To raise this with the school?

[Savi98]

Yesterday my child (5) was in after school club. Picked up, everything fine. School run this morning another parent told me that child was let out on their own and wandering round the school grounds. She had to take him back to the classroom and tell them his parent wasn't here. I wasn't informed of this but suspect in the rush of home time it might have been dismissed as minor. There are safeguarding issues in place around his father who is not allowed to collect and has supervised contact only, however in reality the chances of him being at the school were slim, so maybe this is a non issue. It's only happened once but I am concerned it happened at all. Teachers have a really hard time, I know this. I don't want to teacher bash. Would you raise this or just put it down to a mistake that (hopefully) won't happen again?

This is very serious, I would be raising it with the school in person immediately. They need to review what happened and sort out their protocols. Honestly.

When this happened at our school (mix up between school and ASC and child was ‘missing’ for about 2 mins), ASC reported themselves to Ofsted and informed all parents of how procedures would be tightened. I was impressed with their honesty.

My child was let out of reception when I wasn’t there, another mum saw him and kept him with her until I arrived. I complained and the school changed their entire collection process to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. I think this is huge personally and I would absolutely complain.

I would speak to school and then follow up by email. Not as a complaint but just to have it recorded somewhere.

My similar situation was also a supply teacher. She said a child’s name which was very similar to my sons, he stood up and said me? And she said yes and then gave him his stuff and he left, the other child was still in the classroom and when his mum then said what about x she then said oh yes here he is. And so he left aswell with his mum. I wasn’t there at all. This all came out afterwards pieces together with what my son told me, and what the supply teacher said. The school changed it so that we all queued up and when you reached the front the teacher got your child, and you took them from the door. Previously it had been, when the teacher saw you they shouted the child and the child left the room and came out to you outside. The new system took longer but worked much better I felt.

This happened to two of my DC on separate occasions. It’s definitely something to raise. I spoke to the Head who then spoke to the staff concerned, issued a whole school reminder, and then reported back to me.

Send an email so that the head also gets to see it as it is very serious.

At our school we had a kid escape EOD from classroom (neurodiverse so following instructions isn’t as easy for him). The teacher knew right away and flagged it asap. However it was the ONE day a teacher wasn’t on the gate until 2 mins after the bell went. He ran out of school amongst the throng of people and the school immediately phoned home and some teachers went running down the road to catch him. Luckily he knew his way home and the teachers were half way to him whilst the furious mum was walking him back into school.

Obviously this went to the Head and many concerned parents who heard it also raised concerns.

There needs to be a written trail of this so it’s not just glossed over.

What conclusions might they be?

Exactly....they reported themselves to OFSTED.But the OP's school sounds very different, they have not come clean about what happened, so are very likely to continue 'covering their backs' and not accepting the seriousness of the situation and their responsibility for it.They certainly sound unlikely to be reporting themselves, which means that really someone else needs to.
Anything dealt with internally can be dismissed/not logged/swept under the carpet.
Shocked by the laid back responses here- People seem to get away with anything nowadays 🤦‍♀️

At our school we had a child leave at lunchtime and go home ( I wasn't on duty that day). The school found out when mum said child had returned home, the school didn't even know!
As a dinnerlady I count the children in, it's not uncommon to find a child who hasn't lined up wandering the playground. Obviously I wouldn't close the door, I go looking for the missing child.
I know most teachers are diligent and careful etc. but some children just go wandering away and don't tell you. I've had it myself where I've looked around and noticed someone isn't there, usually they have popped inside for something or gone to the loo and not told you.
People are human. At the end of the school day it's slightly different, but the fact it's a supply teacher means she probably doesn't know the kids very well and may not be privvy to safeguarding concerns with the dad.
Maybe your child thought they saw you, or forgot they were at ASC. Please don't go in all guns blazing. It makes teachers less likely to share in the future IMHO.

💯 raise it.

when my son was at nursery, so about 3, the way the rooms were laid out were two rooms next to each other and a shared large space. He was in the shared large space and the doors to both rooms were closed. I had seen him - he hadn’t seen me. So I went in his room and didn’t mention it. They then frantically searched for him. I calmly said he’s out there, what is he doing there himself, how could none of you known etc etc. I didn’t shout but I was firm and they knew I wasn’t going to leave it there. I told the manager and the staff in the rooms at the time had to undergo further safeguarding training.

I’m a teacher and I’m really defensive about teacher bashing but that needs to be raised. I’d have expected them to let you know that that happened.

i wouldn’t go in all guns blazing but maybe just let them know that you’ve been made aware and remind them about the risk of dad coming to pick him up!

Nursery nurse an ex-teacher. Bring it up!! Headteacher May not even know it’s happened! This is very serious and needs to be reported, it may have happened once but you certainly don’t want it happening again! And who’s to say it hasn’t happened before and other parents didn’t see?

Obviously don’t go in kicking off just be calm and get your point across, we all no mistakes happen but this is a big deal especially with the circumstances and you should have been notified.

Edit: Also just any concerns you have always raise them no matter how big or small, if one of my parents had a concern I always liked to know, we’re trusted with your children and they’re so precious, if you raise things with us we can put your mind at rest and help 💙

It sounds to me like they thought you were there to pick him up. So a mistake, maybe when things were a bit chaotic.

I would talk to them, it's important to know where the gap was and remedy it. In person is less likely to be confusing IMO.

I cant believe you are even asking if you should raise this. ,of course you should, its a major safe guarding breach, anything could of happened to your child. How can you be so calm about it, and all the people on this post that think its no big deal
are insane. Its a massive deal, it needs reporting ofsted, the next child might not be so lucky

I just have a quiet chat and asked what happened. If he was called to the door and didn't see you then who was he handed over to?

Wonder with being a sub if she had them lined outside or something, making easier to wander

Yes 5 years old is upper young anything could of happened anyone could of taken the child or the child could have wandered off school grounds and then god forbid, it definitely needs to be raised

I’m a teacher too. Do raise it with the school. Thank you for your concern for teachers, but safeguarding is their prime professional responsibility and they would far rather know. I would do so both in person with the class teacher, and in writing to the class teacher and DSL, informing them of the incident and reminding them of your DS’ circumstances. At this stage it is not a complaint but a reminder and a legitimate concern. There’s no reason why it can’t be a very positive and friendly exchange.

I would recommend you save any further escalation (eg to the head) for later, if (and only if) you were to need it. Which I sincerely hope you won’t. The head should see the DSL’s report on this anyway.

Absolutely mention it! Are you even sure he/she snuck out at pick up?? They could have been out longer! However absolutely you should have 1: been told 2: been invited to a meeting with the school to address 3: be included in what the school plans to do for this to never ever happen again

I'm a veteran teacher and safeguarding lead. Raise it.

Yes, you raise this with the school ASAP. Big red flag.

I had the exact same situation with dd at about that age. She was supposed to go to after school club. Supply teacher let her out. A friend who knew I wasn't coming saw dd wandering the playground and handed her back to class.

I thought it was very serious, spoke to the head. The head was very apologetic, spoke to all teachers involved, changed and tightened up policies, and it never happened again.

I was happy with how it was handled.

Something similar happened with my niece in another country. It happens... everyone should learn from it and move on