The reward chart in Reception... Help me see a different perspective!

[MayDayChild]

there is a big display on wall of rocket and each child has named star. Effort is rewarded and they move up the chart to the moon.
So 1st child in class reaches moon and gets a prize (toy from pound shop type) but coveted clearly!
DD comes home sobbing that x got to the moon and she isn't good enough to get to the moon.
I checked the chart today, she's probably about 8th position of 25 so I'm proud regardless and told her this.

Concerned that top 4 are all girls. Then one boy then more girls.

There is no written or defined rule set or structure to what constitutes effort. It isn't tangible and is teacher viewpoint.

So I don't know what if anything to tell DD. I can't see that the girl who got a prize, or the next three girls in line have behaved any differently to DD. It's week 3!
I may be overthinking DD reaction but I think she can see that the others haven't done or been more 'special' than her.

Wise MNetters. All views welcome please!

Earlier Sirzy you seemed to agree with cap't N.
Don't you?

I agree with what she has said, but I dont agree with you that means everything would be even.

If child a is expected to sit still for 5 mins and does they will get a reward. If child be is expected to sit for 10 mins and doesn't they won't. That doesn't mean there is a problem with the system, it means that child a is doing what is expected and child b isn't.

I don't see why that would lead to an even chart either- some children will come into Reception eager to please the teacher, conform, follow the rules, and some won't.

I do not like it being on display, can the teacher not praise children whan they are good/try hard /do good work without such an obvious reminder. It upsets Ds he never does very well on it. He is young in his class but that often gets over looked as well.

In DDs school they get table points, 10 points=1 star, 5stars=a prize Seems to work well (though that could be because DDs table always seems to be the one which gets a prize first) The system rewards children for behaving and sticking to the rules - a pretty important lesson!

Oh -and the abilities on each table are very mixed.

I absolutely hate them. Ds1 started reception last year, and they have one up, but it has two sides, good behaviour and bad behaviour. On his second day he was put on step 4 of the naughty side, which meant no playtime, (incidentally, it was for pushing a child that ds insists was an accident, and the teacher even admitted she didn't see it) according to the leaflet we got with the schools welcome pack, he should have been on step 1, IF any. He was mortified, was crying when I picked him up, and went on about it for weeks. He was told he was on the naughty side because he'd made 'bad choices'. He was petrified of getting to step 7 because that meant exclusion! He was only 4!

We had a very strained meeting with the headmistress, over what we could only call a 'name and shame' board. I notice there's always a few names on the naughty side, and hardly ever a name on the good side.

I think our schools policy of using these techniques are almost ruling by fear. But it does depend in the teacher. Luckily ds has gone into the next class now, and I have a lot more faith in this teacher.

Sorry for rambling, but I really think even if these things are meant to be positive, they can cause a lot of damage. To some children it's like water off a ducks back, but some children are very sensitive, and they can cause damage.

I don't see anything wrong with rewards for group effort, but really dislike the way that 'star charts' and 'stickers' effectively label children as 'good' and 'bad'.

I know it's meant to be about the behaviour not the child, but I'm not sure that it always works that way. It would take a very skillful teacher indeed to fairly reward all children for equivalent levels of effort each and every day. In a class of 30 I'm pretty sceptical that it's possible at all.

Also, I really think that discipline should be about the child's relationship with their teacher / care giver, not about bits of sticky paper or pasta jars. Yes of course every child likes to be rewarded and a sticker or whatever is a tangible 'reward', but it's a pretty shallow one really.

Of course it's not possible for the teacher to be completely 'fair' - that's part of what makes these things so problematic.

Another problem is the simplistic good/bad labelling, and the focus being some bloody marble/cloud/rainbow/piece of pasta (delete accordingly) rather than just appreciating the behaviour or talking about why it wasn't helpful/was hurtful etc.

I suggest teachers that this these charts are good ideas do a similar thing in the staff room. They can have their own little rocket or whatever, and go up or down depending on their paperwork being completed on time/levels of absenteeism in their class/how many pupils have advanced 2 sub levels in a year/SAT results etc.

"teachers who think that these charts are good ideas" it should say.

I'll head off to the black cloud now.

I'm not adverse to the odd sticker or hand stamp for 'good tidying up' or whatever that's over in a minute. It's the relentlessness of things stuck on the wall that's so horrid.

yellowsubmarine - lol I was thinking the same - you can't imagine a system like that being anything but trouble in an adult workplace, so why should it work with children?

I'm interested to hear the views of teachers who use these systems on whether they've thought about introducing them into their staff rooms.

I often leave merit assemblies with the feeling the girls receive far more certificates than the boys.
If a boy does get one it's often the SN ones, who do really need the encouragement, but lots of the boys don't seem to feature at all.
I feel a bit embarrassed as DD2 often gets a certificate, generally for literacy, which she is simply naturally good at. Sometimes I think the teachers need to look harder for someone to give the recognition to.
Of course DD likes the certificates, but sometimes I think a nice comment and a pile of house points would sufic.

I'm glad to see posts from teachers who don't like these kind of charts. FWIW, I wouldn't have been happy for my kids to be in classes with them: and thinking back to my own school days, I wasn't happy with "visible" praise/recognition either. In fact as a very shy child who was often top of the class, I absolutely hated being singled out :(

I think these charts are wrong on so many counts and it doesn't help those children who are consitently good and conform in class.

My dd once said to me that she was going to be a little bit naughty this week and then when she was good, she would get some housepoints. In two years at the school, she has never been given the housepoint prize, why?, because she has a strong sense of right and wrong and would be mortified to be on the 'black cloud', so she is consistently well behaved and therefore stays under the teachers radar.

Interestingly, the newsletter today had the names of children who had the most points this week. Out of four houses in the infants, three children were from dd's class and ALL of those three children are what we would call the most challenging/naughtiest and are continually on the black cloud. Where is the fairness in that?

Well said Cansu. :)
Precious parenting is the bane of teacher's lives!!

Love the idea of putting one in the staff room.
You forgot to hand out newsletter mrs x (twice in 3 weeks). Go sit on a black cloud and think about how much better your peers are than you.
I shall continue to despise it.

Do any of you have any suggestions of how to minimise it's importance to DD without undermining teacher? I'm not the sort to disrespect her teacher.
(whatever cansu and cronies think)

I'm a teacher and many years ago we had training on using this system [rolls eyes] ( Yes we were actually trained to move a child along the stars or onto the rain cloud) and by the time they came back to check how well it was working all but one teacher had scrapped it as unnecessary.

Not defending the system but the teachers...in many schools whatever reward/sanction system is being used will probably be school policy and enforced by the HT - I hate the one we have to use!

I would just say to DD (it works well with my 2)

"These systems are really there to help children be good - some children need a lot more help than others - you obviously doesn't need any help being good and we are very, very proud of you for that."

at the end of each week, we always have a run down of how school has been and I always let them know that their efforts and achievements have been noted by their family - the people who really do matter in their lives, and we have a special pud after tea at the weekend for any BIG good points.

My girls are "good girls" who meld into the background a bit, so often get overlooked, but they know that their efforts and achievements are appreciated and will be rewarded. That they are thought well of by their family and peers is much more important to them than a star chart.

Thanks bytheway. That is my little girl! Keen clever and quiet!
Great advice. Extra special pudding Sunday then, that will please her no end.

In addition to BTW's excellent ideas you can also outline your misgivings about the system as you have here in language that she will understand without criticising the teacher.

Critical evaluation of things we don't agree with yet still having to accept is a valuable life skill, as it not agreeing with everything that someone does and still having to get along with them.

Great post BTW. (This is the kind of thread where I would really like a "like/recommend" button.)