So there we were, in a nice quiet exhibition of ancient manuscripts, when in comes a class from an East-End primary school with barely a white English child among them...

[frogs]

...and they were the most delightful group of children I have encountered, possibly ever. It was the SACRED exhibition at the BL, with loads of ancient religious books from Christianity, Judaism and Islam, very low lighting, and packed (it closes next week) with educated upper-middle class oldies (the demographic dh and his colleagues call "Silver Scholars"). You get the picture.

There was a bit of an initial shudder when a classful of kids piled into this rarefied setup, but they were just so fab -- interested, enthusiastic, polite, working beautifully on the tasks they'd been set, that quite a lot of the visitors stopped looking at the exhibits and watched the kids instead. We go to quite a lot of exhibitions, and encounter a lot of school groups, state and private, and it's rare to encounter a class you think is so great that you wish your own child could join.

I just wanted to share the warm fuzzy feeling, really, and offer it up as an antidote to some other threads.

how lovely, it sounds heartwarming.

That has really made me smile.
Did you say anything to the teachers? If not, do you remember the name of the school so you can contact them? It means so much for schools to hear things like this.

can you write all that down and send it to the school? I bet schools get so many complaints from people about their pupils, I am sure that they would love to read what you just posted about their kids.

I agree - write to the school and tell them if you can.

DD's school has a few letters from the public and places they have visited commenting on their behaviour, manners, etc. The schoola re very proud to receive the leteers, the children are told about them and they are available for peopple to see.

I agree, if you can possibly try, do write to the school. So often people contact schools with complaints and forget that good behaviour needs mentioning too.

ah that's made me well up a bit.

i used to work as a gallery education person and we had such lovely experiences with children from all sorts of backgrounds. and sometimes it was chaotic and loud but very very nearly always worth it.

I agree that you should contact the school. It's important to let the children know that their behaviour was appreciated. DS#1's class got a letter from one of the places they visited telling them that they were the best behaved and most enthusiastic class they had had. The kids were chuffed to bits.

oh I don't know why, but this thread makes me feel icky

"there was a bit of an initial shudder" wtf is that about

sounds v patronising all in all, sorry

Ahhh! but was the shudder related to the fact that the place suddenly filled up with kids OliveOil and not to the fact that they were 'non-white'.

I didn't read that in a patronising way tbh

I've worked out which school it was, and I'm going to phone them and say pretty much what I posted.

I was really impressed my dc have been/are in what are considered some of the better primary schools in rough-ish parts of London, and I really don't think they could have pulled off that level of concentration and good behaviour with any of the classes mine have been in. The teacher was amazing too very quietly-spoken Muslim woman, who had a very calm but gently directing manner with the kids.

And a further for the little girl who I overheard asking her friend, "Am I Christian or Hindu?"

well that is how I read it, due to the title stating this fact

OO, get real. There was an initial shudder when our local reception class turned up at the buddist centre. Adults shudder (but with our lot they had reason too )

Oh, the initial shudder was the one you get in any exhibition where a bunch of oldies are doing what oldies do and in piles a horde of noisy school-kids doing what school kids do.

I think its allowable to set the scene without having it PC vetted FFS... this is a happy good news story. Maybe we don't hear enough good stuff when it might have some 'multicultural' element because people have to tie themselves in knots to phrase it such that it wont be taken the wrong way by someone.

Thanks for taking the time to share frogs and more importantly to give the school positive feedback.

Can you imagine how chuffed those kids will be if a letter is read out saying how well behaved they were, we dont tell kids when they are behaving well nearly enough, go frogs

I think the post title is a subverting of Daily Mail-type expectations, oo -- to read the tabloids you would think that large groups of young people, some of whom might even be (gasp!) immigrants, could by definition be Up To No Good.

Are white english children better behaved than brown/black ones?

And aren't the vast majority of children at english schools english, be they black brown or white?

I think the OP displays some startling prejudices, sorry...

i find thread wierd too
if it ahd been a posh school with white children behaving well would you have started a thread about it?

Oh FFS, I won't bother sharing my nice happy feelings next time. I was referring back to all those threads a couple of weeks ago where people were angsting about their kids being the sole white faces in the school, and yes, subverting the Daily Mail type headlines.

Thank you for posting frogs, I have had a shit couple of days and feel a bit happier because of it.

I can see what you meant... but still it comes across as patronising... sorry.

I was going to post that some of the nicest and most appreciative children I ever taught came from disadvantaged backgrounds, but perhaps I won't bother now that I see the way this thread is going....

Oh whoops!

well excuse me for having an opinion

I just find it patronising that you feel the need to mention the colour and the fact that the teacher was Muslim

has no bearing on anything as far as I can see apart from a 'pat on the head, didn't they do well' attitude

Well you've me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy! I even shed a tear for a moment there, which is unusual for a hard hearted old bag like me! You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time frogs. I wouldn't worry about the others! The Head Teacher is going to be thrilled to bits and frankly she's the only one who matters!

DG - but why can't poor children be nice? why think otherwise?