Serious school meeting to be held about year 6

[Liglig]

I have just received this message from the school head and it has made me very afraid if what could possibly of happened. Has anyone ever had a message like this from a school? What could it be? Many thanks.

Dear Parents, due to a serious incident I am holding an emergency meeting in the school hall for Year 6 Parents on Friday 10/2/23 at 3.30pm. I expect all parents to attend.

How are the head’s comms and the kids access to devices connected? And 95% of the comments about the head’s comms were before the OP posted with any detail about the subject matter anyway.

Or are you saying that being pissed off at one set of parents entitles you to boss all of the others around?

@BankOfDave

Punishing the majority of parents/students because of one child is not proportionate. It does not mean I condone the behaviour but cancelling work will not have any effect on said child's behaviour.

And 95% of the comments pre OP update correctly assumed it was a serious safeguarding issue - exactly like the example I gave.

Well let’s hear the update tomorrow as if this was ONE child targeting another I doubt all of year 6 parents would be called. I suspect in fact several children have been involved and being asked to a meeting is not ‘punishing’.

I hate I’m defending a HT who should have communicated better but it’s beyond tedious reading so many comments on MN whose first reaction is ‘schools are attempting to inconvenience me and don’t you know I have a job’ when they are trying to stop/control increasingly difficult safeguarding issues that could have a life changing impact on your child.

Well I thought it to be honest. But I'm older and stricter. Don't see why children have unfiltered access to technology in the first place.

You were literally the fourth person to post after the update from the OP saying what it was so hardly a deluge of people ignoring.

Plus if it is a child who has unfettered access to the internet that has caused the issue then the Heads approach makes even less sense.

Parents who don’t give a shit what their kids are doing and pay no attention to their online activity are not going to be the ones dropping and rearranging things to comply with an order to attend a meeting tomorrow.

when they are trying to stop/control increasingly difficult safeguarding issues that could have a life changing impact on your child.

Theyll so far better with that if they don’t speak to parents like children and have unrealistic expectations.

In all the schools I’ve worked in over the years the ones that the HTs realised that not all children have a SAHP, working parents (or parents with other responsibilities) can’t just drop things and show up to school with very little notice and that parents are not children also under the schools control the home-school relation was much better.

which benefitted everyone.

I wouldn't be taking time off work for that.

The fact there's a meeting isn't the issue, it's the wording and tone of the message to parents along with the lack of explanation as to where the children will be during the meeting that's the issue.

Me neither.

I have always been very supportive of school events and turn up to everything I possibly can. With a bit of notice I can usually arrange my diary to be there. If it was something directly relating to my child I'd make it somehow for this too, but a mass "lecture"? No. If they have some useful information to impart re Internet safety then it would be far more useful sent by email so I can digest it properly anyway.

Me neither
My childminder takes my kids and picks them up, we both work

I'd email school and send my apologies and ask them to advise me via email what the meeting is about and the outcome afterwards

Nor do I, which is why I would now know that this meeting would be wasted on me. I do support the school and I do control SM so I would already be doing what is expected of me (no my child isn't a Saint, and I have dropped everything when school needed me to)

But I'm older and stricter. Don't see why children have unfiltered access to technology in the first place.
Me neither, but I've seen enough and heard enough to know there's a not small number of parents who are handing their children the world in their pockets without too much thought.

I also wonder if the incident could involve other children in the school as well, possibly as subjects of whatever content.

Sorry, I have a job that I can't just leave willy nilly with no reason as to why for my boss....

Nope I wouldn't have been leaving work for that, firstly because the wording of the summons would have pissed me off, second, well... I need to leave early, child emergency. Oh ok, is everything ok, anything we can help with?... well actually I have no idea and no idea if my child is even involved... Yeh that'll go down like a lead balloon

Does the Head let staff have time off at short notice?

OP is a parent, not a member of staff so how would she know?
I am a teacher and if I explained my head would try get someone to cover me.

We had an incident at our school regarding an arrest of a child due to terrorism offences, my son was involved (he actually wasn't but was treated that way by the school as it was his close friend). We weren't even called in for a meeting for that, those 'involved' had a phone call to explain, all parents received a letter and the children had a meeting with teachers/police the next day.

Urgent meeting with parents seems OTT when they could speak to the children and send you all a letter explaining what has happened etc.

Hope your meeting went well @Liglig

Hi the meeting went well basically it seems 3 children were involved with using bad language online, possibly more but they didn't mention anything specific. Those 3 children have been excluded from school for a day and a half.

All of us parents basically got a lecture on online safety and handed leaflets. And year 6 told that they need to behave online in the same way as they do in real life as many act different behind a screen and the head was disappointed about that. Also he mentioned that children should be sleeping at a good time as it was noticed that kids were using this bad language/behaviour at late times like after 10 or 11pms.

Good grief, and the head demanded that you all leave work early for that?!

Gosh sound over dramatic for what it was doesn't it