be right.

I used to be a primary teacher and we would refer to 'your grown-ups' if we were talking to the children collectively, because we had some children who were living with grandparents/not living with their parents for various reasons. If I was talking to an individual child and knew their family setup, then would refer to mum or dad, or parents, if that's who they lived with.

Our school use 'adults' which we find great as it allows DD to mentally sub out between our nanny and us without feeling hard done by.

Daily Fail making something from nothing again, exactly like they do when they try to claim schools have "banned" nativity plays just because they've decided to put on a performance of Ralph the Reindeer instead of the Christmas story.

Parents and guardians

I never really say mum or sad but this is because lots of my pupils are in care, live with grandparents, siblings etc

I generally say ‘whoever you live with’ although I teach secondary. I think of I can spare even one child pain, or embarrassment with such a simple language change, then why wouldn’t I?

I actually prefer ‘your grown ups’ to parent/ guardian as it’s more inclusive I think and a nicer friendlier way of saying it