General Chat

....that when your children are in school the teachers are supposed to be responsible for the welfare of your children, i'd like your opinions on this.. at my girls school this week its been anti bullying week,yesterday they all had to wear blue to support it.parents weren't told but all the children were to hold hands froming a ring around the school.my youngest daughter had a blue t shirt on,which we thought was ok. my girls came home from school and told me they had to stand around the school but weren't allowed to put their coats on as it would spoil the look. so my 8 yr old is stood outside for 10/15 mins in just a t shirt.one teacher told her to jump around if she was cold. funnily enough the teachers all had jackets on. UPDATE hubby went to see headteacher this morning and he said we were only meant to be out there for 10 mins but it took 20 but it was sunny!!!! as my husband explained our daughter ,who has asthma,is now full of a cold and although were not saying it was caused by this it certainly didn't help.the head said he will bring it up at the staff meeting and will apologise to our daughter.thanks for all your opiniond

Teachers cant win, can they? They try to really raise awareness of bullying and they are jumped on Sorry it sems like anti-teacher week Jess

hang on , it was incredibly cold yesterday, you try standing outside for that time in just a t shirt ! i totally support anti bulling especially as one of my daughters has been bullied i fully support teachers but this was wrong

You have obviously made your mind up then. You have decided they WERE wrong! ok

I wasn't going to reply as I have not a clue who I am speaking to (Christmas alias is so confusing) but. Are you sure that your girls didn't forget to tell you that they would be standing outside? don't automatically blame the teachers children can be so forgetful. although maybe a letter to parents explaining would have been better. Ann glos

It was a good idea, but in view of how cold it was, a little irresponsible to let them out without a coat. I stood in the playground for just under an hour at lunchtime and five minutes was freezing enough with a coat. I would speak to the headteacher and place your disapproval. Our school all wore blue yesterday (but the supplier for the bands let us down) My daughter wore jeans and a blue thin hooded top. But i did put a vest and a t shirt underneath because of the cold. Id also like to add, that, at lunchtimes us lunchtime assistants do try to insist the children wear their coats, but many wont, and we cant force them to. Many take off their coats once in the playground, and yesterday a six year old lad told me his mum thought it was sunny, and he wouldn't NEED a coat...Thick parent or what ? Elaine x

Jess, If my kids had to stand outside for ten minutes in yesterdays freezing wind,(without a coat) then I too would be a tad annoyed. and I totally support the staff, but at the end of the day, The stunt could have been done with them wearing their coats on. Elaine x (who also wore blue for my lunchtime stint)

Ann, its Karen in Portsmouth. no the girls didn't forget to tell me ,i phoned a couple of parents and they didn't know either. Elaine, i agree many children do take their coats of during lunchtime and if mine had done that it would have been their own fault but it wasn't lunchtime.i think for the teachers to have had their coats on too is like rubbing salt in the wound. Jess, yes i have made their mind up,they were WRONG, especially as the school sent a letter home telling us to make sure the children had a jumper for outside pe.

I can understand why this has upset you, it was very cold yesterday. How many other children were wearing just T shirts? If I organised an event like that then the children would have known about the circle outside before the actual day. Maybe the teacher didn't tell her or maybe your daughter forgot what she'd been told. In her teacher's place I would have said she could go back inside, if she wanted to, but then she wouldn't have been able to take part in the circle. Perhaps the local press were there taking photos to raise awareness about bullying so it was important to see that all children were wearing blue. Teaching gets harder and harder - we aren't perfect, we make mistakes. So do children, please make sure you get the full story before you go in guns blazing. Gwynne

Hi Gwynne, i know kids do forget things but i have 2 girls there and i've phoned a couple of other parents and none of them knew.i do support the idea but i do not support children being made to stand outside on a freezing day like that.no my daughter wasn't the only one like it. my husband is going to see the headmaster on monday to ask about it.

If it was a wear blue day for anti bullying, why on earth, with it being so cold , didnt you layer them up in blue? Jumpers fleeces etc? I cant belive neither of them has a blue jumper or fleece, why didnt they wear it?

You are most definitely right. they should look after your child when he/she is at school. It seems to me, having read some of the threads on this site lately that todays mothers are far too lenient with todays teachers. Yes teatchers should be respected, but like all of us respect is something they must earn. Respect is not paid out with their salary. Your poor girls must have been frozen. Deanna X

Sorry Deanna - that has made me cross. Not exactly been many threads praising the wonderful job a teacher has done , have there? No, because it it taken for granted. Without Quality teachers your kids would be up a gum tree jess

Due to the extream weather yesterday, maybe it would have been a good idea to change the location to in the hall, that way all would have been better off, the teachers knew it was cold that is why they wore their coats. Bev

Karen, Hi, thanks for identifying yourself. I actually think that where the teacher was wrong was in making them stay outside. If they were not to be in the line then surely they didn't need to be there. Surely they were not the only two? And am I to assume that, although they were not in the line, they still didn't have coats on? I think your husband need to ask questions before he starts 'shouting' about it, just to get the story right. Ann Glos

Kristmas, Worried I'll be jumped on now, but you are seeking opinions. I do feel 15 mins in a shirt yesterday sounds irresponsible in yesterdays cold. However, it is hard to strongly condem it without being there for the full story. Were they allowed hats or gloves on? Was your daughter given the chance to slip her sports T-shirt underneath? Were the class rushed outside when the school got the signal, giving the teacher no time to check who was dressed warmly enough? Some teachers do have a 'toughen up and stop whinging' attitude. Others won't let them venture out until zipped up warmly. It's a mix. Just like every other walk of life. (My daughters school sports club ends after dark with them being turfed out into the icy cold in pumps, shorts and T shirt. The Headteacher has taken to standing guard by the final exit and making them dress warmly right there in the lobby before she will let them go.) RW

Jess My son had a blue fleece, but my daughter has hardly anything blue.(shes miss pink) And not all parents can afford to kit them out in a new top for one day. I tried to look in the shops for cheap warm blue tops, but only found some in Asda, but they diddnt have my daughters size. As said, I layered my daughters clothes with a t shirt underneath. But at our school, its so hot inside, a too thick top is going to do more harm than good. But I would have put a cardi of any colour over just a t shirt. Elaine x

Deanna, My parents taught me to respect teachers and all my elders. Perhaps if parents of today did the same we would have fewer louts roaming the streets. That's not to say that they did nothing if there was a problem at school but they approached the school with good manners and things were sorted out. We go into teaching because we like children and enjoy working with them, with our qualifications we could earn a lot more elsewhere but we teach because we feel we have a vocation. As I said before we are not perfect and parents should not expect us to be unless they have never made any mistakes themselves. Do you know how many teachers are abused and assaulted by parents each year? No wonder teachers are leaving the job in droves. As Jess said it would be nice to see teachers praised on here once in a while. Gwynne

I've thought about this and if I'm honest Kracker, I'd agree with you. I hasten to add that hubby and I support our kids' school on the whole (unlike some parents round here, who try and jump on the 'I know my kids' rights' bandwagon) but we really do question some of the more common-sense matters that are raised. I could go on and mention incidents, but I'd be digressing from the thread. x

Thank goodness these days are long gone for me.... I wore a lot of blue as a child and NEVER had anything blue for my kids!! lol. Seriously ..... Jess you are right we do not praise enough.... teachers, nurses, doctors etc.... shop assistants, office workers, factory workers.... in fact anyone who gets paid to do a job... we all like a bit of praise for what we do. In general I would say we all think teachers have a hard job and mostly do it well. In saying that I'm sure Karen is also a caring parent and she is right to be upset at her child standing out in the cold with just a T-shirt. I expect she had a cardi but classrooms are usually very warm so the T-shirt was adequate for inside. A letter should have been sent explaining what was happening to the parents and then maybe something could have been catered for to borrow a blue fleece or whatever! My daughter is a manager at a Nursery School and the rules they have to work to this could not have happened. Let's praise were needed but let's also be aware that teachers are not infallible, they are after all just like us..... human. To err is human, to forgive devine!!! Jacquie.... (on her hobby horse! lol)