To wish I could complain about the school staff I saw outside the Natural History Museum?

[Kalypso]

I was waiting at the pedestrian crossing with my toddler in his buggy. The road is wide and straight, so traffic has the capacity to build up a lot of speed. I was at an island in the middle of the road.

On the other side of the road, there was a school group. The children were very small, maybe age 5 -7, holding hands in pairs and wearing fluorescent jackets.

Just as the green man appeared, it became apparent from a loud siren that an emergency vehicle was nearby. Rather than step out in the road with my toddler, I looked for the vehicle, saw it was heading our way, so waited rather than crossed (as anyone with half a brain - and particularly a small child - would do). A few pedestrians without buggies/children very quickly crossed at this point.

The school staff started ushering the children across, despite the siren. When they realised the vehicle was in fact heading their way, they got a bit flappy, with half the children ending up on the island with one staff member, while another staff member on the other side of the road smiled at her colleague in a half panicky, half "oh dear, what can you do?" way, and then ineffectually put her arm out to prevent more children crossing. However, she was not standing close enough, and a couple more children did cross without her, while the emergency vehicle, siren blaring, had to brake and wait at the crossing while the children crossed, still holding hands. It had to wait for a good few moments while they were eventually herded out of its way.

The children were not badly behaved, nor did they look particularly worried; they were simply following the staff. I wasn't able to work out which school they were from, as their fluorescent jackets hid the logo on their school sweaters, although the jackets had the name of the council on them. I wish I had so I could have told the school about it. I'd be fuming if I were one of those children's parents. It was a danger to the kids, a danger to the vehicle (in case it had had to made an emergency stop), and set a bloody awful example with regards to road safety. I'm not overreacting, am I?

yes, they probably reflected on it themselves and have now written a policy

YANBU but emergency vehicle drivers are trained to watch out for hazards (knowing that people often panic when they hear the siren or see the lights) so the children were not really in extra danger. And go easy on the school staff; they're probably already beating themselves up over their mistake.

Would you really go out of your way to make an official complaint if you had the school's details? What would you expect would happen to the staff (who may well have just been parents helping out on a school trip)?

It sounds like an honest mistake. They had more to think about than you did with your one toddler and they did cross at a crossing where there was a green man.

I did something similiar in my car once, pulling out infront of an ambulance. I had noticed it so God knows why I went instead of stopping. I felt awful afterwards. A stupid mistake.

They will have talked about it in the staffroom afterwards and probably regret walking across at that moment. Not much that can be done once you've started walking and realise you've made a mistake.

A daft thing to do but ...

YANBU awful.

I don't know really. If I made a complaint, it would be based on ensuring staff are better trained. I hadn't really thought about parents helping out. It just seemed such an easy thing to avoid. I agree the liklihood of a child being hit was pretty low, given that they were highly visible and the emergency vehicle would presumably have seen them from a distance. Maybe I am overreacting.

Yes you are. Overreacting, that is.

If they had ushered the children into the road when not at a crossing then fair enough, but emergency services are never going to shoot across a crossing with a red light outside a museum, without checking there are no children on it, so they weren't in danger.

I like soverylucky's INSET day idea of getting the deputy head to drive at the teachers in the school minibus on the playground . :o

YANBU, if you had the common sense to have your wits about you I would expect the same for the adults looking after a group of children.

I agree that ambo staff are trained to look for the unexpected but the school staff/helpers should have heard the sirens and waited as a whole group.

Could it have been that you, on your own, with only one child in a buggy was aware of the oncoming emergency services a few seconds sooner than the teachers/helpers who had lots of children, in the middle of a busy London road?

I have a feeling that you wouldn't be very popular if you suggested some further training in crossing the road!

I have to admit, I was rather relieved to open this thread and see it wasn't the school trip I authorised to the Natural History Museum today!

Yes they should, Pissy, but that's not the point.

The point is, should the OP complain? And most have said no, the teachers were in the wrong but a complaint would be pointless.

Oh dear, I am being unreasonable! Yes, Maureen, I clearly hadn't thought what the training might actually entail

Complaining would raise awareness that no matter how many minders you have with you you should be aware around roads.

I think it would be useful to raise the concern not necessarily complain.