School

[Mumto51984]

My 14 yr old daughter really struggles at school, she had a gobal learning disability and this affects her moods and her emotions as well as her school work, it also affects her socially as she struggles to maintain friendships after a period of time.i really struggle to get her to attend school on a regular basis and She also has a tendency when things get to much she will just walk out of school ( if this happens she always calls me to let me know) we have regular meetings with the school.
since she was in S2 she had expressed that she wanted to change schools to our local catchment area school, I have managed to take her out of it for the best part of a year explaining the grass isn’t greener on the other side and she will still have the same struggles just in a different location.
the school has been really good with her and have tried putting strategies into place and supporting her but now she’s in S3 she’s determined she wants to move. In one last attempt the school changed her to a relaxed time table and also in school college a few times a week to see if it settles her. She also attends a centre one day a week as well.
This is were am not sure if AIBU
yesterday I receive a call from her teacher, it was centre day and the kids get taxis from school to the centre, the teacher said that my daughter and her friend didn’t wait on the teacher to tell them they could board the taxi and just got in and the taxi left with them. (No teacher goes with the children)
now I complete my agree my daughter should have waited and I spoke to her about this and reiterated what the teacher had told me that it was a safeguarding issue.
but my point was why did the taxi leave with them if there was no teacher present 🙈 I was told by the school that as the kids are S3 they are trusted to go in the taxis by themselves 🤷‍♀️ i was asked to pick my daughter up today and she hasn’t to go back to school untill I have had a meeting with the head of year 😡 so she’s initially been suspended 😡 so AIBU to be angry at the fact the taxi left with them and the school have no issue with the taxi leaving and the fact that I struggle to get her to school as it is and they have suspended her 🙈

This very much sounds like a school procedures / taxi driver protocol issue, not a child issue.

Unless the chikdren have had specific instructions that they have to wait for a teacher and they actively went against that instruction.

It sounds like the issue was that she left the premises without following the correct procedures then? That is a safeguarding risk if the school don’t know who is on site.

DS school has many children collected in taxis and they are always watched by staff until they are safely in the taxi having signed out of school first. If she knew that she was supposed to wait then yes she was in the wrong (although suspension seems harsh it does also depend on history I guess!)

so the kids are supposed to wait until a teacher is present and I have told my daughter that her leaving before the teacher getting there is completely unacceptable and she will apologise for not following the rules. But I think that there should be a rule in place also that no taxi leaves the school with kids inside unless a teacher is present when they are getting in the taxis. And I definitely think suspension was harsh considering the school know the struggles I have to get my daughter to attend and now she’s off again for 2/3 days 🙈

A rule like that for taxi drivers is quite hard to implement because it’s often not the same driver. They will just pick up and go.

just accept she was in the wrong on this case!

Yeah I do completely agree that my daughter was in the wrong, but the fact is the school said her leaving was a safe guarding issue which I agree with but surely kids getting into a taxi and it leaving without an adult being present is a safe guarding issue as well

So are both children suspended? Were they clearly told to wait for the teacher and didn't? You're welcome to question the protocol at the meeting, but be prepared for the fact that it might be robust and your daughter and her friend chose to override it.

Why is it a safeguarding issue?

Sorry not sure if you mean the taxi leaving or my daughter leaving the school but My daughter didn’t wait for the teacher to meet them at the school office, her and her friend just went straight to the taxi so the school have suspended her stating it’s a safe guarding issue because she left the school without telling anyone

Who pays for all these taxis?

Sorry, my screen and keyboard froze!

The teachers want to safeguard the children by being present when they're leaving.

They've instructed the kids to wait so they can be present when they're leaving.

But if the kids are going to be disobedient I don't think that has anything to do with the taxi drivers, who just want to get on and do their next job.

It's not really practical to involve them I'm afraid.

I completely understand that my daughter did wrong but i genuinely believe that the school should be making sure that the taxis aren’t allowed to leave with children unless an adult is present, I am not involving them personally as I know that they are only doing their job and what they have been told to do, it’s the school I will be speaking to about it.

This is a 3-way failure, so the suspension is unreasonable IMO.

The school should supervise, the taxi should wait for teacher authorisation and the pupils should also wait for the teacher.

I would ask for a policy review and appeal the suspension.

Yeah both children are suspended, they would usually wait for the teacher, my daughter said that the teacher was taking ages as she was dealing with something else but I told my daughter that is not an excuse to just leave, she should have waited.

I am going to speak to the head of year hopefully tomorrow and I will be mentioning the fact that the taxi drivers should be told not to leave without a teacher being present so will see what happens after this

The school has a budget to pay for the taxis as its class outings