School refused to release my child until after parents’ meeting – is this allowed?

Why have you decided not to take this further when they have blatantly ignored your emails?? Why don’t you just go into the school?

Have you tried writing to the chair of the governors? I would be raising concerns with him/her not just about holding children hostage after school but more generally about poor organisation and communication at the school. It’s not acceptable to tell parents about a compulsory meeting with less than five hours notice - it’s a sign the school does not have its act together.

As a former governor, I'd say you should email/write to the chair of governors. The policy they might have is questionable anyway, but their lack of response is also bad.

Agree with this. Next stop, probably email the chair of governors.

The no response would concern me

Can you change schools? Sorry if that has already been answered. It sounds as though the problem is going to be the management of the school generally, which may impact on other things.

Absolutely do not let it go. It's awful that they haven't responded to your emails. I would go in and request an in-person meeting.

Some people on this thread are batshit to think this is reasonable behavior from the school.

I’ve certainly not seen anything and it’s an area of law I’d usually be very aware of professionally (social worker). I can’t find anything online and would be surprised if such a Bill did pass due to potential breaches of the Human Rights Act.

Some of you are fucking mental!!

OP this is wildly outrageous behaviour from the school and honestly something that ive never heard of and would not happen in scotland.

I would have never allowed this to have happened, i would have politly taken my child, thats right MY CHILD.

I have other children at different schools, my children have other commitments after school so we have alot going on at pickup - if i go to pickup my child at school finish im picking up my child at school finish regardless of what they say.

Are you sure the law as you state it is still the case? I haven't checked, but i saw a draft bill 18 mths ago which gave schools more powers in relation to holding on to children, in wide circumstances. When I first saw this thread I was worried that it had gone through as originally drafted - a disaster in relation to potential for malpractice.

Presumably if the mother had taken her child out, she would be supervising her own child. Why would she also need the school to supervise her child?

Probably because most schools treat parents like they are an employee of the school or a pupil.....

I’m a bit shocked by everyone saying this is okay. Plenty of parents have other responsibilities and need to pick up on time. Schools don’t have the right to withhold your child from you.

But in this instance the school were the twats surely?!

Suppose, suppose.
All teachers would not have to be at the meeting - its not a staff meeting. Safeguarding means the school should have this covered, if not, then incompetent, negligent, if they cant make make a workable plan between the lot of them.

Suppose that mother was able to take the child out, and there was no supervision in the playground because the teachers were in the meeting, and an accident of some kind happened?

Whose responsibility would it be?

Pineapplecolada1
Making sure parents can attend and offering childcare whilst they do should be seen as positive.

If that had been what they did it would have been a good idea, but it wasn't. What they did was refuse children permission to leave the school premises, shut them into their classrooms, and require the people collecting them to go to the hall for a talk. This means that a lot of non-parents collecting children will have been caused inconvenience, a lot of parents with other children at other schools, dentists' appointments and so forth will have been caused inconvenience, and a large tranche of parents who were not collecting their children at the end of the school day will not have been at the talk in the school hall anyway.

A very ill-thought-out bit of behaviour on the part of the school; one might almost think someone had wanted to upset and annoy the parents and lessen their engagement with the arbitrary people in charge of the school, not improve or increase it.

'Well done to the school'? I dont think so. Luckily the OP is not of the legal persuasion as that is a law case waiting to happen. One that the OP would win as the school cannot hold your child hostage and demand you attend a meeting about school uniforms etc etc!

I think some may have totally lost the plot - to agree to schools keeping children hostage bc parents didnt read an email or cant/dont wish to attend a meeting. Who do these teachers think they are that THEY think they have the final say?

OP has been nice. I would have torn the teachers down a peg or two and then some so they would think twice before holding a child hostage from their parents ever again!

I think you should get over it

Yes I totally agree with you. However from my own experience with my sixteen year old daughter a lot of schools are strict about when to use the toilets. I think a lot of the time girls mess about in them and that's the logic behind it all. Therefore a short email from 'mum' will usually work. Maybe not telling the daughter will stop any embarrassment too. Better that at least the poor girl can change herself when required.

I’m thankful that dds school lets them go to the loo whenever they like.

It’s an all girls school and part of the info before the started in September stated their toilet policy. Girls can go when they like but they have to note it in their planner so parents can see if they are just trying to get ten mins out of the same lesson all the time.

How utterly embarrassing and humiliating for her. When I was 11 I would rather have died than speak to a teacher about periods - or have my mum do it. So inhuman. Kids need to use the toilet sometimes and they shouldn’t have to give a long explanation!

Absolutely ridiculous thing to do. I hate the policy of never letting kids go to the toilet, there are always going to be reasons kids need to go at short notice from time to time, eaten something dodgy, undiagnosed IBS, sudden onset of period, and these won't be kids who already have toilet passes.

Yes there are allowances. Just speak to her form tutor or head of year.