Dc absent from school, so school called police

[angelinheaven]

Hi all, wasn't sure where to post, so posted here for traffic.
My dc was absent from school today, and I wasn't well either so at 7:10 am I emailed school so didn't have to think about ringing them at 9am.
Anyway where I live I get no mobile phone signal if downstairs, and the school tried calling me twice, and then called my mum, who was at work so did not answer her mobile either. So the school then called the police to say they where concerned that dc wasn't at school and they couldn't get hold of me.
So I then had a police officer knocking at my door!!!!!!!
Head teacher said she was worried and the reason why they didn't read my email was because the receptionist was off ill and no one else can access the school emails.
I am in shock that this has even happened, is this normal. My dc is never absent from school, and before anyone asks we have no issues with care of my dc or social services etc.
So just really confused, teacher did apologies, but still!!!!!! X

Message from MNHQ: We've been asked to put a trigger warning on this thread because there's some distressing content further down about a recent news story involving a child.

Glad to hear that the checks are in place, but it's a waste of police time for the school to start calling the police in before they've checked all of their own lines of communication. It's crazy that only the receptionist can access school emails- it's like going back to the early 1990s!

I guess it's learning point for the school to have more people able to access the email and to check it before phoning the police!

I work in a school office and the first part of the morning is a very, very busy patch so we genuinely don't get much chance to log on and check our emails until a bit later in the day, so we do ask for a phone call. We don't have an answer phone either as our head feels it's better to talk in person a surprising number of problems we sort out. It's a bit of a pain for people though.

Got to agree that the school did the right thing under the circumstances, but they should definitely review their email system so that more than one person can access the emails, FGS!! That's just ludicrous.

However, having read that tragic case report in Hackney, and the recommendations, I can entirely see why the school felt the need to do a welfare check and don't think they should be castigated for it.

The school need to review their email system

You need to get a land line if you live somewhere with an unreliable phone signal.

grass sorry but I think that's really an inefficient way to do things, require a phone call with no answer phone, many parents are trying to get other children to school/work/sort out care for a sick child without staying on the phone. My dd's secondary school gives you the options all laid out in an email a) email the school on a dedicated email for absences b) phone the dedicated absence line and give a reason or c) phone the main school line if there's anything complicated about the absence or you need to discuss. They also tell you what information to include.

I love my dd's secondary school, they are incredibly IT literate, all reports, marks of every test, behavioural points, recipes, every letter ever sent and so on is on the school website. All payments online too. We send them the children, they send nothing home. Brilliant!

Yes, the school needs to review their email system. If it's a permitted method of contact for absence then it ought to be able to be accessed daily by the relevant people.

I'm surprised that emailing is okay. There is no guarantee that the email would be picked up before class with less than 2 hours notice, even if the receptionist way is. She could be dealing with other phone calls or have a backlog of emails to prioritise first.

I would always say a phone call for something time sensitive and an email for something that can wait a bit longer.

If any of us called the police rather than check our email, we would rightly be criticized and possibly even in trouble for wasting police time.

It sounds like an excuse on the school's part, to me.

Isn't it standard to have to phone in (automated system) if your child is absent? I think you have an obligation to phone, an email is just not good enough in this circumstance. The school were right to ring the police.

They need to review their system
We used to telephone , text , emergency number then a home visit
I am pleased that the police could go round
You'll never know how many lives can be saved

Our email at school is occasionally down in the morning. We are told to phone in NOT email for that reason.

I agree that if they haven't got a dedicated absence email, it's better to call. Usually the school tells you how to contact them for an absence.

But if you then haven't heard from a parent/child, surely you would check the emails? Someone mentioned a colleague going missing- surely you would check all methods of communication (email, voicemail, phone) before contacting the police?

Anyway, I expect they'll send a letter to everyone very shortly clarifying the absence procedure!

We have the option to Email absence. Sometimes the school phone system is down.
Where I work parents can email, call or text. The emails are filtered automatically, so it's easier to pick up on these straight away. There's also more than one person who has access to the email address, basically, anyone in admin can. It's ridiculous this isn't the case. The only reason I can think of is that the receptionist has to use this as their work email address, as IT policies don't allow sharing passwords.

If there's no answering machine and the only receptionist was away sick who would have answered the phone at 9 anyway? Email was the better way, at least it's written communication. Not your problem that the school is happy for only one person in the world to have their email password ffs

Assuming email is given as a way of contacting school for absence (some schools do, some schools don't) this

The OP was reasonable. The policy to send the cops round for unlocatabld children is reasonable. The school's IT system is highly unreasonable

Is spot on.

I don't know how you put up with the schools in the UK.

All this nonsense about missing one day.

Here it's much more relaxed, thank fuck!

I'd find this intrusive and a waste of police time, very 1984. I'd have complained about the email not being found to the governors and suggested to the police that they ask if emails have been checked before sending out an officer.

To those saying its wrong because the OP emailed.

You do know that emails can be sent by anyone with access to the account, and that parents often have several different accounts that they use so it is very difficult to tell if the email is genuine.

but I would like to know why the OP didn't ring first thing and leave a message.

So because the school don't have any system set up to read emails if the receptionist isn't in, they wasted police time. What nonsense.

Ridiculous that they can't access the school office email, what a waste of police time.

Money has been put into quite a lot of schools regarding attendance and many have employed new pastoral/attendance officers. Sounds like the job of an overzealous attedence officer (who should have access to the attendance email).

I can see it's a good thing the school wanted to check but there are several issues I can see.

No-one but the receptionist checking emails, that needs sorting. an automated phone would be useful but both schools for my DC only have the lines open in school hours, which isn't so useful.

You do know that emails can be sent by anyone with access to the account, and that parents often have several different accounts that they use so it is very difficult to tell if the email is genuine.

And a phone call can be made by anyone who calls and says "hello this is Sam Smith's mummy". Unless Sam Smith's mummy is that parent, has a very distinctive accent or is shagging the receptionist I highly doubt they would notice that the voice on the phone is not the same voice that they heard once bellowing "SAM - get off that wall at ONCE" across the playground.

Surely email is more likely to be able to be confirmed as genuine?

Foureyes... because, as the Op said, no one could read the email.

There's no excuse for all school staff not being able to use email and they should all have access to the address that reports for an absence should go to. Many younger people regard email as out of date now, more in favour of Instagram and all those apps, but it allows a paper trail that phone calls don't.

'Only the receptionist has email access' is a lame duck excuse, and poor organisation, there's no excuse for it and the school needs to get its act together. Once sent, the sender has done the job and doesn't need to hang around on a busy day, to be able to phone at the given minute.