This school has banned pencil cases

notanan2

I agree with you on banning toys. Where I draw the line is people saying "oh, you can't bring in THAT brand of backpack/lunchkit/whatever because someone might feel bad". I'm sorry but I'm not responsible for someone else's feelings. My kid knows she is to treat others with respect. I do draw the line at designer clothes simply because I don't believe in paying extra for a name, but I would never tell other parents they can't buy those things for their children. (Obviously at school in the UK they would have uniforms and I do support that.) Next they will be saying we all have to buy the same brand of lunch treats and bread because someone could get upset. Children need to be taught to be grateful for what they have and not to make fun of those who have less.

sometimes when they were small they would bring a toy on the school run, then I would mind it for them till pick up.

Swapsies took place on playdates

I believe rubbers are stamped “this is not a toy” !

Sadly life isn’t always fair . Shall schools ban girls from having long thick hair for fear it upsets a child with short, thin mousy hair? How about banning branded football boots? Shoes ? Hair bobbles? Coats? Soap? Or even attractive children ?

It’s madness .

Thats semantics.

If theyre being used for swapsies and not rubbing out, while school rubbers are used for corrections, theyre being used as toys not school kit!

Marking something "not a toy" is just used to avoid rigorous testing of sonething that children play with but if it has another function companies use that loophole

My granddaughters rubbers are used to rub out occasionally ( she’s proudly a pen writer these days ) .

Did you ever swap anything at school ? I did in the 60’s and 70’s .

I think this country is slowly going mad .

Grandsons school don't have a sports day anymore, in case someone wins. (Not fair on the losers)
We have to spend 2 boring hours watching the children demonstrating sports skills instead. Yawn!

Never heard of Smiggle, which means none of our DGC have discovered it yet.

Exactly my point MissA . This country is going slowly mad and “some of us” are encouraging it.

Oh they’ll find it lemon although from experience it seems to appeal to my girls rather than the little boy who isn’t interested in anything but sports.

My DGD’s are both “friends” of Paperchase, Lush and BodyShop where all their birthday, Christmas and pocket money gets spent these days.

You would be surprised gillybob at the value of some of the things children from poor backgrounds will bring to school. Parents with little money often feel they are letting their children down if they don't provide them with the most in-trendy items. They often feel the social stigma far more than confident middle class families.
In the 60s and 70s parents didn't go into schools and threaten teachers with all sorts of things if they don't sort out something they have decided is the school's responsibility, like why little Johnny came home with a different pencil to the one they sent him with.

I agree Trisher. I worked in an area of extremel deprivation. We were giving some children breakfast every morning, filling their schoolbags with any left over free fruit, purchasing new shoes, winter jackets etc, only to discover they had got an iPhone or laptop for Christmas. for Christmas.
There was so much pressure on parents..

Parents succumb to peer pressure as much as children.

A friend was concerned that she was the only parent driving her children to school in a modest hatchback. All the other mothers had 4x4s. So she and her husband got themselves into debt for a 4x4. She hated driving it because it was too big and she couldn’t park it but she kept on with it anyway to fit in with the other mothers. The irony was I imagine a lot of them felt the same way. When did we become such brainwashed clones frightened to make a stand and be different?

Well that’s just plain ridiculous JoyBrooks123 That woman and her husband must’ve had serious issues to go out and buy a 4x4 car just to “fit in” with the other school parents . A rather huge step up from a rubber or pencil topper.

I agree agnurse life is tough and we shouldn't over protect children. I agree also that we should teach them to be caring and compassionate towards others.

Haven't times changed and society become nastier?

Growing up we had darned cardigans and hand-me-down clothes, but as everyone was in the same boat no one cared. Poverty was a fact of life.

It's a shame young children are now aware of status symbols and look at the make and cost of goods and rank them. Where has that blissful ignorance gone?

Parents are to blame if children have a materialistic streak I suppose and if they know the difference between cheap and expensive at a young age. As a youngster I wasn't concerned about what others had I just enjoyed the little I had but was never teased or bullied the way children seem to be these days.

I expect 'kindness' lessons will be incorporated into the syllabus soon.

I know young GC at primary school have been told they can't have best friends any more. They have to be friends with everyone to stop some children being excluded. I can understand that but it seems life inside the primary school gates and life outside them have different sets of rules.

When I was at primary school kids didn't need a pencil case. Pencils were supplied by the school and kept at school. Ditto pens, rulers, etc. Schools were much less "well off" then than they are now. Makes you wonder if we've lost sight of schools' main purpose in a materialistic charge for more, more, more.

Well I still think it's all ridiculous. Going back decades, there have always been children from poorer families in classes with those from more affluent backgrounds, and they coped.

I am absolutely in favour of school uniform, and in fact would never have sent mine to a school without that policy, but cracking down on which school bags and pencil cases are allowed ? Complete madness.

How about when, say, a child from a poor family goes to play at the home of a more affluent friend? Are we to stop that friendship because the poor child might be upset when she sees how her more affluent friend lives?

Maybe there's a life lesson here for children - work hard at school, pass your exams, get a good job then you too can have a good standard of living.

Of course that thinking doesn't fit in with the Left leaning
egalitarianism does it?

I totally agree with you JenniferEccles

Thanks gilly.

I worked in a primary school with nearly 500 children. Each class teacher was given 30 pencils for their class at the beginning of term. To be honest by the end of the first month many pencils were missing. Children were expected to provide their own. I usually bought pencils, rubbers and colouring pencils with my own money to ensure there were enough to go round. Nothing more infuriating than wanting to start a lesson and having children say, 'I haven't got a pencil Miss.'

It sounds similar to my DGD’s primary Sunlover they seem to have all the latest technology but are always short of the basics. I imagine the teachers are glad that some children bring in their own colouring pencils, rulers etc. So there are more to go around for those that don’t. My DGD is a stationary fanatic (my DD, her auntie was too, at the same age). She’s a very kind and generous little girl and always happy to share . I really can’t see the problem.
I think maybe there’s a mountain being made of a mole hill.

Dontaskme it will not be about getting a cheap pencil case, as with everything there will be a snobbery about where they were bought from and the expense of the contents??‍♀️ A pricy pencil case from somewhere like Paperchase with contents of fancy pens etc is very expensive there are much cheaper pound shop varieties but kids are likely to get teased.?

sunlover, when I was at primary school pencils were doled out when needed and collected and put away so the call of "I haven't got a pencil" never arose. I don't think schools do this now and I think that's because, materially speaking, both schools and the people who use them are much better off so resources are not cared for so well.

But where do you draw the line? Ban Clark’s shoes because some childrens parents can only afford Primark? (Or dare I invite trouble and say Shoezone )

To be honest the school curriculum and timetable is so full and manic collecting in pencils at the end of every lesson is easily forgotten.
I now do supply teaching so visit various classes and there is always someone with no pencil. However, other children are always kind and generous and happy to lend.

We were issued a nib pen that we had to dip in the inkwell sunk into the desk!