Is this normal re 'strikes' and missing playtime

[Stompythedinosaur]

Dd1 is in y2 at the moment. She's been having some problems with being picked on this term (although this appears to have settled down now), and has become quite anxious about a few things at school.

She was telling me this evening at bedtime that one of the big things she worries about is getting a 'strike'. She says the school has a system of giving strikes for bad behaviour, and if you get 3 strikes you miss playtime. She got two strikes when she was in reception (one for talking in class and one for not stopping an activity when she was told to tidy up - not huge misdemeanors imo). So now if she is ever in trouble again she will immediately miss her playtime.

I know parents can have rose tinted glasses, but dd1 is definitely not a particularly naughty child, and I have never had her behaviour raised as an issue.

I have emailed the teacher to ask if this is right, as carrying over misdeeds from 2 years ago seems somewhat draconian to me, but I thought I'd try to find out if this is a normal sort of thing to happen? I am also bothered by the fact that the strikes are apparently up on the wall, she could tell me who had how many strikes, and she says she feels sad about her 2 strikes from her reception whenever she sees them. Surely that sort of public humiliation is not right?

Thanks Bubbles I have looked at the behaviour policy on the website and it should have been reviewed last October. Dp is a parent governor so will be able to raise this at the next meeting.

Our school is unusual because it is so small there are only 2 teachers, so dd1's class teacher is also the head teacher, so I am hopeful she will be able to make choices to change this.

Our behaviour system at school resets daily. Everyone is 'green' at the beginning of the day, and hopefully still are by the end . If they get a yellow warning card, or red consequence card during the day, it does not carry over ( unless something happens late afternoon, and they might miss break the next day.

I don't think I've ever heard of one that never resets over their entire primary school career. It's beyond weird.

Puts golden time into perspective I suppose.

See if you can get your DH to ask them to explain the benefits of a system where they don't reset vs one that resets daily.

I've been a teacher a long, long time and can say without a doubt this is the craziest system I've ever heard. 2 'strikes' from 2 YEARS ago, displayed on the wall???? That's outrageous and ridiculous and I'd bet my mortgage doesn't work anyway.

Your poor dd.

Another teacher here to say that this is the most ridiculous system I've heard of! I would expect the system to be "reset" daily in primary school.

I’m obviously way too forgiving as a teacher - I reset any negative points at lunchtime and before the next day! I can’t see what carrying them over for several years would do, aside from maybe create a competition over who gets the most!

Stompy: May I suggest that your DP familiarises himself with when policies are due for revision. The governors should have a rolling programme to check that these are done and that their effectiveness is monitored, small school or not. Ofsted like up to date policies and governors that know about the policies and monitor them.

Also, please advise him not to bring this up under AOB. It’s too important for that. He should have a conversation with the Head/Chairman (or email) or with the Governor with behaviour responsibility to see what is planned re revision of the policy and make sure it goes on the Agenda.

Is behaviour in the SDP? If it is, who monitors it? As it is overdue the Chairman/Governors should be expecting a revised policy but as they know nothing about it and neither do you, as a parent, it suggests nothing is happening. I would still strongly advocate that parents and children are involved in drawing up a new one and the sooner the better.