to think Coram Boy is not a suitable book for year 7s

[vegetaria]

My 11 year old had night mares last night and is afraid to go to sleep tonight.

For anyone who doesn't know it is about a man who buys unwanted children in the UK in the 1700s, and sells them into slavery if they are above 5, or kills them by burying them alive if they are younger, and it describes several scenes of babies being buried alive and other harrowing events

Its the class book at the moment

@DrBlackbird
A book being selected for GCSE has no relation to its age appropriateness.

A Christmas Carol is regularly taught in Year 7 - in fact, according to recent research by End Sexism in Schools, it’s one of the most popular texts taught at that age group. The same with Of Mice and Men.

At the same time, A Christmas Carol is the most popular set text at GCSE. Of Mice and Men used to be before Gove took all non British literature off the list.

GCSE Literature is being increasingly dumbed down with its text choices to reflect the fact that in many schools now it’s compulsory and there are a large proportion of young people for whom English Literature is a huge struggle. Being able to teach a text designed for much younger readers - i.e. Coram Boy - gives those students who struggle a better chance of being able to pass, because the content and language are not as challenging.

Coram Boy is generally appropriate for children aged 11+ but as with all forms of media, it is not for everyone at that age. It does have some distressing content, but handled sensitively and alongside a teaching of the historical context to ensure children understand this is not something that could happen now, it can be taught well and enjoyably to a Year 7 class.

Literature as a medium allows us to explore a whole range of experiences outside of our own. In a class there will always be children for whom some of those experiences discussed in a text will hit home more than others or trigger upsetting memories or so on. We can’t avoid children having to deal with feelings and emotions when they read. It’s about knowing your class and working with them to help them contextualise and manage their emotional response to fictional events in a healthy and productive way. If we never expose children to things they find upsetting or hard to cope with, they will never build resilience.

That being said, if the OP is genuine, I would imagine her rather highly strung approach to life has rubbed off on her daughter, which will have contributed to her response to Coram Boy.

@EnidSpyton Most of what you say can be proven with the exception of your last sentence. Not only cannot you not prove that but having a dig at the parent who asked the initial question is unnecessary to support your response. For all those who have done this, you made yourselves look unprofessional. It is important to understand that many parents work in sectors outside of education so don't assume all parents know how decisions on book choices are made. Good communication is key to ensuring parents understand what's happening in relation to their child's education at school.

I'm a teacher who had an 11 year old pupil unable to sleep after watching Lion King, according to their parents. There will always be wimpy kids and overbearing parents (assuming no trauma or SEN). I think reasonable adjustments and support are fair expectations but changing the curriculum for everyone, because one child can't cope or process a negative emotion, is not reasonable.

We can’t avoid children having to deal with feelings and emotions when they read. It’s about knowing your class and working with them to help them contextualise and manage their emotional response to fictional events in a healthy and productive way.

Would an English teacher really know her class this early on in Y7?

I don't see why not.

English is a core subject and in many schools this means you see them once per day.

They've been in school for over two months now. That's plenty of time to get to know a class.

I know my Year 7s well already. We've had parents' evening, so I've met all of their parents and discussed their likes/dislikes about English with them and their family. We've done plenty of getting to know you activities. I've taught them about 30-odd lessons so that's been plenty of time to observe their behaviour, listen to their contributions to class discussion, chat to them individually about their work, and so on. I've heard lots of things about them from colleagues in other subjects that have helped to build a broader picture of their personalities and interests. I've also spent a week on a residential trip with the year group, so that was pretty good as a get to know you activity 😂And obviously anything that might be an issue in terms of personal life situations that may impact their response to something being learned at school are all recorded on our safeguarding systems.

Teachers are well practised at observing and getting the measure of children quickly, and colleagues are constantly discussing and sharing information about students to help build a bigger picture. By the first half term, we do know our kids pretty well. You can't teach effectively until you do, so the process has to happen quickly.