To think losing break was harsh?

[Inkandbone]

DS was late this morning because he found an injured bird. He took it to the school office, who called the RSPB who probably made pigeon pie but for being late, he lost his break and will not be allowed to go on a school trip if it happens again.

Bit harsh since he was only trying to be nice, surely?

As an aside, why on earth are Primary school kids being punished for being late, when it's the parent's responsibility to see they leave/get to school on time?

Because overwhelmingly, it's the child who will have been dragging their feet, refusing to get a move one, being difficult about getting to school on run of the mill absences. If the child feels some consequences for their poor choices in the morning, it might help them make better choices in future.

I imagine most schools know 'why' a child is late. Ours certainly does.

Parents who are caught up in traffic jams due to accidents let the school know and it is noted accordingly.

Seriously too harsh. Well done to your DS though ⭐️
Speak to the school about his lateness record and see if he can have this strike taken away.

Does your school have stated “values”?

If so and one of them is kindness or compassion I might have a quiet work with the head about being flexible in the particular case.

My cousin rescued a baby jackdaw. She now has a bird in her garden who comes and sits on her shoulder, or pecks at her toes through her Crocks.

She wasn't late though.

20 minutes is very late though.

The school sounds draconian.

That does sound unnecessarily harsh IMO. It was a very kind thing he did trying to help an injured bird. Perhaps you could talk to his teacher, pointing out that the previous time was your fault and this time it was because of an act of kindness?

DS and I were late or school last December when we saw the oddest thing in the sky. We stared at it for ages before it disappeared. I felt a bit silly explaining to the receptionist that we had lost track of time because we saw a UFO! I think she thought I was suggesting missing time which was highly embarrassing .

Luckily our school doesn't punish for being late, if they did that would have been the weirdest reason for punishing a pupil.

How did it make him 20 minutes late though?

I think she thought I was suggesting missing time which was highly embarrassing.

Was that 20 late getting into the school or 20 minutes late getting to his classroom?

Yes under the circumstances it was harsh.
What did his form teacher (or whoever) say when he explained why he was late?

Wow if they punished for being late at dds Primary school, some kids would never get break time.

Ooh meant to add. Ridiculous reaction.

So he was 20 minutes late due to him finding an injured buried. I just don’t believe it.

That's an unjustified punishment given the circumstances OP.

As others have asked, why didn't the office communicate this to the teacher?

I would make a complaint, that sounds awful .

A couple of thoughts on this

the teacher may not have set the detention it could have been generated when the SLT looked at the registers and saw that he was late.

It could be that the detention was not for being late but for how the OP's DS entered the room and disrupted other children.

It could be that the school rule state that any child over X minutes late gets a detention

Or it could be that the teacher was in a bad mood and decided to give them a detention.

How can they stop him going on a school trip? It would be stopping him from accessing the curriculum.

I don’t understand why schools punish children for parental cock ups anyway. My son had a screaming meltdown on the way to school because his sister was ill and we were running five minutes late. He was so terrified about missing his break for the lateness his anxiety kicked off, lost his shit an eventually the Senco had to come out and get him into the school building. He was then an hour late for school despite us being outside the school gate just one minute late for a worry about punishment for something that was out of his control.

Yup, another one who isn’t sure how finding the bird and leaving it at the office made him 20 mins late? Did he faff about for a while with the bird deciding what to do?, was he cutting it fine with his time to begin with? Surely if you see an injured bird on your way to school, it takes 5 or 10 mins tops to find something to put it in, scoop it up and then head quickly to the office.

Because overwhelmingly, it's the child who will have been dragging their feet, refusing to get a move one, being difficult about getting to school on run of the mill absences. If the child feels some consequences for their poor choices in the morning, it might help them make better choices in future.

And the siblings? They'll be late too. Should they be punished because they're too young to get themselves up, ready and out the door?

Sorry but at Primary level, this is down to parents. If you have a child who regularly drags their feet/plays up etc, then you need to make sure it doesn't affect everyone else.

It could be that the person issuing the detention wasn’t aware of the reason for lateness. I’d contact school as it should be easily resolved.

The school have a rule, it's up to the pupils to abide by it. It's a good life lesson, that rules can't always be broken even if there is good cause.

For example, if you are driving and are stopped at a red traffic light when an ambulance comes up behind you, you must not go through the red light even if it is safe and is the only way to allow the ambulance to pass. You are required by law to continue blocking the ambulance until the light changes and you can legally move.

20 minutes is quite a long time to be late for picking up an injured bird. I'd have expected the school to have started procedures for trying to find the missing child by that point, so actually I think punishment is reasonable as if they are old enough to get themselves to school they are old enough to learn there are implications on more than just them if they are late.

I think people are being a little harsh asking why it took 20 minutes as if he should have just picked it up in 20 seconds as he power walked past and not affected his timing at all.

I rescued a badly injured bird once, it's not as simple as just picking it up. By the time you look, try to decide if you can help/are overreacting, try to pick it up carefully without hurting it more and find something to carry it in and dance around when the bloody thing flaps in your face and you nearly drop it I can imagine I was faffing for 20 minutes, it's not an every day occurance.

The kids I can think of heard the bird down a drain. They had to locate a council gardener from the local park who helped them remove the grate to take the bird out then they chose to bring the bird to school for help. It was an act borne of complete kindness and I thought it was very sweet that they thought School was the safest place for the bird to be. It would have been very sad if they had received a telling off and potential punishment for this act of kindness and trust.

I know OP is talking about younger children though so I know that attendance procedures are tighter. However, I maintain my feeling that schools are about teaching all sorts of things and this was an excellent opportunity they seem to have chosen to highlight blind observance of rules rather than being a good person