Holy crap, the Y5 girls. Survival tips please!

[TropicalPopical]

Easily spent an hour this week explaining in detail that no, Boris Johnson did not mean that Olivia couldn't sit with you at lunchtime and that 'the rule of 6' is not applicable in school.

Please send wise advice from those who have survived this hell

Oooh this is my speciality 😉 Just accept that you won’t be able to fix a damn thing and they would actually be upset if there was no drama to be upset about. I swear most of them enjoy it.

How much do you get involved in the stories? I’m definitely not having a worry box or any of that drama.

I’m in secondary but I have a girl who is in Year 5. God they are a dramatic pain in the arse at that age.
Lots of love and gin being sent to all the year 5 teachers

Maybe you teach my eldest granddaughter. In which case I apologise. She loves you, though.

Pretend to listen, lots of uhuh and yeah then carry on with your day. A pp is right, they thrive off the drama! The only problem is when the mums join in. Had 2 girls who hated each other once, mums hated each other too and had once had an actual fight on the playground.

Following...NQT in y5

Maybe just explain bubbles and then say this is the last time I am explaining it . As others have said listen and say I understand and then maybe suggest some ways to help with certain situations. Their hormones are all over the place in year 5 , they seem to settle again though X

Also keep an eye out for the ones that don't thrive on the dramatics as I think they struggle more and may need a kind ear , every now and then

Get them to put everything in writing, in a fairly formal way; what the writer did/said/possibly looked like they might be about to do/say, what the other person did/said, what the issue is, what sensible steps the writer has taken to resolve the issue and an outline of what she's hoping you will do. Have notebooks reserved for this purpose and get all those involved to write in theirs every day. Undertake to read them daily and if you can bring yourself to, write a comment along the lines of 'that sounds like a tricky lunchtime' so they've had their drama acknowledged but without any opportunity to perform to an audience or to dominate the class. Having to put everything in writing often helps focus their minds and most will quickly decide that if they have to go to the trouble of writing everything down so specific details about their own involvement are included, it might be preferable to to avoid it.

I've found using notebooks like this really effective for reducing the end of lunchtime dramas but also as a tool for children flick back through and to notice patterns in their behaviour. It takes training of the class for the process to run smoothly but it's definitely worth it.

WRT the playground dramas, get them well trained in telling the adult on duty and not you. It might sound like you are pushing it onto someone else but 9 times out of 10 the issue has already been dealt with and you are getting the second wave of drama.