Schools only allowing immediate family to drop and collect

[Snailsetssail]

Schools have absolutely no power to enforce this rule. It’s completely ridiculous for working parents and as a family with 2 key workers there is no way it can be done.

How many other schools have come up with this crazy rule?

@Potayto My Yr 6 Dd starts 50 minutes later than normal and finishes 20 mines earlier, so is losing an entire school day each week. I think that is ridiculous as year 6 could have handled a longer school day and they are most in need of making the time up.

@slipperywhensparticus

ours has a no bags rule which is great except my son has sen takes his ear defenders etc in a bag daily its bad enough he now has to wear a shirt and tie and its worse they haven't sorted his echp and he is year three now this im unconvinced he is going to cope with school anymore

Ours has said no bags but they’ll have a bag in school with one set of waterproofs etc and then a second set at home. Is that possible for the ear defenders?

Although going off the other stuff they don’t sound great.

It’s just madness. Any surely if the children can mix at out of school swimming, ballet, sports etc these measures are pointless anyway?

I don’t have a school age child but I just don’t understand what they expect working parents to do?!

The guidance for returning this year said no attending more than one setting but for September says it's fine and schools should run wraparound so they are bonkers doing this (I work in a primary school I have read all versions of the blasted guidance!)

Those saying their school has significantly reduced the school day; are they legally allowed to do this? I though that all schools had to be offering full time schooling by September (6 hours)? Yes, staggered start and finish times and reduced break and lunchtimes to fit in the required amount of time in school but they can’t just start shaving an hour off each day though surely?!

Where does this "rule" come from, though? It can't be a blanket ban because not all schools are following it. Mine certainly isn't.

If the school Refuse to handover and want to keep my dc until I finish work at 9pm they can crack on

^ This

It’s ridiculous, my school has been open 9.30-3.15, a reduction of 45 minutes.
My after school club hasn’t reopened. I was going to let Y6 DD walk halfway home herself then nip out from wfh, and meet her at main road which would take 10 minutes in afternoon. Instead they had to be collected by a member of same household from the school gates.

Our school said no childminders this term (but said the government had said no childminders, which annoyed me. I was fine with their decision, but at least have the balls to own it, don’t blame someone else when it was the head teachers decision).
Luckily, in September, they have said I can collect again, but it’s going to be a nightmare of 3 different drop off times and 3 different collection times. It’s bad enough normally as I have to collect from so many classroom doors, but staggering all the times too will take it to the next level of difficulty. Not so bad when it’s dry, but if it’s still going on in December when it’s cold and wet, It’s going to be hideous!

Tell them the childminder is an aunt who after a hard divorce now lives with you. They can’t prove otherwise.

@Gotofriggingsleep

Our school has said just one designated adult can collect and have staggered the start and finish times. No option to drop/collect siblings together so our school run is going to take me two hours a day. Work are going to be delighted with me

What's supposed to happen if the designated adult is ill? Will they be keeping the children overnight?

Being a keyworker makes no difference. Plenty of non keyworkers are out at work now or working from home with a childminder or relative providing wraparound care. This is a ridiculous rule and one which will be a problem for at least 20% of the parents at most schools. Maybe she should start a petition or write letters to the head to appeal this?

Why would anyone comply with this? You do realise this is completely outside the schools jurisdiction and you can simply ignore it?

Honestly, I never understand why grown adults put up with this nonsense! Use your critical thinking skills people.

School is being too restrictive with this. They are obviously trying to limit the number of contacts but this is ridiculously unworkable. No schools around here are doing that, just saying only one adult to come to collect (doesn't have to be the same adult each time, just literally one body.) Bit trickier with childminders but I think that has eased up too now.

Bit confused why you both being key workers is of relevance to the post tho? Unless it's your way of saying you can't just leave off work/work flexi hours?

@Gotofriggingsleep but why do you accept that? Why are you allowing school to tell you what to do? They have ZERO power to enforce the designated adult rule, why on earth would you allow them to bully you?

@FrugiFan You don't need a petition. Just ignore the rule, it is 100 percent unenforceable. Don't allow school to bully you on this, you're a grown adult.

I'd pass it to UsForThem who are cataloguing school unreasonableness and questionable interpretation of the guidance. Anonymously if needed.

My kids have been in the keyworker/vulnerable provision for a while now as one of them had mental health really not coping with the situation and needed her anchor points in her life back and we've had one of the local childminders doing drop offs for a couple of kids throughout. They made sure the kids from that childminder were going into the same bubble group though but that was about it.

We've still got no word on if wrap around care is even going to be open - but school have slashed an hour off the school day for all kids (taken by shredding lunchtime and breaktime down) and some poor parents have class start and end times staggered by an hour between siblings with nowhere to wait, no provision for collecting both together (school have now ever so reluctantly backpedalled on that one and put on a homework club) and nowhere to go to kill the time between the two at all. It's either going to mean all the parents huddle together complaining on the street undistanced... or they all park up for an hour twice a day - and the area school is in already has parking nightmares.

I'm currently a governor of one school - although not the one I've described in the post but one that has been even LESS helpful to parents (I'm going to step down over how my school have treated kids and parents throughout this but I'm at least letting them get into the next term started without trying to fill a vacancy) and I've been trying to at least round the corners off of the blanket wall of non-cooperation - I've had a few tiny victories but some of us are out there trying our best!

If your school is reducing the school day then complain to the LEA that you're right to a full time place has been infringed. Schools also cannot do this.

Source - A headteacher sat next to me

Are you sure you’ve read it correctly? Most schools are limiting the number of people dropping off and or collecting but not to the point of who.

@Grobagsforever

If your school is reducing the school day then complain to the LEA that you're right to a full time place has been infringed. Schools also cannot do this.

Source - A headteacher sat next to me

They've done it via chopping down the breaktimes so they're still maintaining teaching hours unfortunately. But for families set up for school starting around 9 and finishing after 3 - suddenly going to a finish nearer 2pm is going to fuck up so many people's childcare arrangements. That's not being one of the unlucky buggers with an hour wait for siblings either end of the day!

Our school had a "parents only" rule so far, and refused to confirm anything for September. Someone on the other thread had mentioned that the schools are waiting for a piece of critical guidance to be revealed on August 11th that affects this issue.

If your school is reducing the school day then complain to the LEA that you're right to a full time place has been infringed. Schools also cannot do this.
They can if they are an academy or other type of non-maintained school, e.g. a religious school.

The stuff about pick up/drop off having to be done by immediate family only is not in the government guidelines, so some schools are making a choice to deliberately discriminate against working parents. I say this as someone who works in a school and knows what an absolute nightmare it's been for school leaders trying to plan for re-opening with the vague, often unrealistic and constantly changing guidance from the Government.

If my DC's school informed us they were doing this I would not accept it. I would write to the Head and cc the Chair of Governors explaining that if they proceed with this unecessary and blatantly discriminatory policy they are essentially forcing me to choose between providing for my children and sending them to school. I would also point out that women and in particular single parents are more likely to be disadvantaged as a result of this policy.

It's ludicrous for them to assume that every child has a SAHP in 2020.

@Grobagsforever

If the school have reduced playtime and lunchtime, they may well be delivering the required hours and sessions. That would mean there was no infringement of the child's entitlement to a full time education.

Another issue with childminders is now that the local schools published the timetables, they sometimes cannot manage staggered pick up / drop offs whilst still maintaining safe adult / child ratios. Some schools have staggered pick-ups and drop offs over 45 minutes.