Commute between 2 schools - help

[AishaAlam]

Hello,

I would appreciate any guidance as I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I have 2 kids, a son (elder) and a daughter (younger). Both of them went to the same school until a couple of weeks when my son moved to a different school. I was not happy with the academic focus in the old school and so, called the council one day to check and they said that a place was immediately available for my son in my preferred school. I placed my daughter on the waiting list.

When the news was announced to previous school, they took it really badly, particularly the headteacher and acted as if they had been rejected. After a brief discussion, we smiled at each other and finished the discussion on amicable terms.

Now, the problem is that the new school closes at 3.15 and the old school closes at 3.25. So, I was picking my son up first and then rushing to my daughter's school. As the schools are about 3-4 miles apart and the time taken in parking etc., I would normally arrive at around 3.40-3.45pm. During this time, either the class teacher would look after my daughter or she would go to the after school club for 10-15 mins.

Everything appeared to going fine until today. As I arrived at my daughter's school, I was asked to meet with the principal. She said that she was not happy with my daughter being picked up 15-20 mins after school closing time. When I said that I have no choice because of logistical reasons, she said that it was not her problem and asked why I was discussing her family issues with her. I was told to either hire a child minder or ask my husband to pick one of the kids up. She also said that at maximum, she will accept a delay of 5-10 mins if the other school also made a similar concession.

There is no place in the after school club in both schools. I could try and arrange a child minder but these things take time. I am very worried about what to do and how to approach this issue. My husband works long hours and would never be able to commit to picking one of them at close time (he does the morning school drop).

Please advise.

Thanks.

I can understand the head's point of view - it's not really fair to expect the school to look after your DC for 15-20 minutes after school every day. The odd one off when you're delayed is expected.

My suggestion would be to put your DC down on after school club waiting lists (not even 1 night free at either school?) and start researching childminders. As a short term measure (and maybe longer term if parents are amenable) - you must know some parents at your old school - is there one that could look after your DC until you can get there/take them home with their DC so you pick up at their house?

Would another parent wait with dd near the school for you ? Agree it isn't the head's problem and form her pov if you child is seemingly regularly left then it could become a safeguarding issue.

This really is your responsibility, not the school's. I am a primary teacher and in my school we have to wait with our own class children until they are collected. Fifteen minutes a day with one child means losing an hour and a quarter a week that could be spent planning, marking books for the other 29 children. This makes a huge difference and the reality is that the teacher makes up the time at home.
Is there a another parent who could help you out till you get something sorted?

You really cannot expect your dd's school to be doing this every day.

For a quick solution finding a parent who can collect your dd and just hand onto her until you get there is probably going tube the best thing - with profuse thanks and a small gift here and there to keep things going, a cm will take time to sort and they may have a minimum time that they will have her for.

After school club sounds like your best long term solution.

Did this not occur to you before you moved your ds?

How old his your ds? Is he old enough to go to a local park or cafe or some such and wait or even start to walk home. If he is year 5/6 I would be happy doing this with my dc.

well to be fair you should have thought of this before moving your child