AIBU to go into school and complain !

[trappedinsuburbia]

Ds started 1st year at secondary in August, since then there has been various mistakes over his identity as there is another boy with the same name. They have now started using ds's middle initial on documents.

Mix ups, which I have let go are:

Wrong sheet with personal details on sent home to check, you know the ones with name, address, tel of parents and emergency contact details on.

Phone call from school to let me know my Ds had been truanting the afternoon before (he had not) - phoned the school back, left Ds dob etc told them to double check and get back to me if it was him, as I was 100% sure it was NOT him and told them this.

He was put in the wrong maths class, he was in the lower level and complained to the teacher several times the work was stuff he had learned about 2 years previously, he was sitting bored for about a month before they realised and put him in correct class.

Today he got home his 'tracking' report which has said he has been absent (he has not been off) and late (don't think so, I have asked and he said only time was late was when he was putting his musical instrument into music class before lessons, but still made it to his registration class and explained to teacher, don't know if that counts as late or not, I thought that was when you missed registration and had to sign in late at office, so not sure on this one).

AIBU to go in and complain.

[Pippioddstocking]

Yes I would complain, especially as the other one sounds quite the rotter in comparison . I think you need to complain otherwise your son could end up with a bad name for himself through no fault of his own .

[PinkSwimGoggles]

yanbu
both barrels! after nearly half a term they should get it right!

[marvelousdcomics]

YANBU

[crazybat]

Wow! No that isn't acceptable and they are breaking serious data pro protocol!

What if the other child or yours had child protection issues etc and they gave out the wrong info in the wrong hands? (Not saying you would)

When I was at school I was given the wrong rest paper. I changed it for the right one and did it and passed, but they used the marks from the second paper against the first and I went down 4 sets. Took 4 months to rectify.

You do not need to have your child's education affected due to an admin error.

Complain. Make it very obvious you will take it further unless they buck their ideas up.

[Meadows76]

What do you want the result of your complaint to be? As you say they have 'resolved' things by using a middle name to differentiate.

[Optimist3]

I would email the head of lower school and explain. They shouldn't be getting it wrong now

[Damselindestress]

Meadows76
But it sounds like it hasn't been resolved because OP has received a 'tracking' report today that isn't accurate for her son, saying he was absent when he wasn't, so the school must have mixed up his details again.

[Topseyt]

It sounds like incompetence somewhere along the line.

Once or twice in a new school is an understandable mistake but not continuously. They are likely to be breaching the Data Protection laws too and hav also possibly passed your details on to the other family, who you probably don't even know.

Say all of that to them, and remind them that it just isn't acceptable.

[trappedinsuburbia]

Thanks, I am fuming just now and have let a lot go as thought they would have got it sorted off their own back. It is not a very common name, I was furious at the DPA breach but since it had already happened let it go.

I don't want him to be tarnished with a bad name Meadows76 and for it to affect his education, I don't want it to happen again, that is my outcome for the complaint.

There is behaviour issues with the other boy my ds said he has beat up two boys and there are other family issues for him which I was told (but could just be gossip).

It really strikes me as sloppy admin that could have a serious affect on my DS.

[DiscoMike]

I had this throughout school with another person with the same surname and same first half of first name - think John Smith and Johnathan Smith. We'd go to lessons and there wouldn't be enough chairs, we'd get randomly put in sets not by ability but where there was space. It was shite.

[buttercup54321]

I would complain every time!!

[NoooorthonerMum]

Yes I would go down to the school a few mix ups would be OK but why are they still getting it wrong - they should have a system in their database for dealing with two children with the same name. Having him in the wrong maths class for a month is ridiculous.

[trappedinsuburbia]

Thats rubbish discomike, you would think a school could manage having 2 pupils with the same name, it must be quite a common thing, surely they're not the only 2 kids with the same name at the same (large) school !!

[insan1tyscartching]

Ds was at school with a boy with the same name too. It was a PITA particularly as ds's name is the shortened version of the longer name of the other boy but because the other boy used the shortened version too there was no end of mix ups.One memorable occasion was when I was called to say ds had hit a girl and it was only because I knew he wouldn't have that I insisted they check that they had the right dc and sure enough they didn't. Eventually they distinguished between them by calling them big and little Ben.

[Selfimproved]

Ridiculous that your DS was in the wrong maths set for a month. That alone gives you the right to go in and complain.

At the start of 1st year, your DS was unknown to the teachers. Over time they will get to know him and the chances of getting put in the wrong class will go down. The problem with data might continue though as the office staff won't know all the kids names. You need to speak to someone.

[trappedinsuburbia]

Surely they must have something in place for having pupils with the same name!

[Chopstick17]

YANBU, arrange for a call back from someone senior. One mistake is enough. This is ridiculous!

[Chopstick17]

At my DD's school there are 2 children with same name. But they are not in the same class. Each child's name is detailed on data with their form number so no mistakes.

[noblegiraffe]

The standard thing is using middle initials on SIMs to distinguish the two children. I assume they are not in the same class!

Re absence, the only thing I can think of that might have happened is that your DS was given the timetable of the wrong student, so he was attending the other boy's lessons, and his evil twin was in his lessons. Once they sorted out the registers, your DS is now in the correct lessons, but because evil twin was registered as your DS, it will have when he was late to lessons and absent and so on, because he was absent on your DS's school record. Switching that data around would be a bloody nightmare (but, of course, they should do it, they might not have realised it would be an issue).

[ThisisMrsNicolaHicklin]

This is really poor. Due to the culture I grew up in there were loads of people who shared the same names, like 5-6 groups of 2-3 kids with the same names in school at the same time. At one point I there were 5 boys with the same name at school with me. Maybe because it was so prevalent we had no mix ups at all.

[SomethingOnce]

If their processes allow data protection fuck ups, you'll be doing them a favour by making a fuss.

[ThisisMrsNicolaHicklin]

I'm not sure what they did in the office but in class the teachers used nicknames (if it wasn't offensive) or initials.

[trinity0097]

The registration period will be longer than when the register has to be taken, so in my school school starts at 8.30am, but if a child arrives in the room after 8.30am but before the session ends they will be late.

He needs to get his musical instrument stowed in good time to not be late for registration.

[trappedinsuburbia]

Fair enough trinity0097, I'm not sure if they're officially marked as late as long as they make registration or if they have to sign in late at the office, I will clarify on this when I see them.

Lol at 'evil twin', their birthdays are in the same month as well, I did joke that they must have been switched at birth as ds is so quiet and I was a bit of a tearaway when I was younger, so other boy must be mine.