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Original poster

A red card for not having a reading book???

34 replies

yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:23

DS year 2 normally brings home reading books on a Monday. This Monday he never had any reading books in his bag. Today he's been going on about finding his reading books and I just said they must be in school and not to worry as I will speak to the teacher tomorrow. Just before bed he told me he got a Red card today for having his reading books. Is that acceptable for the teacher to give him a red card because he didn't bring his books or AIBU to think it's absolutely ridiculous teaching practice. Especially since he never even bought any books home Monday evening.

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:25

That was meant to read *Not having his reading books. Oops

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Stripytop · 03/06/2014 22:27

Do you have a copy of the school's behaviour policy? It should clearly state what red cards are given for.

You might find a copy of it on the website.

Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:28

Thank you stripytop. I will check

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Stripytop · 03/06/2014 22:32

If this was my ds I would not be happy about this, unless he was in year 4/5/6 and had been failing to bring his book in repeatedly.

It's v harsh for a one off Y2 offence.

beanandspud · 03/06/2014 22:34

I would check with the teacher. Is it possible that they are using this last half term to encourage the children to be more independent in preparation for Y3 and that this is more about helping the children to take responsibility for remembering things rather than the actual reading book?

teeththief · 03/06/2014 22:37

What does a red card involve?

Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:41

StripyTop I agree, teacher should also bear in mind my DS has additional needs. Behaviour policy is 7 pages long, nothing about a red card on the first day you don't bring your reading books back. If that was in the policy I would check and ensure he has a book every Monday before leaving the school gates.

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:43

Thank you for your replies. I will speak to his teacher tomorrow. This is partly why he is not liking school, because the school are not meeting his needs. I have a appointment with the head tomorrow already booked.

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:44

A red card is a consequence and then you loose 5 mins of playtime. My older DS just told me.

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 22:54

The behaviour policy states a good to be green system. If the child does not make the correct choices it will get a green card by its name, if it still doesn't follow the rules the green card is changed to orange and if the child does not change unacceptable behaviour then Orange card is
upgraded changed to red.

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Stripytop · 03/06/2014 23:01

Can you print it out and take it with you tomorrow?

teeththief · 03/06/2014 23:04

So a child hitting etc would be given the same punishment at your DC who didn't take back reading books he didn't have?

Bizarre!

Stripytop · 03/06/2014 23:07

Our school has this system. Hitting is an instant red card.

yummum do you think your ds might have already had green and orange cards for not taking his book in?

Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 23:10

Stripy tops do you mean previously in previous weeks? Or do you mean since Monday?

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 23:13

Numerous times my DS has had a appointment on a Momday morning and returned in the afternoon but his book hadn't been changed by the TA for days until I politely mentioned to them. Confused

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 23:15

Good idea stripy I will print it out.

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 23:16

I was meant to have a early night today, now this is playing on my mind Hmm

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FunkyBoldRibena · 03/06/2014 23:27

Why is it playing on your mind? Nothing you can do about it tonight. Go get some sleep and deal with it tomorrow.

Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 23:34

Yup funkybold you are right. Thanks

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Original poster
yummum120 · 03/06/2014 23:39

Just feel so sad, as DS has been very upset about it and he thinks he's going to get another red card tomorrow because he still can't find the books. Have reassured him that probably someone else has taken them by mistake.

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BigBongTheory · 04/06/2014 07:35

A behaviour policy can't possibly cover every incidence for which a punishment is given. That's down to the teacher's prodessional judgement.

Don't print it off and take it in because that's not going to help the situation. Just ask why it merited going straight to a red card. There's more to this or the teacher will realise it's completely over the top.

Original poster
yummum120 · 04/06/2014 09:34

The teacher makes me laugh, they are supposed to be encouraging independence and as he went up to her by himself and told her he had left his books at home, (showing independency) when in reality he didn't even bring them home on Monday he gets a warning card for it GrinGrinGrin. No reward for showing independency though!!! I feel like I'm banging my head against a wall. And BTW the warning card was a orange one not a red one, he must've got confused with the colour, that's interesting about getting confused with the colour.

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wooldonor · 04/06/2014 09:40

I think this is a situation where you need to have a calm word with the teacher to establish the facts Year 2 children aren't the best at giving you the full story ime and the confusion over the colour of the card has already shown you that.

I agree with the poster who said not to print off the behaviour policy, tbh I think that's a really bad idea unless as an absolute last resort. Polices are general guidelines on how the school is run not ticksheets for every situation that arises in a classroom.

Hopefully you can get something sorted with minimum upset all round.

Original poster
yummum120 · 04/06/2014 09:50

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. I have a meeting previously booked for other issues. This will also be mentioned. I'm not sure yet whether I will print off the policy or not but may just in case I need it.

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PastSellByDate · 04/06/2014 12:07

yummum120

Look schools are annoying. They have rules and then they don't think through what that implies.

Golden time is an ideal example. At our school if a few pupils earn enough merit points you earn 'golden time' (points are used along colours of a rainbow - so many points = yellow, orange, etc... until you reach violet). The rest of the class stay inside having a lesson (usually guided reading) and you can play outside.

Inadvertently the message children are receiving is an ordinary school day is somehow a punishment.

I think in the case of not returning books and the teacher issuing a red card - the wider picture may be that there is a problem with returning books at the school and the teacher is losing her patience. She's made a mistake in this instance - point that out to the HT/ teacher - and then make a mental note to check that a new book has been issued and is returned for the remainder of this school year.

you have mentioned your DS has additional needs - so I think it is important to stress that your DS has found this upsetting and more so because he was trying to show he was independent and explain that he didn't have the books and guessed he'd left them at home (which is very common at that age, they're not going to remember what they brought home last Friday).

I would ask the school to indicate to you what books were issued so that you can look for them. Our school once asked me to return missing reading books or pay for their replacement. When I asked them what titles they were unable to tell me. So I pointed out - you have no idea what books you issued to my DD2, you have no idea whether you actually issued them to my DD2 and I suspect you actually have no idea whether DD2 returned them to school. With all respect could you do an inventory first and determine whether books are actually missing. Turns out all books from that set were in the school. I received a brief note explaining that the books have been located.

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