Schools - lunch/breaks

[nannon]

From my house i can see a school playground... Its absolutely pouring down (Just stopping actually i think thank god...!) Anyway the kids are outside, in just t.shirts/jumpers getting soaked - i can see from here their hair is soaked. And its not really that warm. There never seems to be any teachers/supervisors watching them when their outside - is this right? I know when i was in primary school there was wet play if it was raining where we stayed inside... Those kids must be cold all day now!

[sunflower68]

There should be quite a few supervisors out there. They should also be brought in.

[mimififi]

if you are at all worried about health and safety issues in a school, you could write to the board of governors voices your worries. If you feel that you don't want to do that, you could also phone the council and ask for the education dept for your area (LEA) and talk to someone there who could look into it.

It may seem like sticky beakedness, but frankly, how many times in our news do we hear of people failed because noone stood up and said anything. It maybe nothing, or a one off incident, but if it is a symptom of a general poor standard, then it needs to be voiced. That is how a community should function, and sadly, these days people tend to be too afraid or too busy to say anything.

You could look up the name of the school on the DfEE website and read the OfSted report. THis will tell you at what standard the school is generally performing at. It might help to paint a clearer picture.

If you are really worried about the school and it is something on your heart, then you could also phone them and make an appointment to see the head. Or you could apply for a position (if you have time) as a dinner lady/teacher's helper etc and then you would really get to know the school and be doing a worthwhile task also.

[maxi29]

Poor kids; damned if they do, damned if they don't. If they don't play. then they're turning into couch potatoes; if they do, then they'll catch their death.

When I was a kid, we played outside in all weathers; cold didn't bother us as we were running about and we certainly weren't fussed about rain or snow. Let them be, they'll grow up all too quickly and will wistfully be thinking of the days when they could spend hours playing outside.

[Gef]

Well said maxi. In the school where I teach there is ample covered space so that no child needs to get wet. However, many of them choose to stand out in the rain and many of them never wear a coat/anorak whatever the weather.

[xanderma]

My children are forced to wear sweatshirts and coats if the supervisors say so, and this bugs me - many times they come home and complain they were too hot to play. They just don't feel the cold as we do!

That said, I think Nannon has a point, I wouldn't like to think of my children being soaked for the rest of the day.

Isn't there a happy medium, where the children can make their own choices but the adults can make sure that their basic needs are covered? (Certainly not in our school - what the Head says, goes, right or wrong!!!!)

[clair_witch]

Most schools leave them out in the rain now, but if there's the slightest bit of frost or ice around they're not allowed out. (Health and safety reasons) It's not that they really carelesss, more the fact they're petrified of being sued for a fall.