4yr old went into class then left again - help

[TTT824]

My 4 yr old reception child went into school, dropped off book bag then left again - when I asked she couldn’t say why she left - but she’s 4 years old!!!
The chair of governors made it sound like the child was the issue (even the teacher said she is a “switched on child she didn’t think she needed to worry about”) and the head didn’t want to implement anything as it’s the first time it has happened.
So basically they have said it hasn’t happened before so its not an issue.
I don’t know what to do now as the teachers don’t watch the door at drop off times and are not aware of children entering (or leaving).
Luckily she was found by “a kind grandma” in the playground who brought her back, but all the gates were open as it was drop off time and she could have easily got out or the grandma could have been someone who is not kind.
The teachers are actively encouraged to work at their laptops checking emails etc in the morning rather than interacting with the kids, and the TA doesn’t start until class starts, so the head thinks it’s unrealistic to have someone on the door ensuring the children can’t leave.
I have since dropped her off and had to wait about 5 minutes for the teacher to notice me stood at the door - at which point she got up and began interacting with the children rather than looking at laptop.
What do I do as the situation hasn’t been taken seriously.

Your child walked out of school? I’d ask to have a meeting with safeguarding team.
It doesn’t start the day well to not interact with the pupils imho.
I’m the interim I would stay outside until the door was shut!

We got a new Head who changed it so that reception teachers stood outside the door welcoming children in. Previously with older dc the teacher had sat at the desk not looking up while the parents brought them in and helped them. It was much better with the new way.

Wow, that is not good at all. Definitely have an ASAP meeting with the safeguarding lead.
There was always a member of staff at the door at our kids school up until year 3.

That is horrendous op.

Our reception teacher welcomes them all in one by one and then shuts and locks the door behind them and then all the gates are locked.

I would be so upset if my DD left her class let alone the school and they need to do a major review of what went wrong.

At our school there is a teacher assigned to wait at the gates for 10 mins prior to school officially starting.

I would be furious

Not good.

Our DC school have a member of staff on each door. There is also a member of staff by the gate.

That is awful! I work in a year 2 classroom. The teacher always waits at the door welcoming the children in and I (LSA) help them with their morning routine. We also have numerous members of staff outside until the gates are locked. I would flag this as a serious safeguarding concern!

I’m shocked at this (and I’m a school governor so fully trained in safeguarding) - this shouldn’t be possible. A member of staff should be on the reception gate greeting the children and monitoring what’s happening there (and preventing any escapees!)

In my DC primary everyone enters through the main door & all pupils are greeted (by name) by the Headmistress which sets a happy, welcoming tone to the day & no pupils can escape. I’d be requesting a meeting with the safe guarding lead.

My DCs reception teacher or one of the TAs also welcomes children at the door.

They are failing in basic safeguarding. We have a member of staff on every entrance/exit in the morning. Firstly because it is good to welcome children and their families every morning - but most importantly for safeguarding.

I often roll my eyes reading school moans on here, but in this case you should not let this lie.

The chair of governors is the safeguarding lead.. he has supported the head teacher. Nothing to be implemented- this is why I don’t know where to go now. This was before Christmas and I’ve only got a response from it now, I was unable to speak with the chair only write to him, and the head teacher said it’s the first time ever so it’s not an issue. ☹️
The chair is a safeguarding member at a local college also

At our school all teachers from year R to year 6 stand outside and welcome the children. In all weather.

I would consider this a safeguarding issue and address it with the head. If no joy please write to the governors. Safeguarding is a statutory duty for schools and many schools get pulled up on it by Ofsted.

The chair of governors cannot be the safeguarding lead. He can hold responsibility for safeguarding on behalf of the governors but not be the DSL. The name of the DSL should be listed on the website as per DfE rules.

If you are getting no joy with the governors then you could try Ofsted, but I would probably formalise communication with the governors first, by putting it in writing.

I see you have written to the governors … ofsted it is! Good luck. And tbh it sounds like the school deserve to be reported.

So if someone pulled the fire alarm. The teacher would have no ideal if there should be 10 or 15 students at the fire assembly point.

As it stands you and all the other parents left your children into the care of the school. She walked into a classroom and then walked out again and the adult in the room missed her departure. The school had no record of her or any of the other children being there before she left the classroom.
If she had left the property how long would it have been before you were made aware that she was not there. What happens if she is marked out will the school contact you directly?
The teachers response was "oops I may have expected other children to do that but not yours", the head and BoM support this.
Being pedantic is going to be helpful and make them produce a risk management report from the incident.
Look for the written records created and the policy and proceedure on dealing with accepting children into their care.
Get it on record as to what the teacher was doing what the other staff were doing how the system failed to prevent the incident and going forward what needs to change.

Even teaching the children a simple rule of telling the teacher/ta that "i am going out" would be a simple change to make.

Is it an LA school or an academy?

Can you report your concern to local authorities or ofstead?

@Pinkflipflop85

They are failing in basic safeguarding. We have a member of staff on every entrance/exit in the morning. Firstly because it is good to welcome children and their families every morning - but most importantly for safeguarding.

I often roll my eyes reading school moans on here, but in this case you should not let this lie.

Exactly this.

It's very easy to put in place adults so that children can't just wander off. I suggest asking the school what they are putting in place so this can't happen again.

How did the school let you know this happened? Did they even tell you or was it another parent?

I would speak to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) at the local authority. We have staff on all our gates and we escort children in. This is a safeguarding issue and in Reception they need to be monitored. That’s aside from it being poor form that the teacher doesn’t greet the children.

My only question would be what time are you dropping her off compared to what time school actually starts. Because if you are (unwittingly) using the teacher as 5-10 mins childcare then she's NBU to not supervise. However I'd expect start times to be made clear and that parents must supervise until the official start time of school. School could solve this problem by locking the door until official start time.

So she made it to the playground?

Are there teachers on the gates? If not there should be.

I think there should be a teacher/TA on the reception door.

Your DC should also understand once she’s in her classroom she can’t walk out again

Report to Ofsted.

I’m shocked by this .
Are there any teachers or heads on here? As I thought the ‘safeguarding lead ‘ was the headteacher or a member of school staff not a governor.

Are you in the uk OP or Is this a private school? I only say that because they don’t seem to want to take you seriously and the set up and their response seems strange. But in my experience ( and only mine I realise others will differ) private schools have ‘less’ interest in this kind of stuff and want to keep things under the radar to protect the reputation of the school.

If it were me - after their lack of interest and acknowledgment they have any questions to answer I think I’d remove my child.

@TTT824

The chair of governors is the safeguarding lead.. he has supported the head teacher. Nothing to be implemented- this is why I don’t know where to go now. This was before Christmas and I’ve only got a response from it now, I was unable to speak with the chair only write to him, and the head teacher said it’s the first time ever so it’s not an issue. ☹️ The chair is a safeguarding member at a local college also

This isn’t right.

A teacher is the safeguarding lead. A governor will also be responsible for safeguarding