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!

Your poor little girl, she was have been so scared and confused. I hope she's OK.

There was an incident a week and a half ago in Dublin where a 5 year old girl and two other children were attacked by a crazed man with a knife while they were standing outside their school. The little girl is still fighting for her life in hospital and the other two children are OK. The children's carer (I think she ran an after-school club) fought off the man and was badly injured herself.

That's obviously an extreme example, but it happened less than 2 weeks ago and a lot of children would be dead if their carer hadn't been there with them.

Just echoing others OP that you escalate this as high as you can due to the massive safeguarding failiure and the teachers apparent blazé attitude

For what it's worth my DS goes to wrap around care, but one afternoon at the start of term I was able to collect at the end of school.

I collected DS at the classtoom door after introducing myself to the new teacher as DS' mum and DS confirming I am his mum, yet I still had 3 telephone calls from the school office and wrap around care in the 5 mins it took me to get from classroom to car park, checking that DS was with me and that they hadn't lost him!

I'm in Scotland. DD is 6 in P2. At her school they are not allowed out until the teacher can see who is picking them up and the child has confirmed who they are.

Op the parent council are just volunteers to do things like discos etc (I am on ours).

Our school is p1-p4 needs an adult. The way in which your parent council could help is my raising it at their monthly meeting (this should be minuted) and is a good way of having documentation outwith the school.

Sorry for your wee one. One of my DDs would have been utterly traumatised by something like this. The other would have probably walked home on her own even at 5.

Really push the school here. It's shocking she could have stepped onto the road or anything. It's not ok.

I would.

That's a near miss. I know you're not in England but if you were I would ask for it to be raised with the LADO- ask if there is the equivalent. I am SLT and usually in these situations on Mumsnet I am on the teacher's side, not in this case. This is a serious case of misconduct and could have resulted in the death of a child. Hope you're ok x

Report, report and report. To the parent council, OFSTED, the local press anonymously if necessary.
This is terrible and so much could have gone wrong. My similar aged DS wouldn’t have stood there waiting. He has additional needs and I know he would have run off anywhere alone.
Thank goodness you have a very sensible child who waited.
This can’t happen again - too much can go wrong especially at age 5.
The school DS goes to line all the children up on the yard outside the relevant classroom. The teacher identifies the child’s’ parent or guardian individually. If they don’t recognise the person picking up a child the adult must give a password. The teacher has the password list to hand.
It doesn’t matter that it’s a different teacher on one day. They still have the same duty of care.

OP I hope you aren’t fobbed off - outrageous behaviour by the member of teaching staff and I would expect them to have a serious disciplinary at the least.

its probably too late, but remember be calm and perhaps a little cold (I know your emotional but channel your rage not tears it is more effective at not distracting from the point).

so - this has happened and you need to find out what policies they will be bringing to ensure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else going forward. if policies are already in place (sounds about shambolic by what you’ve said so far) what are the consequences for going to be?

so many issues;
-why was the reception not manned at a crucial time, even if it means a note to the teacher about asc
— had the teacher not been trained (are they new or careless) and how is this goi g to be addressed
-how are they going to deal with the lack of confidence in the school

• how are they going to ensure that your child doesn’t feel like that in the future.

BTW a similar - but different thing happened where a teacher “forgot” a child and they never returned to school (England) so…..

and let the head see you making notes under each heading.

Yes Yes Yes to that.
Treat it as a work meeting. Take notes. Send the HT a email afterwards summarising what has been said as well as listing the actions needed.
Make it official, with a paper trail.

(and ime not so good HT hate that because it makes them accountable)

As a parent of a child who will be starting primary school next year, this is absolutely terrifying, and I'm shocked and horrified at the teacher's lack of concern and remorse when you pointed out to them what had happened.

I feel so sorry for your poor daughter left crying alone outside, with no way of reaching an adult she felt safe with. It's a relief that nothing worse happened, but so many things could have happened to her. It's disgraceful that the school didn't ensure she was safe.

Lots of really good advice above. Good luck in holding the school to account for this. They must make sure it never ever happens again, whatever it takes.

I hope your daughter is ok now.

Ouch that's an enormous safeguarding issue.

Our reception class wait indoors until parent is at their little gated area and are then sent out one by one directly to their collecting adult when the teacher sees them. We're not even allowed to send someone else like a grandparent if it's not a standing arrangement (like a childminder would be) without notifying the school first, in writing. The teacher then (I know she does because I've seen it) will ask the child 'who's that? Oh it's Grandma. Off you go then!'

Op I'd be very very cross about this. Always polite and calm of course - ranting gets you nowhere - but definitely one for the head and possibly governors if you don't get a satisfactory response.

Even our Yr 3/4 kids are handed directly to a parent.

That is shocking OP - there's mistakes and then there's a complete failure of basic safeguarding. I'm surprised that the teacher didn't report themselves to the school and that the school weren't straight onto this.

Definitely report it to your LA and I'd also cc Head of Education, my MSP and local councillor.

I taught in schools for over 20 years and I'm genuinely shocked this was allowed to happen.

I teach a specialist subject so at 3pm I can have anything from P1-P7 classes. With the younger classes like P1 I give them a "safety talk" just before 3pm explaining what is going to happen - I then line them up at the classroom door (which leads to the playground) and they have to tell me when their spot "the adult looking after them today". They are only allowed to leave when this is confirmed.

Furthermore, we have members of the school management team (wearing high vis jackets) manning all gates so that no young child can possibly leave without an accompanying adult.

I've never worked in a school where this has not been standard practice. Sounds like your school needs to shake up its policies!

Quick update as cooking kids tea and they’re under my feet too. Head outraged.
appalled that the teacher didn’t report this to her independently. Will be creating new process/policy for pick up time. Will be logging on safeguarding logs (I’ve forgotten the acronym). Will be making a note on teachers file and having an in person meeting with her this week. She also said that she contacted the teacher to query what happened and the teacher gave a totally different version of events (along the lines of - my child ran off and was retrieved from the pavement by said teacher. Said teacher then apparently told her not to run off and waited in the playground with my child until I arrived). I have said that this is 100% lies. I have said I will be escalating as a matter of course. Head will keep me in the loop.

I also sent a follow up email reiterating what was said and that the teachers account is lies.

FWIW my daughter is a compliant child that has filed out calmly every single time I’ve picked her up. I asked her if she “ran off” and she said no. And I know that the bit about the teacher spotting my child crying on the pavement crying and retrieving her is a lie as I was there for that bit!!!

This teacher sounds like a fking liability.

I'm glad the Head is taking it seriously. The teacher has done herself no favours whatsoever by lying about it.

But there were witnesses, weren't there? Other parents who saw you finding your crying child outside on the pavement. And the person the teacher was chatting to when you eventually caught up with her, although that would depend on that person's integrity, of course. Is there any CCTV around the outside of the school? I really hope that teacher gets found out now that they've had the audacity to lie about what happened. Fuming on your behalf, OP!!

This is exactly the right response. It’s a huge safeguarding cock up by them.

It could be worth talking to other parents whether they can back you up about children being taken out to the pavement and left there.

That teacher is for the high jump. And rightly so! I'm a KS1 teacher and this makes my blood run cold.

In Scotland it is usual procedure for P1-P3 to be handed over to an adult at the door or gate. It's also very normal for p4-p7 to be dismissed at the door, to make their own way home. P4 is age 8/9 so not massively different from the situation you describe in England.

My ds's both walked to and from school by themselves since P3 summer term. It's a 5-7min walk with no major roads. It's a positive step towards independence. But very much dependent on neighbourhood, traffic and road conditions at what age that would be appropriate.

Obviously at 5yrs old this should never have happened and I'm glad the headteacher is taking it seriously OP. That teacher is very stupid for lying. Is there another parent who would be a witness to what happened?

Yes there are a couple of people who clocked what was going on when I was standing at the bottom of the steps looking around , loudly saying “WHERE IS THE TEACHER ??!!!!” repeatedly.

at one point another mum (child in different class) said “EezyOozy I think that could be her over there?!”

have told the head this

will ask about cctv - good point

I would ask about the CCTV quite promptly as there can be a relatively short overwrite or delete timeframe

The teacher isn't doing herself any favours by lying.

@Superscientist thank you - I just emailed again and have asked them to look into this