Class dojo.

[Redyelloworange]

Fed up of class dojo. My DD is only 4 in reception and children have been getting bronze awards etc for dojo points. My DD comes out upset saying ‘I only got one dojo’. I just think it’s silly. Aibu?

Do you think schools shouldn't have any reward system at all?

Is it not an app.on your phone where you can send messages backwards and forwards to.school ?

Totally agree

More gamification nonsense

My DD comes out upset saying ‘I only got one dojo’

Presumably they award the points for good behaviour, though. So you could just, you know, encourage her to demonstrate good behaviour at school more often and earn some points.

Come on, you know how it works. These systems are just bribes for the naughty kids. The rest of the class will barely get any points while the class trouble maker will rack up an excessive number of points just for agreeing to line up without thumping the child in front of them.

The OP encouraging her child to be better behaved to encourage them to get more points just stikes me as naive

I was only having this conversation with another parent recently, as my DC also gets upset, and that parent who also has older children said it was ridiculous back when they were kids too, and is now too.

Yes maybe some rewards I guess whatever you get/don't get, the child will feel it either way and their peers.

It's all the learning curve that goes with it all, feelings, emotions, winning/losing. My DC is sensitive and too nice for his own good. Doesn't understand others being mean, it makes me sad, but good in a way that they will learn more about others and the world as time goes on.

What even is a dojo

Some parents seem to want teachers to have excellent classroom management skills without using rewards systems, without sitting them next to someone that isn’t their best friend, without raising their voice and by letting all children go to the toilet at any time they want to, as many times as they fancy, even if they’ve just had an opportunity to go…

Perhaps the DfE should issue magic wands on completion of teacher training.

I absolutely don't.
30 years experience in primary education and I'm now finally working in an amazing school that hates any of this nonsense.

For context, my school is in a very deprived area and historically has an appalling track record for behaviour.
We have scrapped all reward systems, charts etc and the focus is on mental wellbeing, looking for and praising positives (however small) and to treat any negative behaviour with kindness.
The difference is unbelievable. The school is a delight to work in and the children are happy to be there.
Wish we moved schools years ago!!!

No it isn't, at all. It's for spotting and rewarding good behaviour and encouraging it in others. Sometimes you give a point to the one child you see ready to work and not chatting just to chivvy the others along. It's a pain in the arse though because parents can see it and then complain and whinge because Johnny has more points than Jimmy and expect you to then justify it all when all you're trying to do is get the class to be quiet so you can actually teach them.

In my 66 year old world, it's a place martial arts are practiced.

No that's Marvellous Me

It's a classroom/home/school communication app so you get updates about what's happening in school and you can send messages direct to whichever teacher or member of staff you need to contact and they can reply. Some schools also do the dojo points, which works in the same way as any other star chart.

Things like this have been going on for years, you just need to toughen up I’m afraid! My lovely son who never puts a foot wrong and is good as gold never gets noticed never gets picked for treats but the kids who don’t shout out that day or refrain from punching for a week get all the rewards! Brace yourself you’ll be still annoyed at the dojo prizes 5 years down the line!

@ShutTheDoorBabe sounds a nightmare. Poor teachers have enough to do without having to interact with parents on every little thing.

Dojo is great.

The rewards/points system for schools have always been flawed regardless, the naughty children always end up with more certificates etc while the good ones seemingly get forgotten about.

Depends on the school. All our children are rewarded equally. The good ones may be given a dojo for good behaviour, good phonics, good listening, the not so good ones are rewarded for other things it might be good sharing, using kind words, not shouting out in lessons etc. If the whole class are sat nicely on the carpet and have listened to a story we send a whole class dojo, regardless of the odd one or two fidgety ones.

Same here! The karate dojo

These systems are just bribes for the naughty kids. The rest of the class will barely get any points while the class trouble maker will rack up an excessive number of points just for agreeing to line up without thumping the child in front of them.

Not my experience of my kid's primary and not the way I run my classroom. In secondary school you can get some teachers who don't reward good classes enough but if you did that with a primary class, that you teach all day every day, you'd just be training them to be naughty.

If you don't support schools using a reward system, then move your child to one that doesn't reward students.

Well.I definitely have class dojo on my phone and tablet ,my sons disabled so they don't do dojo.points or anything as its a special school.,but im.always getting messages on it .

It’s pretty naff for the teachers. It isn’t quick to use. If children are streamed they return back saying all saying they’ve been awarded X dojo points which take ages. Great use of time.

You can give her points in the app, too, can't you?

@otherwayup are you in north west
London by any chance? I dream of working in a sensible school that actually reacts to research on the utter nonsense that is all these reward systems!