To think 1 minute isn't late?

[AnArrowToTheKnee]

DS1 starts school at 8.50, we got there at 8.51 and were told we had to sign in at the office. AIBU to think that we weren't actually late?

If everybody else managed to get in under the wire, there is no reason to suspect that your watch is correct and everybody else's isn't. Ffs!

For the love of God people, so much drama! It's not important! Did the kid get to school that day, sometime, fed, with a pen? Hurrah! So they got a late mark, so what! Where are these bizarre places where kids line up outside, they sound positively Dickensian.

You were late. End of. Accept it and change your tardy habits.

Hope the OP is saluting and saying "yes Sir" now.

@Lou

Oh no a biscuit. Let me cry

Where are these bizarre places where kids line up outside, they sound positively Dickensian.
I think it's quite common, but agree it does feel old fashioned. It feels like a lack of respect for parents and children. Our time is important, yours isn't, so you have to allow contingency time and hang around outside getting rained on for our convenience.

It feels more respectful to me to have a short window where people can arrive and go in. Also much more like a workplace - if I have a meeting at 9, I aim to arrive at the office at 8.30, go in and get on with things. I don't queue outside the door to be let in at 9.
I like the way our current school do it - there's a job for the children to be starting on, school starts at 8.40, but doors close at 8.50. If you're quibbling about a minute past the 8.50, school can point out that you're already 10 minutes late.

theyve nicked this story for the wrightstuff tomorrow will be tuning in!

Where are these bizarre places where kids line up outside, they sound positively Dickensian

Every school in my area. Pretty sure we're not in a Dickens novel, its a perfectly normal thing for schools to do.

Thanks, Matthew. Will you say hi to my mum for me?

Because school children have to be supervised on site, catkind
If they're allowed into the classroom 30 minutes before the official start of the day, then the teachers have to be on duty 30 minutes before the official start of the day...
How did we get from righteous indignation at one minute past the deadline not really being late at all to "they should be allowed into the classroom whenever they happen to arrive, even if school hasn't actually opened yet"??

Not 30 minutes, but 10 minutes like our school do is not difficult to arrange. And helps with congestion too.

I get that your clock/watch may be a minute or two out of step with the school's clocks - the same applies if you are going to catch a train - or a plane - but this is why I build time for delays and contingencies into my planning when I am going somewhere and have to be there for a specific time.

It was the same when the boys were at school - I knew how long it took to walk to school, and when the bell went, so I planned to set off each day at a time that meant we had plenty of time for the walk to school, with a bit extra built in, and still got there with enough time for the boys to have a good run-round in the playground before the bell.

This meant that they went in with the fidgets shaken out of them, ready to settle down and start the day - they didn't rush up to the school and arrive late and flustered, and need time to settle before they could get going on the day - time that would come out of class contact time.

I am routinely early for things - if I have an appointment, I look at the journey time, add on time to find parking and walk to wherever I am going, and then add extra time to allow for delays and problems. I then usually add a bit more extra time, just in case - so I get to places early, and sit outside with my book. I do understand that this doesn't work for everyone - I don't usually have back to back appointments, so I can leave earlier if I want to, and it doesn't matter to me if I end up wasting a bit more time waiting - but other people have tighter schedules. I still think they can plan to get to places comfortably on time, rather than just on time, flustered and racing the clock.

If they line up outside, the teachers can come out and chat to parents as well as kids for a few minutes and then lead one class in at a time.

Otherwise you'd have 500 children age 5-11 all trying to get in one door at the same time and would need staff at the door and on the stairs to control it anyway - if it's raining hard then staff come let the kids in as soon as the gates open and ensure none get squashed, but otherwise having them get organised in the playground and let them run about a bit is much more efficient.
The children troop in at 8.53ish, stragglers run after to get to class by 8.55 when they need to start work.

Being recorded as late once is just a fact, not a moral judgement. I'd only complain if my child was marked late despite me getting to school as the gate opened (sometimes getting into the school, bikes/scooters locked up, child 1 to the back of the school to line up, then child 2 and maybe an extra child to their classrooms at the front, could take until the doors closed, especially if the caretaker/HT opened the gate a minute or two late). Luckily they'd always wave the younger ones in anyway if that happened.

No lining up or staff coming out here either but there is a door for every two classes so it's not a massive crush, the doors are open for 10 minutes.

It's very annoying but yes you were late "(
My children's school used to open at 8.45 and you had until 9 o'clock before getting a late mark. Now they open the doors at 8.43 and ALL children must be through the door by 8.45... otherwise you must go to the office and be officially late, every morning you see bundles of children and mum's having to use the office way and be marked late every day. I don't think it's fair at all. Mine are only 3 & 6 years old but still have that 2 minuet window

My ds school is the same. Starts at 9 but yard gates close at 8:55. If your not in by 8:55 you have to walk around the main entrance to wait until 9:01 when all the children have gone into class to sign in at reception. Fair enough if it's a regular occurrence, but once in a blue moon you think they'd let you slip in. The worse part about it is the caretaker stays on the gate until about 9:05 to let the parents out..... crazy 😤

But if you're there at 8.43 you won't be late, pixie? . It doesn't take two minutes to walk through a door.

Otherwise you'd have 500 children age 5-11 all trying to get in one door at the same time and would need staff at the door and on the stairs to control it anyway

Most we have through one door is 90 - EYFS, rest are 60 (two classes.) with parents. Only EYFS has a member of staff on the door - to watch for escapees! Rest don't. There are 1 or 2 members of staff in each classroom though, inc one near classroom door to ensure the children don't wander out again after parents have gone. Parents are expected to bring them to the classroom - can leave at the classroom door if they wish or come in. Corridors etc are wide enough to cope with the coming and going, and the 10 minutes flexi start time means it is never all 60 at once.

A minute late is nothing.

But rules like this get introduced because one parent is 5 mins late .. then another ... then 1/3 of the class is late and lessons can't start on time.

Problem is, people take the piss so the rules have to be applied more strictly to the point of ridiculousness, or else the expectations slide.

Having said that .. was this really the only time you've been late? Because if it was, 1 minute is severe. But if you're regularly late then well, that's why the rules were put in place.

The problem is that some parents don't seem to value being on time. I for example at parents evening I asked a parent why their child was always late to which I was told "well, the problem is I like my sleep"
So do I buy in pretty sure there would be uproar if teachers started rocking in at quarter past nine and used this as an excuse.

It's on Wright Stuff in a minute

Does anything get posted on mumsnet that doesn't end on the daily fail or wright stuff? do they come up with any of their own stories?