Frenzied attack on teachers

[howmuchdidyousay]

Several weeks ago I started this thread about a scheme the school were introducing whweby children who had not been absent in the half term were entitled to non-uniform on the last day of the half term and those that had been absent had to wear school uniform.
Well, Thursday was the last day and several parents really lost the plot!.Yelling and jabbing their fingers at teachers in the playground and in the classroom.One young teacher was in tears and another I saw was penned into a corner by a furious parent and looked absolutely terrified.The children looked frightened and I think everyone was very shaken up.It really was horrible to witness.
Much as I think this was the most stupid, unfair,ill thought out idea I have ever come across in a school.And I well understand the parents reactrion, I am not sure that there can ever be justification for treating teachers like this.

Sounds like a pretty horrible school if you ask me.

The schools that get the best results and the best out of their pupils tend to be schools where the parents back the teachers decisions, regardless of weather or not they agree with them or not. Not schools where parents back teachers into a corner and start finger jabbing at that, just because the teachers made a decision they don't agree with.

Disgraceful behaviour. Glad my kids don't go there.

What vile parents. It isn't the teachers that they should take issue with anyway.

I don't 'understand the parents reaction' sorry but the school was making a point about absenteeism (sp), get them young and make the point that turning up to school is a good thing. These days parents seem to think its the schools/teachers job to raise their kids but scream if they feel their angel is being hard done by. Can't have it both ways imo

I understand about absenteeism, but my child has medical special needs and I would love it if he could have 100% attendance; unfortunately that's not so. I would take issue under the DDA with such an ill thought out idea.

It does, however, take a community to raise a child and I do agree that parental reactions were not at all reasonable, however much they felt aggrieved.

No it's the HT they should be addressing their complaints to.I think there are many peaceful ways to protest.Letter, sending child in non-uniform anyway, keeping them off.
They are all very middle class too.I think they look down on teachers.

I think these schemes to increase attendance are a ridiculous knee-jerk reaction to ridiculous OFSTED assessment criteria and targets.

All the more absurd at primary-level, where children are very rarely responsible for their own decisions about attending school or not.

I really hope the school rethink this policy.

No excuse for attacking teachers though- they may well feel the same way I (or the parents)do.

In the case of your child bramblebrooks, I think the school would have been breaking the disability discrimination act

I hate these schemes and judging by the reaction they get on MNs they are hugely unpopular.

No excuse for finger jabbing and upseting teachers though.

Badly thought out and descriminitory ideas are bound to cause trouble.

Agree with everything chegirl has said.

I would not be happy with a policy that discriminates against children with medical conditions/disabilities and I don't support practices which encourage parents to send their children to school when they are unwell. I would be taking the issue up with the governors.

I'm sorry but do people honestly believe that a schools policy purposely discriminates against children with medical conditions or disability? Isn't more likely that they are trying to make a point about those whose children are absent from school without medical certificates or good reason. Those parents that would have phoned in or sent in a note on the next school day attended are unlikely to keep their dc's off on a whim. Isn't it a good thing that children learn young that you have to do things (like attend school/work/etc) even when you don't want to?

Whether they do it on purpose is by the by.

Because these schemes only recognise 100% attendence regardless of reason for absence, they DO discriminate.

My DS has a lot of time off due to appointments. Great Ormond Street etc do not offer weekend appointments.

My son has just transferred to a special needs school. Most of the pupils have additional medical needs.

They do not feel the need to run such a reward scheme.

"Isn't more likely that they are trying to make a point about those whose children are absent from school without medical certificates or good reason."

No, titch, unfortunately it's not.

Authorised absence counts towards the attendance figures under most schemes like this. A child absent from school for one day for a hospital appointment will not have 100% attendance, and will therefore not be allowed to take part in the 'reward'.

It's OFSTED's over-zealous focus on attendance figures and linking them to achievement (erroneously in some cases) which has resulted in ill thought out schemes such as this being put into practice across the country.

Like most things in a democracy it is about the majority not the minority. I have 2 out of 3 children with special needs and would not feel discriminated against. I would simply feel that the school was making a point about unnecessary absenteeism and explain it to my children. Life isn't fair and at some point we all have to learn that.

Would you not feel that your children would stand out if they were the only child in their class who had to wear school uniform ?

Adults should not behave that way towards each other in front of children.

But what a stupid idea for a reward. Uniform is not compulsory in Primary school and getting children to wear it is down to the goodwill or wearing it. If children are made to wear it as a punishment that goodwill is lost.

If I had turned up at school with my child, and people were arguing and teachers were in tears, I would have taken my child home again for the day. It is completely inappropriate in a school.

goodwill of parents to get them to wear it, was what I meant to write!

I disagree with the policy because it is ineffective in that it doesn't recognise progression (I hasten to add that this is as secondary level, where pupils tend to decide for themselves whether or not they come into school.)- a pupil can have 50% attendance one year and 90% the next, and this is not rewarded.

The policy is particularly unfair at primary level because it is not the children making the decision as to whether or not they are fit to go in to school; they end up feeling guilty about something they have no control over.

There was a case last year of 2 (primary age) children who had been denied the chance to go to an end of term party due to their attendance being below 100%. They had missed three school days due to the death of their father.

Is that really such a good message to be sending out? That attendance takes priority over health and grief?

I think them standing out if they are wearing uniform is the point, so no, i wouldn't mind.

Titch, I think you are confusing democracy with mob rule. Democracies make sure minorities rights. If a child recovering from menengitis is the only person in a class who has to come in wearing uniform, that would be distressing to the whole class. I find it disturbing that people think excluding minorities is only bad for the people who are in the minority group.

I fully expect them to bring back the stocks soon. Then on the last day of term, teachers and pupils with 100% attendance record can throw tomatoes at those with less than 100% attendance record

It's those with the childish selfish attitude 'oh me/mine are special, the rules don't apply to us' that have resulted in zero respect for teachers,schools,the police etc in recent generations. Then they expect teachers to bring up their kids because they can't.

I am NOT pointing this at anyone on this thread, this is obviously a generalisation. the point is that this kind of thing is aimed at the lowest common denominator and however badly thought out clearly not intended to discriminate against those whose attendance record was less than perfect due to good reason. However, surely a better plan would have been to complain formally AT THE TIME THE SCHEME WAS ANNOUNCED, maybe with a petition signed by all concerned parents. Rather than on the day it ran attacking teachers, which by the way sounds rather more like mob rule.

You can understand the parents reaction? Whys that, are you a psychopath too?
Because they are. Insane.

I'd have them arrested if I was one of those teachers.

Oh, and I think its pretty appalling that everyone is talking about the trigger rather than the outcome.
No scheme or plan could justify that kind of behaviour.

Of course the parents shouldnt have blamed the teachers. I would assume that a good few teachers think the scheme is a bit rubbish too.

But not everyone who objects to these things are doing it because they mollycoddle their children. This is a common assumption as soon as you challenge anything a school does.

Many of us who object have sound reasons for doing so. I am very happy to abide by uniform, pack lunch, behaviour etc rules set out by my school. Even when I think some are a little over the top.

This is different. It is not sound and rewards/punishes something that children have no real control over. It will not bother the parents who dont give a toss and will make the children who have to take time off school feel inferior.

Crap all round IMO.

I am certainly not trying to justify the parent's reactions.

I am trying to criticise an extremely flawed policy.