Why are teachers failing the narrative for boys, is boy playing incompatible with school

[Leteer]

Does anyone feel like boy play is deeply unsupported and thoroughly discouraged in school up to the point where boys are questioning if play is actually good / encourages boys to question if their hard wired need for play is a bad thing. Isn't this a downward spiral for boys to not support what nature gave them which could in turn affect academic work.

Not just that , but girls being used to behaviour manage boys is still a thing. From Sitting disruptive boys next to the nice, quiet girls, to expecting them to pander to them and keep them happy to the more shocking “you can’t break up with him, he’ll be unmanageable in class!”.

2 breaks? Most schools around here get 1 short 10-15 min break in the morning then 30mins either before or after eating lunch, depending on their key stage. 2 hours per is supposed to happen but often gets squeezed. There have also been drastic changes to EYFS in the last year, there is still play based learning, but not as much and definitely far less in ks1.

I'm not saying schools can do it all, but the learning happening in schools and the behaviour being seen would be drastically improved if the curriculum were better balanced.

All those things are childrens play, not one is exclusive to boys.

Is the curriculum shit? Yes it is, sadly, school staff are not involved in any of the decision making on that side of things. The frustrating thing is that you will find 50 threads on here on what should be on the curriculum because “no one taught me that”. How do you prioritise? People , including OP, are looking at schools to fix all the ails of society. We can barely afford glues and pens, much less ensure every child has the ideal childhood and education tailored specifically to their needs.

Sorry , went on a bit of a tangent rant there.

Exactly, the woman can't handle one boy but expects a teacher to run drills with 30 6 year olds 😂😂 doubt she would last a week working in a school!

I know this, I work in education. I agree.

Hear hear!

None of this sounds exclusive to boys. What a strange thing to say. I have a 3 year old girl, got 2 friends with girls.(2 &3) all the girls are very much into climbing and wrestling and mud.

Also sounds like my childhood.

have not read the whole thread- I think as others have said, schools do have an obligation to ensure that children are safe. Rough and tumble games can make this more difficult. We moved one of our children (a boy) from one primary to another due to a whole range of problems. Their new primary has supervised play (appreciate this is almost impossible in most schools) increased forest school and PE time and they have been so much happier. The school has also incorporated ‘active learning’ days once a week where it is less classroom based, and increased play equipment for use during lunch and break time.
I have an older girl and boy, now at secondary, but they both would have responded much better to this style of learning. I think one of the problems is the immense pressure schools are under to align with the curriculum with very little funding.

Did anyone ever play chain tip? Arguably more dangerous than British dogs in its capacity for taking out vast swathes of the playground.

Kiss chase was banned in my primary too. I had to stand by The Wall all lunch time for being caught playing that.

I do not recognise

It's not lower, just different.

Yes, We all played it at primary but it was banned because kids were breaking bones.

Many parents can't. I couldn't afford after school activities for my DC and it wasn't safe for them to play outside. I know many parents in the same situation. Also one of my DSs was exhausted after school because he was an introvert, and the other one's ADHD meds wore off just before hometime, so he'd have found it impossible to listen to instructions in after school clubs.

It was knicker chase in my day, which is awful to think of now.

Yes!!! I've seen one psychologist talking about it. She said boys school are designed for boys, not mixed genders schools. I have a 4 year old who's never still and starting school in September I'd like to send him to boys school for that particular reason, but they are all public, at least in my area and can not 😭

Just off the top of my head:

• Councils setting up safe routes to schools, so every child can walk / run / scoot / cycle on that 10x weekly journey.
• Local professional sports clubs, older students doing coaching qualifications etc offer or sponsor free or low cost after school sports clubs using school or council facilities.
• Cheap voluntary organisations - Scouting, Guiding, Boys’ Brigade - focus much more on outdoor adventurous play.
• Local councils pay for play leaders to supervise at local parks and playgrounds, especially after school, at weekends and in short holidays, to improve safety. Ditto police - an active, involved police presence in every park to improve safety.
• Low cost (free to PP kids) active holiday camps / weekend clubs organised by local councils.
• Free local ‘ride outs’ on bikes and scooters, run by local bike clubs.
• Park Run
• Structure entrance fees for facilities such as swimming pools to allow cheap family swims every week.
• Structure public transport fares so that kids go free, to allow access to countryside and other open areas easily and cheaply.

It’s not just schools’ responsibility. It needs everyone working together.

When l was at school - the 1970s, so when dinosaurs ruled the earth and Adam was a lad! - we had longer school days but we had a full fifteen minutes' morning and afternoon playtimes as well as the lunch hour all the way through primary school. In secondary school, we had a fifteen minutes' morning break and a full hour for our lunch break. I think this was much better than the present system as the afternoon playtime at primary school meant that we were out of a stuffy classroom and running around in the fresh air. We all enjoyed various chasing games, especially the boys. We girls would play skipping games, either conventionally with a skipping rope or Chinese skipping with elastic. It meant that we were able to burn off some of our excess energy and settle down, refreshed, for the last hour of school. The full lunch hour at secondary school meant that there was time for various clubs - for me, the school orchestra was my thing but there were many sporting opportunities, too. I think if primary schools were to reinstate afternoon playtime and let all children be as physically active as possible in that time, behaviour would improve in the classroom. Also, minor injuries such as scraped knees or accidental bumps into another child should be soothed momentarily then briskly brushed off.

How about walking to and from school for young and teenage boys. That would use up some of their energy.

All l see is children being ferried about in cars all the time by their parents. It is a wonder that they have not forgotten how to walk.

What are you on about?

Parents move out to places where the transport is so bad that they have to be driven.

The more affluent parents in my area won't let their kids "wander the streets" ao the 24 year old next to me is driven to her private school every day. She could get a train and it would take about 40 mins but her parents are scared she will get robbed or assaulted.

Walking isn't a possibility for so many kids. We lived over 3 miles from the secondary school - that's an hour walk each way. They didn't have time for that alongside getting enough sleep, getting back in time to do homework or a club (sporting activity!). Not everyone lives near their secondary school.

Did you move to a house an hour away from schools though? Or is that a family house that you inherited and could not afford to sell?

@GlovedhandsCecilia in rural areas children can live miles away from the nearest Secondary school

Thats why I asked who chose to live in one. If its miles from the nearest secondary, you dont have to buy the house. You can buy in a town.