Detention - How much notice do you think is reasonable?

[Wildcate]

Year 7, 11 years old.

SEN, meaning cannot travel to/from school unaccompanied. School has not asked explicitly whether they travel unaccompanied, so are unaware of drop off/pick up set up.

How much notice do you think the school should reasonably give?

24 hours

I think you should discuss it with the school.

I think you should discuss it with the school.

I will do. After I gauge whether I think the notice I got was reasonable. Which I’m doing - partly - by asking others.

Discuss it with the school. Call and ask to speak to your child's tutor and explain the situation.

24 hours. But I’d be more curious why my SEN child was given detention and if it was warranted

I worked in a school that gave same day detentions. I personally don't think this is reasonable but some schools do it, and it is legal.

The detention was warranted, I have no concerns there.

I'm a teacher, and it's a min of 24 hours, But if the parent calls me directly and explains the student can't make it on a certain day I'm happy to re-arrange. I normally do mine on the same night every week, get them all done at once. So I just tell them to come the following week.

Ours does same day after school. No notice. No notification to parents (not ideal when mobiles are banned)
When questioned they said kids could say they couldn't do it that day and defer it (not sure how many would have the confidence to do that)

To a pp, of course a child with SEN can receive a justified detention. If there are special considerations, including transport arrangements, I'd expect school to be flexible, but they can't do that if you don't communicate with them.

The few schools I'm aware of all give 24 hours notice.

greensleeves of course, I didn’t mean they shouldn’t just that as a parent of a child with SEN myself I know from experience that sometimes misunderstandings can cause unfair punishments, as the op has followed up this is obviously not the case.

Ok thanks all.

I have absolutely no intention of going in all guns blazing: after all, school isn’t aware of transport arrangements. It’s absolutely not that I don’t communicate with them. It’s that this specific issue has never arisen before therefore hasn’t come up.

I got 1 hours notice of his detention.

It was ok today as I wasn’t working, but may be problematic in future. I wanted to see what others felt was reasonable before I took it up with school (my first child at high school).

Thanks, all

keepit I agree, that can definitely happen too.

I think one hour's notice is insufficient, especially given your child's SEN and travel arrangements. In that situation I would have called school immediately and explained that he wouldn't be doing the detention today and other arrangements would need to be made (eg lunchtime detention).

I don't think 1 hour is enough notice. You could have plans. Hopefully he won't get any more detentions but maybe check the school is flexible in case it does happen again.

There's nothing stopping schools giving se day detentions but it tends to just create problems. 24 hours is reasonable. We let students reschedule if they approach the teacher in advance to ask politely.

Thanks very much.

There’s another complication in that DS has just said he was ‘awarded’ the detention earlier this week, despite me only being notified about to this PM (although he is known to be very economical with the truth).... which would make 1 hour’s notice today seem a little strange.

I’ll have a chat with his tutor next week.

When you speak to his tutor, I'd explain that DS isn't the most reliable source of information and ask that somebody let you know as soon as possible when a detention is issued from now on.

His tutor knows.

That DS isn’t a reliable source of info, I mean.

It is usually more than 24 hours, but I have known short notice, same day detentions targeted (with general parental agreement) at selected students with behaviour issues who benefit from a more immediate approach to a follow up from their behaviour. It tends to be in schools with a localised catchment where few would have transport issues.

Ask what the school policy says about how much notice should be given, I'm not 100% sure but I think it's illegal for schools to keep students without 24 hours notice purely for the reason that they may not be able to get home afterwards and potentially could be a child protection issue. If you talk to the school and explain the situation I'm sure they will be fine to re-arrange and give you more notice in the future. All children and families are different, we teachers have to understand education can not be a one size fits all. Good luck

TwinkleMerrick
I'm not 100% sure but I think it's illegal for schools to keep students without 24 hours notice purely for the reason that they may not be able to get home afterwards and potentially could be a child protection issue.

The government says that schools do not have to give any notice and afterschool detentions can be on the day. Most schools give 24 hours notice as a nod that parents may have other things on.

Wildcate

As your child has a SEND reasonable adjustments should be made but they can only be made if the school knows about your arrangements.