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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think 10/11 year olds should be given an actual book?

234 replies

DinDjarin · 26/01/2023 21:01

DD(10)'s homework this week is to read up to page 10 in the book they are reading in class. The teacher has scanned (badly, so there's an inch or two of black around the wonky page) every single page of the book and uploaded it as a pdf on google drive. DD says they don't have a copy of the book in class.

I think they should be reading from a book at this age.

YABU - this is fine
YANBU - they should be given a copy of the book

PS is it even legal to scan and distribute a book like that?

OP posts:
babybythesea · 28/01/2023 20:23

The other thing that has happened is an indirect result of academies. LEAs often sorted out things like electricity suppliers, insurance etc. It was done centrally and because of that there was a lot of bargaining power to get excellent rates. Now schools are usually in academies - you might have five or six schools but it’s not the same power as supplying every school in a county. In general rates have gone up because of this. Add in cost of living and no extra funding to help with this …

Another76543 · 28/01/2023 20:37

babybythesea · 28/01/2023 20:08

I might be able to help with part of that. Fads from the gvt which mean we have to spend money we don’t have replacing things that were perfectly good but don’t fit the latest craze.

For example, we have used the same phonics scheme for the last six years at least (how long I’ve been in this school - I don’t know when they actually introduced it.) It works well for us, we have all the resources we need, we have collected a decent number of reading books at each level connected to this scheme, and a good variety of books to suit the varying tastes of our children. We are a rural farming area and many of our children are extremely knowledgeable about animals, and enjoy books tailored to that.
Last year, some idiot decided our scheme was no longer suitable. I don’t know why. We had a buy a new scheme. Which includes online training for all staff, new posters, packs and packs of new flash cards, word cards, lesson plans, assessments…. And books. Apparently you Must Not Mix and Match. Your children will fail in everything they ever attempt to do in life if you dare to hand them a book not in the accepted reading scheme. Ofsted will hold you up as the perfect example of a failed school who has let down every pupil, past, present and future. So here, spend a few grand getting shot of books that are still in good condition and have served children at your school well for ages and replace them with ones that actually, seem to be no different apart from a different stamp on the back. (Sshh, don’t tell. We kept our old books. We couldn’t afford to buy enough of the new scheme to ensure everyone could get a book. So we have just added the new scheme ones in and kept a mix and match approach. We’ve just had Ofsted and they didn’t notice - we’re hoping by the next inspection a more sensible approach will prevail.)

Massive waste of money but one imposed on us because a waste of space in Westminster wanted to show he was worth his salary.

Show quote history

That’s ridiculous! It’s such a waste of resources. It was no doubt dreamt up by a consultant who is being paid a lot……. That’s precisely the type of thing which needs looking into.

Bleese · 28/01/2023 22:22

Another76543 · 28/01/2023 20:37

That’s ridiculous! It’s such a waste of resources. It was no doubt dreamt up by a consultant who is being paid a lot……. That’s precisely the type of thing which needs looking into.

Show quote history

And yet entirely true. We literally hid non-scheme books from Ofsted then got them out again post-inspection so we have a decent number from children to choose from. Few of the hidden books were more than about 5 years old.

Bleese · 28/01/2023 22:25

@ChristinaXYZ It is also not necessary - schools can economically rent batches of books from the county library services in most areas. And most schools have loads of sets of books in their stock rooms already. Even if a new set is required is is not huge expense and the school will get a decade or so of use out the set - it is not like buying exercise books that get used up and thrown away. I don't know what the teacher is playing at to be honest. What on earth are you talking about? Do you honestly think all the teachers on this thread are ignoring sets of books in their stockroom? Once again, in a decade of teaching I have never, ever known of class sets of books, not even old discarded ones. And no, the library in our county does not offer the service you describe.

toomuchlaundry · 28/01/2023 23:46

Our county offers a library service but most schools can’t afford it

WiddlinDiddlin · 29/01/2023 03:42

Are books made differently now or are kids just less respectful of books/loaned property?

We all had a copy, and there were spares, at secondary school (1990 - 1996). Those copies had been round multiple years before us, going by the annotations and comments scribbled in. My copy of Lord of the Flies had notes in it from the mid 1980s, I remember this as one of the names in the front was my old next door neighbour's eldest 10 or 11 years older than me.

Each kid signed out a copy, and it was signed back in before we got the next and if you lost one you replaced it.

Original poster
DinDjarin · 29/01/2023 06:08

I remember this as one of the names in the front was my old next door neighbour's eldest 10 or 11 years older than me.

We lived rurally when I was at school, and there were a lot of children whose parents had been to the same school. My class teacher used to try to hand out the textbooks so that e.g. I got the book which had my mum's name written in it!
How have things change so much that books aren't expected to last more than a year?

OP posts:
bk1981 · 29/01/2023 07:37

Do you honestly think the teacher would have chosen to spend time copying every page if they could afford to buy enough copies for the class?

Perhaps offering to organise a fund raiser for the school would do more to solve the problem than posting here.

AbreathofFrenchair · 29/01/2023 07:41

DinDjarin · 26/01/2023 21:01

DD(10)'s homework this week is to read up to page 10 in the book they are reading in class. The teacher has scanned (badly, so there's an inch or two of black around the wonky page) every single page of the book and uploaded it as a pdf on google drive. DD says they don't have a copy of the book in class.

I think they should be reading from a book at this age.

YABU - this is fine
YANBU - they should be given a copy of the book

PS is it even legal to scan and distribute a book like that?

Schools cant afford to buy books for all students. At secondary school we have to provide all texts needed for English. There are 4 a year and they send out the details at the beginning of the year. They also prefer childre to get the same copy so its easier when it comes to teaching.

Can you buy them a copy of the book (used) from Amazon or borrow it from the library for them to read?

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