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Original poster

Daughter alone after school

17 replies

Christmassy24 · 08/10/2026 07:23

My Dd is in Y5 and usually walks home after school. Last week I booked her into afterschool club for yesterday as a one off as I wasn’t going to be home. I let her know but she forgot and walked home anyway and ended up being alone in the garden for over an hour before my husband got back.
Obviously she is fine but she was cold and a bit worried waiting. Having thought about it afterwards would you expect the school to make sure those booked into afterschool club make it there?!

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RandomMess · 08/10/2026 07:27

Yes the after school should have been contacting her parents!

heytothepartypeople · 08/10/2026 07:27

Ooopsy. She was fine and survived

in this day and age yes I’d expect the teachers to ensure those in after school clubs made it and whoever doesn’t their custodian is called to check

in my day and age things were very different

Voltorb · 08/10/2026 07:27

She's in year 5 and usually walks home alone so no I wouldn't anticipate after school club checking why she wasn't in. It's completely normal for plans to change and be ammended.

If she was capable of walking home and was fine for the hour albeit a bit bored and cold I'd start looking into making sure she has her own house key.

DelilahSong · 08/10/2026 07:28

Yes! This is a huge fail. And why didn’t after school club let you know she hadnt arrived? I’d be asking for a meeting with both.

Meadowfinch · 08/10/2026 07:29

Yes. When ds was at primary school, those going to ASC were accompanied across the road into the village hall. Headcount done. If one was missing, they were tracked down immediately.

nighttimemusings · 08/10/2026 07:32

I had this several times last year - dc could walk home every day except Tuesday - happened despite me raising it, in the end we gave him a key and strict instructions

BelleEpoque27 · 08/10/2026 07:34

Yes, absolutely after-school club should have checked! Ours frequently emails us to berate parents for not letting them know kids are off sick or have decided to do a different club, because they have to spend time and lose a staff member to finding out where they are.

Hairyfairy01 · 08/10/2026 07:35

I guess it’s not great but I think I would be providing a key / key safe at this point and be getting her use to being home alone for a short time after school.

TheGriffle · 08/10/2026 07:35

Happened with my dd as well, she was supposed to be in choir, managed to forget she was going, walked out of school, down the street and sat on a bench waiting for us for 15 mins before going back to school and being ushered to choir. We weren’t told. She’s year 5 and normally walks out by herself. Why they didn’t call us when she didn’t go to choir I don’t know. Anything could have happened to her while she waiting, plus she thought we’d forgotten her or something had happened to us.

arethereanyleftatall · 08/10/2026 07:36

I’m not sure what the schools policy would be here. Because if they know you are happy for her to walk home alone, I would think they would think that you are happy for her to be home alone (as the less risky of the two). I think don’t worry, but get her a key for your house.

agri · 08/10/2026 07:36

They definitely should have checked, or at least called you when they realised she hadn’t turned up. It’s a bit worrying that they clearly didn’t even notice.

ToKittyornottoKitty · 08/10/2026 07:44

They should have checked, if they’re on the after school list they shouldn’t let them out alone. But my daughter is also in y5 and I’d also expect her to no what to do if she came home and nobody was there like that, she should have gone back to school and alerted them if she thought you were going to be home but nobody showed, what if there had been an accident and nobody was coming home? So I’d talk that over with her and make sure she knows what to do next time

Original poster
Christmassy24 · 08/10/2026 07:48

My husband was running slightly late to collect DS who was at an afterschool sports thing so he called and asked if he could join DD in afterschool club, which is when they told him she wasn’t there! That’s when we found out she hadn’t gone.

OP posts:
Owenspannas · 08/10/2026 07:49

As a parent, I will let the teacher know in the morning if I’ve booked after school club as a one off.

After school club should have raised the absence too.

AmnesiacDream · 08/10/2026 08:04

Since you've given permission for her to leave school premises on her own, I think it's a bit different than if she didn't have that permission, but yes, I would have expected them to realise an expected pupil hadn't turned up and follow up.

Did she remember once she got home that you weren't going to be there and she was supposed to be in after school club? Did it occur to her to go back there? While I agree the school should be more on the ball, I think this is also an opportunity to help DD develop some skills in negotiating the world.

Offherrockingchair · 08/10/2026 08:07

If a child is ‘lost’ between the school and afterschool club, this is an Ofsted notifiable incident. Or at least it was at our school! Staff can’t just assume that arrangements won’t change. In this case, no harm was done. But it’s still reportable.

arethereanyleftatall · 08/10/2026 09:00

School always call - right up to sixth form - but

extra curricular never call regardless of whether you e booked/paid - right down to babies

so I guess it depends on whether after school club counts as school or extra

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