School work remainly at school at the end of year.

[jkbabymassage]

I just found out that at the end of the academic year my daughter who is in Yr 1 won't be allowed to bring her exercise books and school work home for us to keep and cherish. And that she won't even get them at the end of her time at primary school..that they will be archived? Apparently it's some stupid safeguarding thing? But what about parental rights and my daughter's rights? Surely the work belongs to her and we should take ownership of it? My mum to this day cherishes work that I brought home from school. It's made me both sad and angry that the best that I'll get is a quick peek in them on the odd parent's evening and then it will just all collect dust in some archive box somewhere. Anyone else had this at their child's school?

Surely there's enough childhood stuff to cherish? Keep her artwork, or stuff you do at home, cards she writes to you etc.

Mine are both in primary school and I don't want their work, the school can file them in the bin for me.

'Cherish' is perhaps a tad OTT

Oh, sorry! I assumed it came home for homework. Maybe things changed during COVID and they've just carried on?

But what about parental rights and my daughter's rights?

What rights do you think the school are ignoring by not sending books home?

It is if no-one knows why something is a 'safeguarding' issue but they just say it's a 'safeguarding thing' with no idea why they are saying it and it seems bloody stupid!

I agree with you and think it’s ridiculous. I’m in a different country and get all the school work at the end of the year. I like to look through it and get some understanding of the work that has been done.

Are you really citing your parental rights here? They're really not relevant

Why do you think you own the content of the books when the school bought the books?

If your friend writes their birthday on your wall calendar does that become their wall calendar?

My child's right to keep her own work? My right as a parent to see it and choose to keep some of it if I wish? What right does the school have to keep it all when they no longer need it?

I've never come across this. I have all my dcs school books. God knows what I'm going to do with them and they probably won't want them anyway. But I can understand where you're coming from. Can you contact the local education authority for advice?

I pay my taxes so that schools can buy exercise books. The work in the books is my child's. When the school no long needs them..the books/work is hers!

It's very sad. I've worked in schools. Books were kept by the paranoid SLT who had faced complaints from the occasional parent in the past. The "You didn't teach my child xxxx properly" or "why hasn't the teacher marked this piece of work in more detail?" etc. Some work was needed for Ofsted evidence, granted, but the rest was destroyed after a couple of years. I always felt it was awful.

Does your mum still really cherish your schoolbooks? How often does anyone look at them? It's just clutter!

The only things I like looking back on are stories they write or pictures they draw, and then only a few
Crappy worksheets, spelling tests and maths are pointless and never something I would want to look back on fondly.

So they draw pictures and write stories at home and I keep those, no reason to get them from school

I'm a primary school teacher and I've pretty much always given out children's books at the end of the year . The only reasons I haven't is due to keeping some back for Ofsted. Is your child's school due an Ofsted? This is possibly what they meant by archiving them. When my school was due an Ofsted, we would keep back about half a dozen of different abilities and some of those being pupil premium children.

The other thing of course is that being year 1, the books may have group photos of learning activities and to safeguard certain children, they can't go home. However, this would surprise me as you shouldn't put those children's photos in other books in the first place.

I totally get that you would like your child's books. I still have some of my primary school books and will keep my children's ones when they're school age. Even if you don't get the books, hopefully you'll still get pieces of art work, etc. It is nice to look back on those things.

Count yourself lucky, I don’t cherish the mountain of crap I get landed with at the end of every school year. PFB?

I am a teacher and agree it is ridiculous. The obsession with evidence means that schools are storing books to show Ofsted. It has absolutely nothing to do with safeguarding.

She has one or two bits that yes she does really cherish. She's binned the rest. I just feel a little robbed of the opportunity to pick the odd piece to keep because of some ridiculous policy? I mean safeguarding against what exactly? I've seen this year's work very briefly at a parents evening. No photos/names of other children in them. So what is the actual safeguarding issue?

Those aren't rights, those are just things you would like to happen. Schools sometimes keep books as evidence for Ofsted, for informal moderating, for training or such like. Some schools, I've heard about from friends working there, don't send books home as they've had adults at home going through them and then making complaints to the school, using the books as ammunition against the school or particular teachers. Sad but true.

Thought so. I knew I was being palmed off with the old 'oh is a safeguarding thing.'

Just because you "pay taxes" doesn't mean you own the books!!

By that logic, you would technically own anything the school bought. Or the local hospital bought. The school lets your daughter use the books while she's there but they don't really belong to her.

For what it's worth, I prefer it when schools send all the books home. Having to store them and then later have to tear the front covers off every single one before throwing them away is so annoying, not to mention you just know some parents would like to keep them. I'm just trying to explain some reasons why schools may keep their exercise books.

She never does homework?

Ime books are sent to the next teacher so they can use them as a reference and sent home about October half term

I agree with you, OP. My mum kept a selection of my school books, and I've kept most of my DC's books, too. I particularly love their English books. Some of the things they've written are hilarious!

I don't look at my or my DC's books every day, but I do look at them from time to time. They bring back memories; they are interesting as a way of comparing different teaching styles; and they're great to chat about with the DC, years later.

I can't really see the safeguarding issue. If children mention fellow pupils, it's usually only by their first name (or first name and initial, if there's more than one). "I made this castle with Ryan S" isn't a safeguarding issue. And schools always maintain a list of children whose photo can't be used on twitter, the school website etc, so teachers are already careful about use of photos.

Those posters who dont want their DC's books are of course welcome to leave them at school or recycle them, but if school doesn't want or need to keep them, I think they should allow parents to keep them if they'd like to.

Sad when the odd idiot parent spoils it for everyone else.

The I pay my taxes retort rarely makes anyone's argument seem reasonable tbh. It doesn't entitle you to whatever you deem your taxes to cover. I pay a lot of tax. Do I have a right to other people's kids' books?

Also people so frequently get confused about parental rights. They aren't really rights but responsibilities. See the Children Act. It's unhelpful to appear possessive over your child to be honest.

I see why you're upset but really you're unlikely missing out. The drawings and stories your child does at home are likely much more valuable.