This week’s blog focuses on behaviour in schools, so tuck your shirt in and sit up straight!
But first, lockdown…
Lockdown continued easing this week. Non-essential shops opened, along with hairdressers, gyms and zoos. Were you excited? If that’s overkill, at least more of you were feeling clear about the rules than after the first relaxation last month and there was a small increase in how positive you felt! What made you so excited? Half of you are heading to the shops!
Right… Behaviour
Behaviour in schools is often seen as a key issue for parents. However, 1 in 3 of you with a child in primary school, and 1 in 5 of you with a child in secondary school, reported not knowing the behaviour policies at your child’s school(s). Also, while 36% (around 1 in 3) felt that behaviour in schools was a problem across England, only 8% of primary parents and 19% of secondary parents felt behaviour was a problem, specifically in the school your child attends.
Mums were far more likely than dads to say that behaviour is worse now than when they were growing up and more likely to report they were well behaved themselves as a child. Dads, on the other hand, are more likely to say it is natural for children to test behavioural boundaries at school.
What would you like to see in terms of school behaviour policies? One headline-grabbing option is a ‘zero tolerance’ approach. Around half of you seem to like this idea, with primary parents and mums being slightly more in favour than others.
One of the oft-cited examples of an approach used in zero tolerance schools is to ban mobile phones… but do kids commonly have them in school in the first place? Only 1% of primary parents told us that their children are allowed free access to a mobile during school. In secondary schools this rose to 38%.
Do children need a phone in order to be safe? Only 13% of primary parents agreed or strongly agreed that their child needed to have a mobile with them at school in case of needed contact. At secondary, this rose to 41%, but lots of you got in touch to say that you don’t need to contact them during school, but you might need to get in touch on the journey to / from school (and 37% reported that phones are handed in / locked away during the school day anyway).
And also... we do like to be beside the seaside!
40% of mums and 34% of dads say that their ideal family outing is a trip to the seaside! Also popular is a walk in the countryside (32% of dads) or a trip to the zoo (25% of mums). And as for family outing hell? Half of you tell us that the idea of a family shopping trip is the worst thing you could imagine!
Oh, and BTW 90% of households with primary-aged kids still have some Easter chocolate left… the natural next question is who will eat it?!
Coming up next week
Next week we have questions on school uniform, latch-key kids and your ‘favourite’ child 🙊 Download the app and set your notifications to PING every day!