Year 1 son - playtime rough play

[spudpudding]

Just some general advice really - my son came home yesterday and was upset as had been told he wasn't allowed to join in a game at playtime - did the usual "did you go and play with someone else" to which he replied yes. In addition to not playing, also one of the boys had hit him and told him to go away - I did say he should have told the teacher on this one, but it is a hard judgement for a 5 yr old to make and he is still learning.
The thing is there is a lot of rough play at his school, and I have this nagging feeling that they are not dealing with it as well as they could. There are in particular a small group of names that keep coming up. Should I go and speak to the school and if so do you go to the class or the head teacher?? One year in and still not sure what to do? if it was me, I would like other parents to let me know personally but don't think that this is the way to go!!
Any help appreciated.

There is no harm in talking to the teacher, though it is likely she will tell DS that he should tell an adult if anyone is "rough" with him. However, you could ask how they are working to improve behaviour across the year group (keep it general!)

From my own experience, my DS was in a difficult Y1 group. He did end up finding one or two like minded other boys but also ended up having to avoid a large number of other boys that he found too "boisterous". Like in your case, the same names kept coming up.

The good news is that the school was very aware of these children and although Y1 seemed like a nightmare at the time, in retrospect I realise that the school did a lot of work on behaviour with the whole year group and these children in particular. Certainly, by the time we got to Y2 things had calmed down a lot.

See how he is today, but I'd definitely talk to the teacher, if it continues. After all excluding someone from games and hitting them is bullying isn't it?? fwiw, rough play's a huge no-no in my DS's primary. School are very hot on being kind and caring these days and making kids feel safe, so they really should be on it.

thanks - have had a few preferred boys for tea - but son does not get nasty and keeps going back for more at school - will have to try and keep talking i guess - at least he is telling me about it !

thanks for your advice