to talk to head teacher about a family with an illegal car and ridiculous driving?

[worriedparentatgate]

I've name changed because I make no qualms about my actual identity normally.

There is a dad who drives past the school in a car and he skids or his wheels lock every few seconds (no exaggeration, I'm going to film it on Monday for police?)
His engine cuts out when he changes gear - stops and he has to try repeatedly to turn the engine over

He also drives too fast.

Today he nearly knocked me over and I've noticed him all week. He is a nightmare and his car is broken. I decided I wanted to ring 101 today to log this. I first looked him up, on the dvla. No tax since January
No mot since August. Beyond covid restrictions.

I am so angry. He drives children to school in the car daily. How dare he was driving too fast idk about speeding but too fast (likely speeding) it's hard to tell if you're not behind someone with a speedo on the car.
Then I said I found his car to be worrying as it cuts out. Perplexed as how not caught. I suspect he is driving it in the estate area he lives with no ANPR. If he hurts some one or damaged a car which he will ultimately, the other party will pay since any insurance would be void.

I have logged with police but I find it unacceptable his has kids in this car. Police said I should discuss with head teacher. I feel like a snitch.

AIBU to call her to discuss or have a quick chat next week?

Thanks

I spoke to 101 said he

Head could get police or police support to come out and monitor.

We had a car similar to this park up on the yellow zigzags every day outside primary. During the nativity the head approached the parents to ask them to take their crying baby outside, as per school policy. The Dad told her to fuck off, in front of the whole school. Takes some bravery to challenge criminal parents while not wanting to exclude their children from education or escalate a confrontation you can't handle.

Not the Head's job. You've told the police so you have done everything you can. Time to move on with your life now!

In the past we have had reports of parents driving illegally with their children in the car. We will always suggest that it is passed in to the police. However, yes we do take it as a safeguarding concern. In some cases (please note the emphasis) it is part of a pattern of concerning behaviour and we need to add it to our reports.
We don’t consider the reporting of a safeguarding concern to be snitching. The safety and well-being of children needs everyone on-board.

Keep reporting to the Police and the DVLA.

There's bugger all the headteacher can do and I'm sure they've got enough on their plate at the moment

This is a safeguarding matter. The head may not be able to stop this personally but as others have said it could be part of a bigger picture. This is how other cases have been missed in the past because all of the little pieces weren’t put together.
If he drives in an unsafe car in public then what is their house like? Is there a bigger picture of neglect? Does he put his children in other unsafe situations?

Could be that he doesn’t could be that he does. Ultimately isn’t it better to report a concern than to say nothing.

so then is it my job to discuss this with her? Which I will if it's my duty to do so..

Yes, it is your job to report (not discuss) any potential safeguarding concern you have. You are concerned about the welfare of a child at the school - therefore, your responsibility and only responsibility is to report what your are concerned about to somebody at the school who has responsibility for that child - the head teacher is perfect.

It is not your job to worry if you will look like a snitch. It is certainly not the job of anybody on mumsnet to tell you if this is a safeguarding concern that you should or should not report.

The rules around safeguarding are very clear on this. If you suspect something might be a safeguarding concern, you do not waste time or energy on deciding for yourself if it is a safeguarding concern. That is categorically NOT your job, your job is to report every suspicion to somebody who is responsible for safeguarding that child.

As others have said, you don't know if this is a child they already have concerns about and your report could be building up a picture of. If somebody who is qualified to do so decides that your report needs no further action, then you've still done the right thing by reporting it and no harm is done to anybody.

Will you look like a snitch? Following safeguarding protocol properly can only enhance your chances of the head taking you seriously as a governor, not diminish it.

So let's recap. Your job is specifically NOT to worry about if you should report something that you find concerning about the wellbeing of a child. Your job is to report it to somebody who is responsible for safeguarding that child. The police told you to report it to the head- do as the police told you.

Report it to the safeguarding teach at the school.

This is a safeguarding matter. The head may not be able to stop this personally but as others have said it could be part of a bigger picture. This is how other cases have been missed in the past because all of the little pieces weren’t put together.

This. All day long this. In my opinion you have a duty to report to the school safeguarding lead.

So is it normal to speak to HT about this?

You can, but you still need to make a safeguarding report to the DSL team.

@worriedparentatgate

So is it normal to speak to HT about this?

Call the school and ask to speak to the safeguarding lead.. it’s not necessarily the HT.

Speak to the police.
Head teacher/schools have enough on their hands.

That’s a good point pp raise. The dodgy car could be the tip of the iceberg. If they can’t afford to fix it are they able to afford to feed dc properly etc.

If you don’t want to make yourself a target if you live in a dodgy area then you could speak to the teacher saying ‘some parents have concerns about...’ so it sounds like it’s not just you.

And defo back to the police. And the dvla about this matter also.

If someone isn’t taxed or motd they won’t have insurance either. They could kill someone if the car goes out of control due to being poorly maintained.

I've looked at the safeguarding policy and the HT is the lead

I live a place where the wealth is pretty polarised
It's the best primary school in the area but on a deprived estate of council / ex council houses

💔

The request by the police to mention to the head is probably down to the fact that behaviour like this usually is accompanied by other safeguarding concerns. Social services would need input from the school as the offence you describe wouldn't be serious enough to open a case, they are seriously overworked already, but if crazy driving a knackered untaxed car is the tip of the iceberg the school may already be aware

If you think it is an indication that there might be other safeguarding issues, then report it, that is not unreasonable. If you aspire to be a governor, but would put how you look ahead of child protection, then chose another aspiration.
Log everything. Include times and dates of your report to the police.
Make it plain, however to the headteacher that you are not expecting them to enforce laws relating to activity on the road. It may well be that the head teacher is well aware of the issues, but accepts that the queue jumping etc is the price paid for the children to be able to turn up at school, which may in turn (worst case scenario) be helping to keep those children alive, and more like, is the only way that the headteacher and staff can protect the children from further damage for those few hours everyday.
And believe me, teaching a child that they can do as they like and "no-one can tell them what to do" DOES harm a child.
Keep raising it with the police. Keep recording exactly when you do so.
There may of course be other issues a play here too - the only reason I can think of easily for them not to act now is that they are watching them for something much bigger. (drugs, human trafficking and the like).

Hey I wanted to come and update

Today on the school run the mother walked
The car was no longer on the drive way when I drove past in between school hours
I saw them walk there and back

I did not see the dad

I did speak to the safe guarding lead and she was most grateful for my call. She didn't even give me an awkward look when I walked past her later in the day

Thank you all for the support

Well that's great. You did the right thing so no need to dwell on it any further.

Great news. Hopefully he’s scrapped it or it’s in for proper repairs and mot etc.

I think it's gone to the scrap yard, that thing was a liability!!

If he is driving like this close by to the school it might be worth talking to the school. They won't be able to do much as such but may send a letter home asking everyone to drive sensibly. We've had letters about speeding and bad parking around the school..

They have done it again in another car today

Same situation untaxed uninsured no mot

I got a text from the police saying to fill out some form if I wanted to prosecute them

I don't understand
Can anyone help

I'm so annoyed that he was there again today in another car

I'll be calling the head mistress tomorrow

I don’t understand it either. Why are the police not prosecuting him. Why are you having to get involved?

Can you ask the head teacher if he owns a car garage. It’s the only explanation that I can come up with to explain why he is driving untaxed bangers about. I think you can tax them and insure them under your garage or something so people can test drive them etc. Mine wasn’t taxed when I test drove it on a public road. Perhaps that’s what he’s doing. I can’t come up with any other explanation as to why he’s getting away with this. And even if he’s legit for insurance and road tax through a garage he’s still driving an un-motd car about which is illegal. I don’t get it.

I would keep reporting it to the police and the DVLA.