"Star of the day"

[coverp]

What is the point?

You get one happy kid and 29 disappointed kids every day.

Back at school 12 days, 10 kids have had it (2 have had it twice), all girls.

DS asks every night what he has to do to get it. "I work hard, I listen, I put my hand up" - he's really upset. It's making the transition to Reception way harder than it would otherwise have been.

I'd sort of understand if it was being used to motivate some of the kids that find listening difficult, but that's clearly not the case here.

I'm really trying not to get wound up about it and I'm obviously not going to say anything to the teacher, but it's really starting to grind my gears. Anyone shed some light on what the point of it might be?

All children arrive at school with different skills, strengths and weaknesses and need to develop different things to succeed. It is the teachers job to figure out exactly what each of the 30 or so children in the class need. Do you also object to children with e.g. dyslexia getting more time with the TA to practise reading skills? Or the child with PTSD having a calm down space which no one else is allowed in? If your ds saw that a dc with ASD had amazing sensory materials and was jealous, would you explain to him that they’re only for that dc or would you expect the school to also provide for your ds as if he had ASD just because he would like the toys?! Some children need more support to behave well in school and part of being an inclusive class is making sure everyone gets what they need (which is not always the same as what their parents want!). If your child doesn’t need extra help because of physical, learning, emotional or behavioural difficulties then you should be grateful.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that it’s in your ds’s interest that the children struggling to behave get the hang of it as soon as possible. If they don’t, you’ll soon be complaining about your ds’s learning being disrupted by “naughty” dc in his class.

We do pupil of the day because we follow a scheme called Paths. All the name cards are in a bag and I chose the first pupil of the day. They get to lead the line, so special jobs and their name card is on a sign. At the end of the day they get compliments from their peers and me and they chose the next day's child.

Every child gets a turn and it is random. I actually think it works very well.

That sounds much better

@stayingaliveisawayoflife that's an excellent idea!

I'm with you! My DS has just started reception and has had such a great start to term and is so keen. However, he came home yesterday and said he didn't get star and his teacher must not see how hard he is trying 😭 They only do it weekly which means he (and I expect most of the others!) try hard all week only to be told they aren't quite good enough. Silly system in my opinion.

Having worked in many a reception class most kids really, really wouldn’t care. If they did, it would take all of 0.1 seconds for them to get over it.

Oh and in my recent placement it was only ever the kids who actually deserved it who got it. (Also lunchtime star of the week). The school made a point of giving to those who actually were well behaved. Of course then the school gets a reputation for not being inclusive etc. One thing is certain though, you’ll always be pissing someone off 😁.

It wasn’t the best analogy though. Because people aren’t complaining about children who aren’t very academic getting a star. In fact, more posters are complaining that their average children don’t get celebrated for their achievements.

You don't know what they come home and say though.

Mine often hide how upset they are when they are excluded from things because of their allergies. But they come home and have a big cry /rant (depending on the child/situation!) . It's naive to think children don't care about things just because they don't react

Can never win with this. It’s lost all meaning at my school as we just have a list which we work through so everyone gets a turn. There’s always someone that think their child misses out on everything still as well.

It wasn’t the best analogy though.
Because people aren’t complaining about children who aren’t very academic getting a star. In fact, more posters are complaining that their average children don’t get celebrated for their achievements
It is an appropriate analogy because it was in response to a poster saying that children who do sit quietly for 10 minutes or play nicely once don't deserve to get the awards.

The point is that for some children playing nicely with peers IS an achievement and a big deal to them.
For some children being able to sit still for what most of us would say is a short amount of time IS an achievement for them.
So yes, they do need recognition for it and it is irrelevant what other children manage because for that child it IS progress (just like for a child who finds English hard, reading a very basic book or persevering writing a story is a big deal and it doesn't matter that someone else writes pages and reads chapter books).

It's really funny that taking people's outlook and applying it to academic attainment gets lots of "but it isn't like that... nobody thinks only the top should get maths awards... it's nothing like maths" because when it's framed as an academic subject people are sensible enough to realise that every child is different and some will struggle with things more than others. It's obvious that children will have awards for different outcomes.

As soon as it comes to behaviour it's all 'my kids do X all the time so why should another child get something... they don't deserve having their progress celebrated, they only sat still for 10 minutes... why do they deserve recognition for playing nice? My child does it all the time. Maybe when the naughty kids are doing what my children do all the time then they deserve it'

Would they be saying that the 'stupid children' don't deserve their academic progress celebrating because most other children do that stuff all the time? Of course not because that would be silly.

@lapsedbookworm

Believe me I would know. I have a very, very vocal middle class cohort who’s parents aren’t afraid to tell me what is upsetting their child (or what is making their child happy etc etc). Star of the week has never really been an issue and I do know these four years old very well by the end of the academic year.

And their parents absolutely would let me know 🤣.

All our reception get stickers aevery day. One of mine would come out covered in stickers as sitting down for 5 mins was a massive achievement for him and kids do get it. I heard a class friend saying to another that hanks dc gets more stickers as he finds normal stuff hard but we get them for the stuff we find hard, it made my heart warm

Now my dc can't do accelerated reader but he happily celebrates achievements of his friends

My son's primary school had an always badge. It was took away if they were naughty.

My son realised in the first few weeks of reception that when the class were called to sit on the carpet/line up/stand by their pegs etc that it paid to ignore the instruction until everyone else had sat down because otherwise you were just stuck on the carpet waiting while the child who ignored the teacher longest got to play for as long as possible.

It's the same as star of the week - I can see the benefits to rewarding children who struggle, but it's unfair for children who try hard and are overlooked. The current school system cannot do all these children justice.

I suspect that the problem is too much rigidity in the current schooling system so those that struggle with the rigours of classroom learning need so much attention to help them handle the school environment that those who might otherwise thrive in a classroom don't get to make the most of it either.

Probably it makes all the others try extra hard all the time hoping to be picked, like a gambler that keeps putting money into a fruit machine

Tbh regardless of whether people think star of the day/week/month/year is a stupid idea or not, the OPs child is at a school where they do use the system so she is going to have to get used to it.

I also think that you might have a point if we were at the half term point and your child hadn't received the award because, by then there will have been more than enough time for each child to have been star of the day however at this point of the term there has only been three weeks so there has only been an opportunity for 15 kids to receive the award so regardless of which children have received it, even if the teacher is doing it on a rotational basis they have not had the chance to give it to the OPs child yet, that doesn't mean it won't ever be given to him but the teacher is clearly focussing on either children who need the boost or those going above and beyond.

In reception, at the start of term, the teacher is probably focussing a lot on instilling good behaviour and so will be heaping praise on those kids who are modelling the behaviour they want and giving them the awards in the hope that the other kids see the rewards being given out and then copy said behaviour to earn it themselves ... some children will find this easy, others will struggle, so it can be a fine balance of ensuring everyone gets a turn but also if one child does really well on a specific day - whether they have SEN and have made a massive achievement or because they have done something above and beyond their regular behaviour to the point of being noteworthy for whatever reason - then, even if they have already received the award once, they are "rewarded" with the award to reinforce that behaviour and show that the reward is earned by making an achievement, not just because it is their turn.

The current school system cannot do all these children justice.
I agree and it means that whatever system school puts in place is always going to lead to some people complaining.

The best a school can do in my opinion is have a range of ways to acknowledge children such as their marking, verbal praise, spending time with a child, stickers, team points, certificates for different things, and little jobs/monitors that allow children to feel responsible and valued. It creates a culture of valuing children that isn't just the certificates. If parents choose to focus on who got star of the day each day instead of talking to their children about all the other parts of the school day, it's on them for making a big deal of one tiny part of school life.

I have no time for systems that ignore the well-behaved majority and would be having a meeting with school if I had concerns that my children were being totally overlooked in general, but haven't got the time to promote a victim mindset in my children and worry about who has and hasn't had star of the day or a postcard home 3 weeks into term.

I have not read all of the comments posted so far but do agree that all children should be acknowledged and praised in the classroom for their achievements (no matter how big or small).

In the school I teach at, we have a weekly achievement assembly. Two children from each class are chosen and awarded a certificate either for a piece of work they've produced or other achievement. Teachers are very careful to ensure every child in the class receive the certificate at least once during the school year and we all keep lists to ensure the same children don't get it repeatedly. We do the same for 'Golden Table' where the children who are selected get to eat lunch with the head teacher on Friday.

In addition to this, classes can have their own reward systems (in line with school policy for rewards and sanctions). I've used 'secret student' before quite successfully. One child is selected at random at the start of the day and only the adults knows who it is. All of the children are encouraged to follow school rules (outstanding behaviour isn't expected just the usual of sitting quietly and raising hand etc.). If the chosen child has worked hard, they receive a prize and celebration at the end of the day. I do put their name back in the pot so they know they can be chosen again but, of course, make sure a different child is chosen each day.

On the other hand, I've previously been made to encouraged by SLT to continue systems that reward the SEN children exclusively for their (often poor) behaviour. Rewards like 'Marshmallow Friday' were given to a particular child if she managed to make it though a few mornings in the week without destroying the classroom. The children who never destroyed the classroom often wondered why the 'naughty kids get all the treats.' I therefore allowed the SEN child to bring another child with her from the class and also I chose one or two other children to go who had impressed me that week (again, I kept a list so everyone got a turn).

When my daughter was in school star of the week messed with her head every single week. As an anxious people pleaser who was regularly over looked it was a great source of stress.

It’s ridiculous to say you can’t have rewards at school because jot all children win. It’s like the dingbats who want non-competitive sports day.

But all the teachers I’ve ever known have kept a spreadsheet and take it in turns so each child gets their turn. Because usually every child has done something that day to earn it, no matter how small.

How do you know who’s had it OP?

I agree with you op, my child is now in year 4 and a weekly version has been in place throughout primary school. I don’t think it’s ever been done rotationally. He’s a very well behaved child. Some years he’s won it loads of times. Other years it has been used to encourage the children who struggle with behaviour, so he never won it and got quite upset, wondering why his bully had won it several times and he hadn’t.
I think something children can earn/work towards would be much better. When I was at school we all had a marble jar or a sticker chart. When you achieved x amount of marbles, you’d get a small treat (like getting some time to play on the computer). Children could see what they had to do to earn the treat and didn’t feel their good behaviour went unnoticed.