OMG! after school club forgot to collect ds!

[edam]

Just had a call from ds's teacher to say he was still at school (30 mins after chucking out time) but he had told her he was supposed to go to after school club.

He was and they had forgotten to collect him. Sorted out immediate problem, spoke to ds who was remarkably unphased, teacher called after school and they have collected and called me to apologise (I offered to call them myself but teacher said she'd rather.)

My palpitations are just about easing now I know ds is fine but OMG OMG.

(Club is off site, they collect kids via minibus.)

[nappyzonecantrunfortoffee]

blimey!

[pippel]

so you will be looking for difrent childcare right?! That is really awful

[AstronomyDomine]

I forgot to pick my friend's son up from nursery once!!! She was working late and the nursery is down the road from work and my house.

Got a call from my friend around 9pm just for a general chat... then she told me she'd got a call from the nursery saying her DS was still there. I'd completely forgotten about it and was mortified. Both my friend and her DS were absolutely fine but I felt like a prize twat.

Your DS will be equally unfazed I'm sure.

[AstronomyDomine]

let me just add... her DS wasn't still at the nursery at 9pm... she'd got the call at 6pm because they needed to close.

[AstronomyDomine]

[edam]

@ Astronomy, am perfectly capable of doing something like that myself (although have managed to avoid it so far).

Pippel, don't know, head in a bit of a spin atm. I can kind of see how it might have happened but it shouldn't have done, IYSWIM. After school club is really good, ds has a whale of a time etc. etc. etc. and I bet they will NEVER forget him ever again. But it is quite scary.

He only goes one day a week anyway but I really do need that time.

[pippel]

Could you not a get a cm? they would pick him up from school and its not very likely to forget him

to be honest I dont see how they could because they would have had a register with all the children on that they had to get that day

[haggisaggis]

The thing is though, although they shouldn't have forgotten, I assume there is some kind of handover between school and after school club - so he would still have been under care of school so in no danger.
Our kdis club have forgotten kids before now and they have been taken along later by one of the teachers.
It is not great - but I wouldn't get too stressed.

[edam]

haggis, yes, as I said, he was with his teacher, who was very nice and helpful.

pippel, I wish! Childminders who pick up from ds's school are as rare as hen's teeth - the one I know, who ds loved, only does nursery-aged kids (so when he was in nursery in the morning, she had him in the afternoon, and when he went in afternoon vice versa).

Many of the families are well-off and can either afford one parent to SAH/work very part-time or have a Nanny.

The whole reason he only goes one day a week is that the only care I can find that I'm happy with is after-school club - if I knew a great childminder who could have him more often, I could really do with the extra time (am self-employed but not the sort of job you can do with children at your feet).

[potoftea]

I think you can be sure they'll never forget him again, as they'll always double check him from now on.
And you also know that he was fine in this situation, so can be sure he would be again.

So I'd be happy to continue with the care; even a childminder could forget to collect him if he was the only one she had to get.

[LynetteScavo]

edam, this happend to my DS, not once, but twice! (luckily after school club was on school site, though)...I was furious and had serious words with the owner of the after school club. The "colection of children" policy, or what ever, was actually changed, to ensure this never happened again.

[MarshaBrady]

It must have been very scary, but the good thing is that he was still at school under the teacher's supervision.

It's good to know that that back up is there, couldn't bear to think if the school didn't watch for the children still left.

[lisad123wantsherquoteinDM]

When I was younger, I was working for an afterschool club and forgot a child I looked for him, he wasnt there to meet me as normal, he sometimes went home with friends and another child had said he had seen him leave with this friend.
I was gutted when i returned to find the school had called to say he was still there! I was never allowed to forget my mistake, and was forever sorry

It does happen, but doubt they'll do it again anytime soon!

[pinkteddy]

I think things like this do happen from time to time, although hopefully rarely. I would imagine the club were told he was not in school today or something? Or somehow he was missed from the register. Can you ask them to investigate why this happened? At least then they might be able to take precautions to ensure it doesn't happen again. It may have just been human error of course!

I know of one local school where they get collected to be taken to a/s club the HT told me he occasionally had to take the odd child there himself as they had been forgotten for one reason or another, usually because the club had been told the child wasn't in school for whatever reason.

[edam]

Thanks everyone.

Managed to speak to the head tonight (we were at a meeting, I didn't call her up specifically) and let her know how grateful I was that the teacher stayed and sorted everything out.

[edam]

He was missed from the register. Shouldn't have been, goes every week, had been speaking to the club re. paying the bill and separately re. collecting a form at pick-up tonight, but it did. Leader of ASC has talked me through what they will do about and sounds reassuring.

I am very proud of ds, who is only just six, but was very sensible and told his teacher where he should have been. And grateful to his teacher for staying with him and sorting it out.

[pinkteddy]

well done to your ds he sounds a very sensible and clever boy!