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?

Of course it is different to the child leaving school with a stranger Gruntled one. How is this the same as the situation the OP is describing. Unless you look at the risk assessment, you won't know whether the risks had been assessed or not. Quite frankly the words over reaction spring to mind.

Any child with identified additional needs, such as ASD to the extent that it requires 1:1 support and an application for EHCP, presents with a level of risk beyond that of other pupils and so does require an individual risk assessment for each trip and parental consent.

Most schools do get around this for the majority or pupils with a consent form for local visits at the start of the year, this was NOT the case for OP.

cansu did you post on the wrong thread or something? Do you know what we're all posting about?

For those who asked...

DS quite frequently doesn't go on school trips because of his ASD and Sensory issues. I usually discuss each one with his teacher to ascertain the risk and we decide it its ok. Its normal for him to go into another class or spend the day with either the learning mentor or the Senco in her class if its decided he won't go.

IN my mind, the Panto was moot. He won't participate in any of the school productions because of his issues about people in costume and very recently had a complete meltdown during a mufti day for Children In Need because several of the teachers dressed up and were wearing full face make up and wigs.

I'm putting the fact he enjoyed today down to the fact his 1:1 is an absolute star who is worth her weight in gold, and he spent the entire time sat with her.

But there was a very, very real and imminent threat of him having a meltdown over the costumes, the loud music, the lights, anyone eating near him....etc. That he didnt was bloody lucky, because he was there without my permission and had it gone wrong, the school would be in such massive trouble, and this is what i need to make clear to them!

I do agree with cansu - he was safe, supervised and in the care of his 1:1 support who presumably have the expertise to recognise any triggers and take the appropriate action.

Yes ok - shouldn't have happened but getting angry isn't going to help. The massive positive from this is that he enjoyed something that you didn't think would be an option for him.

You are completely right to be angry. Your son having ASD is part of it, but really no child, whether they have additional needs or not, should be taken on a trip without explicit consent of their legal guardian.

It's a huge failure in the school's process and you need to get them to come back to you and reassure you that their procedure has now been made more robust if they are to earn your trust back.

I wouldn't go in all guns blazing, I'd save that for if their first response is to minimise what's happened.

They don't necessarily need an individual risk assessment. My dd has been on many school trips with 1:1. She is undoubtedly detailed on the risk assessment but she does not have her own separate sheet and I do not as a parent have to sign it off. I am sure the school were wrong to take him without the slip, but that aside it was undoubtedly a mistake. What is to be gained by making such a huge fuss?? I am beginning to think I must be reacting in a strange way as everyone seems to see this as a massive disaster. I am sure that we will soon be talking about reporting to Ofsted and the police!

The nature of Ds's disabilities and additional needs make any trip off school grounds 'risky'

He has ASD, ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder and Dyspraxia. He requires full time 1:1 support and we get Higher Rate Care component DLA for him because of the level of his needs.

He needs help getting on and off the coach, he has to be supervised at ALL times because he is a running risk, either because he will just run, or because he can become distracted or day dream.

He went MISSING for 10 minutes the other morning because he didn't go to class and instead kept walking and now has to be handed over to his 1:1 by me or my nominated other care givers (DH and two of my friends).

We are not talking about a 'normal' child. Had he been my NT dd i probably wouldn't be so bothered, but he's not, he has significant additional needs and i did not give them permission to take him off the school grounds.

Thank you Thundersbum. Yes I do know what the thread is about and actually have quite a bit of experience of both school trips, Asd and risk assessments etc. the fact that I hold a different opinion does not make me a complete loon.

I am 100% with Fifi here. There is absolutely no way, anyhow or any way that your son should have left school premises today. You did not sign a form, therefore he should not have gone. End of story.

I am the EVC at my school and usually called Hitler when chasing teachers for all the paperwork for trips. No one leaves my school on a school trip, without my say so!

Ofsted, Govenors and Auditors would be very interested to see the paperwork. Our auditors are particularly hot on trips these days. There has to be a signed register taken at the end of the trip, which matches the consent forms. This is not going to happen now, is it, because your form isn't there.

I understand that you need to keep relations good, but equally you need to express just how upset you are by this.

They may have 'only' gone somewhere local, but there was a school trip a few years back, that 'only' went to London for a theatre trip. They were local. The ceiling fell in at the theatre..... Would you want to be the teacher that didn't quite get his paperwork right? I don't think so.

I think some people are utterly oblivious to the rules/laws about taking kids out of school. I'm a teacher, and I double/tripple check forms before going out. I even get permission in addition to the general consent form as I think that's a bit wooly and sometimes I'm driving kids in my car and want the extra evidence for my insurance.

It is a total NO to EVER taking a kid out of school without permission. The only exception is if an ambulance is needed. Otherwise, they have to sit and bleed slowly in the office until a parent can give permission for a kid to go home/to a neighbour/be picked up. Fun trips can only happen with written permission.

I think you should put this in writing to both the head AND the class teacher. 1. You had deliberately not returned the form as they did NOT have permission.

1. A member of school staff confirmed it with you that morning.

Whether it went well or not isn't the issue. Someone really messed up.

Was it classed as a "local" trip?
Many schools have a cover all letter when children start at a school which asks permission for local visits out of school - covers a given area/radius or similar, and means that a separate letter isn;t always need for short/local trips out.

Not by gong 'batshit crazy' as suggested by marypoppins. That would be unhelpful and make you look like the kind of parent who thinks bawling and shouting means they look good when in fact it is entirely inappropriate in any situation.
The school got this very wrong and a calm measured but firm approach from you will get best results. Don't roll over, you deserve a full explanation and to know what they are going to do to make sure it never happens again.

marypoppins you are not fit to be a TA suggesting a parent behaves like that in a school. Your suggestion was unprofessional and small-minded.

I'm a TA in Reception.

No child goes on a trip without written consent. We have some chaotic parents who never sign a form unless they are presented with a pen, the form and an insistence that it must be signed or their child doesn't go on the trip.

Some posters here haven't got a clue what they're on about. It is a safeguarding issue.

Skullyton I would leave this thread now.

You have had good advice, it is a safeguarding issue, you do not need to justify yourself to people who don't know what they are talking about.

Please ignore them and go and speak to the school, tomorrow.

Cansu

1. The OP is not making 'a big fuss' - she is asking how to approach what happened.
2. You seem not to know that 'Safeguarding' has a particular mening in schools and doesn't mean that 'as long as the child was OK in the end and was pretty safe throughout' that it was not a safeguarding issue.
3. Just because your child with SEN does not need an individual risk assessment does not mean that the OP's DS does not
4. Luckily everything was OK, luckily the OP's DS enjoyed himself - etc. However the point in raising this with the school is to ensure that they work out HOW the mistake occurred so that it does not happen again. Because next time the 'luckilies' might not happen. It is constructive to raise things with schools when mistakes have happened - not just when there is anything 'deliberate' or wilfully disregarding the parent. The school need to know a mistake was made so that they can make sure it doesn't happen again, to another child.

OP - most people on this thread are saying it is a problem and it shouldn't have happened. Concentrate on carrying out Fifi's advice which seems very good - and is obviously informed.

When you go in to discuss this, OP, whether it's in "batshit crazy" mode or calm and measured, and you and the school agree ways to prevent this happening again, you might want to agree to always return the form, so there is absolutely no doubt in future as to what your wishes are.

I always advise parents to either sign the form the day it comes home and put it straight back in their child's book bag the same night, or stick it on the fridge so they are reminded that they need to return it to school.

I think it sound like a misunderstanding has occurred.

I also have a 9yo ds with asd and it is critical that the instructions to the school are crystal clear due to the nature of schools - very busy places with hundreds of kids to deal with. My ds also gets terrified of costumes, sensory overload with noise etc so I understand exactly why this trip was unsuitable.

However, when the office person asked you if he was going, you replied that he wasn't because you didn't do the slip. This person could have understood that you meant to do the slip, but hadn't, but wanted ds to go. It could have been understood as verbal consent. I think that I would have replied when asked if he was going "no, he's scared of costumes".

Also, I think you can in future write on slips: no I don't consent to this trip and either briefly state the reason or say to call you to discuss. I have also done this. I received a consent slip that only had a place to tick your consent and sign so I crossed that all out and wrote "I do not consent". To make it clear.

In my ds school, they make every effort to look after his additional needs but I do need to be on top of it as well because I have seen staff with 4 people talking at them at the same time etc - mistakes and misunderstandings will be made when people have too many things to do.

Cansu
The reason for making a fuss over a mistake is to make sure it doesn't happen again! The school was lucky that it didn't go horribly wrong this time.......

It could be a one off incident or it could be that the school has a very lax attitude to safeguarding good practise. By thoroughly investigating what happened the school can ensure it has robust practices in place and that this can never happen again.

If there was no consent for the trip and the ops ds was not on the list to go it is not likely that he would have been included on the general risk assessment is it?

YANBU

Sub, unless its a matter of me not having the money to hand, i normally do fill it in and take it back the next morning.

On this occasion, the form came home the last week of term, which because of plays and productions, jumper days and parties was a massive stressful meltdown ridden week for DS, and after i asked if he wanted to go and he SCREAMED no at me, it got forgotten.

A signed permission slip= parental permission.

No permission slip = no parental permission.

Regardless of the good outcome of this trip the school should not have taken your DS.

You need to be talking to the school SENCO and the HT, do not get drawn into the "but he was fine" argument. Ask why he was taken on the trip without your permission, ask whether a risk assessment was carried out, ask what measures will be put in place to ensure that it cannot happen again, after you have had this discussion email them to confirm what they said and keep both your email and their reply (assuming they do actually reply).

Because your DS is a vulnerable child you should confirm everything in writing, having a paper trail could be invaluable at a later date.