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Original poster

Cannot get to school as have no petrol- headteacher say's it an 'unauthorised absence'. Anyone else in this situation?

120 replies

Schoolfuel1 · 04/10/2021 17:09

DC school is nearly 8 miles away.
Spent weekend going to 5 different petrol stations and all were shut. We tried calling some other's petrol stations (who didn't answer). We are following all the facebool fuel pages and the google fuel map, but there was still no stations with petrol.

So this morning I did not have enough petrol to do the 8 mile journey x4 times as my petrol light is on. DH very low too and we need to keep some for him to try get to a petrol station to get me some.

Headteacher say's unacceptable as other kids and staff are in (many live in the village so walk). Says we could get a taxi- its £25 each way, including my return journeys that's £100 for one day.I'm not wanting a child to be in a taxi themselves with a total stranger.

Say's as we "cannot afford a taxi" we should get a bus- no direct bus, only one takes over 2 hours and how is their guarantee bus will get petrol? Say's we should know who parents in our village are to lift share-we genuinely do not of anyone so she say's we need to go on facebook to find them Confused

So basically , dc is marked as an unauthorised absence today and she is expected in tomorrow no matter what.

My older dc's school couldn't be more different- supportive and offering to help get her to school.

Is anyone else placed in this position? What if can't get petrol this week- or the week after- will we get fined and have to go to court?

OP posts:
GingerAndTheBiscuits · 04/10/2021 20:32

Can’t think of many circumstances where 2 hour one way would be a “suitable journey”. Parents need to complain to council then Ombudsman - loads of cases related to school transport there

ZenNudist · 04/10/2021 20:38

But it is an unauthorised absence. I wouldn't worry about it. That's just how schools are now. They can close for months on end and that's all jolly good and don't you know there's a pandemic on? But try and take time off and they literally cannot authorise it.

Caramellatteplease · 04/10/2021 20:40

Sounds very much to me like the LEA are bullying parents into not taking up their school transport entitlement and the school are being complicit!! Its a bit shocking

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Peanutsandchilli · 04/10/2021 20:58

Just say you're waiting for PCR results. Schools are not allowed to ask you to prove any results. Find petrol in the meantime. I'd rather a white lie than have an unauthorised absence because the school are being ridiculous.

HummingBeeBox · 04/10/2021 21:05

We have a pinned post on our Facebook page saying where fuel is. Best bet is probably to put out a shout out asking where there is fuel right now. Much easier than driving round randomly.

MrsKeats · 04/10/2021 21:06

£25 for 8 miles in a taxi.
Seriously?

changingsheets · 04/10/2021 21:10

Strange. The taxi I booked to come home from work cancelled on me because they have no fuel. Nobody has fuel

Cannot get to school as have no petrol- headteacher say's it an 'unauthorised absence'. Anyone else in this situation?
CovidCorvid · 04/10/2021 21:13

It would be £25 for me to do an 8 mile journey easily. Because I’m rural. So the taxi comes from town to my village when it brings me back from a night out, fare can be anywhere from £30 to £45 depending how late it is. I assume because the taxi goes back empty so I’m essentially paying for a 16 mile trip.

If I needed a taxi to come from town to my village and take me to another village 8 miles away I’d expect to pay more. Taxi would come 8 miles from town, then my 8 mile trip, then 16 miles back to town so I’d need to pay for a 32 mile journey even though I’m only using an 8 mile trip. 🤷‍♀️ That’s how the taxis here operate anyway.

julieca · 04/10/2021 21:15

TBH I would do the bus.

TrampolineForMrKite · 04/10/2021 21:23

@Schoolfuel1 as @itsallgoingpearshaped says, complain to the Chair of Governors about the Head’s attitude towards this. I’m on several GBs and if any of our Headteacher’s behaved like this we would be handing their arses to them. She should be helping you get your daughter into school with practical solutions that don’t involve spending £500 a week or spending 20hrs of the week on a bus! And as many others have said, the UA is much more of an issue for the school than it is for you.

Make sure correspondence with the Head is via email, write to the Chair too so you have a paper trail and relax. The likelihood is that you won’t be fined, but if you are it will be almost impossible to make you pay it.

Madcats · 04/10/2021 21:25

I am in a parallel universe where there were a couple of cars queuing for pumps today, but plenty of teens getting +ve tests and wiping out year groups.

Does your school not have blended learning of any sort? I am assuming it is a £ school if you have no transportation, so you should demand better.

RumblyMumbly · 04/10/2021 21:35

@madcats what do you mean wiping out yeargroups? Are whole year groups being instructed to work from home again temporarily due to outbreaks?

2Two · 04/10/2021 21:35

Ok. Except when we moved to this area, it was either this school or one even further away that had spaces left

That should mean that you were always entitled to home to school transport from the council. Have you applied?

RumblyMumbly · 04/10/2021 21:41

@TrampolineForMrKite the headteacher suggested asking around other parents in the year group for help getting the DC to school so that seems a pretty reasonable suggestion. It sounds like the headteacher had a perfectly reasonable discussion about how the OP planned to get her child into school on an ongoing basis covering public transport options, private transport, friends and family options.

Glad @Schoolfuel1 has got some petrol but it does sound like a good time to set up a plan B with a parent you are friendly with in case you can't do the school run due to further fuel shortage/breakdown/your own illness.

TrampolineForMrKite · 04/10/2021 22:00

[quote RumblyMumbly]@TrampolineForMrKite the headteacher suggested asking around other parents in the year group for help getting the DC to school so that seems a pretty reasonable suggestion. It sounds like the headteacher had a perfectly reasonable discussion about how the OP planned to get her child into school on an ongoing basis covering public transport options, private transport, friends and family options.

Glad @Schoolfuel1 has got some petrol but it does sound like a good time to set up a plan B with a parent you are friendly with in case you can't do the school run due to further fuel shortage/breakdown/your own illness.[/quote]
Perhaps @RumblyMumbly but her tone sounds- from what OP has said- like she’s been talking to her like she’s the kid rather than the parent. That would massively put my back up.

ichundich · 04/10/2021 22:09

@MrsKeats

£25 for 8 miles in a taxi. Seriously?
Where I live (rural Cambridgeshire) it's £10 for 2 miles.
RumblyMumbly · 04/10/2021 22:12

@TrampolineForMrKite it's hard to tell as we only have the OPs account and there's two sides to every story; as a Governor I'm sure you are used to that.

Bloodybridget · 04/10/2021 22:18

No point advising OP to look for lifts/petrol with WhatsApp or Facebook, both have been down for hours.

RumblyMumbly · 04/10/2021 22:22

This is entirely conjecture but perhaps OP's 'computer says no' response put the headteachersbacjup back up?

HT: Sorry to hear you couldn't get fuel and minischoolfuel isn't in school today, how are you planning on getting them to school tomorrow?
Will try and get petrol otherwise they are not coming to school
HT: How about a taxi?
Too expensive
HT: How about taking the bus?
Takes too long and they might not have fuel
HT: Could they get a lift with another pupil as everyone else made it in?
Don't know anybody

Anyway, it's resolved for the time being as long as OP keeps her tank topped up.

newboe · 04/10/2021 22:35

@changingsheets off topic but where do you live? We are near Chester and not aware of any petrol shortages near us 😬

Original poster
Schoolfuel1 · 04/10/2021 22:48

@TrampolineForMrKite you are completely right. Her attitude and tone was poor. If she’d said “sorry there is an issue, we know it’s not your fault, let’s work together, how about this idea ” and spoken to us in helpful, practical way then they’d be no issue.

Initially all she said was the following;

“Unfortunately as all our staff and parents are in the same situation I will have to record to as an unauthorised absence

I hope you are able to get fuel today and we look forward to seeing x at school tomorrow”

That was it. So we called to talk it through with her as she doesn’t live anywhere near us, so maybe her area had more petrol and she wasn’t aware other areas had been harder hit, and that’s when she started saying it was unacceptable, get a taxi etc. We weren’t “computer said no” at all - for instance we said could she ask the parents in our village on our behalf if we could lift share as we genuinely do not know who they are- therefore how could we ask anyone ? She refused and said we’d have to ask around on Facebook Confused

OP posts:
Original poster
Schoolfuel1 · 04/10/2021 22:52

@RumblyMumbly sadly not a helpful or collaborative discussion - patronising, cold and awkward. As I said earlier my other dc school were amazing- kind, helpful, spoke to me like with respect. The difference between the two schools was night and day .

OP posts:
EmmaGrundyForPM · 04/10/2021 22:55

@MrsKeats

£25 for 8 miles in a taxi. Seriously?
yes seriously.

I live in a village 8 miles from town. If I get a taxi home from town its £30 minimum. They charge double as they can't get a return fare going back.

changingsheets · 04/10/2021 22:55

@newboe I had to call kingkabs in the end and I'm just outside of Chester.

gofg · 04/10/2021 22:56

I would be confirming by email that your DC cannot attend school for that reason. Agree - if the headteacher is that bothered she could come and pick her up herself! If this continues I would be letting the governors know what has happened. She is being ridiculous.