School doesn’t zip kids coats

[Zok]

Hi has anyone noticed from pics that schools share of nursery and reception kids 3-4 year olds doing outdoor activities that staff don’t zip up the kids even in the freezing weather what is the point of the coats then and how to raise the issue with school
there are around 20 kids in nursery but winter is winter was -3 last week

Come on! Yes some kids can zip. But zips are always getting stuck. Staff should bloody well make sure that the kids are warm. This is basic care.

@Frederica145 spoken like someone with not a jot of an idea about schools or state of funding in education at present.
To clarify… legally a class needs only one teacher per 30 children. At 24/25 there will likely only be one member of staff. Don’t be so naive

I teach UKS2 so 9-11 year olds.

We don't let them outside without their coats on and done up when it's cold or a bit drizzly.

Some will do it themselves through choice but many will tell you its not cold and they don't need them.

They're not allowed to leave the building without them on. If I wouldn't let my own child out in that weather without a coat, I'm not going to let someone else's out either.

But by the time they have walked down too the playground, most of them will have removed their coats completely.
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They're often running around and playing football or whatever anyway so they're not actually cold even though the air is.

I also know the children and parents well enough to know which ones definitely want their children to wear coats and which ones don't mind them using their own judgement. I'll give an extra reminder to those children to put it back on but I can't physically do it for them if they don't want to wear it.

We also have a supply of donated, outgrown coats in school for the children whose parents send them in without a coat at all even when there's snow on the ground. We still can't force them to wear it.

We have in the past kept children in at playtime if they have no coat/refuse to wear it if its too cold but I can't imagine that would go down too well with parents either!

So it's untrue too say that schools do nothing about this. All the schools I've worked in have been similar.

@OldChinaJug thank you it's good to hear from the other side. You make a valid point.

WRT the original post. The main issue is that if you get the class lined up and walk down the line zipping up coats, by the time you get halfway down, the ones at the front will have unzipped them again. Especially if they are stil inside because they get warm and don't appreciate that they're only temporarily 'too warm'.

This is greatly helped by parents teaching their children to put their own coat on before they start school.

I noticed that too.

My 5 year old could zip up since he was 3 though . And my current 3 year doesn’t care 😜!

So it’s not really an issue .

I don’t know of any reception class where there’s only 1 member of staff

My bete noir is unzipped coats. Those who are saying it doesn’t matter, they won’t get cold, clearly don’t work with children. It Does matter, they Do get cold!
I always help children zip up, and sometimes the older children need help too. At play time, if I’m on duty I can easily zip up lots of coats. I also encourage children to help each other - it can be quite tricky to zip up your own coat!

We don’t do that, we send them out and as they’re playing we zip up any coats that aren’t fastened!

I tell my childen that unsticking zips is my superpower whenever I'm presented with one 😉

We don't leave them without a coat because the zip is stuck!

The ony time I don't unstick a stuck zip is if its likely to damage the fabric if I do so. Because, unsurprisingly, I'm not allowed to cause damage to their property. In those cases, I do the best I can to straighten it out and tell them to wear it anyway by pulling it over their head and ask their parents to look at it when they get home.

I work in a Y1 class- about half can (or can be bothered) zip up their own coat. Zipping up (and repeating over and over the instruction to zip up their coat) is tiresome. Coats are put on and off at least four times a day. Wherever they are going in a primary school it is always in a rush because there are so many other things to do that there isn't time to start putting coats on 10 minutes before actual playtime because the extra time teaching maths, phonics etc. is prioritised. Parents need to teach children to fasten zips! And make sure they buy a coat where the zip is not too stiff, doesn't have lots of flaps to get in the way of the zip, doesn't have two zips to confuse them, doesn't have a hood that constantly becomes detached etc. etc. It's not schools job to teach children basic skills like getting dressed.

What happens if a child decides they don't want it zipped up, or if they get too hot and unzip it?

I suppose it depends on what age they are!

Unless they have SN and require assistance, most 10 year olds don't want you to do their zip up for them and we're not allowed to touch them if they don't want us to. We can offer to help if they have a problem and remind them once they're outside, but that's all.

They must be wearing a zipped up coat when they leave the building though.

I remember those cards and also rag dolls with clothes like laced shoes.

I used to tie my older brother's shoes for him before I started school.

Sasha -- I used to tie my brother's laces too! He has some weird method involving making loops and crossing them over in a hit and miss fashion that occasionally worked.

*had. I don't still tie his laces.

You or another are collecting your child? 10 seconds for school door to you-you can surely do up the coat?

If I had to zip up 30 coats on fidgety children, multiple times a day, I’d stab myself with a rusty pitchfork.

😅 a lot of teaching feels like that!

Interesting to see multiple parents assuming that teachers are neglectfully failing to zip up children's coats, without it even crossing their minds that the children unzip them and take them off. Presumably your children don't always keep their hats, gloves, scarves and coats on when you put them on either? Plus at school they'll all copy each other and do what their friends do.

Well that's because children unzipping their own coats doesn't serve the narrative that teachers are just a bit crap 😉

I don’t doubt that for a second!