Whatever happened to the simple & effective practice of rostering
teachers for "yard duty" while the children were on recess and
lunch breaks?

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School looking at pupil tagging

A school in Swansea is considering tagging its pupils because of a
shortage of assistants who can supervise lunch breaks.

The idea is for children at Lonlas Primary to wear the tags all day,
with a buzzer sounding if they leave.

The shortage of assistants has been put down to low pay and
unfavourable working hours.

Sara Reid, the Deputy Children's Commissioner for Wales, said she was
concerned by the plans.

"I understand that schools need to worry about the safety of the
children but we are concerned about the effect this is having on the
human rights of children," she said.

"There is a need to supervise we know and to make sure that the
children are safe." 

The head teacher at Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Lonlas, Dyfrig Ellis, picked
up the idea from an IT conference in the Netherlands and has already
begun talks with a Dutch company about the tagging scheme.

"On one hand the tagging system does appear extreme but I believe that
it's an option I have to consider when the safety of pupils is in
question," he said. 

(snip / snip)

Mr Powell said he believed the tags would be worn on pupils' wrists,
but added: "That is something we will have to find out from the
company.

"The idea is that if a child walks off school premises the electronic
system would pick this up and it would register in a central control
room." 

(snip / snip)

                            -==-

Full article at BBC News ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/4192913.stm


Cheers, Steve...

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