"It's draconian": School under fire for telling children to walk with their hands behind their backs

A Leicestershire primary school has angered parents after asking children to walk with their hands behind their backs.

Emma Tayler, the headteacher of Market Harborough C of E Academy Primary School, adopted the strange policy as a way of developing good behaviour and habits.

Children were told to keep their hands behind their backs when walking around the school grounds in large groups and when entering the building at lunchtimes.

“This is one of a range of strategies to help children develop good behaviour, to develop good habits and to establish secure routines. This helps to ensure that our school of over 400 pupils is calm and safe, with all children ready to learn,” Mrs Tayler wrote in a letter to parents.

Several parents voiced their concerns at the practice which was being put upon children as young as four.

One dad told the Telegraph that the new rule felt like the school was going back hundreds of years: “I can’t speak for everyone but it’s like Victorian times. I know lots of parents are outraged about it and have raised it with the school.”

Another parent labelled the regime as ‘draconian’. “Even the youngest pupils are expected to do it,” the mum commented. “It’s far too much when they’re only four and just getting used to school in the first place.

“This regime is draconian. It’s like a boot camp – it’s 2017, not the dark ages.”

Thanks to the uproar, the school has now apparently adjusted the policy, allowing children to put their hands by their sides or in front.

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