LINWOOD READING LOG STOUSH GOES TO THE BOARD
One parent ticked the box. Another parent disputes the tick.
A dispute over a Year 3 reading log at a Linwood primary school has reached the board of trustees. Two sets of parents are now talking only through a deputy principal and a shared Google Doc.
The row began when Imogen Cattermole-Briggs, 8, logged 20 minutes of nightly reading for a fortnight. Another parent emailed the office asking how that was "statistically possible given Imogen also does ballet." The email was 600 words. It CC'd the board chair.
Imogen's mother, Petra, said she was stunned anyone would question the log. "She reads in the car. She reads at ballet. She reads while I'm parking on Stanmore Road, which is its own bloody ordeal." Petra has had the log witnessed by a neighbour who is a JP.
The complaining parent asked to be identified only as "a concerned member of the school community". She said the issue was "not about Imogen" but about "the integrity of the log." Asked if she had ever met Imogen, she said she had, once. Imogen was "fine, I suppose."
The board chair has scheduled a special meeting for Thursday. The reading log is agenda item four, after the hall, the pool fence, and morning tea. "We're taking it seriously," she said, "because if we don't, they'll email again."
Imogen, asked what she was reading, said "the Wonky Donkey" and went back to her scooter.
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Reader Letters
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, kids read by the time they were 5, didn't need a log to prove it. Parents sorting it out over tea, not emails.
MumOf3_Riccarton
Honestly, why can't people just let kids be? If Imogen wants to read at ballet, let her! Our lives are hectic enough without policing reading logs!
BarryBishopdale
Oh no, not the school board! They'll achieve less than they do in my street committee, and that's saying something!
couchgremlin
Lol. Read in the car. That's how you spew.
Sandra McKenzie
Actually, reading while moving can indeed help develop stronger eye muscles in children. It's a known fact!
Margaret_F
@Sandra McKenzie Oh, the things I learn in comment sections! Those poor kids are being over-scheduled these days.
wayne1987
What a pisstake! People really don't have better things to do, eh? Next they'll be timing her toilet breaks.
Just_Saying_Linwood
I live nearby, and Imogen's mum is always buzzing around town. That kid is probably reading her way through Linwood!