The Headmaster from Hell

Good for him. I used to threaten my boy with this and always supported the school he was at. However, my grandchildren do have Special Needs due to a congenital condition. My youngest is regularly sick and she is not allowed to go into school for 48 hours following a bout of vomiting even though we know it is not a bug but a problem with her digestive system. Now my daughter is being hauled across the coals because of her attendance levels, a situation which is made worse by their rules! The system really needs an overhaul.

The whole word “ bullying “ has become completely distorted.
Discipline is needed in running any institution, such as a school , hospital or , indeed any place of work. The old matron or headmaster , so revered for running a tight ship and an efficient organisation is now branded a bully .

Well I suppose it’s just as well they did away with the ruler over the knuckles. Which is what I got for talking in class.
God forbid!
A different sort of discipline.

At our school in Scotland we were certainly not allowed make up or nail varnish. We had our skirts measured off the floor while kneeling - in the early 70’s. As one friend was 5 foot nothing, her skirt looked really short compared to another who was 5’ 9’’! And there was outrage when the headmaster marched theee boys off to the barber and got them each a short back and sides! That really was a step too far…

The teachers and support staff at a secondary school near us have threatened strike action due to violence from pupils. The lack of discipline and respect has reached new depths, even since my kids were at school my youngest left 9 years ago. Teachers contacting parents isn’t new, my mother told a geography teacher to phone her if my brother failed to hand in his homework, after receiving a call from the teacher it was agreed that on a Monday afternoon I was sent to the teacher to ask if my brother had homework to hand in. I was mortified, as I was in first year /year8 in England and in a segregated school, which meant I had to go into a 2nd year/ year9 boys class to ask if there was any homework. I gave my older brother such a hard time he never missed handing in his homework again. I’m 66 this year and still get teased about this by one of boys from the 2nd year class, who happens to live near me.

We also need more PARENTS who will stand up and refuse their kid's every want !!!

I admire this Headteacher. His stance should be applied in all schools. He's standing up for all the students who do behave and his staff. Long overdue.

Schools are simply too big, so that crowd control becomes the priority over education
Yes, I agree 100%

I think, too, from children coming from small primary schools, particularly friendly little village schools, going to a comprehensive with over 1,000 pupils is just overwhelming.

Schools are simply too big, so that crowd control becomes the priority over education. It is barmy to herd children together in this way and leads to the need to create harsh regimes that are unpleasant and do not encourage learning. I have always thought it was totally mad.
Children, and particularly teenagers, en masse are intrisically a problem.
Unfortunately a lot of children who misbehave bafly are not from families where they are properly supported and who would likely not be bothered with coming in to school to shadow the child as per the head's idea.

Scrooge?

Dickens 😀

Iam64

I enjoyed listening to Mr Ebenezer’s interview on radio 5 earlier. His comment about the need to prevent children going into the well-being room because their mental health prevented them going to Physics made me lol.

He made the distinction between SEND/MH issue pupils and the little scamps (my words) taking the proverbial.

His name made me think he could be a character from Dickens like Mr Gradgrinde

His name made me think he could be a character from Dickens like Mr Gradgrinde

I thought the same (well, I would wouldn't I ).

Is that really his name?

My eldest GCs were lucky to go to a very good school. The discipline was good but not over strict, dictatorial or intrusively petty.

The headteacher and deputy were both brilliant and between them managed to be everywhere at once which was no mean feat in a large comprehensive.

The uniform rules were maintained. Boys had to wear white shirts and school ties. The girls had white blouses worn without ties and were encouraged to wear smart black trousers rather than skirts. There was a rather naff checked skirt for the girls but hardly any of them wore it.

Unfortunately, both head and deputy reached retirement the same year and left. Nobody ever sees the new head and deputy and standards are rapidly slipping.

I enjoyed listening to Mr Ebenezer’s interview on radio 5 earlier. His comment about the need to prevent children going into the well-being room because their mental health prevented them going to Physics made me lol.

He made the distinction between SEND/MH issue pupils and the little scamps (my words) taking the proverbial.

His name made me think he could be a character from Dickens like Mr Gradgrinde

Not the particular school under discussion I should add, but my DGC's school.

I do agree about school uniforms being over-strict which can make the cost very high too.
During a very hot summer not very long ago, it took a lot of persuasion before pupils were allowed to remove their blazers and ties, which is quite ridiculous. There's nothing wrong imo with shirts, blouses or polo shirts with jumpers or cardigans in colder weather.

Allira

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq5590l2njzo

Last year

Some pupils say they have had their skirt length measured, with one parent claiming up to 200 pupils were denied entry to class.

^Girls have also been handed face wipes to remove make-up and clippers to cut nails, it is claimed. One 14-year-old said she was ordered to have her skirt measured by a male teacher.^

The school I went to measured skirts on a regular basis. This was ok as we rolled our skirts over at the top and rolled them down when skirts were measured. It was in the days when mini skirts were all the rage.

It was an all girls school with very strict uniform policy. It even went as far as regulation shoes and knickers.

I’m all for maintenance of standards but some modern school uniforms are ridiculous. How many people go to work in blazers these days?

It sounds like the school I went to, you obeyed the rules or life would be hard, detention and the cane for serious transgressions.
We did have “learning difficulties” they didn’t have labels, they were just slow learners, there was a lot of practical stuff and sports on the timetable they did well. There was plenty of jobs in those days, a lot went into the building trade as apprentices or labourers, there were a couple of engineering firms local farms too.
All of us were schooled for the type of job we were going to take, about half left at 15, 5th yr took GCEs, no Uni most of us went to technical college and qualified on the job. Compared to today it all seemed so positive in those days.

M0nica

Nothing to stop Christians working on Sundays.

Certainly it is our vicar's busiest working day 😃

Indigo8

Not all children benefit and thrive in a strict, regimented school. Not all children are disruptive hard-nuts. Some more sensitive children are traumatised and put off education forever.

The disruptive hard-nuts, as you call them, will disrupt education for other pupils, including the more sensitive ones.

When teachers go on strike because of the violence and threats by some pupils, something is badly wrong and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Why should the disruptive hard-nuts rule?

Nothing to stop Christians working on Sundays.

I wonder how he is going to implement this and is he going to personally supervise the pupils, surely if they are misbehaving during the week the likelihood of them turning up on Saturday is slim. Don't think many teachers would be happy to work on Saturday. ( I presume as a Christian he wouldn't be working Sunday's)

I admire this head teacher very much. Children need to realise that there are boundaries, there are expectations and there are rules or how on earth are they going to be prepared for life after they’ve left school. ( I think some parents need to realise this, too).
Deliberately disruptive pupils disrupt not only their own learning but the learning of others.
No one is saying that help shouldn’t be available for the children desperately and genuinely in need of it, (and I certainly don’t dispute that there are children who need specialist help and support), but I’m afraid that there’s a lot of “jumping on the bandwagon wagon” with certain phrases, not helped to some degree by some of the media, which needs addressing.

Children need boundaries, especially those with SEND

Indigo8

Not all children benefit and thrive in a strict, regimented school. Not all children are disruptive hard-nuts. Some more sensitive children are traumatised and put off education forever.

No school is right for every child, not should it be expected for the needs of every child, that would be impossible.

Sensitive children are probably even more traumatised by having classes dominated by disruptive and potentially violent fellow pupils. DS was a child who flourished best in a gentle and more nurturing school regime, while DD admitted herself that she was much better off in a school with robust rules, where she would be penalised if she broke them.

Fortunately we were able to send them to separate secondary schools that suited their individual personalities.