Would this reward system put you off a school?

[wishIwasonholiday10]

I have been reading up about our local schools. One school stands out as being the most convenient for us by far and it is well rated and usually oversubscribed. However I've come a across several parents mentioning a reward system that seems a bit over the top to me. Something like:

1. when the kids arrive at morning, they are all on the sun. Those who behave well go on the rainbow but those who misbehave go on the cloud. 2) when the kids help, tidy up etc. They have points. 3) each Friday, teachers select a child in their class as star of the week and children are awarded in assembly.

Would this put you off the school or is this sort of thing common?

We are in the catchment area of two schools but this one is closer to home and to my work (DD has mobility issues so distance matters). Both schools are OFSTED rated good.

Very common. What’s the problem? Most schools have something like this.

This is completely normal for primary schools. Everyone will eventually be Star of the Week.

Thanks for the input. Nothing to worry about then. I just thought it sounded a bit over the top for reception aged children and overly competitive. The parents mentioning it were negative about it although most apart from one were still happy with the school.

Ours stopped doing the cloud/sun thing years ago. It was thought to be a form of public shaming to have children's names up like that where everyone could see.

We give certificates for children who have done something that merits more than just a simple "Well done". It's not a 'Star of the Week' system though and there are often several children who will get a certificate that week.

Very common. At DS school he was always on the 'gold star' but could never tell me what he did to get there. I found out at parents evening that the teacher usually has a look at who is where on the board and anyone who hasn't moved up for good behaviour but hasn't done anything bad either automatically gets moved up for the Friday afternoon treat so it definitely seemed to me to be aimed at improving the behaviour of those less well behaved in class. Not sure how effective it is but most my friends kids have this sort if system at their school so seems common around here.

The star of the week was picked randomly but the teacher and everyone got it at some point in the year.

Star of the week the kids eventually work out everyone gets it for some reason or another

Love star of the week - its a personalised reward.
Did a PGCE in 2011 and was told I might see a sunshine/thunder cloud regarding system still in some schools.

I think you might find more inclusive schools that don't publicly shame children

This stands out as the most relevant factor for choosing a school, than the type behaviour management system used:

We are in the catchment area of two schools but this one is closer to home and to my work (DD has mobility issues so distance matters).

Yep, when they all ask "but when is it my turn, when am I going to get it?" by middle of Autumn term in Reception 🤣

Yes it would put me off. DD had hearing loss in Reception so was never picked for ‘star of the week’ as she couldn’t do ‘good listening’. She basically gave up trying in reception as she would never been good enough no matter how hard she tried. She eventually got given star of the week on the last week of the academic year as basically the teacher had to give it to every child at least once year and my child with SEN, who was well behaved, polite, kind, with excellent attendance got it last (after some children had it twice) because the teacher had give it to everyone once.

The star system seems very common. I don’t really like it as it seems fairly meaningless, and the points system seems to reward poorly behaved kids that do behave, but ignores those who behave well all the time. But yet to see a school that doesn’t do some form of this.

You are over thinking. I assume your child is not that well behaved? I like the idea of kids being encouraged to be well behaved. People worry way too much about primary schools. High/secondary school is so much more important and where pupils go from a primary is a very important aspect. I live in an area with the pyramid system and if you get into the wrong school it will affect school life until 16.

This is a pretty normal system!!

Nice to see things haven't changed. I'm nearly 40 with life long hearing loss and I was never Star of the week and often sat facing the wall for "not listening".

It's a bit old fashioned now. How well it works for your DD depends on your DD's personality and preferences. My DD1 had this and we used to sing Walking on Sunshine on the way home when she was on the sunshine. She was very well behaved and always one of the first to get star of the week. She did complain a bit that they never gave her star of the week for something very meaningful.

They'd dropped the sunshine, cloud etc for DD2 and this was probably for the best. She has some SEN and isn't deliberately poorly behaved and isn't disruptive, but doesn't stand out as impeccably behaved and engaged like DD1. She did have star of the week still and I had to remind her teacher on year that she'd not had it (once we were far enough in to have it once each). 30 weeks is a very long time for a child to wait. Her new school has house tokens that are given out liberally and for very individualised things. She's had them for writing in the squares in her maths book, which presumably isn't needed for other children. That seems to work much better for her as the rewards are immediate, potentially private and tangible.

I agree that I dislike reward systems like these but I don't know if I'd let it influence my choice of school if other aspects were good. My DS goes to a lovely, supportive, village school and I was surprised that these measures were still being used in KS1 - but he's gotten along just fine so I've been able to accept it.

It depends on your child though, if you feel they are likely to not be on the 'rainbow' side very often, or be looked over for SOTW then perhaps it warrants more thought. There are better ways to encourage good behaviour for sure, and these can be actively detrimental for some.

I don't agree that it necessarily publicly shames children. Kids know who is misbehaving in class well enough and they don't need a cloud to remind them. It sounds pretty normal from my experiences of primary schools and can be effective from my experience. Personally, I do prefer a points system using tokens or something that are personal for individual children but also reward a team, like house colours or something similar. Children then get to learn about personal reward and the positive impact they can have on their team/others too.

Every child does not get star of the week. I never give it unless someone has deserved it.

Moving kids down to a cloud would absolutely put me off, it's very outdated to draw attention to negatives for young children.

Star of the week is everywhere but annoying.

I think your instincts are right @wishIwasonholiday10 - the system sounds poor.

I have never worked in a school where every child doesn't get it, in 15y of teaching.

I don't understand what you mean about 'public ' shaming. Only the kids in the classroom see it, and they know who has misbehaved!
Your pgce lecturers spout bollocks like this because they don't have to actually do classroom management themselves!

FFS OP what could possibly be the worry. Even super nanny does reward charts for good behaviour so it’s hardly a brand new shiny concept.

And please don’t over think everything when your kid goes to school either.

Highly outdated, concerning from an inclusion pov, but sadly quite standard still in the UK.

Our school do this it’s ridiculous. I made my own ‘sun’ with my child’s name on that I give them each day after school to override the one there and get them a small gift at the end of each week. They also have stupid attendance reward programme where they do something like the ice cream van or a tea party or outing for those with 100%. I just replicate that as well . On the day they did the Ice cream van for those with 100% me and another mum hired one to be outside school the same day after school and we pre paid for an ice cream for every child who missed out- there were 2 children who actually have severe illnesses who never would achieve 100% and we didn’t want anyone feeling less than due to health luck !

You can read this to understand why it’s not good practice: https://www.amazon.sg/Contextual-Wellbeing-Creating-Positive-Schools/dp/0980639719