School 'Social Justice manager' knocking on my door. Confused. Why ??

[clapshot]

I'm in Scotland. So this is the second week of schools being back.

We (me and DC and P) stay with MIL, DC Grandmother. She had part of a lung removed in early March for lung cancer. Multidisciplinary team are considering radiotherapy. She also has heart problems. Still in her 60s.

I'm extremely wary of sending DC back to school, so I didn't. I emailed their schools, which was received as I got a reply from both, the high school one saying they'll be in contact.

I've had a couple of phone calls from a withheld number yesterday and today but I'm WFH so was busy.

Door knocked earlier, was working so didn't answer. Again just now. I don't usually answer unless I'm expecting someone (door faces onto street and get a lot of sellers and religion people).

Looked out the window as they were leaving and my eldest DC recognised them as the Social Justice manager of their school.

What is this all about ??

Am I in some kind of trouble ??

Why would a school do this ??

I'm going to phone them up tomorrow but just wondered why they would be knocking my door ??

All those who were advised to shelter are now relaxing the rules I thought so there's no need for your MIL (or your family) to be isolating now.

Plus as everyone has said attendance is now compulsory and there are no online lessons....

but just wondered why they would be knocking my door ??
You're children aren't in school when they are suppose to be and you are not answering your phone will be the reason why.

@PickwickThePlockingDodo

Pick up your phone and answer the door, for goodness sake, then you might know.

I don't answer my phone unless I know the number because it is usually cold callers/recorded messages. They could have left a voicemail on one of the multiple calls

What are your plans for educating your children if they don’t go back to school?

By not answering the phone or the door (and I can’t understand why on earth you didn’t) you will have their alarm bells ringing and they’ll likely escalate. Three adults and a secondary school pupil in the house and not one person answered the door?

Jeez Louise, this is what you all get for the incredibly weird Mumsnet stance on never answering your phones or your doors.

What happens if someone calls to tell you your child has had an accident and is in hospital? Or god forbid, the police knock on your door with bad news about a car crash?

If you don’t want to talk to a telemarketer or someone trying to sell you double glazing, it’s the work of seconds to say a polite ‘no thank you’ and hang up, or close the door.

Now you’re in a position where this will undoubtedly cause you far more than a few seconds inconvenience.

surely you can't just say you're not sending them and just leave it at that. You need to either have a plan for reintroducing them to school or make firm, informed plans for home educating. I imagine your "just not doing it, sorry" style email has them concerned.

@DrinkFeckArseGirls The OP is Scottish and I believe in Scotland they’ll say “stay” to mean “live”. So they’ll say “I stay in Edinburgh” or “I stay on Front Street” to mean “I live on Front Street”. So I took the OP to mean that they live with MIL, not just staying for a shorter period. Can any other Scottish MNers confirm?

Looked out the window as they were leaving and my eldest DC recognised them as the Social Justice manager of their school.

Why didn't you open the door at this point and said " hello, can I help you?" ?
You now just look like you have something to hide.

Looked out the window as they were leaving and my eldest DC recognised them as the Social Justice manager of their school.

Why did you not open the door at that point and go and speak to them?

So they said they would be in touch.
You didn’t answer your phone when they rang.

They have a legal obligation to check your child is safe and well.

Now you are not opening the door to them.

It doesn’t look good.

It's nearly 50 years since I lived in Scotland, but yes, that's what stay means in Scotland.

why didn't you ask through the window what they wanted?

You don't send your DC to school, you don't pick up the phone and you refuse to open the door.

Children should be in school. How are you educating them?

If you refuse to send them back to school, you need to at least engage with the authorities.

Or deregister and homeschool!

Ah, thank you LittleRa. I did take it as stay temporarily/ helping MIL as she’s not well.

As for why the OP didn't answer the door, she is working. How difficult is this to understand? Many people who are at home at the moment are wfh. Send an email to make an appointment, surely. Lots of people don't answer the phone to an unknown number, thanks to endless spammers.

I’m Scottish and I say “stay” meaning to live. For example “I stay over the road from the pub”.

Why on earth do people not answer phones or doors?

I’m far too nosy to ignore!

YABU - when your daughter recognised them you could have easier gone into the street to speak to them whilst leaving. The school did say they would be in touch and when they do you don't answer the door.

Of course they have to check that the children are ok - surely this is obvious?

Truancy officers used to roam the streets during school time to look out for children who should be in school and round them up. Even my teacher mother used to approach children and ask why they weren't at school in the old days!

However you have no legal obligation to answer the phone or door and the school could easily have left a voicemail so it is very strange they did not or they could have posted you a letter.

If you don't want the school places then deregister and educate them at home.

Why couldn’t the children or MIL answer the door?

The school could have left a simple "please call the school message" without violating any Data Laws. Tackle them, get your retaliation in first, then gently explain.
They will explain the law and you must comply.

This:

'why didn't you ask through the window what they wanted?
You don't send your DC to school, you don't pick up the phone and you refuse to open the door.
Children should be in school. How are you educating them?

If you refuse to send them back to school, you need to at least engage with the authorities.
Or deregister and homeschool!'

You say WFH - what are your children doing whilst you do this? Are they being home school by someone else?

Has the op confirmed she has voicemail facility on her phone? I phone people regularly when I’m working and it’s surprising how many people don’t have voicemail.

Look at it from their POV. Your children should be in school. No answer to phone calls. No answer to door knocks. They would be failing in their duty of care not to follow up.

Absolutely. I mean you send one email and then don’t respond to phone to a visit. That would ring all sorts of alarm bells.

@DrinkFeckArseGirls

Why can’t your DP stay with his mother and you move back home with the DC so they can go to school?

In Scotland “stay” means “live”. They live with the boyfriend’s mother. They can’t “go home” because they are home. That’s why the school turned up there.