School Holiday Fines

Jagraf

Spendless wrote: »

I was bemused this morning to find a letter in my DD'S schoolbag, saying that there is an 'Enrichment Day' next week and what some of the pupils would like to do for it is watch the football match England vs Wales and any pupil can go and watch in the school hall and if they don't want to they can do independent study at school. The ones who do chose to watch footie can either watch until the end or leave part way through so they can catch the bus home. Wonder what the reaction would have been if I'd rung up requesting child come home to watch a football match?

The difference is the school will be responsible for ensuring what they have missed will be caught up. The difference with a parent doing it is that they expect others to make up the work on their behalf. You could ask whatis being covered on enrichment day and they will tell you.

I remember sitting watching a space launch at school on TV (many moons ago) and it was great to watch telly with my school friends, debating, talking about space, having our own personal views and sharing them with our school friends. Great teamwork as a class.

Mojisola

tomtontom wrote: »

Said teachers are already busy helping those that have been off on their jollies!

I would provide parents with a list of the work their children have missed but I wouldn't spend my time helping them catch up.

Jagraf

Mojisola wrote: »

I would provide parents with a list of the work their children have missed but I wouldn't spend my time helping them catch up.

And no way should you either.

Jagraf

duchy wrote: »

Speaking as someone who went and worked in a school for a year to help me decide if I wanted to go back to qualify as a teacher so probably have more insight than I did as just a parent with friends who are teachers.....I believe many teachers who have no industry or commercial experience don't understand that few graduate positions are a straight 40 hour week and they aren't nearly as hard done by as they believe and if you tot up the extra hours including lesson planning and marking they still stack up the same or slightly less hours annually than other graduates although the distribution is different.

I contributed to the teacher shortage too as although I loved my year working in what was to be polite a challenging high school it wasn't the work or even the challenges of the kids that put me off it was the pettiness of the management structure and the fact that teachers are often put in situations where the politics of education come before the best practices for the students. I saw too many incredible teachers either quit or become demotivated by it.

What was challenging about the school?

maman

Spendless wrote: »

I was bemused this morning to find a letter in my DD'S schoolbag, saying that there is an 'Enrichment Day' next week and what some of the pupils would like to do for it is watch the football match England vs Wales and any pupil can go and watch in the school hall and if they don't want to they can do independent study at school. The ones who do chose to watch footie can either watch until the end or leave part way through so they can catch the bus home. Wonder what the reaction would have been if I'd rung up requesting child come home to watch a football match?

Schools often put on enrichment activities at this time of the year to enable children to do some of the things that are getting squeezed out of the curriculum by the pursuit of league tables. Sport is a typical choice. I don't think it's unreasonable to offer watching the game as an option and your child doesn't have to choose it if it doesn't interest them.
It's easy to forget that there's more to school than just exams. I've known children very disappointed because they've missed school sports because parents took them on holiday.

Spendless

Jagraf wrote: »

The difference is the school will be responsible for ensuring what they have missed will be caught up. The difference with a parent doing it is that they expect others to make up the work on their behalf. You could ask whatis being covered on enrichment day and they will tell you.

I remember sitting watching a space launch at school on TV (many moons ago) and it was great to watch telly with my school friends, debating, talking about space, having our own personal views and sharing them with our school friends. Great teamwork as a class.

I've had at least one child at this school since 2011 and they have NEVER had an Enrichment afternoon (not day, my mistake). Nothing is being covered. It's either watch the game and leave before the end if you want to, or go and do individual study (ie catch up on homework/revise for end of year exams). DD says she has no interest in watching football so will go to the study session. Her older brother, who is taking GCSE's and isn't affected as he has no exams at that time, thinks she's nuts. He'd have watched the football (that he also has no interest in) as an alternative to having to study.

This is a Secondary school, so there won't be any group debates, talking about football etc the following day as each child watching will be in a different class/subject/year, some are leaving part way through the game and the others straight after the match and it doesn't involve the whole school anyway.

I see this school has had to do a U turn over wanting to shut early over the same thing.
http://news.sky.com/story/1708336/school-performs-u-turn-over-euro-2016-half-day

Jagraf

Spendless wrote: »

I've had at least one child at this school since 2011 and they have NEVER had an Enrichment afternoon (not day, my mistake). Nothing is being covered. It's either watch the game and leave before the end if you want to, or go and do individual study (ie catch up on homework/revise for end of year exams). DD says she has no interest in watching football so will go to the study session. Her older brother, who is taking GCSE's and isn't affected as he has no exams at that time, thinks she's nuts. He'd have watched the football (that he also has no interest in) as an alternative to having to study.

This is a Secondary school, so there won't be any group debates, talking about football etc the following day as each child watching will be in a different class/subject/year, some are leaving part way through the game and the others straight after the match and it doesn't involve the whole school anyway.

I see this school has had to do a U turn over wanting to shut early over the same thing.
http://news.sky.com/story/1708336/school-performs-u-turn-over-euro-2016-half-day

Enrichment days are there to inform the curriculum / phse / citizenship and purely the name indicates that the school should be doing this. They cannot just stop glh and have an afternoon off for no reason whatsoever.

Interesting article - two wrongs don't make a right and schools should not imo shut for the footy any more than parents should remove their children from their entitlement to compulsory education.

Spendless

Jagraf wrote: »

Enrichment days are there to inform the curriculum / phse / citizenship and purely the name indicates that the school should be doing this. They cannot just stop glh and have an afternoon off for no reason whatsoever.

Interesting article - two wrongs don't make a right and schools should not imo shut for the footy any more than parents should remove their children from their entitlement to compulsory education.

What's glh? Ok, just looked that up. The school is a (converter) academy. Does that make a difference?

Spendless

maman wrote: »

Schools often put on enrichment activities at this time of the year to enable children to do some of the things that are getting squeezed out of the curriculum by the pursuit of league tables. Sport is a typical choice. I don't think it's unreasonable to offer watching the game as an option and your child doesn't have to choose it if it doesn't interest them.
It's easy to forget that there's more to school than just exams. I've known children very disappointed because they've missed school sports because parents took them on holiday.

The school has done Enrichment days before, a few per year. My DD went orienteering in a nearby woods, my DS has done Japanese writing to give some examples. This isn't an Enrichment day, it's an Enrichment Afternoon (I described it incorrectly to how it's worded earlier), the likes of which has never been offered in the past 5 year.

If I wanted to take my child out to watch football at home instead, with their Dad and assorted relatives, who would have been watching the sport for more years than a bunch of teens have and have more time to discuss the game, than school will give the opportunity to as kids are either leaving part way or straight after the match, I'm likely to have been refused. Likewise if I want to take my child out next week, to go to a local museum or the wildlife park, all of which are educational, I'm unlikely to be allowed to do that either, because instead she must stay in class and do 'independent study' which let's face it she can do in her bedroom at home that evening.

Schools can't have it both ways, if every lesson counts, then that includes the ones that should be running next week when England play Wales at football!

pollypenny

This is interesting. I wonder how many other schools are doing this.

Years ago, when a World Cup was on somewhere that the games were early, our school showed them from about 8am in a couple of rooms and shortened tutor group time.

The rugby fans were expecting the same for the next Rugby WC, but no luck, with our Liverpool-mad deputy head.