My 5yo was left alone outside the school

[EezyOozy]

Hi,

I’m going for a meeting with the headteacher of my daughters school later on today and wanted to be prepared. I have already written complaint via email which has triggered this meeting.

Last Friday. We had quite severe snow and ice and I couldn’t get my car out of my property for a few minutes… Long story short I was a few minutes late for pick up. I am never normally late, I don’t think I have ever been late before … need to make that very clear! This was a one off due to extreme weather.

When I arrived at the school, my five-year-old was standing outside on the pavement by herself, crying. There were other people around, but nobody that really knows my daughter, and certainly nobody had noticed her standing there, everybody was just leaving.

There is a different teacher on a Friday to who is there from the rest of the week.

It appears this teacher had led the children down the steps and out of the school, not bothered to check who had an adult there to collect them, and who didn’t.

She then went back up the steps, through the gate, through another gate, back into the playground towards the classroom (round the corner, and behind a wall), which is where I eventually found her standing chatting.

she hadn’t gone completely back into the classroom, but she may as well have done.

She was completely out of my daughters sight and through a gate that cannot be opened by a child from the other side. And was also behind a wall/around the corner.

nothing that bad happened, apart from my daughter, being quite shaken and upset… but it could have done. I did try and phone the office when I realised I was going to be slightly late, but nobody answered. What if I had been 20 minutes late, or had an accident and not turned up at all… these things happen. Not to mention the extreme weather and ice… What if my daughter had tried to walk home by herself or wondered off somewhere else.

My main issues are that the teacher did not check whether or not a parent or guardian was there to collect each child. And simply left her on the pavement outside of the school! The second issue is that she then removed herself … completely out of sight and earshot , and had no idea that my daughter was standing there… Surely they should wait close by?

I’m wondering what to say to the head and how seriously this should be taken.

Do I have a right to ask for the schools, written policies about pick up procedure / what should happen if a child is not collected on time?

I’m worried I’m going to be palmed off , but I simply don’t trust this teacher at all anymore! When I confronted the teacher she just said “oh sorry… I didn’t realise!”

yes of course you didn’t realise… You didn’t do any checks or bother supervise the children properly, so how could you possibly have realised!

i'm a teacher and I would never do this! This is just awful on every level!!

@helpfulperson my daughter, said that she tried to find the teacher to let her know that I wasn’t there, but she couldn’t find her ( or any other teachers). I don’t think the emphasis here should be on anything that my daughter did or didn’t do. That only serves to detract from the massive failings of the teacher.

Your DD couldn't have found the teacher no matter what, because as you said, the teacher had gone through a gate which your child could not open. It's definitely not about what your child should or shouldn't have done.

Oh your poor DD, that’s really not acceptable.
What do you want the outcome of this to be?

@maddiemookins16mum I just don’t know in exact/practical terms. I know that would like to know that it will never happen again. I would like to know that the teacher will be held accountable for her actions and be made to take this very seriously. I would like to know that the school are taking seriously this lapse in safeguarding… whatever that means. Additional training? Changing their procedures?

I'd be annoyed, and upset for my child but I'd also be understanding that people make mistakes sometimes.

It sounds like you are usually pretty reliable at pickup and she might have been on auto pilot assuming you were there as normal. If its all been a bit chaotic because of the weather that could be a factor, and perhaps someone else may have needed to talk to her in private at pick up etc and it took longer than expected. It could just be an unfortunate set of circumstances rather than deliberate negligence.

The teacher is probably horrified it happened. If it's been a one off and they are sorry then I personally would accept an apology and be done with it

You can put all the policies and procedures in place but it doesn't help if a series of unfortunate/ unpredictable events occur at the same time.

to the poster above, who I can’t seem to reply to directly – this is quite a new teacher, she doesn’t know the parents particularly well. She doesn’t know that I am usually reliable at pick up. She has only been there for one day a week for a few weeks. In my mind she should be extra vigilant checking each child is collected and by someone they know/trust. And besides… Surely they need to be waiting with the children until they know they have been collected?! I don’t think there’s any excuse for not doing that

imagine if something had happened to my daughter… I wouldn’t be saying to myself “oh well, people makes mistakes sometimes“. If you can’t efficiently and consistently safeguard children, then you should not be a teacher!

She also wasn’t “horrified”, but alarmingly breezy and “oh sorry I didn’t realise” when I confronted her with my crying 5yo.

People do make mistakes, yes. But teachers can't be allowed to make 'leave a 5 year old alone on the street' kind of mistakes.

Massive safeguarding issue. I don't know if you have Ofsted in Scotland but in England a school can instantly fail an Ofsted inspection if their safeguarding isn't up to scratch.

I am a teacher. This is absolutely unacceptable. You have every right to ask for policies in place for school pick up. Escalate further if required, Chair of governors / LA. Whilst I’m a teacher in England I am sure we have fairly aligned policies for this type of thing.

As above, this mistake could have ended in tragedy. Plus, the teacher didn't exactly sound horrified.

That’s a serious breach of their safeguarding obligation and a clear case of negligence. An age five child could easily have wandered into the road and been hit by a car. I am livid on your behalf!

The headteacher will fob you off and do nothing.

As well as meeting the head, report it formally to Ofsted and tell the head that you have done so. Only then will the head take you seriously.

What usually happens at pick up if you're not late?

in my kids school even the P3s are kept by the teacher and released when they tell the teacher they can see their grownup. Not sure when this stops but expect it won’t be as strict next year but that the teachers will still be around for a child to alert them if their parent isn’t there.
upper primary can walk themselves.

Yep people make mistakes… but where do you draw the line between ‘it’s just a mistake and nothing serious happened so ‘oh well’’ and ‘yep a mistake but could have had huge consequences and should never ever happened again’. Or do you wait until something really bad happens (child abducted, has an accident etc….)

You can put all the policies and procedures in place but it doesn't help if a series of unfortunate/ unpredictable events occur at the same time.

As someone who has worked in quality fir years and years, this is a lot of rubbish. If your procedures don’t include those ‘unfortunate’ events then they are not worth the paper they are written on and need be reviewed and rewritten.
But more to the point, there was no ‘unfortunate event’ there.
Not checking if the parent is here isn’t an unfortunate event that couldn’t be predicted.
Going to wait behind a gate and where no one can see her, incl the children, is not an unpredictable event.
Thats having broken the most basic, bare bone, of a procedure to pick up children when they are 5yo.

Unacceptable. Our school will only allow children to leave the classroom if they can see the parent/guardian or someone who is on the collection list. Year 5&6 who have had a form signed can leave without an adult present but those that haven't have to hang around on the playground with the teacher, and are taken back inside if no one comes to collect.

Ex school governor here. This is a serious safeguarding failure .
As a parent I'd want to see the policy on this because it's important to know whether this is a fault in the policy or a failure to follow the policy on behalf of the teacher.
Nothing bad did happen but you're absolutely correct that anything could have happened.

There's also the issue of unmonitored phones when you tried to advise that you'd be late, although I may have missed whether or not you could have left a message.

The school need to ensure their policy is watertight, and that all staff have had safeguarding training. A starting point here would be reviewing both with immediate effect.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that it was about what your daughter should or shouldn't have done. Obviously this shouldn't have happened but things that shouldn't do happen and the outcome can be affected by how we react.

That's awful. Have you tried gently asking your daughter what happened? Because at that age the teacher should always check that they're going away with 'their grownup' or a friends parent that has been authorised by the school.

Yes I have @ScabbyHorse . She gets a bit upset if I ask too much, but basically what she has said is that she was taken down the steps and the teacher said goodbye and wasn’t there anymore. She said she tried to tell the teacher that I wasn’t there, but she couldn’t find her. That’s about as much as I can get.

is the pavement the usual collection point because that sounds like an accident waiting to happen anyway.
When I working in Reception, the children waited behind a small gated outside play area and the parents came in to the playground. Children were handed over one by one to parents.

That must've been scary for her. Sorry to hear that. Yes find the safeguarding policy or the policy about end of day procedure. I hope they don't fob you off in the meeting.

@FeltCarrot the playground is supposed to be the collection point

(Inside the gates)

I normally go up a set of steps, through one gate, across a bit of playground, through another gate, and wait inside the playground for my daughter to be brought out.

She didn’t realise?!?

would she had said that if someone had abducted your FIVE year old child?
it is a monumental safeguarding failure: either in terms of school policy or the actions of the teacher.