To refuse to send DS12 to detention

[AlwaysTheGoodGirl]

I know everyone thinks their kid is perfect, but mine is super-conscientious, and every day he comes in from school saying most of the kids just mess about and break things all day and all he wants to do is get on with his work.

Anyway, his class have been given detention tomorrow after school, and the teacher (supply teacher as far as I can tell) has sent a really angry-sounding explanation for the detention. I know DS is going to be gutted about losing his 100% positive points record more than anything. He's been invited to an awards evening next week for achieving 100% positive points, so I know this is going to cloud it for him. And me! I'm gutted too!

Is it any good ringing the school to complain, or is this just a suck it up situation?

Not so the supply teacher doesn't lose face, but so that he stands a chance of being able to keep control another time - which is actually in the interests of the good kids.
If his detention is cancelled, then the kids will be just as bad next time, because they know that if enough of them play up that he can't deal with them individually, at least some of them will get away with it.

I think your bigger concern should be that your son cannot be learning in this sort of environment, and if the school has issues with whole class behaviour when supply is in, do they have a system of getting SLT to check on supply staff? Do they have a plan for the behaviour of the worst offenders ?

Also think it's unfair to refer to member of staff as a 15 year old on work experience. I think the note sounds like they didn't know it would go home. All schools have different systems, it's understandable if a supply teacher doesn't get it right.

YANBU. Just don't send him, say he's already got plans. If they try to move it for another day, repeat - he's busy, he can't make it. I wouldn't even consider sending my child to a class detention like that

It's even more disrespectful to punish a whole class for the behaviour of a group. OP's description is very fitting IMO

Every school has to have a behaviour policy. You can find it on their website, or ask for a copy. It should set out how unacceptable behaviour is dealt with. If the teacher hasn’t followed the policy then complain to the head.

Whole class detention should not be given!!! Very lazy, and the school sounds awful.
You should be looking for an alternative.

Year 7! Wait for Year 9 😂

I think senior management need to get involved to unpick what happened and support the supply who sounds at the end of their tether.

I've covered classes where the majority have misbehaved and it's hard work. It's easier to count the kids on task and working and reward them.

I don't believe in whole class detentions, I think it's bad practice. I've never had a class where every single child has misbehaved, it's normally one or two children who disrupt the learning of the rest of the class and they can be dealt with separately.

Speak to his head of year and say exactly what you've said here. No, he does not deserve the detention if he did nothing wrong. Sometimes teachers, particularly if they are not familiar with the school's policy (supply) can get it wrong.

Sorry, is that copy and paste of the message from teacher?? It’s practically incomprehensible.

Are these the schools private school parents should be rushing to send their children to in order to "level the playing field"?

I definitely wouldn’t be listening to any teacher who sends messages like that 😄 if you want a class to respect you, you do have to put at least some effort into being professional, competent and confident. Yikes. I would definitely undermine that teacher in this instance 😬 I’d forward to SLT and explain the ridiculousness

Teacher here and I really disagree with this sanction, definitely get in touch with the school. It just makes the well behaved students think why should they bother. Having said that this Year 7 cohort are really badly behaved in my school and I hear it from teachers in other schools. And of course the old chestnut of COVID is always rolled out as an excuse.
Behaviour in schools is gone absolutely mad and I honestly don’t know how it can be solved. Some parents can’t be bothered and defend their kids and some senior management just don’t want to step up and take measures to improve behaviour.
And of course it’s the good kids that suffer from impossible learning environments. And then the government/councils scratch their heads when they can’t retain staff but their is zero support for school employees and there are thousands leaving in their droves.

Is it really a supply teacher though (rare) or is it a cover supervisor with little or no relevant experience or qualifications earning minimum wage to maintain crowd control.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_punishment

Geneva Conventionsedit]
According to Médecins Sans Frontières:[3]
International law posits that no person may be punished for acts that he or she did not commit. It ensures that the collective punishment of a group of persons for a crime committed by an individual is forbidden...This is one of the fundamental guarantees established by the Geneva Conventions and their protocols. This guarantee is applicable not only to protected persons but to all individuals, no matter what their status, or to what category of persons they belong...

@Ispini This is absolutely my observation about behaviour. It really does seem like this Y7 are out of control, and I have no idea how you turn that around. You could say it's because they're so young, but when my eldest was in Y7 it was nothing like this. Ds says he had one lesson today with a supply teacher, two yesterday, and it's only Tuesday! There seems to be a lot of staff absences and therefore lack of continuity of teaching and learning. I can see many of you commenting that maybe I should consider changing schools, which would be a shame as my eldest went through the same school without any such problems. Interestingly, he went to his sixth form taster day today at a local school, and said that the year 7s, and indeed other years too, were even more 'crazy' than the kids at our school! So it could be out of the frying pan into the fire. I don't know what the solution is, and I do feel for the teachers who just want to teach and give their students a good experience. I couldn't do their job in a million years. And all I wanted to do when I was younger was be a teacher.

It’s pretty obvious to see why behaviour is out of control by looking at this thread. Several posters saying no way would their kid be doing the detention. Well I agree with them IF their child has done nothing wrong. But they aren’t saying I’m going to clarify with the school whether this is a whole class punishment or what exactly their child’s role is- no they have leapt straight to their child is not going to the detention. Says it all to me.

She knows you'll always have her back.

I think people are answering based on the OP. She says her DC wasn't involved. On that basis people are saying they would not want their DC to do the detention. Plenty have said to check first he really wasn't involved.

I always have my DC's backs. I will always support them when necessary. They know I expect them to follow all school rules and wouldn't be happy to hear they hadn't. Equally I expect school to follow their policies and if they don't I speak up. My DC have always been very well behaved. My DD has 0 Behaviour points.

The proposed punishment is being applied contrary to school policy. That’s a dangerous message for a school to send in the first place.

Only the troublemakers should be punished. The teacher can identify them. The teacher clearly says it’s not the whole class.

Everyone on this thread is clear that school policy should be applied. That is the correct and just thing to happen.

My daughter went from reception to year 10 without ever even being told off. No detention, no loss of points in seniors. They had a new teacher for a subject who gave out a full class detention. The reason was 'the majority of the class refused to engage in the lesson and work was not completed'
DD was so upset about this, she actually showed me the work she did in that class and said it was completed in full. I asked her if she talked. She said no, there were a couple of kids who just got on with it.
I called the school to speak to the head of year. HOY basically laughed at the thought of my DD in detention. She asked DD to bring that subject book in to see the work she had produced. The detention for her and a couple of others were revoked and the negative marks were removed.

My DDs year was particularly naughty. Even my DD has said she doesn't know how some teachers coped. We believe that the new teacher just needed to show her authority to try to gain some control.

I am proud to say that DD has now left school and has never had a detention. I am hoping for the same for my younger children too. However they are very different people so my expectations may need to be lowered a little

Justice is served - detention cancelled and points cleared.
I haven't had a reply to my email but have just received a Class Charts notification saying it's cancelled. I'm wondering if it was down to complaints from parents or if SLT have realised the detention was given out inappropriately by the supply teacher. Intriguing! I will still speak to my son's form tutor about this when I see him next week for his end of year review, in particular his worries about disruption in class.
Thanks everyone for all your input.

That's good news. Communal punishment is appalling.

Yes maybe but when someone resorts to making such disparaging remarks they lose my sympathy, the upper hand and kind of lose the battle. Stay classy and keep to the actual point and don't resort to making ageist insults. The Head is far more likely to respond positively.