Am I being unreasonable to complain about dd primary school new lining up policy.

[rosysslave]

My dd's primary school have introduced a new policy of making the children line up 10 mins early after lunch and 5 mins early after morning break (this is a punishment/new regime because they can't line up quietly). They then have to sit there, in a line, completely silent, for 10 minutes, being screamed at by the hitlerish lunchtime staff if they make any noise, till the teachers come and get them. This is applied to all ages from 6 up. I think this is totally ridiculous, children that age (primary age) cant be totally silent, en masse, for any length of time and, in my opinion, shouldn't be made to stand in a line for any longer than necessary, specially not at playtime. It feels like, to me, just inadequate people being able to bully small children for no good reason, I hate listening to the children being screamed at and feel I should say something but.....perhaps I am wrong and it is not unreasonable to expect them to line up silently. What do people think?

Take it up with the teacher and if nec head.

10 minutes is way too long, esp every day. 5 minutes is too long TBH. Should be a minute of silence at most for 6yos.

I'm afraid I disagree with you sunnygirl...I have spent a great deal of time teaching in primary schools and the statement "no school is ever entirely silent, even when intensive teaching is going on" is absolute rubbish! I have witnessed this on many occasions, and not through draconian measures, through good discipline, respect and inspiring teachers. It is perfectly possible to achieve.

Blu - thank God for your reply - was beginning to think I was the only person to have this view!

So there are honestly times in schools when NO-ONE is speaking???

in a classroom, yes

Yes - sunnygirl.
No one speaking.
Not a word.
Perfectly achievable for good teachers.

10 minutes in a class whilst concentrating on something is a world away from 10 minutes stood in a line.

I agree with you Sunnygirl. My children's schools always have a quiet hubbub to them (when they are not noisy that is!). It is a purposeful, friendly sound. Similar to an effective office environment. Complete silence is for an exam setting IMO. My ds would have major problems in a totally quiet environment. Individual classes concentrating on something for a short period of time will be quiet, and there are often times when the teachers voice is the only sound, but I don't see why children should have to join an order of silence to be considering to be behaving well.

Both schools have a line up outside approach - the new school it's outside the classroom, and the previous school in the playground. The old school had awards for the best class in lining up, and that seemed very effective. But the lines never had to be silent - why is this so important? The reward was for straightness and paying attention.

I don't like this idea that children must be disciplined. It assumes that their natural behaviour is wrong.

CHildren are quite capable of being quiet. Our entire school(aged 7-11) enters the assembly hall in silence, sits in silence listening to the assmbly (unless it requires interaction) and then leaves in silence. Absolutely no shouting required either.In total about 20 mins.

I do think 10 mins sounds a bit too much for little ones but sometimes a stand has to be made when behaviour is getting out of control.

I think that if my six year old was spending one an a quarter hours per week sitting silently doing nothing, for no particularly good reason, I would definitely express some concern. Or at least ask for an explanation (from someone that I think might have a bit more common sense).

Pointygravedogger said:
"in a classroom, yes"

FlirtyThirty said:
"Yes - sunnygirl.
No one speaking.
Not a word.
Perfectly achievable for good teachers."

Pointygravedogger and FlirtyThirty - I am not saying that you can't get total silence in a single class - of course you can! I said "....no school is ever entirely silent...." I honestly would be amazed and stunned to walk into a school building and hear utter silence from every single classroom - especially a primary school.

who claimed that a whole school could be completely silent in every room? That would just be impossibly ludicrous

depends totally on what the class is doing. stew

Absurd OP

"Hitlerish lunchtime staff"

Why don't you go and get in a lather about something important? Like world poverty or female genital mutilation or flytipping or something?

I don't really see a problem with this, tbh. Check out schools in the Caribbean to see military style discipline!

What a nasty post quattrocento. If the OP wanted to post about world poverty or flytipping she would have done. This thread is about what the OP wants to talk about, though I'm sure if you want to talk about flytipping, you can search for a thread on it or indeed set one up yourself, I'm sure many people will be interested. Doubtless you'll get one poster come on and say "Why are you discussing fly tipping? Shouldn't you be discussing the CERN experiment and the possible end of the world?"

Hitlerish is an adjective generally used to describe bullying behaviour by adults in this context. It's not unreasonable to expect them to line up in silence, it is unreasonable to expect them to do it for 10 minutes. Actually, it strikes me as slightly stupid in terms of the results it will achieve, but hey ho.

I think anyone would like a low level hum that shows excitement and involvement. That's not odd.

10 mins sitting on concrete iin silence is completely out of order .. If it was my child I would be angry

but I think this comment was one step too far

"I don't like this idea that children must be disciplined.I don't like this idea that children must be disciplined. It assumes that their natural behaviour is wrong. "

Children arent born knowing right from wrong if you dont teach children the correct way to behave then how do you expect them to grow up to be law abiding, well mannered adults

Pointygravedogger said:
"who claimed that a whole school could be completely silent in every room? That would just be impossibly ludicrous"

I totally agree - which is why it seems a little unrealistic for the OP's school to expect the entire school to be silent for 10 minutes (or 5 at breaktime) in the playground. My points were always about a whole school in silence rather than a single class - and if I didn't make that clear, I am sorry - I don't want to fall out with people over this.

Of course there is a hum when group work etc is going on - but in most primary schools (well the 100 or so I have done projects in) they have times when strict silence is acllead f and bserved. In DS's (very happy, uniform free, call-all-stadd-by-first-name) school those times are: Carpet time at beginning of each morning and afternon session, lining up in plyground and walking into class after every playtime, walking from class to hall, sitting in hall for assembly. Also, wach class teacher has a signal fo absolute silence, which must be achieved immediately. They go back in fom lines class by class, so they are required to stan still, quietly, in line for maybe a few mins.

Apart from anyhting else, it is a safety thing. If you cannot achieve silence, you aility to get a class out safly in a fire is compromised.

I see teachers coming in v hard at the beginning to get a system instilled, so that everyone can relax and get on with it.

Quatrocentro that was quite unecessary, you don't know me at all and you have no idea what I get into a lather about or what I do or what else I worry about. This forum is full of lighthearted, downright pointless, insignificant, funny, important and very sad posts. You might have felt that my choice of words was strong but I hate seeing the children shouted at like this, and I have wondered whether I should say something for a while. The new policy of lining up for 10 mins before going back into the classroom was the tipping point for me so I asked for an opinion on my feelings about this, and got it, thank you all. I think, though I don't agree with it and don't think it will work, that I will just let the school get on with this for a week and then talk to the head