Parents anger after ‘bad’ pupils forced to watch ‘good pupils play on inflatables

A school has been accused of ruining a children’s leavers celebrations when ‘good’ children were allowed to play and have fun – while the ‘naughty’ ones were made to sit and watch.

Parents at the Arden Primary School in Bredbury, Stockport, were furious after they paid £10 each for a fun day which included inflatables and ice creams for the children to enjoy on their penultimate day at primary school.

Yet at the event for the year 6 leavers, children who had the ‘Always Badge’, given to the best behaved pupils, were allowed to go and enjoy the fun while the other kids had to stay inside and wait.

Parents whose children were kept inside for the first couple of hours of the day said it was unfair to punish them on one of their final days at the school as they had already been disciplined with detentions and missed playtimes earlier in the year.

Parents and pupils are angry at the treatment from Arden Primary School in Stockport after good children allowed to enjoy inflatables and ice cream before the ‘naughty’ children

Head teacher Nicola Haddock defended the school’s decision to let the best behaved children onto the equipment first. She said all children had at least two-and-a-half hours on the equipment.

The best behaved children weer celebrated for their behaviour but ‘not at the cost of other children’, she told the Manchester Evening News.

Yet in a letter to parents, Ms Haddock admitted ‘mistakes were made’ in a planning of the event and the children should have all had the same amount of time on the inflatables and not been ‘punished twice’.

Melissa Jopling’s son Milo, 11, was one of the children forced to wait while the ‘good’ children. 

She said: ‘The ones without a badge have already been punished, so why punish them twice?

‘We’re talking about things like not holding a door open for a teacher, or arguing at playtimes. My son had the badge but it was taken away when he was fidgeting in class but that was because they’d taken his fidget spinner off him.

‘He managed to get it again but then it was taken off him because he shared his crisps with someone and they said the other child could have had an allergy.’

The 34-year-old mother, whose other son Mika, seven, still attends the school, has now launched a petition to get rid of the Always Badge. 

She added: ‘I’ve had so many problems with the school over the years. We teach our children not to label others, but this is doing just that. One mum said to my Milo ‘my child is not playing with you because you’re not an Always child’.

‘I don’t know why they can’t just do something like Star of the Day like they do at other schools.

‘Kids are kids at the end of the day, they want to enjoy going to school.’ 

Kerry McCarthy, another mother, shared a post on facebook about the incident, which has since received hundreds of supportive comments. 

In it she said: ‘Everyone paid the same amount, to do the same fun day. How very wrong is it to punish a child on a fun day when they have already been punished before hand. Even prisons don’t punish you twice….imagine getting ten years for a crime and then two days before you get out they give you another 10 years.’

In an email to parents, headteacher Miss Haddock said children were given a number of activities to do as they waited for their time on the inflatables. She said they were not asked to sit in silence but ‘an appropriate level of noise was expected’.

And she admitted that ‘there were mistakes made’ when planning the event.

She said: ‘I am disappointed that as a restorative school our policy was not followed to the letter; all children should have had the same amount of time on the inflatables and not been ‘punished twice’.

Not all followers on Facebook agreed with Kerry, with one woman replying: ‘I’m with Miss Haddock on this, this reinforces that good behaviour is rewarded and it will hopefully resonate with the kids that had to wait and hopefully will help moderate their future behaviour, sorry guys.’

The head teacher of Arden Primary School has admitted pupils should not have been 'punished twice'

The head teacher of Arden Primary School has admitted pupils should not have been ‘punished twice’

Miss Haddock told the M.E.N: ‘At Arden Primary School we encourage and celebrate good behaviour.

‘The Year 6 fun day, funded by both parents and our Parent Teacher Association, is a celebration for all of our children. While the children rightly recognised for their continued good behaviour over the school year were given the first place on the inflatables, this was not at the cost of the other children.

‘They had a choice of other activities and time on the inflatables and, with all of our pupils, had equal access to ice cream.

‘I have investigated the concerns from the parents who have approached the school, as I do with any parental concern, and responded to them personally apologising for any shortcomings they may have felt happened on this day. I will, as always, review the school’s practices in light of parents’ feedback.’

Do you think the school was right to let the best behaved children on the inflatables first? Or was the school wrong for punishing children in their last week of primary school? Let us know in the comments or share your views on our Manchester Family Facebook page.



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