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?

I’m most concerned that the gates are just open and not being monitored. When the gates are open then there should be staff standing by them to make sure no children do slip out.
If this was the case then they would at least always know she is on the school premises and safer this way.

How many spare adults do you think the average primary school has, especially at home time? School budgets have been cut more and more so there is often no slack at all in the system.

I do think it would be helpful for the 1:1 to have a radio to try to get additional help and support, but at this time there may be no one available to help.

I also agree that dropping her off a little bit later and picking her up a little bit earlier may be a good solution?

Just to clarify a few points. I am not mad or upset with the 1-1 for losing her. She gets away I know this the school knows this I am not upset with her at all. She has additional needs I cannot control how my daughter gave them the slip her mind doesn't work like a neurotypical child of her age. My concern and anger is no one other than the 1-1 was looking for her. I should clarify that I meant no one other than the 1-1. Most if not all of the teachers are aware of my daughters flight as she frequently runs out of her class into other classrooms etc so they are aware of this.

My concern is that during the time she was effectively 'missing' no one else was alarmed. The gates weren't being manned to make sure she didn't exit. The school gates open at 15.05 no one stands at the gates to see who is entering/exiting, they finish at 15.15. I entered the school gates at 15.08ish and just by chance saw her on her own walking down the stairs near the gates that exit into a busy car park. Between the time I had her and the time I spoke to the teacher 11minutes later I saw no other staff looking for her. No I didn't expect all the teachers to abandon their class/children and look for her but there are support workers, caretakers, 3 receptionists etc no other teacher bar her own and the 1-1 was aware she was missing as such. At what point after not being able to locate a child who is a known flight risk was they going to raise the alarm? Or even call me to say they cannot find her have it seen her or got her? Yes I could have made the 1-1 aware I had her but how many times does this need to happen before more plans are put in place? Do I need to wait for her to have an incident or accident after escaping before I'm taken seriously? In fact just 2weeks ago there was a fight outside where an apparent pedophile was siting outside the school yes this could be hear say but what if it wasn't? What if she was taken? What if she was run over? At what point do I ask for more things to be in place?

You need to have a meeting with the SENCO and raise this as a safeguarding issue, not necessarily a complaint. Is the TA properly trained, does she know what to do when she goes missing and when to raise the alarm, is there a clear plan in place, is there a risk assessment in place (if not there should be), what are they doing to keep your daughter safe and what do they plan to do to avoid this happening again? For example, you pick her up early and the TA does the handover st the classroom fire door or school office so no traffic or open doors.

I'm a TA and I have lost a child a few times(mostly because they hid and I walked past them and then they ran in the opposite direction). I've also been asked to help when other TA's couldn't find a child.However, I know who and when to call for help, when we had several serial runners we had radios , there are clear procedures and protocols in place etc. If we see a child that we know is at risk , we always ask where their adult is and kind of hover until we see them.

It's completely nerve wracking and terrifying when it happens, and yes it can happen but there are things that can be put in place to mitigate the situation.