Is your dc's playground supervised?

[loflo]

I am quite shocked to have discovered that in DSs P3 playground (so seven and eight year olds x 40) there is no adult supervision during breaks - is that normal?

No. Not at all, I've never come across a school where playgrounds aren't supervised at break times.

No.
I've never heard of a school not having adult supervision of break times.

In Scotland there is no legal duty to provide supervision. There must be a qualified first aider on duty. Most schools do provide some cover but don't need to.

Thanks guys - in Scotland so that will explain it. It just doesn't seem right

wow never heard of that we have a rota of teachers doing duty over break times for each yard and a whole raft of lunch time supervisors for the main break.

Think the school is leaving itself a bit exposed there.

I just think its really not appropriate to have forty kids without an adult. And they can go back into the school building if they need an adult but still..........

I work in England. Never known of a primary school playground not to be supervised. Here its usually teachers at play times and lunchtime supervisors at lunch.

Only school playgrounds (at that age) I've ever come across as not necessarily being supervised are tiny village schools where there are only a handful of children. Sounds massively risky if there are 40 children playing out !

ooo I don't like that idea, at all.

Am afraid it's true there is no supervision in some(many?)school playgrounds in Scotland . My own school has around 150 children and no supervision ...that's just the way it is!

Not well enough, IMO. The DS's primary has 415 pupils sharing a small playground (not allowed on field when it has been raining and is muddy), just 2 MDA's outside. They split playtime, but for the 240 juniors, there will be one teacher on duty.

Had numerous 'unseen' bullying incidents, some quite severe. DS1 has been knocked out cold unseen, another girl had a severe head injury unseen, DS2 has been kicked in the back till it bruised, unseen, and these are just the first 3 incidents that spring to mind.

Playtime supervision is woefully inadequate in most schools, IMO.

I am a TA. At lunchtime we have 250 kids outside. We have at least 6 adults and we have to wear high vis waistcoats so the kids can find us easily. Our incidents of bullying and generel incidents has def decreased since we started that two years ago. Find it shocking that kids are left to their own devices !

DS struggles a lot in the playground (for lots of reasons) but its made worse with no adult supervision and no alternative indoor provision for those who find it a challenging environment

Have you considered approaching the Head to see if something can be done? At DS's school a few older children are also used as play leaders with the younger ones, helping ensure positive play.

There is also an agreement in Scotland that the janitors can do the playground supervision although the headteacher is still ultimately responsible for the safety of the children.

My dds school officially have teachers on duty at break, but she often tells me theres noone to be seen if they have a problem. The other day a boy fractured his leg and all the teachers were in a meeting, only person in playground was a 14 yr old work experience.

Ours has 3 mid days (tops) available at lunchtime now for play supervision- for 400 kids....

we had to go down the hot food route with no extra staff - so have to watch kids in hall, and outside at same time - 2 sittings now required, and half of our 6 staff get the wondrous task of cleaning the tables, folding them and stacking them and cleaning the floor ready for PE for the last 20 min whilst the other 3 deal with the fun of supervising 400 kids - from reception to year 6. Such fun.....