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Education

Mildly irritated by this...

53 replies

SourOldBat · 15/03/2005 23:18

..and have changed my name as don't want to be identified as it sounds a bit petty but it is something which has been annoying me.

DD's school year has a play every year. For the past three years, the head of drama's daughter has had the starring role. She left school in the summer and appeared back a few weeks ago as she hadn't settled at her new school. School play in three weeks, and guess who has starring role again?

I'm not a pushy Mum who wants DD to take the lead (she would hate it), but surely other children should be allowed to have a go in the main part? There are over 100 in the year, so why choose this one child every year? I can't believe the other 99 are incapable of saying a few words on stage!

Grrr!

OP posts:

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SourOldBat · 17/03/2005 21:51

I don't see why she shouldn't have a smaller part - agree with you that it's not healthy for her to be Queen Bee all the time. This is a really horrible thing to say about a small child, but she does seem to me to be quite spoiled and the type to always get her own way. She also has the looks of a child who is always the lead - small, cute, yards of blonde hair.

I always had to read in my primary school plays (like the narrator or something). I had a loud voice - the teacher used to say go and stand at the bottom of the garden and see if Mummy can hear you from the kitchen. We had 3/4 acre so I really had to bellow!

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SourOldBat · 17/03/2005 21:58

Shall I tell teacher that if Queen Bee gets the lead again in the summer play that my mad mummy mates and I will all boo loudly? Do you think that would ensure that I had a seat right at the back of the theatre?? (Teachers with children in big parts - fnarr fnarr - always have seats in the front row).

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Marina · 17/03/2005 22:22

If as a drama teacher she cannot find appropriate playscripts with varied, interesting roles for a large number of kids then she's not doing her job properly (aside from being allowed to behave utterly inappropriately by the Head). There is a huge industry in churning out such plays FGS! Because most schools understand about giving as many children a chance to enjoy drama and shine in their role.
I can barely believe this is true SOB, good luck with your meeting. What on earth are they on?

alux · 18/03/2005 00:01

Jeez! I am embarrassed that any adult can behave in this way and not realise other won't notice or take umbrage. This is doing that daughter no favours when she is older. The kids will know and hold grudges over it. And parents will reap what they are sowing when she is a bit older. That knowledge does not ease the irritation, I am sure.

SourOldBat · 18/03/2005 15:40

Yeeeehaaaa!! Spoke to teacher today and she was fantastic and agreed completely that Queen Bee should not have all the starring roles (she had not had anything to do with the assembly and said she was also irritated to see QB starring in that as well). I was not the only person to mention it to her, and she said she would see what she could do re different roles for kids in the end of term play and would point out the "flagrant nepotism" (as I put it ) to the head of drama and the head teacher. She agreed that he (HOD) was not doing his daughter any favours in the long run and thought that other children should be allowed to star (or there should be more "bigger" roles). She said she would see what she could do.

So fingers crossed for QB being relegated to back row of the chorus for the end of term play and more roles for the other 99 children .

I love DD's teacher

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scotlou · 18/03/2005 15:50

Glad you got a favourable response from the teacher. Agree with Marina that drama teacher should be able to get a script which gives everyone a chance. At my ds's school (small - 35 kids total) everyone gets a part in the Christmas panto - speaking ones at that. They start with a couple of words in P1 so by the time they're in P7 they've grown in confidence and are happy to speak out. I think it's a great idea.

Prufrock · 18/03/2005 21:17

SOB - don't think you are being unreasonable at all, and glad the teacher agrees.
From the other side - as a child I and one other girl took the lead in all our primary school plays. There was an absence of confident actors in the 2 years above us, so we got "promoted" to lead roles early on. But the teaches obv. weren't happy with the excess attention C. and I got, so in our last year decided to give others a chance. V. cleverly, they put me and C. "in charge" of percussion - even gave us special programme notes mentioning our "retirement to concentrate on other interests". So others got a chance to perform, but we didn't feel demoted in any way.

Socci · 18/03/2005 21:42

Message withdrawn

Caligula · 18/03/2005 22:21

Good news! So you won't have to orchestrate a mad booing campaign, a la Spice Girls all those years ago!

frankie38 · 30/03/2005 14:31

I would just like to say that i found the moaning message from tigermoth laughable you say your child is one of the good readers in there class and you were annoyed that the teacher was helping the kids that were slower to get there grades up instead of helping the able ones dosent this make sense or do you begrudge anyone else of trying to do well maybe you should teach you child to have a bit more patience and even try and suggest that they help a child who is struggling making them a better person for life and at the same time being a little less selfish than you appear to be i think you should be ashamed of yourself .I have a son who finds reading very hard even though he has a good brain in other ways but because of the pressure of the sats if his reading is slow so will everything else be a struggle. but my son has patience kindness and understanding of others which you still havent learnt even though you are an adult how sad

tarantula · 30/03/2005 14:54

Um sorry but what post by tigermoth? confused here.

Lara2 · 31/03/2005 10:52

Well done SourOldBat! It should never have been allowed to go that far! I was always chosen as a narrator too - loud voice and not pretty enough to be anything else (as my teachers saw it in the 60's!!). I've now (rightly or wrongly) got this thing about choosing the girls who look nothing like everybodies idea of angels as angels in our nativity every year - usually the poor little scraps that are always a bit grubby etc - they look just gorgeous and so proud to do the angel thing.

Caligula · 31/03/2005 11:08

frankie38 I think you must be confusing tigermoth with someone else and possibly another thread. I can't find any posting from her which is either "moaning" in tone or suggests that she resents children being taught to read.

ScummyMummy · 31/03/2005 11:15

What are you talking about frankie38?

roisin · 31/03/2005 11:41

This is frankie38's only post on the entire site ... best ignored I think.

tigermoth · 02/04/2005 08:34

A belated hurrah!! SourOldBat

Frankie38, puzzled by your message....think you have the wrong thread.

SourOldBat · 21/04/2005 20:17

Well, they are casting the play and DD's teacher is on long term sick leave. But DD came home last night and told me that the lead "has to be a little girl with long blonde hair". Why? "Because that's how she looks in the books."

Well, that's DD2 and most of her friends out of the running, then, as well as the boys.

Oh, but hang on a moment...Head of Drama's daughter fits the description exactly. Watch this space

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titchy · 22/04/2005 10:38

I think you ought to invite said blonde girl round for tea and let them play at hairdressers - with real scissors!

Miaou · 22/04/2005 10:56

SOB ....
OMG it sounds like it is happening again....

Caligula · 22/04/2005 11:00

Looks like you might have to get your booing honed up, SOB!

SourOldBat · 22/04/2005 12:16

It does pee me off - how are they allowed to stipulate in this day and age that the lead character must be BLONDE? So what if the child in the original story was blonde - don't they have the imagination to stretch things, and have either a dark girl or a boy?

Friends and I are all fired up to complain to headteacher.

I like the hairdressers option ...

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Marina · 22/04/2005 12:19

Does it SAY in the book that the child is blonde? Or is it just an illustrator's interpretation? How ridiculous SOB.

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motherinferior · 22/04/2005 13:09

Good grief - I've actually assumed that because DD1 is the possessor of fetching blonde curls she's never going to take the main part in her school play - no right-on teacher would possibly pick her

Pamina3 · 22/04/2005 13:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Peachyclair · 22/04/2005 14:01

it's like that at my school too, wellt hat one kid gets every starring role (and don't YOU look smily again today then sweetie- quote fro teacher). Mine is a lad so wouldnt get it, but I think it is SO unfair on the others who do want it.

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