Teachers taking photos outside of school

@noblegiraffe i know that a headteacher taking a photograph of a child near school out of school hours isnt going to be helpful. A head perhaps engaging with a child they have seen may be more positive or of some use at least. A reintegration meeting is all fair and well, but the head has certainly undermined themselves in this situation. Its not professional and would seem that they are afraid of, or simply writing off, the child in question. Fair point regarding other children and supporting their learning, but you surely can see how very pathetic the heads behaviour is?! Is this how you would expect a headteacher to behave? Hiding behind a phone to try and score points against a parent?! Because why else would they be doing that?

Heads on a power trip and nobody is actually supporting the child back to school or working WITH the parents.

Way to pre-judge the head here. Do you actually know that the child will not be having the usual reintegration meeting with parents involved before returning to lessons?

I am against exclusions in schools (work in a school too) and have never found it works.

It certainly can give the other kids a break. People who are against exclusions usually forget about everyone else involved.

Heads on a power trip and nobody is actually supporting the child back to school or working WITH the parents
How do you know this, exactly?

Thanks @noblegiraffe i was aware of the 5 day suspension not being in a public place during school hours. Cannot prove anything if out of school hours though, and I think that attempting to make criminals out of parents is not really the way forward is it?! Taking photos on a mobile phone isnt professional and how does that support behaviour management? Heads on a power trip and nobody is actually supporting the child back to school or working WITH the parents. Really poor approach all round I would say. I am against exclusions in schools (work in a school too) and have never found it works.

Incidentally, although this isn't the case here, a head can sanction behaviour that happens after school and not on school grounds if the child is wearing school uniform.
Yes, this is true.

unless im mistaken a suspended child is not under arrest? It was after school and not on the school grounds?

A suspended child is not legally allowed in public places during school hours, so if they are at the school at kicking out time, while not technically illegal, one would certainly wonder what the child had been up to in the minutes before the bell went.

A parent and a child has the right to freedom and can do whatever they wish off of school grounds.

Incidentally, although this isn't the case here, a head can sanction behaviour that happens after school and not on school grounds if the child is wearing school uniform.

@noblegiraffe unless im mistaken a suspended child is not under arrest? It was after school and not on the school grounds? If a school valued the parents they would allow them to PARENT rather than dictating their private family life? Perhaps its this attitude which is a barrier to managing behaviour and getting children to engage?!

A parent and a child has the right to freedom and can do whatever they wish off of school grounds. How dare that Head say otherwise?!

Not if the child is suspended. And if the child is suspended and in a public place, the person who will be in (legal) trouble is the parent not the child, so talking to the child would be talking to the wrong person.

I don't fully understand a lot of the perspectives in here. If the child (yes a child!) Was not on school grounds why was a photo taken? If the headteacher (yes an adult!) Had a problem with this they should have said something and not just taken a photo? A parent and a child has the right to freedom and can do whatever they wish off of school grounds. How dare that Head say otherwise?! Sounds very wrong to me

The op has already said that it wasn’t about returning the trainers but about seeing the friends. Why they couldn’t organise something outside of school time I don’t understand. And why allow DS to see his friends when he is being punished I don’t know.

And you couldn't think of any way of returning the trainers without dropping your ds off at school?

For future reference I can think of several:

You handing to reception at school and your ds texting his friend to say they're there.
You dropping them at friend's house.
You sitting in the car outside school, your ds having texted that to his friend
The friend dropping by your house
Giving to another friend to pass on at school

All come to mind without really taxing my brain.

And it isn't like when I was at school where we might not have an easy way of contacting said friend. If he was close enough to borrow his trainers, he's going to have his number in his phone.

Do you not trust the teacher to act in your child's best interests?

This

Undermining or questioning his headteacher over this is not going to help your son build good and respectful relationships with adults in authority.

Clashing with teachers to the point at which a suspension is warranted is the issue here. As is returning to the school premises while on suspension.

Imagine if another pupil or staff member who had commited a serious or violent offense flaunted their suspension to return some trainers. Suspension rules can be major safeguarding issues.

It's very provocative for an excluded child to be dropped off right outside of school just after the end of the school day. I'm not surprised the Head took a photo to evidence this.

Absolutely wrong choice to perform a trainer exchange just outside school property when so many children were still dispersing.

I didn’t say that alone explained all behaviours. That was your odd interpretation of what I said.

Just to add to my post the HT would have no way of knowing you had dropped them off and were waiting in a car unless they saw you. For all they knew he could have been wandering around unsupervised all day and it could be a part of a wider pattern of neglect iyswim. Remember they have a duty to safeguard and record everything that is a concern. If they even did take a photo that is.

Just to point out if your child was breaking the terms of the suspension it wouldn't be 'him' anyone was trying to target but you, as the parent.

The school's concern for a child can extend to being concerned that their parents are failing to hold the child accountable and to learn from their mistakes which is the point of a suspension in some ways and if upheld and reinforced by the parents. As you're aware it would be a parent, not a child, who would potentially face a fine.

I'm with others though in simply not believing a year 11 gets a fixed term exclusion a couple of weeks into term for walking out of a lesson. I suspect 'clashing with his teacher' may be a term that is minimising far more serious behaviour than walking out of one lesson, sorry. Schools just don't give FTEs for no reason, they are judged for everyone given by ofsted and overly avoid them if anything.

I feel like you should try putting more effort into bringing up your child rather than trying to fight the school

Have I missed the reason your ds walked out of class?

It looks like I’ve mentioned trainers as an excuse to let my child break the rules – this is not the case and actually the trainers weren’t the main reason for him being there – he really wanted to see his friend and felt that outside of the school and after the ban that this would not be breaking the rules – he is not a rule-breaker, nor an antagoniser

Being away from his friends is part of the punishment.

He could have not seen them on the Friday and met up with them over the weekend.

Why did he need to see them on the Friday?