Not a teacher but should I report this?

[Whythephoto]

Sorry to jump into an area of the forum in which I don’t belong. I’m not a teacher, but as part of a job I do, I am in and out of the school quite often. (Being purposely vague here.)

I’ve seen something that I’m uncomfortable with. But I don’t know if I’m unreasonable in my assessment.

There is a child in FS1. She seems to be in trouble quite often. Sometimes when she is in trouble she is brought to the offices and made to sit on the floor outside of them. I’ve seen her there for probably 20 minutes but I don’t know if she’s actually there longer (and of course other times could be shorter). The area direct.y outside of the office is an internal communal area.

Is this an appropriate way to discipline?

I should add, I’ve never questioned any discipline (I volunteer at my child’s school - a different school) and have seen various kids being disciplined and have never questioned anything. I believe that schools time, their choice.

But this just doesn’t feel right.

The child is 3 or 4.

Should I report it? I’m loathed to do it direct to the school - the Head is notoriously defensive (I’ve witnessed this first hand).

Does a teacher, SLT any member of staff come out and talk to her. Is she just sitting on the floor outside the Heads Office?

From what I’ve witnessed, they come out when she gets restless for example, sitting crossed legged but puts her head down onto the floor in front of her, or if she reaches across the carpet towards a pencil or something. I’ve never seen her getting up, just what I’d class as fidgeting. When they come out to her at those points, it’s to tell her to sit still etc.

In fact, one time I saw the SLT member of staff motion to her with her finger to sit up. No words just like a flick up with her finger.

I’ve never seen them interact with her about why she is sat there but I’ve never seen her put there so they could have had a conversation with her. But as I said, I’ve seen her sat there for 20 minutes without any conversation other than telling her to sit still etc.

Sometimes she is outside of an admin office and other times she’s outside of the SEN office (both face into different parts of the internal communal area). Not sure if that’s relevant.

Not sure I see much wrong with this. I assume the child isn't behaving in class, is causing disruption in the classroom, so has a consequence of sitting outside the Heads office for a boring time with little interaction. I guess the idea is that if she misbehaves, she learns that she gets no attention and would be better off behaving. I'm making assumptions here, but if she is not behaving, she needs to learn it's unacceptable.

Well said. This sounds as if the school are actually dealing with behaviour and removing the disruptive pupil so that the rest of the class can learn. This makes a refreshing change from the usual being invited into the heads office for a hot chocolate and play with Lego! Kids need boundaries and consequences if they break these. Sitting outside the head’s office isn’t meant to be fun…

Does the child seem distressed?

Agree with Primaryteacherabc, broadly. But it does depend on her presentation.

I would assume she's there for a good reason.

It's not unusual for Nursery and Reception classes to be dealing with extremely challenging behaviour at times. Sometimes, for the safety and wellbeing of the class and staff, children need removing from the classroom. Sitting outside the office isn't just a consequence reserved for older children. I understand it can be unpleasant seeing a child so young outside the office as it can he hard to imagine how a child that young could be that disruptive, but sometimes it's necessary.

The length of time would concern me slightly, as 20 minutes is a lifetime at that age. However, unless you've been sat watching for the whole 20 minutes I'd say it's likely you don't know the full story of what interactions have occurred during that time.

I might be happier if she was sat on chair.

It's possibke they are trying to get her to understand that attention-seeking behaviour leads to getting no attention.

Thanks all. I absolutely agree, I’m not there the whole time and certainly not witness to the behaviour that caused the consequence.

To answer, no she doesn’t seem distressed. In fact she doesn’t say a word when I’ve been in earshot.

Thank you for your responses. I will put to the back of my mind now.