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dinky73

Issues with Golden Time.

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My dd is 9 and has AS, Dyspraxia & Sensory Provessing Disorder (sensory seeking). We moved her to a new school last Sept and on the whole she is doing well. There are only 18 in her class which we hoped would help a lot. Generally she does well but the school has high behaviour expectations and I feel she is losing GT for quite minor things. GT was always an issue at her old school and I can see it being an issue here too. The SENCO is very good but I just don't think dd's class teacher really gets her.

 

This week she lost 5 mins GT because she waited for a friend and they therefore were late going to the cloakroom as asked ( the friend asked my dd to wait for her), she lost another 5 for talking in Art, a boy who had been talking to her a lot had been moved but then asked her a direct question and she turned and answered him. The last one makes me very angry, while sitting on the carpet waiting to join GT on Fri afternoon two pupils were laughing, dd said she was sitting with her eyes closed so she opened them and asked why they were laughing. They didn't answer & stopped laughing, the teacher asks dd what's going on, she says I was asking why they were laughing and teacher tells dd that's she is being silly and her behaviour is "atrocious". She takes another 5 mins of GT away. I don't think talking was allowed on the carpet but the others didn't lose it for laughing & the use of atrocious IMO is extreme.

 

I just feel what's she is doing is using punishment to constantly control anything that dd does that not allowed. It's all minor stuff but dd was so upset ( not at school but when she told us). I am writing a letter to SENCO today to say I'm not happy with the GT system. It's not attainable for her and it's based on punishment rather than praise & encouragement. Any suggestions of a good system to replace it with? Not sure if they even would change it to suit her. She does so well, very bright and didn't lose any GT last week (wasn't praised or rewarded for it though)!

 

I don't want GT to become such an issue again. She's promised she won't lose anymore and that just makes me sad because inevitably something will happen in the week and she will be upset. Where is the motivation if you lose 5 min on a Monday morning, then get punished on Fri afternoon?

 

Hate that system. I want to write a good letter about how it's not good for ASD kids and the teacher isn't using it fairly.

 

Thanks

Dinks

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It sounds like they are trying to put all the blame on your daughter. She can not help her aspergers - i would be doing the same asking why they are laughing because i would see that as bullying. I think your right to put in a complaint. I do feel they maybe taking advantage of her aspergers- is this school mainstream provision?

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Yes it's an independent mainstream school. I've emailed SENCO, who I have a good relationship with, hopefully they'll take my concerns on board.

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The golden time is a bit of a challenge - but the reward is there at the end of the week - I think that learning longer time scales can have value - but maybe an additional daily scheme could be incorporated either at home or school to complement it - so she is aware of both long and short term goals? :)

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The golden time is a bit of a challenge - but the reward is there at the end of the week - I think that learning longer time scales can have value - but maybe an additional daily scheme could be incorporated either at home or school to complement it - so she is aware of both long and short term goals? :)

 

Thanks. The SENCO has emailed to say she will read my letter today and get back to me. I'm all suggesting they do a laminated pen profile of my dd so it is always on a teachers desk to refer to. Lets see what they suggest.

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My philosophy is - if you don't ask - you don't get :lol: So it's worth a go :thumbs:

 

As much as I think longer term planning is a vital skill, I also think, if there's anything they can do to assist your daughter in reaching that goal is worth considering.

 

Having something she can look at to visually see where she stands could be a good idea - for her and for the teachers.

 

I struggle with longer term goals myself, but sometimes having something to look at. that breaks the time down a little can really help.

 

Hope that even if they say no to your idea, that there can be a compromise here as it's in your daughter's best interest to feel as though she can actually achieve the goals, and whether that means visual reminders, or adding shorter term goals alongside the longer term ones, or something else, then it's all worth it - cuz you don't want your young 'un to feel like it's all impossible :)

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Dinky just want to add a few thoughts into the mix from my perspective as a past head of large department in a secondary school. I always found that school policies, or even departmental policies often only go so far. At the end of the day classrooms are about the relationships between the individuals within their walls and what is written in a filing cabinet in an office some distance away often doesn't mean a thing.

 

Teachers are all very different and one cap doesnt fit all. I think this might be a case of sitting down with the class teacher and quietly and sensibly working out a plan so that the people in the classroom understand it. This sounds to me like some people value golden time as a concept and someone might not the class teacher. At times i think you have to cut your losses and start again. In my experience my approach with teachers such as this is to say I want to make this thing called 'golden time' work better I know its got problems but i value your input. i would nearly always get a really good response, but what was more important was that the kids involved in lessons did. I didn't mean we altered what was happening elsewhere, if it ain't broke don't try an fix it was always my prefared approach. if it ain't working come up with something better.

 

My partner is a SENCO and she can find one or two memebers of staff difficult at times in respect to certain children. I always say to her what do you do if a kid doesn't get what you are trying to get through to them first time, the answer is present it in a different way and see if that works. I am simply advocating a bit of flexibility might be needed here. At the end of the day it is getting the best environment for your child and that needs to be one with proportionate rewards and consequences which also need to fit into a class ethos.

 

just a few thoughts.

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