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.

A quick look on Ofsted and there is only 1 school that this could be…

A VA RC primary in Manchester, still showing Outstanding, but due an inspection/new report.

and if it is this school, having just read the report - it sounds utterly wonderful and the children “very privileged” to attend according to the parents survey

it op said they’ve had the inspection and waiting for the report

no mention that pending

if it is this one

checkout the FB page… it looks so lovely!

Thats mad, I’m actually a fan of super strict schools but mixing socially is quite important for kids. They should be able to mix freely.

How awful!

I’m in work so I’ve not really been able to reply other than having a quick glance now and again. But I have to quickly jump on to reply to this and say that the school doesn’t have social media. I don’t want another school getting caught up in this and being blamed for something that they haven’t done.
The post you’re replying to has been removed so I don’t know what it said, but the school doesn’t have any Facebook pages or anything like that. They are big on safeguarding children’s privacy, that is one plus about the school.

Fgs take them out I've never heard of anything like it, how small their school world is.

Or, to put it another way, to stop the bullies' victims from ever getting away from them; ergo this could be a great way to HELP the bullies and promote bullying.

If the teachers really are unable to handle the children properly in a normal school set-up, the solution is not to imprison/isolate the children, but to sack or urgently re-educate the teachers for not being up to the job.

I mean, it would be much easier for the teachers if there were no children attending at all, wouldn't it? Any job would be easier if you could just not bother doing an important basic part of it.

Teachers don't supervise lunchtime. This is a mid day supervisory role. Often there are more behavioural issues at lunchtime due to larger numbers/adult/ child ratio, sometimes less respect by pupils for adults doing this role and a longer time ‘off task’.

Children can find the less structured times of the day really difficult, having to have some self reliance, imagination to play, independence in being able to manage social interaction with others and able to follow the rules with less support.

Analysis of behaviour logs may show that lunchtime is a peak for behavioural incidents. Staggered lunchtimes have helped to alleviate this along with staff training, introduction of something like OPAL etc.

So within the last 4 years…. there’s been no new starters from other schools whereby the child knows that this is much more restrictive than there previous school and mentions to their parent?

No child who is friends with children in different “bubbles” outside of school ie neighbours or where parents are friends annd they socialise and a group… and has mentioned to parents that they are forbidden to liaise at school?

I don’t know. I don’t know if other parents have complained about this or just accepted it.
I wouldn’t know what goes on with other children and other families.

I do know that my child was lucky enough to stay with the same group or nursery friends when going into reception, so has never really had friends in the other half of the year group so has never spoken about any child in the other classes. There are no children playing out where we live because we’re on a busy road and my child isn’t old enough yet to go out and knock on for friends so doesn’t speak to anyone outside of school, other than school friends who come round for play dates and tea.

The people who are saying “so no child has ever mentioned this before?” Or “I find that hard to believe”, my answer is that I genuinely do not know. How would I know what other children tell their parents and what the parents do about it? There could have been meetings and discussions before this, but I wouldn’t know that.

I’ve said further up that “leaked” was probably a bit dramatic. A parent what’s told by a member of staff.
If people don’t believe me then that’s fine, there’s nothing I can do about that. I came here asking for advice on the situation, and I’ve been given some really good advice that I will be following and hopefully the outcome will be a positive one.

Was told, not “what’s told”

The only sane explanation I can come up with is that they have two or more pupils who they need/want to keep apart for safeguarding reasons or similar. In that case, keeping the covid arrangements might have seemed a pragmatic solution.

(I remember things being very difficult in one school I taught in when we had step-siblings in the school, with one set in foster care, and not invited to parent's wedding when the other set were. In secondary we were never going to be able to keep them apart, but in primary there might be sense in trying.)

Write a letter of complaint to the head, and if nothing is done then go the governing body and then to the MP.
I could be wrong but I sense you’re being a little bit b!tchy, and I genuinely don’t know why?

Sorry I got your post mixed up with someone else’s, apologies.