Children being treated like prisoners

[User78678]

What is everyone’s thoughts on children not being allowed to talk to or play with children from other classes?
Context….
The school classes were allowed to mix until covid hit and they then had bubbles. The headteacher decided it is easier to control the children and less bother for the teachers if they kept the children in bubbles. So here we are in 2024 and this school is still using covid bubbles.
If a child tries to talk to a child from a class other than their own, they are told off and punished for it. They are not able to make full use of the playground because each class has a small designated space, and they must not cross the “border” or “fraternise at the boundaries” or they will be in trouble. Even if the child has a sibling in another class, they are not allowed to go over and talk or play with them. It’s a two form entry and half of the year group have not seen the other half since 2020, other than in passing, because they are taken out to play at separate times.
The headteacher will not budge on this rule and is happy to keep treating the classes like they are wings in a prison. The children are being denied the opportunity to build friendship making skills because they are kept with the same class and not mixed up each year. They are not able to develop their social skills, and a lot of children in the classes don’t get on because they don’t get any space away from each other but they just have to deal with it. The children in key stage 2 are served lunch in the corridor and have to eat in the classroom. The children in this school don’t know any different, they believe all schools are like this. So you can imagine the shock they have when they go to into high school. I personally know of a child who had to be reassured for months that it was ok to speak to children from other classes and talk to them at break times, because the fear of getting into trouble for talking outside of the classroom boundaries was instilled in him from primary school.

This is exactly what I was thinking, how can they call themselves a community and a “family” when the children don’t even know one another and they are kept away from each other. It’s absurd.

Oh my god. This is terrible, and really sad to read. Aren’t children fucked up enough already from covid lockdowns, without adding this?!

I’m hoping that if the report isn’t out yet, ofsted might have said something about it and it just hasn’t been actioned yet. I can’t bring myself to believe that ofsted would just let this slide.

complain, and loudly. What does the chair of governors think?

Since nursery, still has 2 years left. DC doesn’t know any different, I have looked at other schools but they have long waiting lists. And DC would wonder what they’ve done wrong if removed, so it’s a hard one. But I’m thinking further ahead and the impact it will have on my child in high school.

Sounds like the ofsted inspection was very recent if the report isn't out yet. The very strange set up will have been discussed without a doubt, like pp said it will depend on how they justify it. Post ofsted the leadership team will be looking at all the actions ofsted have put forward (there is always something, even if graded outstanding) so I'd wait for the report before complaining again as it might help you.
Sounds bonkers though, what benefits to the children do they claim? Being easier for staff won't be the official reason.

This is heartbreaking...
Are the families ok with this? Because if not, how has this been going on for four years?? It's dystopian.

I would be getting the children involved. Seriously.

As you have tried intra school ways I suggest something like this.

1. Try and get a letter published in any Local Papers you still have.
2. Write to Bishop, I think the diocese will be interested.
3. Local Radio after the letter is printed. Local reporter might then interview Bishop.

Get the PTA to do mix year socials as fundraising, write to the local paper

It may be that she personally knows the high schooler she mentions, and has been able to see the impact this awful "education" has.
But I can't believe families could be oblivious to it! Honestly, it's chilling to me just reading her description in the post!

Email tabloid journalists about it, if they’re not already reading this. An article about prison school in suburbia should get the headteacher back in line

We only found out about it a few months ago, but knew there was an ofsted inspection coming up so we waited and hoped that they would take our concerns on board. Children got used to being in the bubbles and adapted to it and then didn’t know any different. A member of staff has leaked it to a parent and this parent has informed a few others, and when the children was asked (without any leading questions) they have all confirmed that they get into trouble if they try and talk to a child in another class, even if it’s a sibling. I then asked a TA and she confirmed it was true.

Since finding out I have asked a few people that I know from the school gates and have on Facebook, because it was so absurd I wanted to make sure it was 100% true and that’s how I found out about the high school child.
My DC went into a bubble in reception so has never known any different to tell me that they’re not allowed to speak to anyone else in the school. Most of the children don’t know any different and think this is just how school is.

This is precisely what I foresaw as a result of the lockdown mania: aspects such as this becoming normalised, and permanent. The government constantly saying “new normal” probably bred this mentality in some people’s minds.

This is exactly why we should have fiercely resisted restrictions, whether imposed by the government or by schools, instead of pleading for more. If we allow regimes like this to take hold, they become normalised.

Does this same school (and others) make children wear masks? It wouldn’t surprise me.

Just to be clear, schools DO NOT operate as if they were still in COVID bubbles.

If what the OP says is true, this headteacher has lost his mind, and needs to be removed. Nobody should be colluding with that system.

I don’t know about the older children because I was never at those gates to speak to the parents, other than a couple who also had younger kids at my child’s gate and I had them on Facebook.
My DC is in year 5, (I think I wrote year 4 further up, still getting used to saying year 5 lol) and went into a covid bubble in reception and has never known the school another way, the same as most of the children that are the same age as my child. A member of staff told a parent, from what I know the member of staff is fed up with how things run.
I suppose “leaked” is a bit dramatic, but a parent was definitely told by a member of staff.
If you think it’s bollox, then that’s absolutely fine but it’s genuinely not. It’s really happening.

The course of action is the school complaints procedure, usually beginning with a conversation with class teacher, headteacher and through the stages of a complaint as set out in the policy. Remember the complaint isn't about the effect on another child, but on your own child. Other parents need to complain about the impact on their own child.

If you are so concerned you will do this. The complaints policy is written to give everyone a fair hearing, even ensuring that some governors are not tainted and can form an appeals panel. The complaint has to follow policy and is a straightforward way of making sure you are listened to. This won't happen by a scattergun approach to friends, other parents, MP’s, the church. The ‘official’ people should direct you back to the schools complaints policy anyway.

An OFSTED complaint has to follow completion of the school complaints procedure as does any advice and support from an MP, though MP’s will contact the LA ( only for maintained schools which as an academy this is not ). Your next step after the school complaints, for an academy is the Regional Director, Department for Ed. It is their role to hold trusts to account rather than the LA.

Some schools have kept aspects of organisation changed during COVID. Staggered lunch time and playtimes have been a great success in supporting a reduction in poor behaviour, for instance. Some schools have retained this.