School not letting my child from the school

[Kutika]

I have read numerous discussions where people mention that schools cannot legally prevent a child from leaving, yet I find myself in this exact situation. The school is refusing to allow my child to leave, despite my clear instructions. I've sent an email, filed a complaint with the trust, and even contacted the police, but to my surprise, none of these actions have resolved the issue. I was told by the head teacher that the law does not apply to them. Any ideas on who to contact?

"And if OP did send her child to a different school that would presumably be a lot further away."

Which is far worse than sending her to a school full of alleged kidnappers she has called the police about.....

So an adult with responsibility for a child all day can say oh it’s 3 ocllock fuck off now. And just wipe their hands of the kid? What if the kid’s parents don’t come to get them? Can a teacher just say sorry kid I’ve got a hot date, make your own way home… ? Genuinely interested as this sound like a grey area at the very least.

and if they can’t decide this then how can they decided anything? How can they tell you to wear uniform? Or be in at a certain time? Or any other rule they enforce? I’m assuming they can because if you don’t adhere to thei rules they reserve the right to say you have to leave…

We picked up the child as we would not keep it till late at night. Maybe this is what needs to be done.

@Kutika what part of the country are you in?

My DC’s school is an absolute stickler for ridiculous rules ‘just because’, but since Covid, when clearly it was for their benefit to have less people on site, they happily let any child leave on their own provided a parent has signed a form, from year 3! There are no questions asked about how they are getting home. I find it baffling that ‘safeguarding’ has such different standards and meanings to so many schools.

also I think it’s crazy to let a 10 yr old out by themselves.

That 10yo will be travelling to secondary school, perhaps by bus or train, possibly just a few days or a couple of weeks after his or her eleventh birthday. It's crazy to let out a 10yo, but once they turn eleven they're suddenly perfectly OK to go out alone? Or should Yr7s also be required to be escorted to and from school? At what age is it OK for a child to go somewhere alone?

Kent

And if OP did send her child to a different school that would presumably be a lot further away.
Well you are hardly the first hysterical poster on Mumsnet so there is a kind of deja vu involved.

You are too lazy to arrange someone to go get your child in line with the schools published policy so you post on Mumsnet and accuse randomers on Mumsnet of being child kidnappers as well as the teachers who look after her all day. ....😆

Why can't they?

How is she getting home from after school club. I would refuse to pick her up up from there either, presumably they’re not going to make her stay all night I bet as soon as the head realises she’ll be the one having to stay over her hours she’ll be happy to let her go.

To be fair DH WFH but can’t even stop to answer the door when he’s busy. He’s working!

The OP says it's a trust policy.

Depending on how big the trust is depends on how effectively the DSL can tell people how stupid this policy is and how effective they could be in pushing through a change.

The DSL has to tow the trust line whether they agree with it or not.

So you're happy to keep punishing your child for your principles. Because she's the one left at school because your point of view over rides her wellbeing. No one wants to be left at school because Mommy wants to win the arguement.

@Kutika your description of where you live sounded very familiar, new estate with own school etc but we are West Midlands. Our school also only lets year 5 leave from the start of Easter term, very quiet estate, no through traffic at all and also pretty rural.

They can refer to social services and police.

Schools have a power to discipline that comes from legislation and statutory guidance.

They do not have a power to overrule parenting decisions. They have a duty to report to social care if they think those parenting decisions put the child at risk of harm. They could intervene in a case of immediate risk of harm, but a 9 year old walking home doesn’t meet the harm threshold.

Last post… I promise. 😂😂

I have an EQUAL understanding.

A school cannot detain a child WITHOUT contacting the authorities.

You can detain for safeguarding concerns but MUST follow proper procedure IMMEDIATELY.

The school are not following correct procedure - they are applying rules they don't have the authority to apply.

I've been doing this for a very long time. I have detained children at the end of the end over safeguarding concerns. I have followed correct procedure when I've done so.

There will be children in year 6 that are not capable of walking home alone on the last day of term 6.

Using your argument, we should we not let any year 6 child walk home alone either.

The school are being ridiculous as are some of the posters on here. Children aged 9 or 10 are perfectly capable of walking home short distances and most schools allow it or they did years ago when mine were at school. Parents should be the ones to decide and if the school strongly disagrees (e.g. because a child is very immature or has special needs they need to discuss that with the parent or social services).

You just have to pay for after school club or get a childminder like everyone else.

The policy at my dc school is that children are allowed home alone in yr6 - distance doesn't come into it.

Same here. When I know I haven't got my keys I ask him to leave the front door open for me.

IMO this should be a parental decision, not a school policy. Get your DD to walk to school in the morning and continue to fight. Maybe you already did that but I missed that post.

There's posters on here telling people who do the job they don't know what they're talking about - even when they've linked the relevant material 🤦🏼‍♀️

We truly live in a world where people mistake their opinion for fact 👀😂

If your husband finishes at a similar time can he not just go straight to get her? Surely it would be 5-10minutes after school finish time?

"A school cannot detain a child WITHOUT contacting the authorities.

You can detain for safeguarding concerns but MUST follow proper procedure IMMEDIATELY"

So each and every time a parent is delayed or unable to collect their child on time they must contact the authorities immediately....

Every time a kid is in detention the authorities must be contacted immediately.....

Doesn't seem quite right......

A question for @itsgettingweird and @Takoneko , is the only acceptable policy for this that a school can implement, is that children can walk home after school, without exception, as long as parents have given written consent? Any school that has a policy that specifies a school year, or an age, is acting illegally, and should be legally challenged on it because they are overstepping parental responsibility?

The fact that someone's decided to have that policy doesn't make it acceptable. Outside of school hours, parents are responsible for their child's safety and make the decisions. if the school wants to cover their backs, they can ask for a letter from the parents giving permission for the child to walk home.