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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Wanting to get this teacher fired

690 replies

lividbeyondbelief · 19/02/2011 23:08

My dd attends a language class on saturday mornings in central london. This week due to horrible traffic we were 30 minutes late to collect her. We tried texting her teacher to say we were stuck in traffic but never got a reply. Anyway to make a long story short - she left my dd outside the school, alone with another boy, whilst she went out to go buy lunch. To make matters worse she told her to lie to us and say she was in the room next door if we asked where the teacher was when we collected our dd.

Our daughter was really upset and cried whilst being outside alone with this boy. My dh noticed she had been crying but the teacher just dismissed it, saying to dh she cried because he was late.

Obviously the bond of trust is broken and she wont be going back ever again. My question is what else should we do?

OP posts:
PixieOnaLeaf · 20/02/2011 00:07

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crazyspaniel · 20/02/2011 00:07

Again, could you explain why you didn't phone to say you were running late?

Violethill · 20/02/2011 00:07

But you said earlier she'd left them on the street!!

curlymama · 20/02/2011 00:07

One down!

PixieOnaLeaf · 20/02/2011 00:08

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PaisleyLeaf · 20/02/2011 00:08

I understand you can't walk. But why wouldn't you stay within the vicinity so you don't need to go by car? Central London by the river there must be plenty of ways to kill 2 hours without getting yourself in a predicament like that.

Violethill · 20/02/2011 00:08

X posts there!

OP - the facts in your story keep changing; maybe your dd inherited this trait from you too.

JaneS · 20/02/2011 00:08

It doesn't speak especially well of her, but maybe she just didn't think? She can't have known you would be so very late.

Is she a qualified teacher and teaching your DD in that capacity, or is this more casual? I think it does matter - if she's not qualified, probably no-one has made her think about the implications of leaving two small children alone.

JaneS · 20/02/2011 00:10

pixie - yes, I guess so but I can also see why the OP was upset, even if I don't agree with her decision to blame someone else.

GreenEyesandHam · 20/02/2011 00:10

The woman is not employed to be a childminder, she is employed to teach your child.

PixieOnaLeaf · 20/02/2011 00:11

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curlymama · 20/02/2011 00:12

To be fair to the teacher, there are plenty of parents ut there that drop their 7-8yo children off and leave them in the playground before the school bell has rung for them to go inside. There isn't always a teacher there to supervise. I don't think leaving them inside the gates is that bad tbh.

pigletmania · 20/02/2011 00:12

YABU as you were late, but the teacher unreasonable leaving an 8 year old to wait on their own in busy Central London. Surely they have a duty of care to the child until he/she handed over to the parents.

Original poster
lividbeyondbelief · 20/02/2011 00:13

I would have preferred her waiting with her or calling us to explain she needed to go out to buy lunch and take them with her.

The being in the same postcode was just to point out we were nearby. Due to my health the nearby cafe isnt suitable. The one we go to is.

For those bashing my parenting, go ahead. This collecting my daughter late has never happened before.

OP posts:
JaneS · 20/02/2011 00:13

I'm not sure her story is changing, tba. It's just a bit complicated, given she's relying on her DD who is only 7.

I wouldn't be very surprised if this were all a misunderstanding between the teacher and the DD.

ChippingInFanciesCheeseOnToast · 20/02/2011 00:14

It doesn't matter how late you were, why you were late or what other options were available - she should have waited with them or found another teacher who could. No-one, teacher or not, should leave 7 & 8 year olds waiting outside a school by themselves. This is London, not the bloody Cotswolds. What if the parents had been in an accident and not turned up at all? It is hugely irresponsible.

Livid - it was pretty stupid not to have phoned her and I really don't know what you were thinking on that score.

At the same time, she had your contact details, why didn't she ring you??

Getting her fired is not what needs to happen. You need to speak to the person in charge of the teachers and ensure they have a policy in place for the future & that she gets read the riot act for telling your DD to lie to you.

PixieOnaLeaf · 20/02/2011 00:14

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Wook · 20/02/2011 00:14

Did your dh get to the bottom of things with the woman? If she wasn't there, did he speak to her as she returned from getting the lunch or was she with the children as you turned up? Could it be the case that she popped to the room next door to get her lunch, which was the point where she left the dcs alone? Were they left briefly or for the full half hour?
I would be angry too if someone left my dcs alone in the playground, but not to the extent of wanting a sacking, and I would have phoned.

StayFrosty · 20/02/2011 00:15

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Violethill · 20/02/2011 00:15

"I would have preferred her waiting with her or calling us to explain she needed to go out to buy lunch and take them with her"

But you didn't see fit to bother calling her?

And you still aren't seeing why everyone thinks you're being totally unreasoanble??

PixieOnaLeaf · 20/02/2011 00:16

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JaneS · 20/02/2011 00:18

Ooh - I just thought, what did you actually say in the tets?

I'm just wondering - if you sent one saying you were stuck in traffic 'a couple of minutes away', maybe the teacher assumed you meant you were confirming you'd be there in two minutes?

It wouldn't be something simple like that would it?

ChippingInFanciesCheeseOnToast · 20/02/2011 00:19

Curlymama - there is a big difference between a child being left at their own school, with lots of other friends/children and parents about and being left on a Saturday, at a strange school and not lots of children/parents about!

StayFrosty · 20/02/2011 00:19

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curlymama · 20/02/2011 00:19

You keep going on about your health, but you don't seem to care much about the health of the teacher. Or to have realised that maybe she couldn't take the children for insurance reasons.

It's you that left your dd there because you failed to be there at the right time to pick her up.

And you have still failed to accept any responsibility.

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