To be raging about this school scheme?

[Promdiddlyontomtom]

Hi, name changed as potentially very outing.

Have found out recently that my daughter's school has introduced a 'Points for Prom' incentive newest low.

The school get good results.

The demographic has some challenges and therefore they have a VERY strict regime and the kids are controlled with strict policies and sanctions (and a little praise- the balance is well out). The kids get detention if they don't get 100% in HW for example.

This is, IMO, the lowest they have gone.

Their newest bright idea- the young people have to earn 'behaviour points' to be in with a chance to get a ticket for their Y11 prom.

Apparently there's not enough spaces for all pupils (they only have spaces for 2/3 of the pupils... so find a bigger venue then!)

This is not an incentive and should not be used as a reward for 'good behaviour'.

Surely this is just a control tactic. A punishment for not toeing the line.

AIBU to think that all teens should get the opportunity to go to the end of school celebration? It draws the line after 12 years of compulsory education, a stressful period of formal exams, and friendships going in different directions (there's no sixth form). It marks the end of an era. Why should they be told they cannot go? Why shouldn't they be able to mark the end of years of education - for some this may have been a struggle all the way through- with their friends. There'll be no closure.

For the record, I've no concerns that my daughter will be excluded. I just think it's an awful idea.

What do you think?

Sounds like a pretty horrendous school all round tbh.

Bless! It's often an excess of self esteem that leads to their being banned from going in the first place, often egged on by dozy parents who think no-one should discipline their little dear.

Perhaps if students had more respect for teachers they wouldn't need to go to these extremes. In a town close to me teachers went on strike last week because of the violence towards them from some of the students at their school.

Sounds like a prison

Sounds like Tom Brown’s School Days. Have they got someone who holds the title of School Bully? Do they have to do cross country on one leg? Are some of them nailed to the outside of the school as an example to others? Bizarre

The same here, but, certainly in this area, now venues will not hire unless teachers are in attendance too ( and this is for very good reason)

The 'only room for 2/3 threat will not be the case, but will double down on the message to students to make them try harder to behave

OP its a shame that your "raging" doesn't go so far as to actual do aomething about it.

You could organise your own prom for those unfortunate enough not to be allowed to go to the school's prom.

Book a venue, hire a DJ. pay for the decorating etc.

Sell some tickets to cover the costs.

Oh and don't forget the chaperones, so that you are covered by the venues insurance.

Are you going to do this? or just pretend that you are "raging" and continue with the performance?

NO! You didn't read it right. They have to do 100% of the homework, they don't have to score 100%

My DDs school tried to do this when she was in Y11 (now Y13) and in the end they gave up as the teachers often forgot to give the points and parents were furious.
School were forced to rethink and let all the kids attend.
Might be worth complaining

Sounds a bloody terrible idea. Has anyone asked them what they are going to do if more than two thirds of the year earn enough behaviour points? Will they just move the goalposts to exclude children whose behaviour has in fact been fine according to the original parameters?

What adjustments have they made for children with learning difficulties and disabilities?

Nope. If a school is going to organise an event like this, it still has to comply with, for example, the Equality Act. The teachers can't just decide to exclude the kids with autism or Tourette's because they're giving up an evening to supervise and want to make their lives easy.

Who said they were ?
And as it’s not a compulsory event they can exclude who they like

So the teens are all pitched against each other for limited prom places? Do they have to then fight to the death for prom king and queen?! It’s like the start of a shitty teen horror movie.

They just need to get a bigger venue, or boycott the whole thing and arrange their own event where everyone is welcome.

But you don't know how this school defines poor behaviour. If it has an automatic detention for not doing 100% of the homework, no matter what the mitigating circumstances, it may well base the criteria on nonsense like uniform.

Just plain wrong.

And neither do you, most schools will use common sense

Sure but parents can be in attendance instead. I have absolutely no idea who was in attendance as our party but I didn’t think it was that raucous tbh but maybe we were quite tame! As far as i was concerned once I had don’t my last a-level I had left the school, can’t imagine having any teacher involvement past that.

Well, if this scheme is a thing when my ADHD/ASD DS leaves secondary school, then I can guarantee he won't be going to a prom. He struggles to get 100% in his written work (despite knowing everything and can confidently prove it verbally) because he falls as 'severe' on both the ADHD and ASD scale and writing is just something he cannot focus on. He also cannot comprehend 'home work'. In his mind, home is home and school is school. School is for learning, home is not. Lockdown was an actual nightmare and while me and his DF are not keyworkers, we had to literally beg for him to be allowed to attend school with keyworker kids, because my DS just could not school from home. It caused untold stress for us all.

His educators have also been very obstructive in making any allowances or changes for his condition, it took us 4 yrs of endless battles to get his diagnosis because school wouldn't acknowledge it (he was just lazy/naughty etc) and have refused to back us with an application for an EHCP despite his diagnoses finally being confirmed.

My DS is intelligent, but his condition means he struggles in certain aspects of his school life. Its been really difficult for him and caused him a lot of tears and distress. To think that, in years to come, he could be essentially punished for this and denied the opportunity to finish school with a celebration is just depressing. That'd be more irreparable knocks to his confidence and self esteem.

It's a horrible scheme OP, I'd be vehemently challenging it.

YANBU at all. I detest these 'zero tolerance' schools and the way some educators are going with regard to behaviour management at the moment.

No, they still can't break the law.

Who said they were ?

If there's only space for 2/3 of the year then I'd be querying that and asking why they've chosen a venue that will exclude a third of the year group.

The idea of having prom points doesn't bother me unless there's something highly unreasonable in there (eg must have 100% attendance or another threshold that discriminates against those pupils with disabilities).

Most schools I know that have done similar things have points for generally good attendance with mitigations for certain situations, decent behaviour across school, decent attitude/effort scores. It's hardly unreasonable in my opinion for students to turn up to school, work in class, be polite and do some homework and revision.

To be honest, when a school has rigid uniform rules and/or rigid discipline systems, it can't claim to be using common sense. Far too many academies do operate policies like that, so sadly a lack of common sense is not unusual.

here's a thought, why don't you simply act like a parent and support the school?Tell your offspring that all they have to do is keep their nose clean, and they will be going to the ball!

These things ultimately become counter-productive. Once a child knows they have lost their prom ticket, they have no incentive to behave and have nothing to lose.