Detention at Playtime????

[pookie170]

Hey y'all!

 

Wondering if anyone knows the answer to this- my friends littlun attends P1 at same mainstream school as my youngest. He has been displaying lots of inappropriate behaviours, lots of hitting, telling kids and adults to shut up, not paying attention in class etc. He exudes an attitude of defiance and/or 'don't care' and the school are having lots of problems with him. He reminds me a lot of Cal at that age!! While his Mum has been trying to get the school to address this since the start of the year (I know for a fact they've earmarked her as a pest, over-reacting etc- horses mouth told me!) they have said,' He just needs to mature a bit' and ' Lets not go down that route, lets give him a chance shall we?' (A chance to do what exactly? Cause havoc? Run wild? Perhaps they think he might grow out of a condition???)

However, his behaviour has escalated and they are now seeking help, but in the meantime he is being kept inside every playtime. This can't be okay, surely? We live in Scotland so there might be some differences in policy, but are schools allowed to deny a child access to excercise and sunshine??

 

Anyone know?

 

Esther

[JsMum]

The short answer is NO they can not keep him in for his entire playtime every playtime, if they do this over dinnertime as well they are not just denying him sunshine and freshair, but the oportunity to go to the toilet, play, interact, learn key skills in social skills, learn and develop and the school are hindering his development, I wonder if he is fully supervised too, when he is kept inside at playtime.

 

The school should be addressing his difficulties and putting in place support, even if it means 1-1 at playtimes.

 

You could of described J when he was in year 1, and looking back he was discriminated against, now I ensure that J has playtimes and if any punishments its five mins off his break not the entire break, you could argue that the school are taking away his human rights.

 

What the school are doing is also making the situation worse, if he has ASD/ADHD/ODD/ ECT..... FRom what you described then he needs support in the classroom and support with social skills and in the playtime monitoring and a educational psychologist needs to observe him.

 

If I was in this position again I would put an instant stop to the banned playtimes and place a complaint in to the Schools govenors and then another one to the education Department of the SEN.

 

The way they are dealing with him will not help him change if he has development disorders.

 

He needs support and now.

 

JsMum

Edited May 28, 2008 by JsMum

[Enid]

My ds was kept in constantly at play-time, somes times for behaviour and some times for not finishing his work, especially writing which he found really difficult. it used to break my heart as I work at the adjoining pre-school and as soon as he came out at play time he used to run to the fence to say hi, knowing he would be distraught because he couldnt see me and was also missing the time to run off some energy was soul destroying, so it appears they can do it. Enid

[rach04]

My ds was being kept in at playtimes until the out reach team suggested play buddies, Basically they take ds and a group of 4 in his class and they are taught how to "play". They do team games with an lsa so it is controlled and his behaviors can be quashed before they start.

No they cannot deny him time to play. Ds was having 10 mins outside on his own until i kicked up and they kept saying it was for poor school work, hes dyslexic and dyspraxic so his handwriting, spelling etc is not his fault i said that he is always going to be these and if they think detention is going to change him they had another thing coming. A week later they had the out reach team in. Its worth asking about they must have something similar in scotland.

[darky]

Seems a bit off when you consider the governments new play strategy! I do NOT agree with keeping children in at break times. They NEED to be able to play or how else is the little guy ever going to learn some social skills? Plus, by the sounds of it, he needs to let off steam during breaks so he can function in the classroom. The advice above is really great. Have the mum write to the govenors of the school. No child should be denied outdoor play!!

[Bard]

Coming at it from a different angle, because it's about choice.

 

My B always got in trouble at playtimes in Primary, so he was given the option.

He had a 'safe place' by the school office that he could go to. If he felt that he was losing it n the playground, he could leave and go straight to his special place.

If he was sent off the playground, he had to be outside the Head's office.

He used his choice a lot, and if he'd been getting stressed in class, he went straight there. Otherwise he would be hitting and yelling at anyone who got in his way, spoke to him or 'looked at him funny' he also didn't differentiate between children. He was and is very good with babies and small toddlers, but if you were in the playground, you were all the same and got the same reaction. So if you were 4 and banged into him, and he was cross at you invading his space, he would push you. All 7 stone of him.

 

At Secondary, he was given the choice of not going to the playground at all if he chose not to.

There is a base with computers, soft chairs, the option of reading, drawing or playing games with other children who also can't handle the playground. It has an LSA based there too. And he chose to opt out of the jungle, and has been very happy.

But it's his active choice. They also do a lot of work on social skills in a more structured environment, and he participates and enjoys those sessions.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Bard

[baddad]

Hi pookie -

 

Don't know what the 'legal' situation is, but on every level I can think of it's wrong to make this a 'general' sanction. For specific incidents, it's a reasonable consequence for unreasonable behaviour, but every lunch hour for the whole hour ? -No way

Bard's highlighted an alternative perspective that's well worth thinking about, and adding to that if the child does find playtimes difficult he may well be using bad behaviour and the subsequent exclusion as a solution to that... A negative (from our POV but positive from his) reinforcer...

 

Ben used to spend quite a few breaks on a chair outside the headmistresses office and i was always okay with this 'cos it was always a last resort and i trusted the motives of the staff. If it had been too regular, and my relationship with the headmistress had been different I would have taken a very different view. (Actually, Ben's HM - after some very serious misunderstandings in primary, has been 100% supportive. We've disagreed sometimes, but knowing we disagree for genuine rather than 'administrative' reasons helps enormously. Much of that understanding and appreciation of Ben (I'm fairly sure she has a soft spot for him) probably arises from their 'outside the office' conversations! )...

 

[cmuir]

Hi

 

My son is now in P2 and the we found ourselves in a similar situation when he started P1. He caused havoc, was abusive, disruptive, defiant, etc etc (NB: he'd been diagnosed as having AS). The loss of playtime was used as a punishment. At the time I wasn't happy about it at all because my feeling was that playtime was his means of release eg running around, etc after working hard trying to concentrate, conform, etc. Thankfully it only happened a couple of times, but it did actually work! R did get the message and he has improved in a lot of areas.

 

Guess, I'd find out why he's been kept in ie if it's to prevent undesirable behaviours ie if it's a means of prevention or if he is actually misbehaving every day. If this is happening, clearly this kiddie isn't getting the message and some specialist help needs to be sought by the school to manage his behaviour.

 

Best wishes

 

Caroline

[pookie170]

Cheers guys. I have passed on your advice to my friend, who is at the end of her tether, poor soul. Whats happening now is that they have agreed with school to do a half day until the end of this year, so he will do all his core skill work but might cope better. They are getting this in writing so its all formal. Not sure what they're hoping to achieve, but its their decision. Think the Mum in particular is grateful to avoid the end of day discussion with infant head regarding her lads misdemeanours. Feel very saddened for them and angry with the school as well, as I thought them helpful when it was Cal. But when I look back on that period, I realise that there were MANY unofficial exclusions,and if I knew then what I know now, there would have been much more friction I fear.

For what its worth, Im positive that there is and ADHD?ADD?ODD type problem, but what worries me most is that the little guy is so completely emotionally detached from everyone around him. I dunno......they've been to the GP though and the school are accessing ed psych, after much pushing from parents, so I hope they get help soon.

Actually, ot sure if hes still being banned from playtime...will have to ask! They had Elijah at theirs for a while yesterday, and Im having their son over again next friday, and the above info was passed on at a certain goldenarched burger chain! Not the easiest place to have a serious discussion at!!

Seriously hough, thanks for your help, I appreciate it and the little guys mum does too!

Esther x