Watching cartoons at school...

[tostaky]

Normal, not normal?
This is meant to be a good school. Apparently they watch cartoons (chugginon, my little pony, octonauts, mike the knight) on friday afternoons....

To me this is not right, but when I speak to parents they don't seem to care that much.
I also mentionned it to the Head informally and he did not say anything...

Is it normal?

Friday afternoons are usually golden time in school, often playing games.. watching catoons...It is often used as a reward as they go through the school...I am guessing your LO is in reception..The chill out time at school becomes more essential as they go through the school)

I agree it will be golden time and would have no issue with it.

Depends on the age of the children. This past half term, my year 1 pupils have been fit for little else on a Friday afternoon as they have been so shattered by that point. I've tended to do a form of structured choosing time - a variety of educational-looking-like-play activities for them to select. After half term I'll be upping the ante and becoming more structured.

Agree it may also be as part of golden time. And I would be surprised if it was a full 2 hours of cartoons after lunch - more likely a final 20-30 minutes to finish the week (perhaps while the teachers rush round making sure all children have reading books for the weekend, letters are distributed, abandoned sweatshirts reunited with owner etc etc).

It won't be all afternoon.

It will be for about 20 minutes max, as a wind down time, or for Golden time, and like another poster said the teacher and other adults will be using this time making sure everyone has the Friday letters, new reading books, etc etc that need to go home.

I sometimes put Alphablocks on while my class are having snack time on Friday afternoon, as they are just so shattered by then.

I've occasionally used cartoons as a Golden Time treat, though not on a regular basis, and more so towards the end of term. Always for the final part of a Friday afternoon - I'd be very surprised if they were watching them all afternoon! My last Year 1 class weren't all that keen on Octonauts etc., but were strangely fascinated by old classics like Superted!

What is golden time? As opposed to wind-down time?
Wouldn't it be better to ask a mum or dad to come every Friday afternoon to read a story/make music/share something?

This is making feel old actually... Because all I want to say is "in my days.... We weren't watching TV at school!!!!!"

But you ask for Friday afternoon off and you'll get an ear full about how important there education is.
If the wind down time is so important it's just proof that children need less time in school not more.

Yep totally normal.

DD (yr1) watches cartoons (Horrid Henry mainly) on a Friday for golden time and sometimes at pick up time to keep them quiet/still for 5 minutes!

Golden time is a reward for good behaviour all week and naughty behaviour results in loss of 5 mins of golden time for each incident. Golden time is not just watching cartoons in DD's class, it also involves getting the parachute out (with loud music) to play games in the hall, getting to play outside if the weather is nice etc. it is usually about 40 mins.

They have golden time at our school where they can choose activities but it doesn't include TV, thank goodness. Most children watch far too much TV anyway, they don't need it at school unless it is supporting some learning. I'm with OP and I'd feel a bit peeved if they were watching cartoons at school.

No golden time at our school, and no cartoons either.
I'd probably be surprised. But I wouldn't hugely mind.

Half an hour of chill/reward time on a Friday afternoon is hardly the end of the world!

Golden time / Choosing Time / Reward time ... different schools call it different things and operate different systems. It's basically a way of motivating good behaviour throughout the week by having time that can be either earned or lost. There'll be a variety of activities on offer.

Some schools have a whole school system, where each teacher offers a different activity that the children go to. Some have it just as free time for the younger ones.

I teach yr3 and they have struggled this term with not having their choosing time on a Friday, having been used to it in KS1. I actually make them do an extended write on Friday afternoon (I'm so mean!) but we finish off with a fun songs session for 10-15 mins.

Our school has half an hour of golden time on Friday afternoons with two or three activities to choose from like cartoons/extra playtime/free play. It's earned through the week with bad behaviour causing the loss of part/all of golden time depending on the severity/frequency of misbehaving.

They also have an always disco for the last hour on the last day of each half term. This is for those children who haven't lost any golden time for the half term.

It's an outstanding school with good results so I'm not worried. Even if the school wasn't as good as it is no one was up to much by the end of Friday or last day of term. It's also a way of showing the new children that they can earn rewards for behaviour and achievement.

Never heard of golden time. Now and then the kids get movies at school. I don't complain.
But, to be frank and totally honest, the idea of Friday afternoon cartoons is a bit depressing. I'd rather the kids were outside playing games and getting some exercise. Most kids don't have a field and a gang of kids to play with when they get home, but they nearly all have "the electronic babysitter." In bad weather, they could do something hands on and creative such as crafts or music. For me, that would be the ideal. However, I appreciate that schools and teachers are stretched and might need a break themselves.