I have a seemingly irrational dislike of the new 'Stars Of the Week' system at dds primary

[PoorOldEnid]

and I wonder why

Is it because of an intrinsic dislike of anything 'happy clappy' or holiday camp-ish

or ARE there any downsides to them

Teachers pick one or two children a week to be the STARS - the reason is put on a board in the reception area of teh school eg " Enids dd is a STAR because she is reliable and helpful to others"

[PoorOldEnid]

well we will see next week

I think all year 4 girls have been star of the week already

they had two of them this week

it should be dd1s turn next week

[ProfYaffle]

Dd1 was star of the week in her first week at school, she was sooooo pleased. dh and I actually took a photo of the board with her name on it

(yes she is a PFB, how did you know??)

I assumed all the kids would get it though, bit shit if they don't.

[muppetgirl]

Sorry, my point already made. (Must read thread before posting....)

I believe children should be simply told well done for doing something good. I don't get a sticker sent to me when I pay my car tax.... Are we really setting our children up for really life by plastering them with stickers, sotw and the such like?

[Oliveoil]

we have 3 chances to shine at our school

they do merit awards, lunch time awards and Another One which I forget atm

Reception classes get a certificate and a badge, I think all other years just get a mention

I LOVE IT as last year dd1's fab teacher put her down for a lunchtime award when she had eaten her lunch (and wasn't sick with nerves) for the first time in 2 weeks

dd2 probably won't give a shit but dd1 comes home all proud and beaming

[LadyMuck]

It shouldn't be a problem if well managed. Thought admittedly it can be quite difficult to actually award to some kids especially if they are managing to play up on a Friday just before it gets awarded.

But any reward/punishment system can be dire if badly managed. How many of us have forgotten to keep going on consistently with sticker charts at home? Or is that just me?

Ds2 got to bring home a toy kangaroo for an entire term (complete with detachable joey) for his efforts last summer. I assume he got the nice but dim prize as the brightest boy came home with a cup...

[FabioVicePeeperPlopper]

Boco do you send your children to the School of Abysmal Ideas? D'you think they all get cracked up off their faces in the staffroom and come up with this kind of shite?

So you could work v vv v v v hard, and get 20 raffle tickets, meanwhile thick violent child gets one, but then wins the raffle!

Gambling now, they'll be muggings for raffle tickets next. They will become playground currency, exchanged for skag.

[Buda]

But muppetgirl you DO get a sticker for paying your car tax! (Well a disc anyway )

DCs are funny though about things. DS's school also give merit points throughout the day - all in teams and team with most at end of year gets a non-uniform day. Anyway - one day last week DSs best friend got quite a few more than DS. The next day DS said "X didn't get ANY merit points today" in a very satisfied tone. Oh, said I, "how many did you get then?" "None" was the reply. LOLed at how it was more worthy of comment that his pal hadn't gotten any!

[muppetgirl]

lol!

[muppetgirl]

Ladymuck -did the behaviour you were trying to encourage stop when you forgot to give the stickers?

[PoorOldEnid]

they have teams now too

dd1 HATES it

[LadyMuck]

Well when I forget the stickers etc I end up nagging them to do whatever it is.

We have a class meeting for parents at the start of term. Our class teacher told us very earnestly that we had to ensure that the dcs remembered to bring in their library books on Fridays "because there is a competition to see which class remembers, and I always like to win the competition". Very scarey!

[ingles2]

LOL at raffle tickets!
it's ridiculous though.. ds1 was perfect pupil 6 weeks on the trot... all that means is ds1 and his 4 football mates voted between themselves every week, and ds1 probably blackmailed them!
I don't mind stickers for just about anything in Infants, but I think they should only be for great work at Junior level

[muppetgirl]

I cannot believe these teachers...

Competition is fab and a real life necessity but over bloody library books??????

I was a teacher and would have never joined in such crap.

[lucykate]

at dd's school they do star of the day, dh hates it as its awarded not because of any kind of achievement, but for compliance.

[muppetgirl]

Yes, lucykate
It's all about control not achievement.

[PoorOldEnid]

yeah! stick it to the man

I agree it is about control

shite

[ingles2]

Go on then Enid.....
Tell your teacher you don't want dd to be SOTW cos it's all shite!

[Issy]

We have this, although since the DDs' school really is 'Miss Minchin's Academy for Young Ladies' (cf Enid's post) it's a "girdle" (I kid you not- a sort of sash thing), one for 'Good Conduct' and one for 'Excellent Work' per class. Whenever I ask the DDs why they got the girdle this particular week they always look entirely blank and reply 'Dunno' - so that's effective behaviour modification then.

Until recently I'd assumed that it was allocated on a 'buggin's turn' principle, particularly in the younger classes. However, one despairing mother told me that her daughter was never once awarded a girdle in Reception as her behaviour was too 'poor'! I don't know if the child was upset by a girdle-drought, but the mother sure as hell was.

[frogs]

Ds's class just failed to win the monthly attendance award because I pickes him up 15 minutes early one time to visit a secondary school open day.

So all his class are blaming him because they only got 99.7% attendance (twas only 15 mins FFS) and failed to get the trophy that month.

Now that sucks.

[Guadalupe]

I wouldn't mind stars so much, it's the singing
instructions that drive me mad, and dd can't stand it either. Imagine being told to sit on the carpet to the tune of Greensleeves every morning.

[muppetgirl]

frogs -that's utter utter crap for your ds

[frogs]

Guadelupe, then abandoned that in my dc's former primary school, because when the teacher sweetly sang, "Y4, are you listening, are you listening" her (notoriously disruptive) class would sing back "No, we're not, no we're not".

You had to admire their style, really.

[Cocolepew]

My DDs school have good behaviour, honesty etc certificates that get given out at monthly assemblies. Star books for work, if you get 10 stars you pick a prize from the prize box. This is good as it's up to the teacher who gets a star for work. DD got 2 in one day last week . When I asked her why she replied " I agreed with Mrs. X to do the work her way instead of my way. Which is usually wrong. She (Mrs x) said to trust her she knows what she's talking about. We'll just have to wait and see if she is right."
DD is 6.

[muppetgirl]

Frogs -I would have never sung that to my year 4's!!! They would have peed themselves laughing!!!

[edam]

Picked up ds and a friend who was coming to play last week. First thing friend said to me was 'I got THREE house points today'. He was really happy, so I (naturally, wasn't being horrid competitive mum, honest) said 'Well done, what were they for?'

Playing nicely
Sitting quietly
Drawing a good picture.

They are in Year One so I suppose it all counts, but suspect the teachers are making it VERY easy to gain points. Or the teacher in the friend's class, anyway.

Ds, on the other hand, confessed he'd been told off for talking when he should have been drawing and made to change tables. Only 'its OK Mummy because I had to sit next to Matthew and he's my friend'. Seems to have drawn the wrong lesson from that one!