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!