Given detention for lateness on tube strike day

You have bugger all idea that there would have been one plan.

The thing with London is…. Walk 5 minutes to a different route and you’ll get to your destination in half the time. Same with tube stations (when there running), something choosing a different station to the closest, means you save loads

Again someone apparently not understanding the consequences of a tube strike in London.

Clear plan would have been the only (in this case) alternative mode of transport. The bus. How do you plan around not being let on the bus? In this particular case there was no other route or mode of transport, given that she can't walk it. Cycling not safe at that age, car not an option in gridlock - either your own or a taxi/Uber. You plan for the bus in the absence of other options but what do you do when the bus then doesn't stop or let you on? Or you don't know how long you might have to wait until one comes along and does? That could be ten minutes, it could be three hours. In this situation all bets are off. How do the OP and her daughter plan around that?

What route was this? 3 hours instead of 40 mins… as an long term Londoner, I’m pretty sure I could have got you there in under 1.5 hours!

Had you given her a very clear plan re how to get to school? And a back up route / mode of transport?

given she’s only 12, ND, poor knee and prone to anxiety…. I’d have accompanied her during this week of strikes

I had but I didn't realise until Monday morning that they really meant it and all the exits to the Tube at Waterloo were gated off. I can walk to my office from there but I was really surprised, I'd assumed some trains would be running.

Even if my child didn't have special needs I would not support the school with detentions when there's a strike going on. Not sure what they would do. The thread about disruption in schools made it clear that they can't exclude. So what are they going to do?

If my child did something wrong, they deal with the consequences.

But if a group of rail workers go on strike for an entire week, the school has to be realistic.

Have schools actually thought that it is some of these ridiculous rules which mean that parents and children don't respect them? My headteacher had us exactly where she wanted us - and without ludicrous rules (other than length of school skirts which was an unnecessary obsession of hers).

I hate to break it to you, but we often do indeed roll in late if there has been travel disruption…

Why do you suspect that?
I had 2 in-person meeting days rescheduled to another time because of the strikes. I did still go into the office for 1 of them but adjusted my working pattern to take account of the slower journey (walking half of it).
I suspect that most office jobs that operate on hybrid model would have done similar. That's a lot of people, not just a few.

Basin basin

Obviously one of the 17%😂

And you choose to take the job knowing the constraints. And in general the constraints are due to the security levels needed on site, so have a valid reasoning behind them.

Unfortunately many people, such as the OP, don't have much choice in the school their child goes to, and cannot afford an alternative e.g. private or home school.

So neither the parent nor the child has chosen the draconian policies. Nor is there a valid reason for schools to be so draconian, consequences for a pattern of absence is reasonable (it's disruptive), but a one in the context of massive travel problems is just something that happens occasionally.

You know that a school failing to make reasonable adjustments for a SEND pupil is against the Equality Act of 2010?

Now I am a bolshy so and so, but I would be making a massive fuss about the failure, going directly to the Head and then to the Local Education Authority. Then the Law. Don't waste time with those who have no authority to make changes. There is no point in having these Laws which protect Disabled Adults and Children against discrimination - and failing to make reasonable adjustments is discrimination - when schools are not challenged for ignoring them.

I fought schools when the Act became Law and have continued to take on discriminatory workplaces since - I would have hoped that by now parents would not still be fighting for their children's rights.

As I said depending on where he works.

No, he just has to get a temporary pass. A formal warning would be laughable. It was for two days as he has to lodge away from home part of the week.

Depending on where he works that would be a formal warning and he wouldn't be allowed in to the building.

But it is good to know how lackadaisical some (most) colleges are about security.

My husband forgot his pass again this week, the one that gets him into the college building. I just told him according to this thread he should be put in detention or isolation!

That sucks for you @whoopdeedoo. Just wanted to send good vibes as I've recently had an ankle fracture and know how frustrating it is.

OP YANBU.

A colleague of mine left home an hour early and the buses were full at 6.30 am. She was due to start work at 9, and was 30 minutes late.
Everyone saying get up earlier needs to have a think.
I live outside the M25 and felt the effects of extra traffic.

I would tell the school no.
End of.

Actually, for most jobs, it's not a big deal if you're a few minutes late. Detention for occasional lateness is unnecessary source of stress.
Most office workers in London don't even have to come to the office this week.
Not everyone is a surgeon. Don't know about surgeons but I have friends who are GPs or consultants and they are definitely a few minutes late from time to time. 90+% of office workers can be also late coming to the office - important meetings usually don't happen first thing in the morning to allow for latecomers. Similarly, schools could very well make the 15 minutes more relaxed to allow for (occasional delays).

HAHAHAHAHA.

If only nearly all schools were not run on exactly the same lines. Parental choice is an illusion.

Even 35 years ago in Greater Manchester the roads could be gridlocked in the morning. Most kids went on the school buses. If the school buses were late we never got detention.

Exactly. I left contingency time on Monday and was still 10 minutes late. Since then have increased the contingency time and been about half an hour early each day - so my employer is overall 50 minutes ahead, and because they were reasonable on the first day I don't mind them 'being ahead'.

If they had made an issue of 10 minutes the first day I might resent those 50 minutes. As it is, I am very happy with the situation, a bit of give and take makes for a far more positive result for everyone.

Irritatingly on Monday, DD was supposed to leave contingency time on Monday, but didn't because she left everything to the last minute and then still faffed around. Her journey was almost unaffected, and she was on time for College... 😡

It was really just down to luck, especially the first day when it was impossible to predict the impact.