Given detention for lateness on tube strike day

[Longingdreamer]

My child was given a detention today, despite there being a tube strike in London, which has caused travel chaos. They early but were apparently still late: roads are almost at a standstill it seems.

They get very upset by detentions, due to underlying neuro diversity.

Aibu to think that the school shouldn't give these on a strike day for minor lateness?

They usually give them, even if a child is only 1 minute late, but it seems wicked when it is out of their control.

I hate to break it to you, but we often do indeed roll in late if there has been travel disruption…

Even if my child didn't have special needs I would not support the school with detentions when there's a strike going on. Not sure what they would do. The thread about disruption in schools made it clear that they can't exclude. So what are they going to do?

If my child did something wrong, they deal with the consequences.

But if a group of rail workers go on strike for an entire week, the school has to be realistic.

Have schools actually thought that it is some of these ridiculous rules which mean that parents and children don't respect them? My headteacher had us exactly where she wanted us - and without ludicrous rules (other than length of school skirts which was an unnecessary obsession of hers).

I had but I didn't realise until Monday morning that they really meant it and all the exits to the Tube at Waterloo were gated off. I can walk to my office from there but I was really surprised, I'd assumed some trains would be running.

Yes, previous strikes often had limited service. This one was a complete shutdown, leaving a complete shit show on the roads. It also happened to coincide with multiple major road closures.

I just did a journey in London which would take 40 minutes on a normal day. Today it took nearly 3 hours.

Yes, previous strikes often had limited service. This one was a complete shutdown, leaving a complete shit show on the roads. It also happened to coincide with multiple major road closures.

I just did a journey in London which would take 40 minutes on a normal day. Today it took nearly 3 hours.

Had you given her a very clear plan re how to get to school? And a back up route / mode of transport?

given she’s only 12, ND, poor knee and prone to anxiety…. I’d have accompanied her during this week of strikes

What route was this? 3 hours instead of 40 mins… as an long term Londoner, I’m pretty sure I could have got you there in under 1.5 hours!

Again someone apparently not understanding the consequences of a tube strike in London.

Clear plan would have been the only (in this case) alternative mode of transport. The bus. How do you plan around not being let on the bus? In this particular case there was no other route or mode of transport, given that she can't walk it. Cycling not safe at that age, car not an option in gridlock - either your own or a taxi/Uber. You plan for the bus in the absence of other options but what do you do when the bus then doesn't stop or let you on? Or you don't know how long you might have to wait until one comes along and does? That could be ten minutes, it could be three hours. In this situation all bets are off. How do the OP and her daughter plan around that?

You have bugger all idea that there would have been one plan.

The thing with London is…. Walk 5 minutes to a different route and you’ll get to your destination in half the time. Same with tube stations (when there running), something choosing a different station to the closest, means you save loads

One could cycle with their kids

Have you ever cycled in central London on a strike day?

The OP said she had primary age children too that I assume she would be getting them to their school.
Also then she would be late for work....which apparently is the ultimate no no going by this thread 🙄

Obviously OP should have given her a piggy back, left her at the school gates at 4am in time to get the younger children to their school, before using the phone lines as a tight rope to cartwheel to work.

It's what any reasonable parent would do...

Alternatively the school could consider whether a punishment was reasonable and proportionate, given the circumstances.

I thought there were special child welfare rules for tube strikes which made it ok to dump your small children on the pavement in the rain outside school at 6am with instructions to wait until the school gates open? While you start trudging the ten miles into the office? After all, mustn't let the side down.

Though it turns out from some of the posts on this thread that if you're a surgeon, you don't even need to pick your kids up from school if getting into work might be a hassle the next day. Just book a comfy hotel and tell the school to keep them overnight 😂.

Yes, we also have various road closures for road works, adding to the pressure. One desperate person at a bus stop yesterday afternoon told me that there was a tree down on an Overground track... no chance of any trains moving in his direction until 6pm at the earliest.

Some people do this. It makes me wince every time I see one of those flimsy little trailers that people transport their kids in cut in front of a double-decker bus.

This is bollocks, businesses in London are aware and lenient with staff being unavoidably late on strike days.

A manager who docked your pay (equivalent to detention I suppose) for being late on a strike day would be rightly hated and I for one would be looking for a new job in those circumstances.

Children don't have that luxury and schools should stop making children's mandatory time at school miserably with this sort of pettiness.

Even if this is the school ethos they don’t get ti ignore the Disability Discrimination Act. This is not on you this is on the school have a legal obligation to make reasonable accommodations to ensure equitable access.

Don’t be silly… that’s what portals are for! 😂😂

There's a lot of tiktok skits about Londoners getting to work during the strike.
My favourite was the guy who whistled for an eagle to fly him to work.
I mean everyone has an eagle on standby don't they 🤔

Not to mention Owl Post to.let the school know your child has left early...

So you know the OP's address and exactly which transport options are open to her? Either way, it makes no difference here - there may have been ten different bus routes available and still no guarantees that a bus would stop within a reasonable time frame at any of them on a tube strike day!

Or are you thinking of some hitherto unknown to me form of transport?

Tube, nope. On strike.
Bus. Not straightforward as confirmed by many other posters.
Cycle. Unsafe.
On foot. Not an option physically in this case.
Car/taxi/Uber. Impossible due to gridlock.

Does London have some thriving air taxi system I'm unaware of? Should OP have hoiked her daughter up on her broomstick with her? What other modes of transport would have been open to them? Come on...

I wouldn't let my 11 year old cycle around London at any time, let alone when the roads are extra chaotic.

Bizarre