Does your school give out awards/certificates and have your kids got any??

[pabla]

I have been thinking about this since I went around someone's house last weekend and there were quite a few of "headteacher's awards" type certificates on the wall.

My dd goes to a different school, is in Yr 4 now and has never received anything similar. The last head left at the end of her reception year and there have been a succession of acting heads since, but a new permanent head has just started. I know they have done award schemes, where you get stars and when you get so many you get an award. They re-launched this last year but her teacher was disorganised/ineffective (and has now left the school) so I'm not sure if she implemented the scheme properly in her class.

I'm just wondering if it's normal to be in a school for four years and never get singled out for praise at an assembly? Her teachers always say she is bright and behaves well so I would have thought they could have found something positive to say in all that time. There are only about 200 kids in the school btw.

I'm thinking of bringing this up at the next parents evening, though her teacher is new to the school so may not know much about it. Or should I ask the head if I see him around? Or am I being paranoid?

[Vaunda]

Pabla, My ds has never recieved an award in school but this is because in his school they are generally only given to the lesser able children to make them realise they are clever and encourage them to learn. He has recieved certificates for reading as this is something run in the class when the child has read a certain number of books and gained 6 stickers they recieve the certificate, this is in place for all children right throughtout the school from nursery upwards.

[bloss]

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[essbee]

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[Tortington]

my kids in senior school get small slips (size of the ones you send back for a trip) cheap and photocopied but they bring them home and with pride brimming show me - now these arnt certificates and easily get lost. i cant really show them off so had a conversation with daughter yesterday as it happens and i decided that i am going to glue them onto a hard back ( of a cardboard box) in a mismatch way with kids helping them we can have a collage that grows through the year - a piece of ever evolving art!! then i will put it in pride of place somewhere.

[ScummyMummy]

At my twins' school 2 kids per class per week are class champions. Plus the headteacher and learning mentor pick one kid each from the whole school. As far as I can see the class champions rotate so that every child will get to be one at least once or twice per year. It's nice- each teacher says something about why they picked those particular kids and the said kids squirm with pleased embarrassment.

[cinderelly]

my little rottweiler got a badge and a certificate for not biting anyone for a week! Was so proud

[mumeeee]

My daughters high school does certificates and praise cards for years 7 to 9. Individual teachers will give out praise cards to a child if they think the child has worked or at least tried hard. All the years get merits in thier diarys and letters are sent home( by post)informing parents of how well your child has worked. This year the children had reward trips at the end of the summer termand those who had behaved and worked to the best of thier ability went on the trips. My 15 year old DD ( year 10) went bowling and my 13 year old ( year8 ) had a day at a leisure centre

[bigdonna]

both my kids had a end of year assembly and recieved certificates for never being late,best behaved in class,most improved in maths,good listening,swimming,sports day,attendance,and lots more

[saffy202]

DS2 has golden pupil scheme. One child from each class is picked each week and they get a cetificate and go for biscuits and juice with the head-teacher

DS1 has the merit scheme and also at the end of year is the awards ceremony - DS1 got 3 - very proud but unfortunately adults weren't invited

[sanchpanch]

All the other children were awarded a book, with certificate for an area where they have done well......

[sanchpanch]

my 7 year old daughter just left first school, they have an award called the adam cassey award, he was a boy who drowned 15 years ago and his parents have the award in his name since he died,

The award is given to the hardest working, kindest, friendliest etc etc child in the last year of the school before they leave...

And my darling Sanchia was awarded it, i have never felt so proud of her, i cried, (i could cry now writing this)
Didnt help with the emotions that dp had left us the week before, but he was there to see her get the award to,

[Miaou]

My dds are in a 15 pupil school so it's much easier to make sure that no-one is overlooked! They get stickers for working hard and achieving individual goals. For example, dd1 got a sticker for putting her hand up and answering a question in front of the class(she is very shy), and dd2 got one for finishing her work first (she is easily distracted). They also get Golden Points during the week and on Friday afternoon they get Golden Time (choosing time), which is deducted on a minute by minute basis if they misbehave (however they get the opportunity to "earn it back" if they lose it). The person with the most Golden Points gets awarded the Golden Eagle to take home for the w/e (fixed so they all get a chance). All very motivating and seems to work well.

[MarsLady]

Yes and yes at my DDs' primary school
and
Yes and yes at DS' senior school!

[jampots]

at my childrens' old primary school they had a good work assembly on a Friday which the parents could go to as well to see any awards given out/their kid up for good work etc. The real problem with their system though was staff inconsistencies. For instance, my ds's class have had a succession of teachers since year 1 (so 3 school years) who dont give out merits or if they do then no-body ever makes it to 10 merits because you then get a certificate. My friend and I went to every Friday assembly and no child in our class ever went up for a certificate. The star of hte week thing was also a bit of a joke as the same children would go up either, (a) the good girls "for being helpful and always smiling" or the naughty boys "for trying really hard this week (to not beat the shit out of someone)". Even though everyone was to get a turn at being SotW many parents had to go in to remind teachers that their kid hadnt yet had a turn and there was only 3 weeks til end of term (one year there were about 10 kids, only 2-3 possible assemblies who hadnt been up yet) in a class of 29 kids and a 39 week school year. I do think its a good idea but only if its carried through the whole school as it can make for some very hard working but upset kids.

[magnolia1]

My twins age 6 have a lovely school

They use coloured boards for bad behaviour ie: yellow, green and red. Being naughty (not silly naughty but proper naughty) and the child goes on the yellow board, doing the same thing again or repeatedly being naughty and the child goes onto the green board, Something really bad like kicking another child or continuing to be naughty such as swearing etc and they go on the red board which means off to see the head teacher and if its not sorted mum/dad gets a phone call.

This really works and there are 2 quite volatile kids in their classes who have really calmed down since its been used.

Stickers are given to almost every child for little things like eating all your dinner, sitting quietly on the carpet, being polite to teachers or helpful to peers.

They also have a golden tree in the hall and if they do something really well or are extra helpful they get a golden leaf which goes on the tree and they have their name called out in asembely and their name also goes in the weekly letter for parents {smile]

[PeachyClair]

They do stickers, and they have a school star award. They dids tickers at DS's last school too, but he was removed (the only one) from the scheme because he was 'too motivated' by the stickers- this was about the time his AS was diagnosed, and led to him feeling very isolated, as even when he did well there was no tangible reward.

We had good and bad referrals at school, plus team points. The tam points were for minor-ish things and got added to a house total at the weeks end, the good and bad referrals got read out in assembly. I remember getting one good referral, pus a couple of class good referrals which were meaningless really as they were so general. I seem to remember getting a bad referral, but not got a clue what for. It might have been for having a carrier bag as school bag when my parent's wages hadn't been paid correctly and my bag broke? Or it may have been when my friend had a go at the Teacher and the teacher got confused who it was and said it was me? I guess what I mean is, the rewards are great when applied fairly, but if you have a bad teacher with a kid with problems like DS1, or a teacher with a nasty grudge like I had, they can be very easy to warp. Not all my teachers were bad tho: I had one get me a good GCSE grade with no homework when she found out we had no heated areas at home where I could do it in winter (only the living room and dad liked the lights off all day to watch TV). She was amazing.

[gigglinggoblin]

omg that was long

[gigglinggoblin]

an unlimited number of good work certificates are given out every friday (usually 2 or 3 pupils per class get them). these are given for improvement, effort ot just to recognise that the child has done a good piece of work (doesnt have to be better than normal so hard workers dont miss out).

then one pupil per class gets star of the week. i think this is fixed so everyone gets at least one.

in recep they also had a certificate for best friend of the week given to the person who had been most helpful. this was definately fixed so everyone got one, the teacher told me. had to be deserved but it was based on the childs normal behaviour.

the first time both of mine got one in the same week was when parents had been invited in for assembly so i saw them presented. ds2 was so excited he was jumping up and down and ran over to hug me. i had to try very hard not to cry

if you dont get them now i would def suggest it, the kids get a huge buzz from receiving them

[triceratops]

We used to get merits at school. I say we. I mean that the naughty kids got merits when the managed not to be naughty for 10 mins at a time. Do mention it to the teacher.

Not that I am bitter.

These motivational schemes are only applied to correct behaviour so if someone is generally well behaved and working well they will be overlooked.

[spidermama]

I agree with swedishmum that the rewards are often used to get the naughtier kids to behave well. It's just another way school has of failing good, bright, well-behaved kids. Don't get me started on that.

[pabla]

I know they do things for the class as a whole btw (they did the marbles one in Yr 1 and are doing a points one now for the different groups in the class).

[pabla]

I did wonder if at our school they tended to single out kids who had to try a bit harder, IYSWIM, but I don't think that is the case (at least not now in the Juniors).

Any teachers out there who have an opinion?

[Littlefish]

We have a special assembly every Friday. During the year, every child in the school receives a certificate at some point. We monitor it carefully to make sure no-one is missed out. The certificates are not just for achievement, and are more often for effort, or manners, or kindness to others.

If a child has done something particularly spectacular, the head teacher writes to them at home to praise them. These letters are only sent out a couple of times a half term, and therefore are a wonderful surprise for the family concerned.

[rummum]

My daughter had been in year 2 for 7 months when I brought this up with her teacher at parent evening.. when I asked how she worked the "certificates" she said that all the children are on their 2 and 3rd now... I pointed out that daughter hadn't had any, she was shocked and we spent several minutes going through the duplicate copies on the wall... Indeed daughter hadn't received one... she was most appologetic and guess what.... Daughter had 3 within the next 5 assemblies...
sometimes the good/quiet/just-there-kids get overlooked, so yes.... mention it

[littlerach]

DD1's school gives stickers on a chart for good behaviour, eg siting down at register, putting things away. When they get 20 stickers then they get a certificate in special assembly.

They also get a marble if they have acheived something that is special for them. When the class have 100 marbles then they get to chooses atreat, like extra playtime.