My year sevens are wound up at the moment because there form tutor keeps giving them all detentions. In year seven they are taught mainly in their tutor groups and have a log book they take to each lesson as a kind of whole class report. They gets marks out of five for three categories: a settled start, listening and general behaviour.

Their tutor has decided that every mark they drop equates to one minute at detention. It's got them really riled up and I have some sympathy with them. In a five lesson day they collect fifteen separate marks. If they got fours for everything that would mean a fifteen minute detention. Yet if you look at the descriptions of levels four means good. So they'd lose a whole breaktime for being 'good' all day. It's a bit crazy really, especially as good kids are getting lots of minutes of detention. When they say it's unfair I'm inclined to agree with them, though can't say that as I don't want to undermine my colleague.

I'm tempted to mention it to her though and find out what the score is. Sometimes what the puils say and what's actually happening is very different. It's annoying from my point of view as I have to teach a really stressed out class who will never be as responsive as if they're all in a great happy mood. In fact half the lesson was taken up with discussion of their form tutor. Thankfully in maths we set them so don't teach them as form groups, so we don't get to fill in the log book. I'd be terrified of giving anything other than fives for everything because then I know I'd be condemning really nice children to time in detention.