AIBU - is it a safeguarding issue?

[Uglyducklingswan]

WIBU to raise a safeguarding concern with my 12 year olds school? Or am I over reacting and all is fine and these things happen.

Today my kid’s school bus driver re-read a text message I sent him 2 weeks ago (which he has already read and responded to two weeks ago) saying I would collect DC on Friday.
As a result he believed my DC didn’t need the bus and as he was 5 mins late coming out, the bus driver therefore drove off and left my kid at school.

Thankfully DC rang me (in a panic, poor thing), I rang the bus driver and he hadn’t gone far so was able to go back to get DC.

So no harm done except 5 mins of panic for me and DC. I’m also fully aware that DC has a role to play here and we’ve already had words about his responsibility to be on time and the impact that had on the situation and all the other kids who were made late by his lateness. But I also don’t blame him entirely - He’d just had PE and had to get changed, (school rule).

the thing that really annoyed me was when he dropped him off he didn’t apologise, he tried to say it was my fault, said that I definitely sent a message saying I was picking up and so DC wasn’t on the bus. At that point I hadn’t clocked that the message he was talking about was 16 days old and relating to a different date. I just assumed he must have me mixed up with someone else as I haven’t texted him this week at all.

how would you react?

YABU to complain - no harm done, mistakes happen.

YANBU - this could have been a serious safeguarding issue (the reason we have a school bus is the school is in the middle of nowhere with zero public transport.)

He should have apologised but it was a mistake which he made up for so he obviously thinks he doesn’t need to. Maybe make sure you put the date in as well.

It's not great but we need to equip our children to deal with these things as often as they older transport will be late, cancelled etc and this is good practice in a relatively safe environment. Worst that should have happened is child goes to school receptionist and they sort it.

If your child had missed the bus completely presumably he would still be at school.

Most secondary schools expect students to sort out their own transport and if they miss the bus/whatever it is their own responsibility to get themselves home.

Do they have anywhere to go? At my school the protocol would be to go to reception and they would help sort it out.

I don't think it's a safeguarding issue as your son was safe at all points and even had he been left at school, school is a safe environment.

nothing happened. Not a safeguarding issue even if it had, he was at school

He should've apologised however is this a bus the school arrange? If so I'd have thought any changes should go through the school rather than a text to the driver.

I wouldn’t say it’s a safeguarding issue, it was a mistake. I’d be annoyed about it but wouldn’t spend any more time on it, and definitely wouldn’t complain.

It was inconvenient and poor service from the driver, but not a safeguarding issue, I don't think. Child was safe at school and could get help from the school office as needed.

No it’s not a safe guarding issue. Loads of kids miss school buses all the time.

Do you mean safety? It's literally nothing to do with safeguarding.

I think the bigger issue is that he’s answering the phone while driving.

In 17 years of having kids catch school buses to secondary schools, I have never heard of a bus driver either checking all the kids are there or waiting for those not there on time!
He should know what to do if he misses the bus eg go back into the school and tell the receptionist!

It sounds like a genuine mistake and he still brought your son home? Any communication around my 3 year old's school transport goes via the taxi company's office and not the driver himself (although some parents do both as again, there can be communication break downs).

Dear lord what a nonsense. Safeguarding is for children who are at risk of neglect or abuse. Your boy was late and missed the bus, that's not the drivers fault!

Thank you all for talking sense and helping me make sense of my thoughts!

Why be so rude? It’s not nonsense - I was genuinely unsure if school needed to be aware that one of their drivers made a mistake. I appreciate all the people who gave me a common sense piece of advice.

Next time state the date in your text "on friday 1 march"

When I read things like this it makes me realise loads of people don't understand what safeguarding is.

That’s all it was, a mistake. People make mistakes, they’re human. In theory, he could lose his job if a complaint is made about him, even though he rectified it.

They are employees of the school. It generally works being in touch directly as the lady in the office can’t be passing on messages all day (and she works 9-3 and the buses pick up and drop off outside those times.
it’s a mini bus in our case so they do know the kids and who should be there

Well why not ask "Do I need to make the school aware the bus driver made a mistake"? Surely you realise it's not a safeguarding issue. I hate the way everything is a safeguarding issue now, it really detracts from actual issues.

Fair enough re the safeguarding issue. I misunderstood the meaning, I assumed leaving a child stranded 30 mins from home with no other transport option was to leave them in an unsafe position = safeguarding. I’ll do my research. Thanks for explaining.

It’s not a ‘safeguarding issue’.

However the policy is not fit for purpose. Parents should not be texting bus drivers about pick up arrangements. There needs to be formal communication procedures in place to avoid mistakes.

I work in a school and this is not anything to do with safeguarding. Have you just heard that word and decided to use it to make something sound more serious? 🙄

It was a mistake, compounded by your 12 year old child being late.

If your child missed the bus he would go into school and wait for you to collect. Kids miss buses. The bus driver was there. Your dc was late to the bus. The bus driver was confused and thought he remembered a text from you. Your dc was not stranded. He was at school with access to numerous adults.

Unless every child that has pe misses the bus. You need to tell your child to be on time.
You have a late child problem, not a safeguarding problem