Teachers using sweets for school work reward

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CarrieBlue · 15/07/2021 19:00

The school is in a rather affluent, middle class area where lots of children have access to private clubs, tutoring, outside sports with lots of parental support so the very large majority of the children is quite easy to teach.

You’ve taught in that school?

Rupertpenrysmistress · 15/07/2021 19:15

Happens at my DC secondary school. No problems with it, not a daily occurrence and the kids appreciate the gesture.

Myothercarisalsoshit · 15/07/2021 19:33

So the 'more affluent' are easier to teach are they? Good to know. I've never taught in even a vaguely affluent area so I've never experienced this. I've heard the parents like a whinge though. Is this true?

allycat4 · 15/07/2021 20:21

I feel sorry for teachers.

User5827372728 · 15/07/2021 20:33

At my school we literally pay kids to behave!! We give them points on a reward system and this transfers as money to an online shop where they can buy stuff!!!!

BrownEyedGirl80 · 15/07/2021 20:34

And? Kids like sweets.Its a
reward,a treat.Un clench.

jenjen517 · 15/07/2021 20:36

@Myothercarisalsoshit

So the 'more affluent' are easier to teach are they? Good to know. I've never taught in even a vaguely affluent area so I've never experienced this. I've heard the parents like a whinge though. Is this true?

This!

Give over OP, you sound like a right knob

cansu · 15/07/2021 20:38

If you don't want your child to have sweets, simply inform the school that they prefer house point or whatever. Don't impose your OTT rules on others.

hiredandsqueak · 15/07/2021 20:40

My oldest is 34 teachers were handing out sweets back then so I don't think it's anything new. Dd's teachers in primary were good enough to put pencils and erasers and stickers in the reward tub just because dd didn't like sweets (still doesn't) Dd never felt like she was missing out but I was really touched that they considered her as well. It's not something I could get worked up about tbh.

User5827372728 · 15/07/2021 20:41

I’ll probably get shot down for this but over the last 11 years I’ve taught in the most 3 deprived areas in a large city and the behaviour is extremely challenging, like to an outsider probably unbelievably so.

coodawoodashooda · 15/07/2021 20:42

Teacher and single parent here. The teacher part of me wants all the help i can get. The mother part of me agrees with the op.

Northernlassie1974 · 15/07/2021 20:43

To be fair, in my experience, they are motivated more by a haribo than a grape...

And, actually, as much as they like stickers and certificates and point.....a sweet treat has so much more of an impact!

Northernlassie1974 · 15/07/2021 20:44

@Northernlassie1974

To be fair, in my experience, they are motivated more by a haribo than a grape...

And, actually, as much as they like stickers and certificates and point.....a sweet treat has so much more of an impact!

*points

Marmite27 · 15/07/2021 20:45

This year, mine got a mini bag of haribo on her birthday, one on her class teachers birthday and a Creme egg at Easter.

Though one day they got double ice cream which I was at. Turns out they’d had it at lunch, not realising it had been planned the same day as the year 6’s got their leaving hoodies and it was a whole school celebration thing.

WildJelly · 15/07/2021 20:51

I wouldn't be happy with my DC being rewarded with sweets.

DS1 had one secondary teacher who attempted this. DS1 didn't/doesn't like sweets so it was totally ineffective with him anyway, haha!

It would have worked a treat in DS2. He loves sweets, would have put in loads of effort to get sweets and would have probably ended up with tooth decay. Result for the teacher, not a good result for DS.

CoffeeWithCheese · 15/07/2021 20:59

@CarrieBlue

The school is in a rather affluent, middle class area where lots of children have access to private clubs, tutoring, outside sports with lots of parental support so the very large majority of the children is quite easy to teach.

You’ve taught in that school?

The school my kids have just left is in this kind of area - and the kids are fucking horrendous to teach (and yes I've taught in the other school in the same catchment so I've seen both sides of it), to the point that bullying is running rife, the kids just refuse to do anything they don't want to because they know their parents will jump in and shout the odds and chaos is reigning.

I would rather do a week supply in some of the most "deprived" areas of the region than do an afternoon with some classes in that area.

I don't think the lockdowns and school closures helped one bit - they turned a "lively" and challenging combination of very strong personalities completely feral.

Behaviour, violence from some of the boys toward the girls on a regular basis and bullying were the reasons we've moved.

crochetmonkey74 · 15/07/2021 21:14

adds to list of things I am doing wrong this week

Inamuddleaboutthis · 15/07/2021 21:29

My DDs Primary school have a prize box for each class, pencils, sharpeners, and similar, also pcks of mini haribo. Unsurprisingly the haribo run out first (my friends a TA there so told me).

School rule is the sweets get taken home uneaten so it's up to the parent when they get given them. Most of the time the sweets don't make it off the driveway. They come into my house and she has them after food, I think thats a fair compromise.

DD has maybe 1 or 2 packs a week, more if there's a birthday and the child brings them in, but it's a treat and I don't stop her having treats from school - they're allowed to reward her as much as I am.

Norestformrz · 16/07/2021 06:27

@Northernlassie1974

To be fair, in my experience, they are motivated more by a haribo than a grape...

And, actually, as much as they like stickers and certificates and point.....a sweet treat has so much more of an impact!

Exactly this!

VashtaNerada · 16/07/2021 06:35

I think this is unusual and wouldn’t happen at my school. Partly because of healthy eating and partly because we don’t do concrete rewards like that, children are encouraged to make the right choices because it’s the right thing to do, not in hope of reward. I think it’s pretty problematic tbh.
As we’re nearly at the end of term and teachers are exhausted I wouldn’t say anything now, but you could send an email over summer that’s constructive and mentions all the things the school does well in addition to querying that policy.

Norestformrz · 16/07/2021 06:38

@Iamsodone

we are at a large state ‘outstanding’ primary school in SW London. I have noticed that more and more teachers throughout the school are using sweets rewards for children’s academic work, or perhaps excellent behaviour, whilst the school promotes independent learning and has a healthy snack and meal policy to tackle obesity (barring us to send the kids with a cereal bar for break time for example).

I don’t mind the reward system (lots use dojo points) or even the sweets in a school (on special occasions), but the direct link and association annoys me, even more so in a school setting. I think the association work+ sweet reward is very detrimental, especially as it is across the school right to the year 6.
The school is in a rather affluent, middle class area where lots of children have access to private clubs, tutoring, outside sports with lots of parental support so the very large majority of the children is quite easy to teach.
I just wondered if the same is happening elsewhere ?
Thanks

One small sweet as an occasional reward isn't any threat to healthy eating. Sugar free, fat free, additive free versions are readily available at supermarkets. The link between a sweet as a reward is no different to the link between a sticker or points charts.

Myothercarisalsoshit · 16/07/2021 22:38

I made a trip to TESCO before school this morning to buy ice lollies for my class as a reward and because I thought they would really like it on such a hot day. The horror.

Original poster

Iamsodone · 16/07/2021 23:21

@Myothercarisalsoshit
this is different, yours is a nice thoughtful gesture as well as a general class treat at the end of a hard year, not a sweet packet to a particular child for a good piece of writing.

@CoffeeWithCheese is this a primary school too ?

@coodawoodashooda thanks I agree that parents can choose what they see fit. they have their kids for life !

@Marmite27 that's totally different and totally fine and lovely in my books.

@VashtaNerada thank you, agreed. will do that

@Norestformrz do you binge on sticker points ? sugar affects the brain reward system differently than a chart/sticker.

@allycat4 to be honest me too, partly because by year 5 or 6, kids have access to some pocket money and buy their own sweets so these methods are wasted on a number of children, but still a number of teachers will hang on to them !

this is in the context of a school promoting independent learning, making the right choice and with a healthy food policy etc

OP posts:

MerryMarigold · 17/07/2021 07:54

I think it would depend how frequent it is for me. Dd just won an envelope of sweets for a science project which I think is a nice and a relatively cheap prize. However, b if it was a mini pack of haribos being given out daily for the highest test SAT paper or whatever, that is different. I think it's a different association of it's happening on a daily or weekly basis.

Northernlassie1974 · 17/07/2021 19:16

[quote Iamsodone]@Myothercarisalsoshit
this is different, yours is a nice thoughtful gesture as well as a general class treat at the end of a hard year, not a sweet packet to a particular child for a good piece of writing.

@CoffeeWithCheese is this a primary school too ?

@coodawoodashooda thanks I agree that parents can choose what they see fit. they have their kids for life !

@Marmite27 that's totally different and totally fine and lovely in my books.

@VashtaNerada thank you, agreed. will do that

@Norestformrz do you binge on sticker points ? sugar affects the brain reward system differently than a chart/sticker.

@allycat4 to be honest me too, partly because by year 5 or 6, kids have access to some pocket money and buy their own sweets so these methods are wasted on a number of children, but still a number of teachers will hang on to them !

this is in the context of a school promoting independent learning, making the right choice and with a healthy food policy etc[/quote]
Yes. Teaching a 'healthy choice' is key. It is teaching that sweets aren't an every day food item for a lunch box or daily snack, but are to be eaten in moderation as an occasional treat.
Our school is a healthy school. We do give the occasional sweet ir small bag of haribos as a reward/incentive.
Just for what it's worth, growing up I wasn't allowed sweets. Once in a blue moon. As soon as I was old enough to buy my own sweets and had pocket money I literally was like a kid in a sweet shop who rapidly gained weight! I was never taught how to make a healthy choice as I was never given the choice, or moderation or amounts. Yes thats an extreme example, but teaching a healthy choice and sweets once in a while as a treat in moderation is really important!