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Talkback: Children wrapped up in ‘cotton wool’ at school

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  • I totally agree...

    What are they going to do next? make them wear protective gear and a safety helmet when playing hop skotch? Or frisking them at the school gates making sure they aren't bringing anything 'potentially life threatening' like crayons, rulers or god forbid, elastic bands. 

    It makes me wonder how on earth we managed to survive before these PC rules came along.... those were the days when Blu Tac was handled WITHOUT gloves - someone call the doctor!!

     Has anyone's children actually suffered these ridiculous rules in their school???

    TW

  • This really make me angry. Cotton wool is an understatement.

    As a primary teacher myself, I believe that arts and crafts and outdoor play are essential in the development of a child. What happened to common sense and correct supervision?

    As a Canadian, who grew up in a huge playing field with lots of playground equipment, I was shocked to find that most UK primary schools have a rectangular piece of pavement for kids to run around in circles during break times.

    What is the point of this? No play equipment, no balls, climbing frames, slides, swings- nothing.

    Parents need to either go to an indoor play area and pay money for their child to play or go to an outdoor playground which is more often that not vandalised. If not, it usually has cctv cameras. What happened to people respecting playgrounds for age appropriate children to use?

    I recently talked to some teachers at our playgroup in the UK and they said they had difficulty getting protective flooring for their outdoor play area because OFSTED said that you had to prove that without it, a child would come to severe bodily harm. Ahem... how would/could you prove this???

    I'm lucky that at our playgroup, the teachers have the right idea about kids play both creative and physical. Otherwise, the Father's day card that my son made of sparkles/glitter probably wouldn't have been made as sparkles might have been inhaled up the nose and cause a choking hazard? Who knows?

    It just seems that someone is allowing teachers/staff the right not to use common sense or supervision skills because they are so worried about a lawsuit or something.

    I recently went back to Canada and was reassured that the primary school playground across the street was looking as brand spanking new as ever complete with swings, climbing frame, slides etc. The public have access to it anytime except during certain times during school hours. No cctv.

    Is it that hard to respect property here?

    I think Health and Safety need to take a look at what is really important!

    As a mom of a 2 yr old son, it one of the most negative things about sending my son to a UK primary school.

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