Aibu to be concerned? School safeguarding issue?

[ANONforthisone67374]

So my daughter is additional needs and has a 1-1. She is a flight risk and gas on three separate occasions got out of the school during mornings when everyone is coming in (after being dropped off in the morning directly to her classroom)

Today I walked into the school and my daughter came down the stairs on her own without her 1-1. It seems she went off on her own. I kept her with me expecting to see her 1-1 but no one came. It was end of the day and both gates were open. I kept her with me while waiting for my eldest. She was with me for 10mins and not one single teacher/caretaker etc was looking for her.

Now I know she is a flight risk I get that she manages to evade me so I'm not upset she evaded her 1-1 who was the only one searching for her. My concern is how long she was effectively missing for. If I didn't walk round to collect her other sibling no one would have known I had her. Aibu to make a complaint?

We have protocols for missing children that would be followed in a case like this. It varies a bit depending on age and individual child but if she had been out of her 1 to 1s sight for that long I would expect a member of management to be aware and dealing with it.

Come off it, it would be easy enough for OP to see adults looking for her child. Surely the priority should have been sending someone out to close the gates or stand by them?

If her EHCP states that she must be supervised at transition times you have to insist this is done. Sadly, staffing levels are abysmal right now in all schools, so if it's not specified you may have a fight on your hands. I agree picking up 5 mins early, preferably from her classroom, not this all out of the hall nonsense which is just not working for her. It's just giving a child who is compelled to do a runner the opportunity to do just that!

She has said repeatedly that no-one was looking for her but she also says "and was told her 1-1 alone is looking for her. So for those 11mins no one knew where she was at all."

So she means no one in addition to the 1-1 was looking.

OP was expecting her child to be kept safe, which is the minimum that all parents are entitled to expect when they leave their children in school.. When there is a danger of a vulnerable small child escaping into the road, saying that "the 1:1 was looking for her! on her own just isn't good enough. There would have been TAs and others without direct responsibility for a class who could at least have closed the gates.

I agree with requesting different pick up/drop off times for her.

My DS was walked to the office door 5 mins before the main school doors were opened for the other kids. It meant i had him firmly in my hands before i went to get DD from her classroom around the corner.

Drop off was the same routine in reverse. DD to her class, then DS was walked around to the Office and handed directly to his 1:1

I'd be thinking perhaps about a school that can meet her needs better. Perhaps a mainstream with a unit so smaller class that's used to escape artists

This is a very pertinent point. The fact that OP's child has managed to get away from her 1:1 a number of times without the 1:1 apparently having any idea where she is is strongly suggestive of the fact that the school is using the 1:1 for other children - otherwise the 1:1 would have been aware as soon as the child escaped and the likelihood is that she wouldn't even have got down the corridor before being found. You need a serious conversation about how it can possibly be that this keeps happening, OP.

At Secondary the TA would have had a radio and been able to radio to staff that your DD was wandering and other staff would have been able to go and look for her. If her Primary school is anything like DDs was it's far too small and has far to few staff to have search as they are with other children.

The gates to the playground were open but could she exit the building? If so then other teachers that are not familiar with her need to know who she is and to not allow her out of the doors. Don't complain as such but go in solution based with some ideas of how to solve the issue - it'll go down better and theyll be more open to the suggestions. So as previous poster said, a separate drop off and pick up routine is an easy adjustment to make.

The whole set-up sounds like a safeguarding nightmare:

• A parent walking into the school unaccompanied by a member of staff.

• Children able to leave the building alone.

At the very least I would be expecting an adult to stand at every open exit so that no one can get in or out. I would also hope that there was a system in place to notify SLT that a child was missing.

It wasn't her teacher's job (or any of the other teachers) to supervise her or stop what they were responsible for to look for her. She had left with the 1:1 TA, who was looking for her. Ideally, she'd also report to the office, who could put out a call for anyone who had seen her to return her to reception, but surely most people would start looking in the first instance before doing this.

You don't run after a child in flight mode whoever suggested that. Besides a 1 to 1 isn't employed on the basis of their ability to outrun a child more on the fact they have a pulse and are willing to do the job.

A chat about what needs to happen is in order. Definitely picking up a few minutes early before the gates open in the afternoon seems a good bet and also handing over after the gates have closed in the morning.

Agree with @weefella

School doors should be locked during school hours. Entry and exit should be possible only through one door, and all visitors should have to ring a bell for someone to open the door manually or by a buzzer. Anyone entering should have to sign in, and if children are being taken out during school hours they should be signed out.

I thought you said they were searching for her.

That would’ve worried me too, I have a child who is a flight risk and I used to worry all day that he was safe, he was fast too. No 1:1 either so I had to hope someone had eyes on him at break times etc just in case.

they need a plan, 1:1 needs to be on it with supervision at home times or as you say transition times so that they know where she is. What if something had happened to her in the time op found her. It’s not even about taking her back, it’s just lucky that’s who found her I wouldn’t accept that at all. They have a duty of care whilst she is there.

I was talking about the class teacher, the child's 1:1 teacher was actively looking for her

Why are so many people saying no one was looking for her? The op clearly states her 1:1 was looking for her

I think rather than your DD evading her 1:1 being the issue, the real issue here is how she managed to get out of the door, or you managed to get in (it's not clear if you found her inside or outside the building) all doors should be locked, or manned at pick up time. No one should be able to get in or out without a staff member knowing

What time does school end? How did you get into school, and how did she get out?

The school need a clearly laid out emergency plan in place for when/if she goes missing. The alarm should've been raised long before the 10 minutes she was in your company.

Does your child have an EHCP @ANONforthisone67374?

i would highlight with school that this is the issue....over my kids primary years (and in 2 different schools) there has been a total ramping up of security measures after both schools had incidents of kids taking themselves home during the school day...we used to be able to enter both schools fairly easily and now there are inner security gates as well as beefed up external gates and parents can't access school unless via the locked reception with an escort. If you have a kid with SEN that gives rise to this incident you need to have more than 1 layer of keeping them safe.... as it may be understandably possible to evade their 1 to 1 but they shouldn't be able to easily leave the premises.

no one was looking for her

her 1-1 who was the only one searching for her.

Those statements can’t both be true?!

Yes, the 1:1 should have been looking for her (was she?).
Yes, you should have gone back in the 11 minutes that you had her with to tell the poor 1:1 that you had her with you.

If it weren't the 121 who would you expect to be looking? Teacher cannot really abandon the other 29 pupils. Is there a secure entry door? Do other doors have alarms? Perhaps focus on how your dc gave them the slip in class time and check security of the building to prevent future attempts to leave.

We know there wasn't a secure entry door, or, presumably, alarms given that OP's daughter has managed to get out on three separate occasions.

As for who anyone would expect to be looking, frankly every adult who could be spared should have been looking. This is a child who has been known to run out of school before, she could be in serious danger, at a time when she is 100% the school's responsibility.