On Friday a group of primary schoolchildren and their teachers/helpers walked through our lane on the way to a visit to the church. These kids are about 8/9 years old and are all village kids or from surrounding villages so it’s not like they are in a strange or built up area.
They were all dressed in fluorescent tabards, they were all holding on to some sort of rope with loops for their hands and they all looked terrified! My adult son was outside cleaning his car and he came in and said “those poor kids, have you seen them? God knows what will happen if they see a car they will be petrified.”
I know schools have to be very careful and there are all these health and safety rules but we felt this was well over the top in a rural village.
Today I was talking to a man who used to be a support worker in a special needs school and he said he left because of all the rules and regulations, paperwork etc. He said if a child fell over they were not allowed to help them up but they were to call an ambulance! He said 10 staff took 12 kids on a local beach trip one time and by the time they had done all the risk assessments and followed things to the letter, the kids got half an hour on the beach. He said that the trip was planned months ahead and two of the staff had to go on a Beach Awareness course. We both agreed that taking kids to a beach is just commonsense, like putting on loads of suncream, wearing a hat and never taking your eyes off the kids, watching tides etc which is what all parents and grandparents do anyway.
I’m so glad my kids grew up when they did and were able to run about, explore and just relax without being told to hold on to ropes and wear high viz tabards for a walk round their village.
Apparently, children aren’t allowed to run now, because it’s dangerous!
Seriously. My daughter in law used to work in a playgroup in a big hall with lots of nice space and a garden But when they got inspected they got told off for letting the children run, indoors and outdoors
When I taught little ones I was a hands on teacher. I cuddled them if they were upset…probably get suspended nowadays.
On one occasion when I was doing supply teaching work (when my own kids were growing up) I was on playground duty and a little girls fell in the playground and cut her knee. It was an accident. I picked her up and carried her into the cloakroom, grabbed a chair from an adjacent classroom, sat her down and began to clean her up with cold water and a few paper towels.
Next thing the Rottweiler (school secretary) came roaring in demanding to know what I was doing.
Ticked me off as I “wasn’t the official First Aider and didn’t even have a First Aid Certificate”.
I said, “What ?? I’ve brought up four children of my own, one of them with mobility issues and special needs, snd you dare to tell me I don’t know what I’m doing??”
She then lectured me about Rules and Regulations blah blah blah…
I went home at the end of that day and never went back.
Years later I heard the Rottweiler had been caught with her hands in the till (so to speak) and left under a cloud. Hah!!! My spell worked!
Thats interesting Ruthio…of course anyone’s first instinct would be to help/hug/ a child if they had hurt themselves! I would find it more awkward not to do anything! How could you stand back in the face of a crying child and say “Sorry I can’t help you its against the rules” Nope.
might be said it’s a cliche but oh how I am glad I was allowed to be a child.
I hear that children aren’t allowed egg and spoon race, 3 legged race, sack race etc, oh boy, I loved that, it really was such fun, even if you fell down.
Can’t play conkers or marbles I don’t think either.
My daughter and I were only talking today about the way children are mollycoddled at school these days. Specifically, what they call ‘transition days’. Her little girl had her first of two transition days today - i.e. all the year 2 pupils went to their year 3 class. Obviously the whole school were doing this - year 1 spending the two days in year 2, year 3 in year 4 etc.
Why? Would it really be such a shock, so terrifying for them to go straight to their new year class, for the first time, in September? Neither my nor my kids’ generation had these ‘transition days’, and I don’t recall any trauma as a result. We just went up to the next class, like everyone else, in September. Problem? None whatever. So why are we teaching our kids that going up to a higher class is something to be a bit wary of, something they need to be gently led by the hand to get used to before the big day?
No wonder so many youngsters say they have mental health issues - we’re encouraging it.
When I was at the school in May, the primary 7’s were doing their “visiting” days. Their little faces looked traumatised, I must say. You have to wonder what the teachers say to them before they go! I loved going to high school after primary, it was so exciting not knowing what to expect…now it seems they get the fear of god put into them And my kids didn’t get the visiting days either, but I don’t recall them being too bothered.
It’s nt it sad how girls at secondary schools no longer wears summer dresses… They just have these black skirts which they hoick up to just about a level which is barely decent .
You put that really well Bathsheba! In my day there was no such thing as a transition day either. I went from a tiny village school with about 40 kids to a grammar school with nearly 500 kids in a town I had only visited about 3 times. I was the only child from our school to go there that year but there were a couple of older kids who I knew but only slightly.
I think these transition days and talking about what MIGHT happen sows seeds of doubt in kids minds and causes anxiety.
I caught the school bus, the journey took nearly an hour and we were literally thrown in the deep end. I can’t remember any kid having a meltdown or panic attack. I made friends there who I am still friends with now.
Exactly @Flowerpower! Your experience would be viewed today as something that needed ‘careful handling’, and as a result you’d likely be a little worried about it all, whereas you manager the change just fine all by yourself!
And my kids didn’t get the visiting days either, but I don’t recall them being too bothered.