nivrip
Yorkshire Cruncher
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2007
- Messages
- 11,169
- Reaction score
- 2,175
Nice story in the press this week.
A school has banned whistles to signal the end of playtime as staff are worried the “aggressive” noise will scare children.
Staff at St Monica's Catholic Primary School in Milton Keynes must instead raise a hand in the air to get the attention of pupils at the end of break time.
A teaching assistant at the school, Pamela Cunningham, attacked the ban in a letter to Country Life Magazine.
She said that she keeps her hand-carved whistle in her pocket 'just in case' children don't spot her hand in an emergency.
Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University, branded the move as “crazy” telling the Sunday Times: “We have become extraordinarily over-sensitive. Does this mean children are not going to be able to play football and hockey because the referees use whistles?”
St Monica’s is a voluntary aided school for boys and girls between the ages of three and eleven, with 467 children on roll.
The move comes after students at Christ the King, a Catholic primary school in Leeds, were banned from playing tag (also known as tig) in the playground.
The head teacher claimed children have become upset amid the rough and tumble of the traditional chasing game.
Meanwhile students celebrating graduation from the University of East Anglia are no longer allowed to throw their mortarboards in the air.
The university blamed health and safety concerns, saying a number of graduates have been hurt by falling hats in recent years.
Certainly made me smile.
A school has banned whistles to signal the end of playtime as staff are worried the “aggressive” noise will scare children.
Staff at St Monica's Catholic Primary School in Milton Keynes must instead raise a hand in the air to get the attention of pupils at the end of break time.
A teaching assistant at the school, Pamela Cunningham, attacked the ban in a letter to Country Life Magazine.
She said that she keeps her hand-carved whistle in her pocket 'just in case' children don't spot her hand in an emergency.
Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University, branded the move as “crazy” telling the Sunday Times: “We have become extraordinarily over-sensitive. Does this mean children are not going to be able to play football and hockey because the referees use whistles?”
St Monica’s is a voluntary aided school for boys and girls between the ages of three and eleven, with 467 children on roll.
The move comes after students at Christ the King, a Catholic primary school in Leeds, were banned from playing tag (also known as tig) in the playground.
The head teacher claimed children have become upset amid the rough and tumble of the traditional chasing game.
Meanwhile students celebrating graduation from the University of East Anglia are no longer allowed to throw their mortarboards in the air.
The university blamed health and safety concerns, saying a number of graduates have been hurt by falling hats in recent years.
Certainly made me smile.
