Manston St James Primary Academy: Leeds parents hit out at ‘draconian measures’ as new school policy bans tig

The policy at Manston St James CofE Primary Academy bans children from playing any games which involve physical contact, including ‘tig’, and came into effect on Thursday. The Sandbed Lane school has since clarified that the approach will not prevent children showing affection to one another, such as hugging or giving high fives.

The school’s headteacher said the policy has been introduced following a spate of incidents between children during breaks and lunchtimes, some of which have left pupils with minor injuries. She added that a number of other measures put in place had failed to stop the “rough play”.

But some parents are angry at the school’s decision, raising concerns that it denies them the fun experience they should be having at primary school. One parent said they were concerned that the school, part of Abbey Multi Academy Trust, felt it could not keep pupils safe without the new policy.

Another parent, who said there has been a “very angry” reaction to the measures, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I am very disappointed in the school’s draconian measures to deal with the children this way. As a parent, I would like my child to be taught positive and negative contact as well as conflict resolution.

“I understand the difficult job that teachers have but this doesn’t adequately prepare my child for their later years and further denies them the ‘fun’ experience that they should be having at primary school.”

In communication with parents seen by the YEP, headteacher Hayley McNeill said children are no longer allowed to play games that involve physical contact of any kind, including ‘tig’, also known as ‘tag’.

Another letter was sent to parents today (Friday) which explained the school’s reasons behind the new policy, highlighting a number of measures made to try and tackle “rough play” - including bespoke programmes for individual students and extra staff at break times.

In a statement issued to the YEP, Mrs McNeill said: “Our new ‘hands off’ approach at playtimes has been introduced to reduce rough play and to keep our children safe, and we anticipate it will only need to be a short-term measure.

“Recently we have seen a higher-than-normal number of incidents and minor injuries caused by student interactions at break and lunchtimes. Despite addressing this with specific pupils, purchasing new play equipment, introducing new lunchtime activities, and increasing staffing, there has been little improvement.

“All the decisions which are made in school derive from our vision of ensuring that children are ‘Rooted and Grounded in Love’ and the new approach will not prevent our children from showing care and compassion to one another by giving friends a ‘high five’, a hug, or helping them up if they fall.

“Children are still able to play their usual games, and for the majority, there will be little to no change to what their playtimes actually look like. We welcome feedback from our parents and continue to work in partnership with them to ensure our focus on ‘All are Loved’ remains pivotal in our motivations when making decisions.”