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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to expect DS to not be brought home early on bus and left on own?

132 replies

wangle99 · 02/02/2009 19:49

DS is 5. He attends local primary school which has a bus service due to location of where we live. DS goes on bus and comes home on bus.

Today because of weather the bus turns up early, leaves DS at end of our lane (by busy main road) on his own.

Luckily my PIL were home (they meet DS every day at 3.35pm) and DS walked straight to their house (we live next door to them).

The school phoned me at 3.30pm (I was picking DD up at school 30 mins away) and said 'just checking DS got home safe' I nearly crapped myself at that point. Luckily he did.

AIBU?

OP posts:

Lemontart · 02/02/2009 19:51

WOW - that is truly awful. Why on earth did they not ring round or consider what could happen?
I would be asking them to review their early closure policy ASAP. They have a duty of care and messed up.

Kimi · 02/02/2009 19:51

do the school not think it would have been better to call the parents BEFORE they sent the children home early..... this is appalling

wilkos · 02/02/2009 19:52

jeez that is awful. yanbu in the slightest.

thank god your pil live nearby. did the school not text you or anything?

if not then go kick their arse

Original poster

wangle99 · 02/02/2009 19:52

Thank you, I thought I was over reacting. I don't think the school actually closed early I think the bus turned up early. There is only about 10 children who go on the bus so not a HUGE amount of people to phone.

OP posts:

MadamDeathstare · 02/02/2009 19:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

quint · 02/02/2009 19:54

I would raise merry hell - who the hell thought it would be a god idea to drop off a 5 year old by themselves.

There would be some very angry phone calls tomorrow if I were you

KristinaM · 02/02/2009 19:54

our school closed early toady and they phoned 200 parents. befroe they let the kids out the school they checked who you were IYSWIM, as lots of people were collecting kids for other parents

Tamarto · 02/02/2009 19:54

How early was the bus?

Original poster

wangle99 · 02/02/2009 19:54

The school did not text (they don't do that), they did not phone my home phone (my phone logs numbers and def no message) and nothing on my mobile and I know my route that I wouldn't have lost service.

The most I think about it the more I'm so grateful DS walked straight home, he is a typical 5 year old up for adventure he could have gone anywhere.

OP posts:

Original poster

wangle99 · 02/02/2009 19:55

Bus dropped DS off 35 mins early so guessing at school 35 mins early.

OP posts:

MadamDeathstare · 02/02/2009 19:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DaisyMooSteiner · 02/02/2009 19:56

That is very, very bad. We have a school bus here too and the supervisor is not allowed to leave a child without them having someone to look after them. You should complain, A LOT, and find out who was responsible for that decision. I cannot get over that actually, it is so so awful.

2pt4kids · 02/02/2009 19:56

How early was the bus?

harpsichordcarrier · 02/02/2009 19:57

call the ht in the morning.
be very very angry.
i would be

Tamarto · 02/02/2009 19:57

35 minute early?!?!?!?!?!? OMG YANBU

KristinaM · 02/02/2009 20:02

our school closed early toady and they phoned 200 parents. befroe they let the kids out the school they checked who you were IYSWIM, as lots of people were collecting kids for other parents

MargeSimpsonMyAlterEgo · 02/02/2009 20:08

Wangle you poor thing. This is an absolute bugbear of mine - and I'm generally referring to my DSs' Secondary School. I just can't believe the school thought this was acceptable. If I were you I would phone the local paper.

andyrobo237 · 02/02/2009 20:09

That is appalling - definately phone tomorrow and complain, and follow it up with a letter to the governors and even copy it to the local education authority / your local councillor.

It is very irresponsible to send children aged 5 home not knowing whether anyone would be there to meet them off the bus. I guess there is a mix of ages using the bus, but even so, I would consider any primary school age child too young to be wandering around alone in the snow.

Update us on what you do tomorrow - it would be interesting to see what they say!

DaisyMooSteiner · 02/02/2009 20:24

Ask to see their risk assessment - that will put the frighteners on them!

loobeylou · 02/02/2009 20:32

absolutely unacceptable and to make sure they pull their socks up and it never happens again, you must create a stink.

Pawslikepaddington · 02/02/2009 20:36

That is really bad-my dd would not have had the sense to walk home-she would have stood on the corner waiting for me. That is REALLY bad-it's a good job he is a sensible little chap!

DunderMifflin · 02/02/2009 20:41

What a scary situation to find yourself in - I can't believe that the school were so lax!

Well done to your son for going straight home, especially with the exciting snow to distract him.

If you aren't going to do this already, when you phone the school I would also point out how dangerous the roads are in this weather and so to leave a 5yr on their own by a busy main road is every motorists worst nightmare!

I agree with DaisyMS - definitely mention risk assessments and write to governors, etc

loobeylou · 02/02/2009 20:48

Did your PIL not ring you to say he had turned up early ? What did you say to the school on the phone if you did not know he HAD gone home early and was OK, safely at PIL's house?

Sorry but i really am finding it hard to beleive that ANY school can be so negligent -I would LOVE to hear their excuses!!!

Schools are all requireed to have a severe weather policy, and in the cases of schools that rely on buses this includes details of the procedure when buses are called/turn up early - ours has a telephone tree, whereby school phone a set of parents who have each agreed to pass on a message to another set of parents, to save school time. Could it be someone else let the system down? in which case they need to know this person is unreliable. Seems unlkiely as it was so few on the bus anyway.

Leo9 · 02/02/2009 20:48

I agree with daisy - ask to see their risk assessment.

i'm so, so sorry for you and your poor ds - sounds like you were more frightened than him which is good but I so sympathise and can imagine that awful terror you must have felt on getting that phone call.

they obviously knew they were sending kids out without arrangements otherwise they wouldn't have bothered to phone; if they had left him in the care of you or PIL, they would have KNOWN he was safe......

I would personally make a complaint to the Head, copy to chair of governors and I would phone the local council Health and Safety Dept to make them aware that one of their schools is clearly falling down on risk assessment and acting safely.

TBH I would copy it to OFSTED as well.

It's just such a fundamental thing they've done wrong here.

BoffinMum · 02/02/2009 20:48

This is unspeakably bad practice. I would see the HT tomorrow and also report it to the Local Authority (who presumably run the bus service). It is incredibly dangerous to dump a five year old at the end of a busy road, alone and unexpected, and in the snow to boot. Traffic kills many more children annually than any amount of stranger danger.

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