to ring ofsted right now

[Inneedofbrandy]

First time poster and in shock, so please excuse any spelling or grammer mistakes.
Took my Ds age 4 into school today, started walking out the playground and realised i had his pe bag. Go into his classroom to give it to him and hes gone missing. Me and TA searching for him in all the classrooms and cloakrooms in the infant block. My neighbour dropped her son off abit late and told me he had been found trying to do a runner out the school!

HOW THE HELL COULD HE OF ESCAPED OUT OF THE SCHOOL BUILDING AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE KNOWN HE WAS MISSING IF I HADNT GONE BACK IN.

Ive then gone to speak to headteacher but ended up with the woman who enrolled kids into school in january. She tried to patronise me and twist it round and make me take equal blame in this. I told her how upset i am that i want a full written investigation and how are they going to make sure this never happens again. She said the heads going to ring me later hmmm. AIBU to ring ofsted right now instead of waiting for headmaster to ring

Oh and the woman, who i dont know what her job is, came to speak to me, told me she "interviewed" my Ds before she came to speak to me

YABU, you need to listen to what the Head has to say and if you're not happy, you need to write to the Chair of Governors...if you're not happy with what the Govs say then you report to the LA.

There's not point in changing the order of that because they won't be interested in hearing what you have to say if you haven't heard the School out.

The trouble (imo) with schools who allow parents to wonder in and out of the building, is that things like this are bound to happen.

It's much safer for the kids to line up in the playground and be taken in by the class teacher...then if you needed to drop the bag in you'd give it to the Office staff.

agree and are you really just allowed to wander into his classroom? we have to go to the office once children are in

definitely hear what the head says first, i know it's scary though!

I agree with Worra

Just because he was trying to escape doesn't mean he did, you say he was found trying to run out of school so he didn't actually run out? Who found him? At DS1's school a YR child ran past the teacher who was at the door talking to a parent. They just ran after him. There was not a lot they could have done to avoid it but he wasn't just allowed to run off.

YABU and need to calm down, you are understandably upset but ringing Ofsted is not the thing to do at this time.

I may be misunderstanding this, but from what you say it seems that your DS was found trying to leave the school, and prevented from leaving the school? So he didn't actually get off school premises and was 'caught' in the playground?

You can alert Ofsted to an issue at the school, but they won't get involved with what they call 'individual complaints', btw. You should realklt talk to the Head, and then your local authority if you're still unhappy.

Wait until after the call, a short delay wouldn't make any difference and it gives you time to get your thoughts straight.

Did you physically take him into the classroom or did you leave him in the playground? Does he have any kind of history of doing this kind of thing?

Thankyou worra. Didnt want to go off on one based on emotion not logic.
Totally agree about the playground line up, when the head finally rings will suggest it.

Ofsted do get involved with individual complaints, they don't necessarily do anything other than ask the school what they are doing to resolve it and it gets logged on the ofsted website with the inspection reports, definitely for Early Years anyway so YR would come under that.

OddBoots I take him to the gate and watch him go in everyday. Hes never done this before, he dosnt even wander off in shops hes such a mummys boy hehe

You CAN call Ofsted whenever you want - you don't have to formalise a complaint first. It might be an idea to wait for a while, get calm, see what HT has to say? Get all the details and then call Ofsted.
Could he have gotten out of the school gates? That's a horrible thing to have happened, I'd be livid too.
Take this - bit early but never mind.

He was at the school gates nowhere near the classroom, a boys dad stopped him going out the gate

Did they see him run out? I think it is a totally different story if he escaped and no one noticed until you said or if he tried to run out and they caught him immediately?

If it is the first one then maybe YANBU!

Sorry x posts!

I can understand why you are so cross. Definitely wait for the HT to call but they should investigate properly and solve the issue and if not call ofsted.

accoutantsrule he ran out past his teacher she didnt notice

mumtoone123 thankyou i need brandy though not wine still shaking

OFSTED's first reply to you will be to ask what the Head said about it.

If you can't provide that answer, they'll ask you to wait until you can...otherwise you could well be wasting their time.

Imagine if all parents went to them first with every niggle and complaint rather than wait for an explanation from the school?

Also OP, what is the school's policy on supervision?

Are you allowed to just drop and go or are you supposed to wait until the bell has gone and school has started?

From Ofsted web site:

Can I complain directly to Ofsted?
We have powers to consider some complaints made in writing about schools.
These may come from registered parents or carers of pupils at the school that the complaint is about. This includes the parents and carers of pupils who may be off sick or temporarily excluded.
We can also consider complaints from other people or those who do not want to give their names. However, our powers to investigate these complaints are more limited.
We will not usually consider a complaint if you have not first followed the school?s and local authority?s complaints procedure.
What types of complaint can Ofsted consider?
We can consider complaints about maintained schools, if your concern affects
the school as a whole. For example:
the school is not providing a good
enough education
the pupils are not achieving as
much as they should, or their
different needs are not being met
the school is not well led and
managed, or is wasting money, or
the pupils? personal development
and well-being are being
neglected.
We will not normally investigate cases to do with individual pupils. However, we will do our best to offer advice about where you can get more help, guidance or support.
We may send any concerns we receive about child protection to the social services or the police.
We are not able to consider a complaint when there are other statutory (legal) ways of pursuing it.
And we are not in a position to:
investigate incidents that are
alleged to have taken place
judge how well a school investigated or responded to a complaint, or
mediate between a parent and a school to resolve a dispute.
If your concerns are about these issues, we will usually advise you to contact your local parent partnership or local authority.

So I guess that Ofsted could and should be alerted if the Head and Governors and LA refuse to improve safety measures in general, which is what you are flagging up OP, as well as what happened to your particular child.

I hope the Head does agree to improve things.

We have to walk them to their line and wait until the teacher takes them into the building before we can leave.

The school makes it abundantly clear that there is no before school playground supervision.

Have a vodka and some chocolate cake.
The head should be very keen to call you back, but probably needs to get the details - give them till lunchtime and call back, if you've heard nothing.

If you're as calm as possible they'll take you more seriously - though anyone would be very upset.

Durr! Just saw your name brandy

Our children all (years r-6) line up in the playground in rows when the bell rings and the teachers come out and walk them in. We never go into classrooms unless invited I.e. for reading, meetings, bring a carer to school day etc.

If anything is forgotten we have to take to the office, buzzed in, so they can pass on, and KNOW who is entering the building.

Is it normal to just drop 4 year olds off at the gate?

How is the teacher supposed to know which children have been dropped off and which haven't if they are left to make their own way in?

I have never been to a school were KS1 children aren't taken by parents onto the playground and parents stay until they line up and go in

I would give my son the biggest rollicking ever if he left the classroom like that.
By the end of YR children should know how to behave and what is expected of them.

Have you told him off for it and told him that it is dangerous? And not to do it again?