Parents hit out at 'dictatorial' primary school walking rule

School in London wants children to do ‘university walk’ in corridors, with hands clasped behind backs

A primary school is sticking to a new rule that children must walk with their hands clasped behind their backs, despite grumblings from some parents that it is too “dictatorial”.

The “university walk”, for pupils walking down corridors, was introduced by the new executive headteacher, Angela Abrahams, at St George the Martyr primary school in Holborn in central London.

Some parents have started a petition against the rule and education chiefs at the town hall are understood to have been alerted to unrest at the school gates.

“I am personally quite against it, I think it’s too dictatorial,” Chantal Aster, a parent, told the New Camden Journal. It’s from one extreme to another. My son is in reception and they walk in a conga line. I think it is a pretty poor way to increase their self-esteem.”
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She added: “I think just having hands by their sides would be more natural. I know it’s only through the corridors but I think it’s too restrictive and I find it very repressive.”

Carly Taylor, who has three children at the school, told the paper: “The head is bringing over lots of strategies that are not in keeping with the nurturing and caring feel of our school. I think our identity needs to be protected ... Hands behind the backs is associated with a loss of liberty and lack of trust.”

The school has insisted it will stick to the policy despite complaints from parents. Abrahams said: “Our recently introduced university walk inspires children to be the best they can be and to ‘go shine in the world’ [the school’s motto].

“It was introduced to strengthen pupil safety, further raise the aspirations of pupils and to maximise learning time. Staff report that they appreciate the impact it has had on learning time and pupils continue to be very happy and excited about learning.”

Reverend Guy Pope, the school’s chairman, backed Abrahams: “I think parents are not looking out for the best interests of their children. It [the rule] is helping to make sure children arrive in class in the best possible frame of mind for learning, in a calm and ordered manner.”

Bron: http://www.theguardian.com/educatio...al-walking-rule
5 november 2015

Commentaar: Ik vind het vreemd dat de school de leerlingen deze regel oplegt met als doel om de leerlingen kalm en gestructureerd te laten leren. Ik ben het ermee eens dat de leerlingen misschien kalmer door de gangen zullen wandelen, want lopen met je handen op je rug is levensgevaarlijk, maar ik vraag me af waar de leerlingen hun energie gaan kwijtraken. Ik denk dat de school het goed bedoelt, zij willen het leerrendement vergroten, maar ik denk niet dat dit de manier is. Als de leerlingen tijdens het wisselen van lokaal niet even kunnen ontspannen, dan zullen ze dit op een ander moment moeten doen, tijdens de les bijvoorbeeld. Dit kan niet het opzet van de school zijn.

De ouders protesteren tegen deze regel, ze vinden het te dictatoriaal, hebben ze gelijk? Ik weet het niet. Deze regel doet mij in ieder geval niet aan een schoolcontext denken. Ik vraag me af of deze regel besproken is met verschillende partijen of dat enkel de school over zijn invoering heeft beslist. Werden bij de beslissing ouders, leerlingen en leerkrachten gehoord?