Dorcas Hayes, 33, was shocked when she discovered her son had spent the afternoon at Countess Wear Community School washing cars and cleaning driveways.
Kai, 7, was among a group of Year 2 to Year 6 pupils, all aged between six and 11, who were taken out of class to raise just under £200 for the school in the 'bob a job' day exercise.
However Dorcas branded it 'hypocritical' of the school, after claiming she was told she would be fined £60 if she took her son out of lessons for a holiday.Hmmm, what does the school have to say for itself?
Headteacher Catherine Rees defended the decision.*settles in with popcorn*
She told MailOnline: "Families at Countess Wear Community School receive a newsletter from the school every week, keeping them informed of all aspects of school life. The newsletter is emailed to all parents, posted on the school website and a paper copy is available from the school office.
"Developing positive links with our local community is a central part of our school's aims and we have incredibly supportive and involved families and members of our community. We actively encourage involvement from our community and at our recent Farmers' Market and Ground Force Day, we had a super turnout from local residents.
"We want all our children to grow up as caring, active and responsible members of their community. During our recent week of volunteering, we have received many positive messages thanking our staff and children for their hard work in the local community."Funny. I thought 'educating children to read, write and add up' would be a central part of a school's aims. How terribly old-fashioned of me...
H/T: @RudaMalpa via Twitter
Why is it that most, if not all, of these stupid 'don't teach the children anything' ideas come from female head teachers?
ReplyDeleteIs it because they don't have a clue about running a school or how to teach?
Dorcas can always tell the school her child will be washing cars and sweeping driveways on the Costa del Sol, or wherever, in order to raise funds for local schools. Problem solved.
ReplyDeletePenseivat
Ivan 11.01
ReplyDeleteI suspect the main problem is the age (or lack of it) of the head teachers concerned - although positive discrimination (whether acknowledged or not) and the fear factor now associated with working with children means that the vast majority are female. The call for 'dynamic' young head teachers willing to push the more egregious requirements of a progressive curriculum has produced a monstrous regiment of inexperienced and arrogant fast-tracked 'leaders' in our schools all, thanks to social media, trying outdo each other in headline-grabbing initiatives.
Add to that the ludicrously low entry qualifications required for teacher training in the late 1990s and early 2000s and the resulting likelihood is that today's thirty-something aspirants have no concept of academic rigour, let alone any idea of how to apply it.
Actually, I think that doing some genuine work for a day has a lot of educational value. The problem, correctly identified by the mum in question, is the stupid rules regarding term time holidays. These rules were originally brought in to tackle feckless parents who were failing to ensure that their offspring were attending school. Who could possibly have predicted that such rules would end up being misused?
ReplyDeleteAlso, as a child of the fifties, I can't help thinking that if a thirty-something headmistress had been in charge of the ritual morning bottom whackings, some of us might have miss-behaved on purpose.
Stonyground
The school is merely demonstrating to its pupils that, once their school days are over, there is more to life than asking, "Do you want fries with that?"
ReplyDelete"Why is it that most, if not all, of these stupid 'don't teach the children anything' ideas come from female head teachers?"
ReplyDeleteWhat MacHeath said, they are overwhelmingly female as a demographic, of course.
"...a monstrous regiment of inexperienced and arrogant fast-tracked 'leaders'..."
Well said.
"Who could possibly have predicted that such rules would end up being misused?"
Anyone who knows anything about the nature of humanity?
"The school is merely demonstrating to its pupils that, once their school days are over, there is more to life than asking, "Do you want fries with that?""
My local MaccyD is busy replacing order-taking staff with touchscreens. So they may not even have that!