Posted By Crim
You may remember this one from 11/12/06?

8 year old school boy in classroom swings back on his chair - chair collapses under him and he falls backward injuring his back.

Chair is metal frame with welded joints, is now taken out of service.

Teacher says he is all right to stay in school,

Teacher says they have been told to sit properley on chairs.

Your thoughts please

I just thought I would let you all know that the school has carried out a thorough assessment of their chairs and has replaced them all.

Thanks to all who contributed.

Posted By Merv Newman
Teachers at my old school used to keep diaries, noting comments made such as "sprog minor was a bit verbose today. Caught him a good one with the blackboard eraser"

And that was a good 50 years ago.

Merv

Posted By Chris Packham
As its Friday, what about the school that has now banned knotted ties? Pupils are allowed to wear clip-on ties. The reasoning is that clip-on ties are easier to remove in an emergency.

Yet another one for Clarkson!!!

Chris

Posted By Merv Newman
Diaries could be thought of as a waste of income tax except that, if this extremely old (but well-educated) memory serves correctly, teachers paid for them themselves (everyone seemed to have something different)

And I am afraid that, in this litigious world, I have taken to advising supervisors and managers to note down their safety related comments. "José was again reminded that safety glasses must be worn"

Simply saying to the court that you had reminded poor, now blind José a "number" of times to wear his protective gear is no good. He can always deny it.

OTT perhaps.

Last time I went on a business trip my wife instructed me to "drive safely"

Of course I did. But she has no proof of having so instructed me. If I have a crash, can I sue her ?

What if it was my boss who gave me that instruction ?

Right, lets get back to the serious stuff. Verbal instructions, even written procedures, are acknowledged to be the most inefficient method of changing behaviours. Almost useless in fact.

Tell a boy to "sit up straight" and how long will it last ?

We need training, practical examples, demonstrations, practice, we need to develop or be helped to developed, habits. We need recognition, rewards, reinforcement.

If that fails THEN you give 'em a good kicking (metaphorically speaking, of course)

Or bolt them to the chair. Which is where we came in I think.

TGIF

Merv