Don't DO that!
.
Just had a look at the school website for the first time in ages - looking for youngest son's Mocks results. Discovered they've put some new pages up (without any notification), including a Behaviour Summary.
So I looked at youngest son's Behaviour Summary and found the message "< name > was involved in a behaviour incident yesterday."
My heart nearly stopped; what on earth had he done? Had he hit someone? Kicked someone? Not that I think he would, but I accept that as a parent I'm never going to know everything that goes on in their lives.
I read on. He had failed to hand in a piece of homework. For which he has been awarded some negative points. OK, so he's not a perfect little plastic zombie (and nor would I wish him to be), but does failing to give in a piece of homework really deserve the description "...was involved in a behaviour incident"?
He has one positive point for "good attitude" or something, and a few points for "sustained effort" or something similarly woolly. He hasn't got any positive points for coming top in the whole school in an externally-run Maths competition.
It's probably not a PC thing to say, but failing to give in homework ranks very low indeed on my list of things to worry about. When I was at school I was forever pretending to have lost it or whatever. My main concern is that they are learning and understanding, and getting decent grades. Homework seems to me to be all about "You will learn the way the teacher thinks you should learn; your own chosen approach is automatically invalid." On the other hand, coming top in that Maths competition was something he was really thrilled about, and so was I. It really made him feel good about himself and his learning, whereas homework is just "stupid stuff for stupid teachers".
I shall be so pleased when the youngest leaves this school. Which may be sooner than we think, given that he hasn't been called to interview for Sixth Form yet. Some of his friends have had their offer letters. Another thing to worry about! He gets his results soon for his English Language GCSE which the school insisted on putting them in early for, and that's the one that will determine whether he gets into Sixth Form or not (they have to get a B in English and a B - or sometimes an A - in their chosen A Level subjects). So I shall wait and see whether he gets his B and then I shall have to talk to the school. Oh joy.
Just had a look at the school website for the first time in ages - looking for youngest son's Mocks results. Discovered they've put some new pages up (without any notification), including a Behaviour Summary.
So I looked at youngest son's Behaviour Summary and found the message "< name > was involved in a behaviour incident yesterday."
My heart nearly stopped; what on earth had he done? Had he hit someone? Kicked someone? Not that I think he would, but I accept that as a parent I'm never going to know everything that goes on in their lives.
I read on. He had failed to hand in a piece of homework. For which he has been awarded some negative points. OK, so he's not a perfect little plastic zombie (and nor would I wish him to be), but does failing to give in a piece of homework really deserve the description "...was involved in a behaviour incident"?
He has one positive point for "good attitude" or something, and a few points for "sustained effort" or something similarly woolly. He hasn't got any positive points for coming top in the whole school in an externally-run Maths competition.
It's probably not a PC thing to say, but failing to give in homework ranks very low indeed on my list of things to worry about. When I was at school I was forever pretending to have lost it or whatever. My main concern is that they are learning and understanding, and getting decent grades. Homework seems to me to be all about "You will learn the way the teacher thinks you should learn; your own chosen approach is automatically invalid." On the other hand, coming top in that Maths competition was something he was really thrilled about, and so was I. It really made him feel good about himself and his learning, whereas homework is just "stupid stuff for stupid teachers".
I shall be so pleased when the youngest leaves this school. Which may be sooner than we think, given that he hasn't been called to interview for Sixth Form yet. Some of his friends have had their offer letters. Another thing to worry about! He gets his results soon for his English Language GCSE which the school insisted on putting them in early for, and that's the one that will determine whether he gets into Sixth Form or not (they have to get a B in English and a B - or sometimes an A - in their chosen A Level subjects). So I shall wait and see whether he gets his B and then I shall have to talk to the school. Oh joy.