Is there a school gate pick up solution that actually works?

[Gonzales27]

The system at my dc school at collection time seems chaotic and risky but I'm struggling to suggest an alternative system that will work better.

Currently each class is kept together. The teacher of the class stands at the head of each line asking each child if they can see their parent/grandparent. Once the child has confirmed that they can see them then they are released into the sea of parents. There have been several occasions where kids , usually the younger ones, have told the teacher that their parents are there only to get lost and upset when they can't find them.

Of course this is upsetting and unsafe.

But if the teachers have to find and confirm each parent then everyone will be there for hours! What's the solution?

Don't the parents walk up and collect their child when they are at the front of the line?

There isn't really space. It's quite a crowded area.

Ours line up in the class with teacher at the door and only when teacher has clocked parent, parent has clocked child, child can see parent, is the child released!

Could the teachers only allow a child to go if they've seen the parent? If a child can spot them surely a teacher could?

Ours are kept inside with the teacher at the door, as the teacher spots a parent/carer they call the child's name and then let them out. The parent makes sure the child can see them by waving or calling.

Well.. the parents could line up and the teachers could then call Johnny out of classroom/holding area when their parent is at front of queue.

Ours is just like xmasfairy. Teacher see's us, we see them & child, teacher makes sure child knows where we are. Doesn't take long as long as parents that have their child move away from right outside the classroom. TBH oddly most parents stand around the same area everyday.

At DS's school, there are multiple doors in use, so that the youngest children come out of separate doors to the older ones, and the teachers can take that bit longer to identify the parent for the little ones, without causing a major hold up. The youngest (reception/nursery) come out 10 minutes before everyone else, so that the sea of parents is rather less overwhelming. Then the Y1 and Y2 each come out of separate doors (and into separate playgrounds). All the junior age children come out at the front of the school, with Y3 and Y5 coming out together through one set of doors, with Y4 and Y6 using the other set of doors. Admittedly, there are an awful lot of parents in this area, but as the children are that much older, there is generally less chance of a child getting lost as they're pretty used to the system by that age. My eldest is 13 now so I've seen them employing this approach or something similar for many years, and it seems fairly effective.

Apart from the P1 class, ours just spill out of school as and when. No checking to see who is collecting them.

I didn't know this was a thing, I will have this to look forward to

There must be a playground or somewhere else they could take half the school to give a bit more space.

Ours are just released all at once in a wave of children. It's best to be there early.

Oh I am in Scotland maybe it will work the same way as Primals

Staggered times according to age. Reception out first, then year 1 and 2. This age group teacher has to see parent carer before release! Juniors out ten minutes later. By year 3 the release is more informal and beginning to rely more on child. Letting the whole school out at once sounds horrific.

Maybe the PTA could fundraise for an enormous tall slide. As each child climbs up it displays their name on a screen. The parents then have a moment to rush to bottom of slide and collect offspring. Just think how happy they'd be coming out of school

I love it paradise!!!

It sounds like our school does have a similar system to others it's just that they take the child at their word that they can see the parent and don't necessarily see them themselves first. I feel for the teachers as they can't possible recognise all faces but it does seem like they just need to spend a bit more time checking.

I prefer the idea of making the parents line up by class and letting the kids go in that order, that way those who are on time can get away earlier too!

I've realised it would also help if all parents were there on time and were all paying attention so as to shout up more quickly, some are repeatedly late and/or spend their time at the school gates catching up on their social life!!

What would really help is only infant parents, so reception years 1 and 2 allowed on school grounds

Junior parents to wait at back or front of school, ours has a big playing field

That's what our school used to encourage and if you want to speak to a teacher you have to have an appointment, not lurk in the doorway so the poor kids can't actually leave the classroom

Rather than lining up, each form group clustered round the teacher and parents would fetch from the clump. Easier to move around if you're not in lines.

For key stage 1 the teacher has to see the parent before they let them go. They watch the child get to the parent before they let the next one go.

I see out a class of 6/7yr olds once a week. Its very helpful if the parents actually stop chatting/looking on their phones, to give a big wave when they see their child. Its really hard looking out into a sea of faces in the playground trying to spot each parent. However, I wouldn't feel happy sending a child off at the child's say so, I need to actually see the parent. Imagine if a child said 'yes I can see Mummy/Daddy/nanny but then wandered off into the road by themselves.

Different story in Year 3, at my DS large junior school they can just wander off. But Key Stage One really do need to be handed to a parent/carer for safety.

Our school does it like yours op. I'm surprised your teacher doesn't recognise parents. It's never taken more than 3 days for each teacher to pick up which child belongs to which parent. It takes around 2 minutes for the line of 30 to be distributed accordingly.

I was about to say that is a skill that all teachers seem to have. Usually takes a couple of days. As people are saying for reception yr 1 + 2 they need to recognise the parent carer.

Our school won't let the child go to anyone the teacher doesn't know unless they have the "password" for that child.

Posie, the parent behaviour you describe is probably the main problem here too! Although it sounds like you are a bit more diligent than our teachers are currently being.

Show off , surely it isn't that easy to memorise all the faces, with my complex childcare situation there can be 6 different people allowed to collect.

One of the recent incidents here involved a grandma coming to collect for the first time, the teacher knew that grandma was coming but didn't know what she looked like. She asked the child "is grandma here?" And then let her go. I suppose really the teacher should have waited for grandma to physically step forward and collect in this instance.

Sounds like the best solution isn't really rocket science

1. Space the different classes as far apart as possible when releasing

1. Wait until a parent/carer (that the child recognises) physically steps forward to collect or clearly identifies themselves

1. If collector isn't recognisable then they have to come forward with password

1. Parents need to be on time and paying attention

1. Teachers need to be patient and totally sure before they let a child go.

As with everything there are a couple of points where human error/uselessness will let the system down. I just wish there was a a foolproof trick instead. I like the slide idea best!