Pros and Cons of timeout cards

[Midlifecryses]

Looking for opinions from teachers and pastoral staff on the pros and cons of time out cards.

Post covid we are finding that so many parents and external support services (la inclusion services, EP’s, CAMHS) are requesting time out cards for students they are becoming completely pointless because there are so many students with them the time out in the corridor is too busy.

Has anyone seen any evidence that they work? Has anyone experienced a wholesale withdrawal of the cards?

They are a freakin nightmare. And they're causing havoc in the halls. Are who is responsible for the children when they ate out of sight of the teacher? And time out from what?

Time out cards. Just another cop out, instead of giving proper consequences for unacceptable behaviour. As has been stated, in this thread as well as others about behaviour, it doesn't work, "it's a nightmare". More and more kids will want time out cards, because they know it means being in the corridor instead of having to work hard.

I really think it depends how they are implemented by the school and whether they are over used (as they are in some schools).

In my school, very few children have an exit card. Those that do have it explained to them exactly what it is for, what they should do if they use it etc. The use is monitored and if pupils are misusing the card this is addressed/if necessary, the card is removed.

So, for example, I teach a girl who has ASD. She is lovely, but occasionally can become overwhelmed by something. So, the other week, she had a fall out with another child in the morning, which she was fixated on. In my lesson, she was behaving well but I could tell she wasn't herself and she politely and quietly asked me could she use her card which I allowed. When she uses her card, she knows she can either have 5 mins just outside the room for a breather or go straight to pastoral (which is what she did this time). They settled her and brought her back for the remainder of the lesson.

We don't allow children to just wander the corridor- even if they have been with pastoral/another teacher, they are escorted back to lesson.

If they are given out in large numbers with no clear boundaries for their use and no monitoring, they can be a nightmare.

We don't have timeout cards. If a student needs time out, a senior staff member is called to remove them. It's the same process as a behaviour incident but is reported differently.

Pain in the arse. Often given to students who misbehave so the lunatics are running the asylum. Teachers need to decide if and when a student needs time out and to call for assistance, not a disruptive student who's annoyed because you've told them to turn around and do some work and they want out.

The most annoying of these are students who are allowed to leave 5 mins early because they don’t like the crush, then choose to go to another classroom and hang around outside the door waiting for their mates then move off in the crush!😳