So.. today the school sent my DS on a trip i didn't give permission for him to go on...

[Skullyton]

My friend was picking my 9yo and 6yo up after school today, and when she got there, DS wasn't there, and they told her he had gone on the school trip.

The School trip i never filled the form out for, so hadn't given consent for him to go on.

It was only a trip to the local college for a panto, but DS has ASD and needs full time 1:1, and plays scare him, so he was quite adamant when the forms for it were sent home that he didn't want to go, so i never returned the permission slip.

One of the office staff this morning asked me in passing if he was going, and i said "No, i never filled out the permission slip"

So to say i'm a little annoyed is an understatement. Yes he was safe, he was with his 1:1, but i did not give consent for him to go, he should not have been off the school premises!

I called the school as soon as i knew and left a message, but that was at 4.15, and no-ones called back.

How do i approach this in the morning?

Very glad they are being pro-active in looking into this, Skully. Must be a big re-assurance to you that they take it seriously.

And , to other posters;
Yes, it's great they apologised and are genuinely sorry for a genuine mistake
AND
It is also important that they understand how it happened and look at procedures to make sure it cannot happen again.

There doesn't have to be blame, handwringing and recrimination - just an objective look at what happened and how everyone can work together to close any gaps. This is how all responsible organisations act - from airlines to hospitals to schools.

OP I'm happy your DS enjoyed the trip and that the school have accepted responsibility for it and generally acted so well. Excellent news.

SummerHouse and everyone asking why it matters. When the OP or anyone else signs their children up for school, they are doing so with the knowledge that this is where their child will be. The school are effectively guardians of the child in the grounds of the school. They have a legal responsibility to care for the children whilst they're with them. A permission slip is needed to pass that guardianship of their child to an alternate location.

Someone removed the OP's child from the school premises without permission, and withheld the child from the parent for that period of time (legal, but inflammatory definition being "kidnapped"). Not only did they "kidnap" her child, they also took him to a function that she had reasonable (and expressed) belief that it would have, either emotionally harmed him or resulted in physical harm to him or someone else.

I really seriously do not understand why people think it's fine for someone to take your child not only without permission (serious enough) but to something you had reasonable belief would harm them. The mind boggles.

p.s. As others said, the fact it turned out okay is great, but it doesn't negate the fact that there was a procedural failure there that could have had some serious consequences.

It is not only in the OP's best interest, but also the schools and other parents best interest, to figure out what went wrong and do their best to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The OP doesn't need to take it further because it was just this once, they apologised and are doing their best to fix it. If it happens again though it should be taken further, again for the protection of everyone.

SummerHouse, its a big deal because it could have gone very very wrong.

DS could have been lost or hurt, his TA could have been hurt.

When the school take a child out without parental consent they are breaking the conditions of their insurance, and had anything gone wrong, they wouldn't have been protected had i made the decision to sue them for negligence.

If i decided to make a formal complaint, it would have dropped them in some serious, serious shit.

What they did was in fact illegal.

Just because nothing happened, and everything was fine, doesn't mitigate the seriousness of what happened.

That all sounds positive, OP. And it also sounds as though their systems are nowhere near robust enough, and that this will be the scare they need to sort that out and ensure things are managed more rigorously in future, so while it's a nasty near-miss for you, given thankfully it was all fine and no harm came to anyone it will end up being a useful warning to the school that they have to add some checks and balances into the system, so it isn't solely dependent upon one busy administrator. They can't risk any kind of a repeat, after all.

If the school is less than 3 miles away, it is totally legal for them to take DC without your written permission as long as parents have been informed.

no it isn't

You are wrong toomany

Where on earth do you get that from, TwoTooMany? It's really quite bizarre. Are you seriously suggesting that a school 2.9 miles away can take children wherever they please so long as the parent knows, but if they're 3.1 miles they have to have permission? What would the logic in that be?

Glad it was all sorted, might be a good idea in future though to mention it to the 1:1 teacher so that they are aware. Unfortunately mistakes can happen. Your child may have queued up with the rest thinking that he was going. x

official government guidance
Parental consent to off-site activities Written consent from parents is not required for pupils to take part in the majority of offsite activities organised by a school (with the exception of nursery age children) as most of these activities take place during school hours and are a normal part of a child’s education at school. However, parents should be told where their child will be at all times and of any extra safety measures required.

Written consent is usually only requested for activities that need a higher level of risk management or those that take place outside school hours. The department has prepared a “one-off” consent form which schools can ask parents to sign when a child enrols at the school. This will cover a child’s participation in any of these types of activities throughout their time at the school. These include adventure activities, off-site sporting fixtures outside the school day, residential visits and all off-site activities for nursery schools which take place at any time (including during school holidays or at the weekend). The Consent for school trips and other off-site activities form is available to download.
Parents must be told in advance of each activity and must be given the opportunity to withdraw their child from any particular school trip or activity covered by the form.

Contrary to what is being spouted on here Written Parental Permission is not required to take children off the school premises. Link to full document here www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-safety-advice-for-schools

If they must be told and must be given the opportunity to withdraw their child then it makes sense for them to sign their consent for their child to go. Because otherwise they could easily say they didn't know their child was going to X and would have withdrawn them had they been asked.

"Written consent is usually only requested for activities that need a higher level of risk management"

DS is autistic, he was going to a panto which is a sensory nightmare. The school issued consent forms.

They took him without me filling it in or doing a risk assessment.

Also 'the parent must be told where their child will be at all times...'
And 'parents must be told in advance of each activity and must be given the opportunity to withdraw their child'
And 'written consent is usually only requested for activities... that take place out of school hours'

The OP withdrew her child and he still went. She was not told where he would be- as she had withdrawn him from the trip he should still have been at school and she was not informed otherwise. And the trip was not fully in school hours- when someone went to pick him up from school he was not there.

Regardless of whether they legally needed consent forms, the fact that the school had requested written consent and this was denied meant that the school should not have taken him.

My school, if it is the type of trip where written consent is not needed, parents are informed by letter without a slip to sign (your child's class will be visiting X place on Y date, please ensure they wear suitable clothes, if you are available to help that day can you let your child's teacher know).

Is it withdrawal if the form was not returned saying so?

You have a right to be angry but also to be really happy that the trip went well. I would focus on the positives, the fact he really enjoyed the trip, when previously he may have had a real problem with it. He obviously is open to costumes and panto's under the right circumstances, and this is a great step for him. Its great that he feels comfortable in the school and its settings.

Whats the worst that could have happened? A big meltdown and taken away from the general group for some quiet time... not the end of the world.

Id let it go and focus on the positives.

zippey.

The worst?

DS could have run off. He could have punched, bitten, kicked or otherwise physically injured one of the staff or children. He could have seriously injured himself.

Quite - Yes, because lack of a no does not = yes.

I used to work in education and we had this problem with one teacher who was very sloppy with paperwork.

What happened in your case is undoubtedly wrong, seriously wrong, and the school is very lucky that your son came to no harm.

It is great that they have acknowledged their error and the seriousness of it. I think perhaps you should speak with the HT saying you accept the apology (if you do), that you value your good relationship with the school, and can they please let you know how they can ensure it doesn't happen again. Because clearly theree is a gap in their safeguarding procedures.

Is he at a special school?

No, we're working on it! But its unlikely before yr7.

The way funding is going, it's getting harder and harder. Hope you get a place which meets his needs.

Thanks :)

we have somewhere lined up for secondary, the issue with primary where we are is most of the special schools require a learning disability, which DS doesn't have, he's academically very bright.

i think you are more angry that you have been shown that mum didn't know best.

you thought he would have problems and not like it, when he actually enjoyed himself.

i would ask the school, how come he went when i didnt sign the form? but at the end of the day, he had an enjoyable day out and i would be happy about that.

arabia read the thread.

araiba even