School plays - same old same old...

[pooodle]

Urgh. I have just come back from my sons school play and yet again it is the same "posh" children with the lead parts, and the more working class relegated to bit parts. Is it just me, or do schools just pander to these mums who have nothing better to do all day than secretly watch Jeremy Kyle while brown nosing being on the parent governing body or running hot dogs for school fetes? Sorry, just had to have a rant, and I am a teacher!

This used to drive me mad too. The boy who always got the lead part in dd1's year at junior school was the son of the chair of governers (He really wasn't that good either!)

A victim of the system. If only all schools were fair.

Nothing like this happens at my ds's school. Scrupulously fair and the teachers and the TAs flog themselves to death to produce amazingly funny, clever, original entertainments with brilliant props etc. I honestly don't know how they do it. The children love doing it to - really boosts their confidence. I was in tears of laughter and emotional pride at my ds's last performance and couldn't thank his teacher enough.

Can I just say how sad you talking about "posh" kids makes me. When you later say you're talking about middle class kids.

Because dI think it is as offensive to brand children as posh, as it is to brand them in any other way. They're just kids.

(This has hit a nerve because within a few weeks of reception starting this year one of dd's new friends was very upset when she was cornered by a couple of the older girls who kept saying "you're posh, you are". Not a lovely start to school).

I'm sorry, this is absolute bs. No professional teacher is going to give any part to a child just because their parent is a governor or on the PTA. What sort of schools are you dealing with?

You know I sometimes wonder why I bloody bother doing all the stuff I voluntarily do for the school. Oh yes, now I remember, to help make the school as good as it can be for all the children that go there, not so my kids can have the best parts in the school play. I don't think many people sign up for endless evenings of boring meetings and hours and hours of fundraising, going on school trips, escorting classes to the swimming pool week after week or listening to other people's children read, just so we can swan around the playground with our noses in the air.
So all this stuff about governors' kids this and PTA members' kids that really gets up my nose.
RIGHT?

ds never gets chosen for a sports/chess team, the head did put up a notice saying everyone would get a chance to play in a team but this has never happened. Ds has been playing chess for 5 years, they allowed a kid that couldn't even play into the team instead. He needed extra coaching.

DH has been chair of governors for years, but none of my three have ever had a lead part.

Should DS3 get the lead next year, will all the other parents assume it's because he's the son of the chair of governors, rather than because, erm, you know, he might actually be the best for the part??

ok, OK! i take your arguments, you do all this work for the love of it, fair enough. so its not fair of me to say that this is the reason and i retract my previous comment with an apology if i have offended.

just tired and fed up seeing the same old again tonight.

Thank you.

I am not saying that my dc was the best person for the part (actually no good at acting) but there were lots of very talented kids in her school year (of 120 children)who in the matter of fairness should have been given a chance.

The situation was laughable with this particular boy. Every special assembly/play/ readings at the church at christmas/ press photo opportunity/harvest festival etc. there he was.

She was part of an especially able school year (75% LEVEL 5s) There were plenty of other children who were equally as talented (and many more so)so why were they not chosen?

i think mostly because teachers obviously want play to be a success and a proven quantity is an easy choice, and i guess there will always be pushy parents.

still annoying for the rest of us though.

My DD has had a solo in the school performance 3 times in a row. She is very confident and has a beautiful singing voice. I do sod all at the school to help (this year anyway) and even send in shop bought cakes to the bake sale, so it can't be through my efforts! But I do think they should let someone else have a turn.

DS1 was in a year with 90+% Level 5 SATs (not quite sure of the relevance tbh), dad who is chair of govs, and mum who is secretary to the PTFA, and he didn't get chosen - out of a year of only 12 or so (plus children from other years).

IME - at our school - the staff work bloody hard over and above their usual days, and choose who they think will fit the role best. Occasionally it has been the same child - that's cos they were the best for the role.

But hey, should DS3 get the part next year, I now know what all the other parents are thinking

No idea, smartiejake. But there could have been a number of reasons. Over the course of the school year, there should be a whole range of events and activities that different children can shine in. Obviously the "bright" ones stand out academically in class, but you also have your fab swimmers, your talented musicians, those who run like the wind, others who can whack a rounders ball over the perimeter fence every time, those who are popular with the whole world, some who have been lucky in the looks department, others who are fantastic artists, and some who are born naturals on stage (and believe me, that has NOTHING to do with class or brains). Maybe that particular child didn't have much going for him in other areas either, and the staff wanted to give him a boost. It doesn't account for it all but, being professionals, the teachers have the broader picture that parents aren't necessarily aware of.

The latest child to have been prominent in recent productions has the most unpushy mum.

The child happens to be great at this type of thing.

clam i agree, but when you have the same kids in the lead role over and over, i think that is just playing it too safe. they are at school which is a learning envirmonment, all they are learning is that they are either good/not good enough. not everyone can run fast or do maths but everone can stand on a stage and deliver lines. its not fair using the same people for an easy life.

And there are two schools of thought when it comes to school productions. There's the "let's be inclusive" approach, which is where you give parts to the less obvious choices (and parents sneer because the standards appear lower) or there's the "let's put our most talented kids on stage to do the best show we can," (and parents complain because they think it's the same kids every time).
Oh, and there appears to be a 3rd way. All those schools who keep a register of which parents donate most to the summer fair, or are on the governing body, and allocate parts accordingly.
If a premier league football team wants to impress, they pick their best players, don't they? If it's an important showcase match, they don't put on all their 2nd rate men. Or the sons of the board.

No, actually pooodle. They can't all stand on stage and deliver lines. Acting involves a little more than that.

Clam-Nope not true of this boy- he played the cello and and was very bright (as were many of her year) went to grammar school- nothing to do with boosting his confidence at all. He was a cocky little, over confident brat.

right, so now we are getting to the heart of it. the school wants to impress the audience. of course. but this shouldnt be the main priority. the priority is the children, and developing their confidence, particulary further than those that already have bundles of it is a fair greater achievement that a few more approving nods or louder applause. surely?

So therefore, putting on the best quality production you can is the most effective way of boosting everyone's confidence. You're doing no one any favours if the children know it's not the best they can do.
But then I think we're clearly debating this from completely different experiences. In my school, we give a range of productions/assemblies, with different objectives for each. Some are for developing speaking/listening, some are for new musicians who are a bit squeaky on the clarinet, and others are showcase extravaganzas. If you only have experience of a school where things are, sadly, elitist, then I would agree that some children are missing out. In my school, and most others, I would bet, we bend over backwards to include as many kids as possible over the course of a year.

agree clam, ds1's head could do with a visit to your school, specially as ds2 is in year 5 and i have another year of this!

I get so cross about threads like this. I am active on the PTA and I am a governor of our school because I want to help it be a good school - not because I want my children to get good parts in the shows. My dd did usually, actually - bu that's because she can sing - not because I bake gingerbread!

And I have to say that if they only gave parts to the children of people who are active in the PTA, they would have to find a lot of plays with about 5 characters in them - Mary, Joseph,an angel and two sheep perhaps?