Daft school rules

[Sm5]

Deleted

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Detention, that happened in the communist states, where the whole group was punished, or even worse: sometimes all but the offender were punished.

I remember semolina too, forced to slurp it, crying in the corner. Cricket and rugby, so cold I could not do my buttons, had to ask the nun supervisor to help. Communal showers, Saturday school (1970s).

Skirts/kilts: are they compulsory for boys at some schools in Scotland?

 

[AlterEgo]

We had to stand up whenever a teacher entered the room. 1998-2004, all boys grammar school. That rule was archaic even then.

 

[Puppetfinger]

Had the enforced eating of school dinners, the absolutely dreadful, overcooked and tastless white cabbage was enough to turn my stomach. We were also banned from leaving the table until everyone was allowed to leave the table to go the playground (which was fully supervised).

Also had the banning of biro pens at primary school, really didn't understand it as I'm sure we collectively made more mess, trouble and disruption in general messing with fountain pen ink cartridges, removing the tiny ball bearing was always good sport.

Being forced to queue for dinner in two's, you couldn't just have a normal line. Trouble was if the person you happened to be next too didn't like you, they would cry foul and have you sent to the back of the queue as punishment, although this ended once after a few people never got any dinner.

Not being allowed any form of drink in a lesson, even in the height of summer in non air-conditioned rooms, some with only small opening windows we were not allowed to even sip water. Doubt it would be legal today!

 

[C J Snarzell]

I can only speak for my own school days in the 1980s and 90s, but here are some of the shocking rules I remember -

Male pupils where not allowed to have a number one shaved haircut. I remember one lad being put in isolation for a week until his hair had grown a little.

Kickers and Rockport footwear was banned in my high school - I never quite grasped why this mattered if the shoes were black leather and comfortable on the feet.

Pupils were banned from wearing coats or having bags with rap artists logos because there was a suggestion it promoted drug use. East 17 duffle bags were later banned following Brian Harvey's media antics.

Pupils were not allowed to use the main road entrance to the school because this was for teachers only who parked their cars at the front. I came down the main road and had to walk all the way around the school grounds to get to my form room which was near the front entrance!

Text books always had to be backed with wrapping paper. I never understood the logic to this one. Does it really matter? One lad cheated and brought his text books in with the plastic backed covers from WHSmiths and was given detention for not making the 'Blue Peter' effort.

Pupils needing time out of school to attend a doctors/medical appointments, had to provide written proof of the appointment beforehand, a Dr's signature on a piece of paper and the reasons for the appointment. Is the last one potentially a breach of privacy, if the medical matter is of a sensitive nature?

If you forgot your PE kit or were missing bits of kit, the PE teacher would make you do PE in your school uniform. A primary school sports teacher once made me do three laps of the running track in my full uniform and Clark's shoes because I accidentally got my days mixed up and came to school without my kit. My shoes were soaked in mud and I had to spend the rest of the school day sat in a sweaty uniform. For that very reason I have always hated running or athletics.

I doubt if teachers would get away with the last one now.

CJ

 

[61653 HTAFC]

There were a few nonsensical rules at my school, they annoyed me at first but I eventually just looked forward to being in the world of the grown-ups and free from such pointlessly regimented behaviour...

Imagine my shock when entering the workforce at 17 to find there were just as many stupid rules, such as the insistence on wearing a tie in a call-centre.

 

[High Dyke]

I would never have equated "token working" with being excused to go to the loo at school!

If frequent trip workings were involved you were termed a "Bog Trotter".

For a punishment you were made to stand up with your hands on your head.

 

[Scotrail314209]

My Primary 2 teacher was an absolute demon. She had some very silly rules in her class, if your work wasn’t up to scratch you’d get a public berating in front of the entire class.

Absolutely awful for us mere kids around 6 and 7. In hindsight I know she would’ve used the cane if it was still legal. (This was 2006/07).

She also never let kids go to the toilet during class time which led to some… accidents. (Myself included).

She was a relatively old lady so I could easily assume she had been teaching in the late 60s/early 70s.

 

[Ianno87]

Stuff at school that is irrelevant in a modern workplace:

-School uniform / ties etc

-One occasion a teacher taking it upon himself to do up my tie for me when it wasn't done up properly (without asking first)

-Addressing teachers as "Mr / Mrs / Miss xxxxx". Aside from the unecessary genderisation, what other part of life still does this?

-Not being allowed water / go to the loo during class time

-Have a day having to be officially declared a "heatwave" by the headteacher for your blazer to be removed

-When you have PE last lesson, and you had to change back into school uniform only to go straight home anyway

-Teachers dictating what you did after leaving school (e.g. you had to use certain bus stops, not go to the corner shop, etc)

-Fingers on lips

-Told off for sending a personal e-mail in a lesson

Bizarre things I got told off for:
-Picking up somebody else's pen after it fell under my desk
-Being excessively happy on a Monday after being upset the previous Friday
-Criticised for "not being touchy feely enough" with a female classmate during an outdoor pursuits activity.

We had to stand up whenever a teacher entered the room. 1998-2004, all boys grammar school. That rule was archaic even then.

Same here. Bizarre.

 

[Gloster]

Detention, that happened in the communist states, where the whole group was punished, or even worse: sometimes all but the offender were punished.

My school also liked collective punishments. My first housemaster liked giving out punishments but had no favourites: ‘a beast, but a just beast’. However, he could not go too far as he was already under a cloud after a drugs bust (*) and had to be careful not to get the house too bad a disciplinary record. He was replaced by a chap who seemed nicer, but was an unreliable backslider. After one incident it was decided that a whole study of seven boys should be given detention. However, he found reasons to excuse some of the boys, so in the end only three did detention, including two who were not involved as they were provably and justifiably elsewhere at the time of the incident. (Yes, it still rankles.)

* - A typical example of the way private schools work. Two first A-Level year boys were bringing in soft drugs and selling them to their friends: not for profit, just to cover their costs. They were busted and there were two expulsions: one of the two ‘dealers’ and another boy who may have bought something off them. The other ‘dealer’, who was probably the instigator, remained in the school, although for a while he had to undergo a punishment that involved some inconveniences: reporting himself every hour to the duty master instead of wandering around on free afternoons, being ready for bed straight after evening prep., no casual clothes on Sunday afternoons, etc. (The whole idea of these punishments was to take away the little luxuries and privileges that were much valued.) It happened that the ‘dealer’ who was not expelled had influential or powerful (by the schools’s standards) parents and the boy who went didn’t, so he was sacrificed, even though he was not one of the school’s bad boys.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

Of course the school could expect certain standards of behaviour from those wearing uniform on the way to/from school.

I have read that education has progressed and improved, but very strict rules about uniform are still enforced, although society in general has perhaps become more relaxed.

There are or were rules about where uniform garments might be purchased, only from certain suppliers, for certain prices.

 

[3rd rail land]

Stuff at school that is irrelevant in a modern workplace:

-School uniform / ties etc

-One occasion a teacher taking it upon himself to do up my tie for me when it wasn't done up properly (without asking first)

-Addressing teachers as "Mr / Mrs / Miss xxxxx". Aside from the unecessary genderisation, what other part of life still does this?

-Not being allowed water / go to the loo during class time

-Have a day having to be officially declared a "heatwave" by the headteacher for your blazer to be removed

-When you have PE last lesson, and you had to change back into school uniform only to go straight home anyway

-Teachers dictating what you did after leaving school (e.g. you had to use certain bus stops, not go to the corner shop, etc)

-Fingers on lips

-Told off for sending a personal e-mail in a lesson

Totally agree here. Basically none of these rules apply in my workplace. The rule about staff dictating what you do after leaving school is out of order in my opinion. Once a student leaves the premises at the end of the day its their free time and so long as they behave they can do what they like.

Personally I think a lot of these rules should be revised to account for the fact that essentially none apply in modern day workplaces. For example why do students need to wear blazers and ties? I wear chinos, a shirt and perhaps a jumper in colder weather when I go to the office. Perfect blend of smart and comfortable in my opinion. I hated wearing a tie at school. Schools should at least have casual Friday as this is very common in British workplaces.

 

[bussnapperwm]

Most of the non practical lessons (I.e. MFL, English, Maths, Geography, History, Statistics and RE) were in two "blocks" which towards the end of my time at secondary school were adjoined by corridors with a lift.

Before the lift, it seemed that in Year 9, MFL, which was at the top of "B Block" would always get followed by Maths, which was at the top of "A Block" or vice versa. At this time they were fitting the area for the lift. But to get from A Block to B Block, you weren't allowed to use the emergency exit from A block, walk through the door to the corridor which was at the side of the staff room to get to B Block. From A Block, you had to go through the emergency exit, outside around the library, past the emergency exit to B Block, past the reception area, into the Science Block, through the canteen, past reception, past the pastoral office to get to the internal door to B Block and vice versa.

Oh, and you couldn't use the access road to the rear of the Art block (D Block) to get to the exit from the Sports Hall as that went past the adjacent special needs school which wasn't happy with the secondary school kids walking past.

 

[Ianno87]

That reminds me - the main block at my secondary school had 3 staircases/exits - one at each end, and one in the middle.

Fairly sensibly, the middle one was strictly entrance only to act as a one-way system during busy lesson change overs.

Though for some bizarre reason teachers chose to enforce this at all times - e.g. a pupil out of class running an errand, when all it was achieving was wasting the pupil's time by making them walk the long way around (to the point of my class teacher chasing someone out - interrupting our lesson - to make them come back in and go the correct way)

 

[AlterEgo]

That reminds me - the main block at my secondary school had 3 staircases/exits - one at each end, and one in the middle.

Fairly sensibly, the middle one was strictly entrance only to act as a one-way system during busy lesson change overs.

Though for some bizarre reason teachers chose to enforce this at all times - e.g. a pupil out of class running an errand, when all it was achieving was wasting the pupil's time by making them walk the long way around (to the point of my class teacher chasing someone out - interrupting our lesson - to make them come back in and go the correct way)

You didn't go to a grammar school or some other prestigious school?

Even in the 90s, my school had the faint air of a sergeant-major run boot camp. I recall we had similar pointless one way rules, now. Some of the rules were designed simply to make you obedient and structured.

I was quite happy with the school uniform, which was a smart blazer. We had rules about shoes too - no thick soles, no logos, black laces only. I was allowed a No.1 haircut though; boys were also allowed to have it long as long as it was presentable. We had a few lads with dreadlocks and afros and this was all permitted. Overall we probably had a happy medium, although I definitely recall the "standing up when the teacher entered" as a thing none of my friends at ordinary state comp schools experienced.

 

[scotrail158713]

I remember maths teachers were always really strict about ensuring we wrote in pencil, not pen. Other subjects took the sensible approach of "use what you want as long as we can read it". Funnily enough this changed in fourth year as it was our first exam year and completing the exam in pen was compulsory. Considering the teachers all knew that come fourth year we'd have to use pen anyway it always struck me as both pointless and odd to be so strict about pen & pencil use.

 

[Richard Scott]

I'll just say try working in a school and then have the same discussion.

 

[ABB125]

As I've mentioned in the "good school memories" thread, I went to school in Worcestershire, which has a 3-tier system.

Some notable rules which I can remember:

First School:

• "no chocolates, sweets or fizzy drinks please" was printed on every letter about school trips
• Popping open bags of crisps wasn't permitted
• I was once banned from eating a Creme Egg for lunch (near Easter) and instructed to take it back home
• It was a CofE school, so prayers were said before lunch (and at the start of every assembly). Woe betide anyone who dared to giggle/not pray etc during prayers
• "Hand guns" (ie: making a shape that looks vaguely like a gun with your fingers) were not permitted and they might "encourage violence". Some bright spark then invented "custard sprayers", which bear a remarkable resemblance to guns! This was fine, until another bright spark decided to lace their imaginary custard with Novichok (before that was a thing), the result of which was people "dying" when hit with (non-existent) custard sprayed from imaginary sprayers. Needless to say, custard sprayers were soon banned...
• No running out of the door into the playground
• I'm sure there's loads more, but I can't remember unfortunately

Middle School:

• Generally less restrictive; as I mentioned in the other thread, not much of note happened here
• I may have inadvertently started a craze for Rubik's cubes in Year 8, to the extent that about half the pupils had one. ("My Rubik's cube is bigger that yours", "mines 4x4 compared with your puny 3x3" etc.) I forget the details, but some rules came into place restricting the use of the cubes. I managed to get mine confiscated (and I think I was Head Boy at the time! When I was in year 8 (final year at the school) they changed the system so that there was a new head boy and girl each term. The position didn't come with any privileges whatsoever, only downsides )
• Mobile phones were not allowed (this was a time when the iPhone 4 was the height of sophistication) and had to be left (turned off) at the school reception during the day. This was fine for me, as I didn't have one. One of the deputy heads allegedly had some sort of special device which could detect phones which hadn't been handed in
• There were a few areas of the site which were off-limits for various reasons which I've forgotten, other than the fact that they were generally spurious!

High School:

• Fewer silly rules here as well, in fact I'm struggling to think of any!
• The was one main thing which annoyed me. The school site was an absolute nightmare in terms of safeguarding: it was completely open, with access possible from several different points, including public footpaths. In Year 11/12, they started installing some fencing/gates etc on the most obvious entry points (though really I suspect the bigger issue was trying to prevent pupils from "escaping" to engage in various prohibited activities such as smoking). One of the consequences was cutting off one of my most frequently-used walking routes, which involved going out of the front entrance of the school, and walking to another block, which involved a tiny amount of distance along a public road. (Incidentally, the gating exercise also meant that there was no way for Sixth-Formers to get back onto the site without pressing the buzzer on the main entrance and waiting for the receptionist to let them in (unless you were in a car, in which case you could drive up to the gate and they would open for you; there was no security about vehicular access, anyone could just drive up and the gates would open). At the start/end of the day, the gates/doors were left unlocked because otherwise there would be no way for all the pupils to enter, therefore making it easy for potential ne'er-do-wells to get in/out undetected during the passage of over a thousand pupils. Of course, any intelligent mass murderer/rapist/kidnapper etc would simply bypass all this nonsense and gain access via the school fields, which as far as I'm aware are still protected only by "This land is private property etc" signs.
• A significant proportion (over half) of pupils arrived/departed the school on buses. There were about 13 local-authority-contract buses (coaches) running mainly direct to the various catchment villages, but also about 5 public buses which served the school. Anyone who caught a public bus was required to board it at the school; walking into the town centre and catching the bus there was a big no (though of course it was impossible for that to be enforced). Obviously, if (like me) you were staying after school for whatever reason, you had no choice but to walk to the town centre, as the contract buses only ran at school time, and the public buses only went to the school at the start/end times...

To address some of the other things which have been mentioned:

• I like school uniform. I don't know what I'd have done without a blazer and its multitude of pockets
• Going to the toilet during lessons - this is a minor disruption/distraction to the class (though it could be argued that asking causes even more disruption) and should, in my opinion, be "strongly discouraged" (though not banned). It is, quite frankly, rude to just leave a class when the teacher is talking. Does this happen in business meetings etc (genuine question)? (Though to be fair, I wasn't exactly the best model of "not disrupting the class", as I was regularly leaving early/arriving late due to music tuition.)
• I don't recall there ever being any problems with drinking in class. Though admittedly, with hindsight, for most of my school career I was in a continual semi-dehydrated state, regularly drinking no more that 1L of fluid a day!
• On the subject of "heatwaves", generally I wasn't bothered as I almost always wore my blazer regardless!

EDIT: I should mention that all 3 schools were very civilised, with good reputations (and high opinions of themselves!). "Upmarket" is probably not quite the right word, but they certainly weren't your average rough school! In many ways I think I may have missed out as a result; I think it would have been a useful experience to spend a year or two in a rather more dodgy school.

 

[Ianno87]

• Going to the toilet during lessons - this is a minor disruption/distraction to the class (though it could be argued that asking causes even more disruption) and should, in my opinion, be "strongly discouraged" (though not banned). It is, quite frankly, rude to just leave a class when the teacher is talking. Does this happen in business meetings etc (genuine question)?

Yes, usually just with a polite "Excuse me' at a suitable moment.

You don't know whether someone has additional needs that make them need the toilet more often.

 

[ABB125]

Yes, usually just with a polite "Excuse me' at a suitable moment.

Which would probably suffice in a school setting, though I'm not a teacher so I can't authoritatively comment.

You don't know whether someone has additional needs that make them need the toilet more often.

Indeed I don't. Hence why leaving to use the toilet shouldn't be banned. However if you don't have any additional needs, you really should aim to not leave (in my opinion).

 

[Ianno87]

Which would probably suffice in a school setting, though I'm not a teacher so I can't authoritatively comment.

Indeed I don't. Hence why leaving to use the toilet shouldn't be banned. However if you don't have any additional needs, you really should aim to not leave (in my opinion).

Personally if you're caught short, you're caught short. Better to relieve yourself so you can return concentrating to the meeting.

 

[ABB125]

Personally if you're caught short, you're caught short. Better to relieve yourself so you can return concentrating to the meeting.

Of course, I accept that that may sometimes happen. Though it's still better to use the toilet before the meeting/class/lecture etc

 

[PeterC]

We had to stand up whenever a teacher entered the room. 1998-2004, all boys grammar school. That rule was archaic even then.

My school wasn't that bad in the 60s. We were expected to stand for the head though.

I think that all kids will push against the rules so silly uniform codes gave something to rebel against without causing serious trouble. It was certainly a point of honour not to don the "compulsory" school cap until reaching the bus stop nearest the school.

 

[3rd rail land]

• Going to the toilet during lessons - this is a minor disruption/distraction to the class (though it could be argued that asking causes even more disruption) and should, in my opinion, be "strongly discouraged" (though not banned). It is, quite frankly, rude to just leave a class when the teacher is talking. Does this happen in business meetings etc (genuine question)? (Though to be fair, I wasn't exactly the best model of "not disrupting the class", as I was regularly leaving early/arriving late due to music tuition.)

My prep school didn't have any gaps between lessons so we often did go during lesson time because there wasn't any suitable other time. All break/lunchtimes were supervised in a set room/area of the school so one would have to ask to be allowed to use the toilet just like during lessons. I cant ever being told I couldn't use the toilet though. The other 2 schools I attended had 5 minutes between lessons and sufficient break/lunch times to use the toilet so nobody ever went during lesson time.

As for meetings I don't think it is a fair comparison. At school one is in lessons all day aside from break/lunch. One is not usually in meetings all day and where there is a particularly long meeting a break is usually scheduled so people can get coffee/tea/use the toilet etc...

 

[Gloster]

I remember that wanting to leave to go to the toilet was banned. If you did get to the point that you needed to ask permission to do so it might well be denied and you would receive a punishment just for asking. This would probably be fairly minor but one or two masters would hand out some quite hefty punishments. Leaving the room without permission for any reason, even to throw up, would result in a fairly heavy punishment. Of course, as a private school has a lot of favouritism in its structure, some boys would know that they could get away with a hell of a lot, but leaving a class without permission was just about the only thing that even they wouldn’t risk.

 

[ABB125]

We were expected to stand for the head though

We were sort of expected to do so at either my middle school or high school (possibly both!), but it was never quite clear if this was a "thou shalt rise for the headmaster's presence, else thy will be smote and damned" or "it would be nice if everyone stood up". Thus the situation often arose where the headteacher would enter, and one or two pupils would immediately stand up; thereafter followed a quick, uneasy glance around the room by both those stood up and those remaining seated, as one by one the remaining seated pupils stood up so as not to stand out.

 

[seagull]

Dunno, bicoz eye didunt go too skool.


(actually, I did, but cannot recall much about the rules at all, honestly, so whatever ones there were must have been fairly ok. No chewing gum is all I can remember.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

My most disturbing experience in high school (there were many) was also one of the first, the initial double-P.E. on a Friday morning, in my first week of Y7. This was in the late 1990s, and we were told to kit up for rugby. However the first 45 minutes turned out to be a lecture by the Head of PE on the importance of personal hygiene and how to shower properly. And very very specifically, how to wash ourselves beneath the foreskin. And then after a shortened PE session, we had to strip and shower with him watching, and demonstrate that we had listened to the instruction. (Yes, really!)

He left a couple of years later to coach a national hockey team, god knows what else he got up to in his career. It left me with a permanent fear of communal showering and I have difficulty using urinals in public loos.

 

[Scotrail314209]

My most disturbing experience in high school (there were many) was also one of the first, the initial double-P.E. on a Friday morning, in my first week of Y7. This was in the late 1990s, and we were told to kit up for rugby. However the first 45 minutes turned out to be a lecture by the Head of PE on the importance of personal hygiene and how to shower properly. And very very specifically, how to wash ourselves beneath the foreskin. And then after a shortened PE session, we had to strip and shower with him watching, and demonstrate that we had listened to the instruction. (Yes, really!)

He left a couple of years later to coach a national hockey team, god knows what else he got up to in his career. It left me with a permanent fear of communal showering and I have difficulty using urinals in public loos.

That would cause a public outcry nowadays, did any parents get angry at that?

It's unacceptable and absolutely crude. I'm sorry that you did have to go through that in school.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

That would cause a public outcry nowadays, did any parents get angry at that?

It's unacceptable and absolutely crude. I'm sorry that you did have to go through that in school.

I’m not aware it was ever made into an issue. TBH the whole communal showering thing is a form of torture for youngsters, I imagine it still exists but is often the basis of bullying considering not everyone goes through puberty at the same time / same rate. Myself and others who were late-developers learned to dodge the shower where possible and put up with muddy legs inside our uniform during the winter months when it was usually rugby or (for one fabulous year only) football.