Breaking up for the holidays

[Crocsforlife]

Just wondering with fines and stuff what happens at end of term. We finish up today for Easter, eldest is going in for reg then going with her pals for a McDonald's breakfast. Youngest isn't even bothering.

This is normal at summer and Christmas also very rarely go in last few days. Schools are a ghost town with very few pupils in and I think the teachers like the down time.
Both in high school. In Scotland so don't get fined for time off. Do the kids elsewhere do this, is it just a west of Scotland thing?

Thank god English schools aren't run this way. Anyone could get into Scottish schools. Dosent bare thinking about to be honest. They really haven't moved on since the 80s.

The gates might be open, but the building is secure. Your comments are tactless and insensitive, given that Dunblane led to increased security in all Scottish schools.

I think it's horrendous that pupils can just walk out of school and OP is boasting about it. Registering then disappearing. What if a fire breaks our. People will be looking for those children risking themselves when they aren't even there . OP needs to have a word with herself. Mentioning Dunblane isn't insensitive, it makes much more sense to have more provisions in place. There's no point using an open gate policy if kids can just leave the school at any time,it only takes one child to leave the door open to put the whole school at risk.if the gates are locked they carnt get in at all. As a parent I've always needed to probe my identity before I enter the school gate, they use cameras and buzzed in locked gate. I much prefer that to an open gate.

The locks on our school gates are to keep people out, not in. And the risk of a child wandering out alone (primary).
But even in the 90s, when gates were just a think kept open until end of school time, we didn't just wander into registration, High 5 the teacher and then declare we're off to breakfast, bye!!

I don't really understand why you're OK op with your kids just skiving school whenever you want. So you just not be bothered to go into work a few days before your annual leave or Christmas close down?

Even at college everyone gets buzzed in. The pupils have lanyards they hold to a plate and it buzzed them in. As a parent I gave to ring the buzzer and identify myself. You carnt just have strangers walking in willy nilly, it's not safe

My kids would not have wanted to do this. They finished school with their friends at lunchtime and then left to celebrate the end of term.

We finish up today for Easter, eldest is going in for reg then going with her pals for a McDonald's breakfast. Youngest isn't even bothering.

This is so strange.

So kid gets kidnapped / run over / runs away and school have absolutely no knowledge they're missing until they don't get home and yu thimk this is a great thing?

Well I’m West Coast Scotland and it’s definitely not done here!

The fact the OP isn't bothered about just not sending her youngest child into school says it all really....

Wtf? Why would kids just miss a day because it’s the last day? That makes no sense.

Or miss most of the day.

One day has got to be the last and here the kids go to school as usual.

This doesn't happen! Stop catastrophising. It's school as normal. Registration is taken in every class. The office contact parents by phone (usually an automated response) if children are missing from any class. If the Op chooses to allow her children to leave, she'll be in the minority. All doors are automatically locked to stop anybody entering. The only way they can leave is via the main entrance which is manned by office staff. Some may leave at lunchtime, but if they don't return, their parents are informed

Jeez didn't realize this would get everyone's knickers in a twist. I just wanted to see what the cultural differences were.
My kids have fantastic attendance, eldest expected to get straight as in national 5s. Youngest excelling in sports so I have no worries that they miss last day of term when they do no work anyway.

Cultural differences?!?! You're in Scotland FFS 😂

And also don't believe for a second they have "fantastic attendance" if you're youngest thinks it's fine just to not bother going into school because it's the last day and you allow / encourage it.

I've never heard of anyone doing this, and pick up/drop off seem as busy as any other day. A few family might book holidays and go a day or two before term ends while the flights are cheaper, but definitely not just bunking off to macdonalds (at least no more the teenagers might bunk off any day).

There's does to be quite a lot of movie watching, extra outside play and fun crafts in the last few days, so still downtime in a different form.

Believe don't believe don't care.

Maybe my town is an anomaly but all high schools are the same.

I've noticed so much differences between education in Scotland v England. Fines, getting suspended for wrong hairdo, uniform etc. All things that I've never heard happen here or would be accepted.

Ok so what's your question then? Because you've posted in AIBU...?

I've had 3 children go through high school in England. Never been suspended, never got fined. If you stick to the rules these don't happen. Scottish schools do have rules, if they don't you won't be prepared for the workplace. Are you saying you don't accept the rules in Scotland?

So basically your condoning them bunking off school.

I work in reception and other than an Easter bonnet parade and some Easter linked continuous provision we still carried on with phonics and maths as normal. DS is year 11 and it was business and normal until the end.

I have never known anywhere have all of this nothingness at the end of term so many believe happens. There may be a film linked to that terms learning but that’s about it.

Absolutely not a thing where I am. Very much frowned upon to go on holiday a day or two before the end of term and likely to incur a fine.

i once requested authorised absence to go to Harry Potter world on the last day of term. It was refused. We went anyway and it was full of school groups 😂. When I told ds3’s teacher that we’d been anyway she said “oh good, I’m so glad!”

I didn’t bother asking when we went to the natural history museum, we just went!

It's pretty normal here (also West of Scotland) for secondary kids not to go in for the last day at Christmas and the start of the summer holidays but less so at Easter. In fact we are normally advised by the school that if your child doesn't arrive on the last day you will get a text but they don't expect you to call and explain where they are. To be honest they are doing very little of any academic significance on these days anyway (at Christmas and in June). However both DD1 and DD 2 have gone in today and will be there until the end of the day.

None have gates and many don’t have fences where I am

My DS is in S1, and if off school today. Yesterday there was no meaningful teaching across the day, he can watch videos at home equally well as he can at school for the half day they want him in.

His school building is secure, but the school gates are open - no lack of security at all.

There’s a huge cultural divide
on this sort of things between Scotland and England and these sorts threads always result in lashings of hysteria.

Taught for 28 years in England. Never experienced this!