Page 3 | Are school teachers allowed to come to your house

Natwild · 2023-12-09T12:35:03+00:00

I had a big problem with a safeguarding teacher when my kids were off sick for 3 days I had to leave my kids with there grandparents which is my mother as I had work. A teacher turned up at my home unannounced asking where my kids were and that she was asking neighbours for a key also if I leave my kids on there own. She said to me I don't think your kids are safe and think your inside hurting your kids I had to leave work and prove my kids were safe with my mother which was so disgusting made me feel sick. The neighbours said she asked personal questions I broke down in tears is this allowed Any advice appreciated.

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AnotherDanceClass · 09/12/2023 17:08

You could always ask social services if they can add you to their lists and come do an assessment to assure the school all is well. They are very busy and have more work than they can handle but if the teacher is under the impression you are hurting and neglecting your children then that is a social services matter

I would hope the school would have done that themselves if they’re concerned.

IncompleteSenten · 09/12/2023 17:08

If I'm understanding correctly, the children were in their grandparents home, not their own. So nobody was there when the teacher knocked. Op had to go home and I assume either take teacher to house the kids were in or get her mum to meet her at home with the children

manipulatrice · 09/12/2023 17:10

As everyone else has said, yes, they can turn up.

The questions that have supposedly been asked lead me to believe there are concerns and that there is a back story, of which I doubt we will get to know.

IncompleteSenten · 09/12/2023 17:10

AnotherDanceClass · 09/12/2023 17:08

You could always ask social services if they can add you to their lists and come do an assessment to assure the school all is well. They are very busy and have more work than they can handle but if the teacher is under the impression you are hurting and neglecting your children then that is a social services matter

I would hope the school would have done that themselves if they’re concerned.

Maybe they have.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 09/12/2023 17:19

Megifer · 09/12/2023 15:42

I wouldn't think a home visit after 3 days sickness is reasonable unless there have been other concerns.

Don't see why you left work? Surely you could have given the teacher the grans tel number or address? (Mind you tbf I wouldn't give out my mums address for a teacher to call round)

The Department for Education requires schools to:

Expect parents to contact the school when their child is absent to explain the reason and put in place processes to contact parents on the first day of absence where a reason has not been provided. If absence continues without explanation, further contact should be made to ensure safeguarding

For primary that often includes a visit by the headteacher to the home, if all contacts for the child have been tried and no response given. It's common sense as to why a school would do a home visit when a parent has not contacted school to explain why a child is off the first day of a period of absence. We read about the cases in the news. I can't believe that this still has to be spelled out to parents.

Schools will always do a home visit if there is any doubt at all about the welfare of the child or the family. I vividly remember a mum not turning up to pick up her child when my DS was in Reception. They couldn't get in contact with anyone else so the headteacher took the child home, and tragically, the mum had had a brain haemorrhage and was found at home dead. These kind of things DO happen.

SwishSwashSwooshSwersh · 09/12/2023 17:23

This is very odd, if you had rung in to say they were poorly, it’s not normal for a teacher to then go round to someone’s house - unless there’s a safeguarding concern and they needed to have sight of the children to confirm their safety. What’s the history behind this?

Interestingly my child was safe at home and completely unsafe in school. In the end I had to remove my child from the school to safeguard them!

AnotherDanceClass · 09/12/2023 17:25

Maybe they have.

Maybe. Presumably this was yesterday, or before, that this happened. If the school believe OPs children are in immediate danger, with the welfare officer saying they think OP is hurting her kids, they should have done a lot more. IF this is real, it’s another example of the system not working.

OPs story seems extreme but after my dealings with school about this, I don’t think it’s impossible. After talking to friends, who I know are responsible and very loving parents, schools are being very aggressive about attendance. I know of parents with children in hospital who have been harassed about attendance. Yet we still have kids being missed when there were so many red flags. They’re failing at this and need to do better.

MintJulia · 09/12/2023 17:28

To provoke this sort of visit from the school, I guess you didn't call the school each day, at 9am to let them know your children were sick, which you should do.

The school has a duty of care. If a child doesn't show up and there is no message it is their job to check they are ok.

How many days non-attendance have your children had this school year? Has this been building up for a while?

Why didn't your mother just answer the door, and tell the teacher they were all poorly in bed?

I don't know why you are feeling disgusted - the school is going out of their way to protect your kids. That's a good thing.

Chickpea17 · 09/12/2023 17:29

There must be more to this story if it's true

PamelasSpamela · 09/12/2023 17:36

AnotherDanceClass · 09/12/2023 16:09

We’ve had someone turn up from the 4th day of absence a couple of times. Kids had been seen by a medical professional and/or evidence had been given to the school so I told them to go away. Kids were in bed ill. They tried to insist on being allowed to look at our kids in bed asleep but I refused. No history of poor attendance. They were quite arsy but didn’t make any accusations. I’d have called the police myself if they did.

I didn’t realise they could do this. I would find this a hugely inappropriate and invasive thing to happen. After three or four days just seems to be ridiculous, especially if there is no history of absences.

lightinthebox · 09/12/2023 17:39

Obviously fake unless OP is going to reply/update

FizzyLaser · 09/12/2023 17:47

@PamelasSpamela theyd only do it if there were concerns. It’s hard to explain

PTSDBarbiegirl · 09/12/2023 17:53

NOT LIKELY.

PamelasSpamela · 09/12/2023 17:54

FizzyLaser · 09/12/2023 17:47

@PamelasSpamela theyd only do it if there were concerns. It’s hard to explain

Ah okay, so if there were other safeguarding concerns then they’d call? This thread has really confused me with people saying it’s definitely fake and others saying it does happen!

PaperDoIIs · 09/12/2023 18:03

@PamelasSpamela it does happen in certain circumstances and 99% of the time there are other concerns at play in the background.

It would always happen though of there was a sudden absence and absolutely no contact for 3 days. Either from the school or police as a welfare check. It could also happen if the only contact has been text/email ,the circumstances feel odd etc.

It can also happen depending on the background. For example, a history of the children being left alone before, or a child with a medical need that isn't monitored appropriately at home, or a single parent with a known serious health condition, especially if no contact was made.

FizzyLaser · 09/12/2023 18:48

Yeah. If the whole picture about Home life and /or absence was of note, people would make a judgement.

LadyLeei · 09/12/2023 18:56

I believe this can be true. I had attendance officers calling me when DS was admitted to hospital at the children’s ward demanding I bring him in to school as his attendance was low. He was genuinely ill a lot and in a fucking hospital!

Megifer · 09/12/2023 19:07

CurlyhairedAssassin · 09/12/2023 17:19

The Department for Education requires schools to:

Expect parents to contact the school when their child is absent to explain the reason and put in place processes to contact parents on the first day of absence where a reason has not been provided. If absence continues without explanation, further contact should be made to ensure safeguarding

For primary that often includes a visit by the headteacher to the home, if all contacts for the child have been tried and no response given. It's common sense as to why a school would do a home visit when a parent has not contacted school to explain why a child is off the first day of a period of absence. We read about the cases in the news. I can't believe that this still has to be spelled out to parents.

Schools will always do a home visit if there is any doubt at all about the welfare of the child or the family. I vividly remember a mum not turning up to pick up her child when my DS was in Reception. They couldn't get in contact with anyone else so the headteacher took the child home, and tragically, the mum had had a brain haemorrhage and was found at home dead. These kind of things DO happen.

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Think you may have quoted me in error there!

Ginag24 · 09/12/2023 20:24

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