To think what an load of bollocks? School related

[TickTackNo]

It's been made clear now that "if parent's are ever late to pick their DC up, then the DC will have to make the time up at playtime after lunch"

Wtf?! Why should a child miss out because of a parent being late. Makes no sense. Sometimes we genuinely can't help being late.

at least once a fortnight the taxi is about 10-15 minutes late for whatever reason. It would be completely U for DS to be penalised for it.

I agree your DS shouldn’t be penalised for it but neither should his teacher! At least every other week you’re late - that’s pretty shit. Change cab companies?

It doesn’t make sense but it has obviously become a big issue for the school.

Do they have an after school club? If so changing parents for a session everytkme they are more than 10 mins late may work.

@AjasLipstick it sometimes can't be helped. I was stuck in traffic for 3+ hours today due to a crash. Even if I'd left an hour early, I'd still have been late.

I don’t think you ABU but I can see why they’re doing it. If parents are consistently late then I’m making (a fairly large assumption) that they are working and, therefore a £2.50 fine is actually very cheap childcare and, therefore, not a deterrent. However, if you take something away from the child (however unfair that might be) then the parent will do more to fix the problem and make sure they’re collected on time.

The children who will suffer are of course the ones who have parents with MH issues, drug issues, serious illnesses- or simply plain old neglectful parents. In other words, the children who are already getting a worse deal than their mates and are already terrified of standing out and being spotted as different.

I'd be very concerned about the educational standards of the school given that they don't appear to understand the very simple concept of "making up" time. These are the people teaching children English comprehension skills?

What they actually meant to say was presumably "If parents are ever late to pick their DC up, then we shall punish the child the next day" but I'm guessing they didn't think that would sound as good in the official school policies submitted to OFSTED?

Plate, I don't think his teacher's inconvenienced, he waits in the reception area and he's 11. We live in a market town with horrendous traffic problems and any taxi company would be the same.

I get where they're coming from but the punishment is bonkers,unfair and pretty pointless. They're running on the assumption that parents will care about missed playtime. Not just that but they might put a vulnerable child in harm's way if they dare complain at home.

If the school has an after school club they should put the kids in it and charge the parents the going rate.

In other words, what they are saying to the child is "we shall hold you responsible for the shortcomings of your parent and we shall make sure all your mates notice".

Hairy Hands - If your 11 year old had an accident sitting waiting in reception, who would be responsible? Children of late parents were routinely sat in chairs outside reception in our school and the office staff were run ragged trying to deal with their regular job and stressing out because young Johnny sitting outside decided bouncing up and down on the chair and launching himself on top of the quiet kid reading a book was a good boredom buster.

OP Does your school have after care? Best solution would be for member of staff on playground duty to send any uncollected children straight there and parents billed the going rate. Perhaps though the numbers are so high that there are not enough free places left for that to be a safe option. Penalising the children though seems cruel. The situation must have got desperate.

My dc’s school puts all the uncollected kids into an ‘after school club’ and charges the parents for the privilege. It’s expensive. It works well.

If there are too many in the aftercare, maybe the school needs to have a "late group" - slap on really high fees, charge per every five mins overdue or something like that. If they've too many people taking advantage they need to hit them hard in the pocket.

It's not the best idea, but I imagine the school are getting very frustrated with parents taking the piss. It's not the once per year panicked phone call to the school "the bus has broken down on top of a burst water main, can you please let me child know I'll be there in ten minutes" parents that are the problem. It's the ones that are consistently late, who swan in when they feel like it (usually blowing on their fingernails to make sure they are dry) and never even apologise or accept they might be inconveniencing other people. They're also usually the same people who show up late to events, walk into theatres late and expect to push past everyone to their seat, and are being paged in the airport because the flight is closing. Some people are just so sure they are the centre of the universe and everyone will wait around for them.

This is surely counter intuitive??

Teacher has to wait for parent instead of getting on with stuff after school.....punishment =teacher has to stay in with student at lunch instead of having a break or getting on with stuff......parent is late again as it doesn't affect their life.....teacher waits again.....teacher conducts punishment again...

Miserable children and miserable teachers but cf parents get free baby sitter!

My dcs are at opposite ends of the school building. Once I have got one DC, waited for the teacher to notice I’m there, call him, then him wander out the classroom door, we have to rush to the other classroom.
My other dc is always in the office.
This policy is unfair. Fining would be unfair too.

Oh good grief, that is awful.

The type of parents who are always late just won't care.

Those that have the one off emergencies cos yeah we all leave three hours spare for car accidents etc feel shit enough if late.

I've had busses not show up at all (2 or 3 in a row so piss off witg earlier buses given I already had to hang around for 40 mins before and after school as it was)

Car break down during a day where the traffic was at a standstill everywhere. No alternate routes nothing. Gridlock.

Somethings can't be helped. But are usually very occasional

Not fair to take it out on kids.

It's unfair to take it out on the child. However you are being completely unreasonable if you're one of these awful parents who never seems to be able to pick their child up on time. It's not hard and it's rude and the teachers have to look after your child after school when, believe me, they have enough work to do.

I think there should be a reasonable window for pick up (say 15 minutes) then after that the parents should be charged to make up for the time the staff have to spend waiting. It should never be taken out on children who are not to blame.

Under no circumstances should a child be deprived of playtime (even if they are at fault). It is unhealthy and has a negative impact on behaviour.

DS starts a new school in September and there is a half hour window for drop off (London traffic) but I never even thought to ask about pickup.

Is it normal to have a window at pick up time?

I agree with others. The habitual latecomers probably won't care if the child has to "make up time". The accidental / unavoidable latecomers who turn up late once or twice a year don't need a lesson.

As for the get an earlier bus person. I live in London - there are loads of transport options but if I turn up at a mainline station knowing that any of the 3 next trains will get me to school on time but someone is on the track / under a train / signal failure / power lines etc and all trains are stopped then I will struggle to get there on time by alternative means because the train is the fastest option by far. Just look at what has happened at Victoria recently.

I don't care how pissed off the school is, taking your irritation with parents out on kids is never ok.

This is disgraceful.

Just to add

"someone is on the track / under a train / signal failure / power lines"

every single one of these things happened at least once in the last year (some more than once).

Does this mean they are taking time off their breaks? That is not on and probably illegal.

Makes no sense. How are they ‘making up’ lost time if they are collected late?
It’s just penalising the kids and teachers (who will have to supervising the ‘making up’ during their break time and stay with the children until they are collected after school).
No excuse for persistent lateness though. Fine the parents £1 per five mins and that would solve the problem (or increase school funds so win win either way).