Changing school culture of "Lateness"

[poppynic]

Hi. We are always getting grumpy letters home about children being late to school. It is true that lots of children do arrive late. Even though I manage not to be late I hate the letters - they are very unpleasant in tone and I'm sure not at all motivational to parents who are late. Has anyone's school managed to turn around a culture of "lateness" and how did they do it?

At ds' old school the head teacher would regularly be in the playground before school, and would stay out there until all the bells had gone, so if you were late, she would see you - that was a disincentive! But, she was generally very nice, very approachable and wasn't about to tell anyone off for being late - so it wasn't a confrontational thing iyswim.

We don't write to all parents re lateness - just to the ones that are consistently late. Some are late upwards of 3 times a week (and are often late collecting too).

It is very difficult to turn around TBH. The majority of latecomers at our school have parents who don't value education;it's ingrained and hard to change them. Also sadly we have a number of children who bring themselves and younger siblings into school. For these, just getting in is an achievement

dd's school is in the process of doing this. Basically they have introduced a new regime and timescale for arriving at school, lining up and then closing the doors bang on 9.00.

Any latecomers have to go to Reception and sign the late book. Regular latecomers will have an appointment with an EWO. (I think that's what they do anyway)

Our school follows the same procedure as Mercy's does. The main incentive comes from the children themselves not wanting to be late. There will always be children who for whatever reason cannot make it consistently to school on time (usually chaotic family circumstances) but you need a firm approach from the school to eliminate the 'can't be bothered' type of lateness which it sounds like your school has a lot of. Pester power from children helps there.

At DS's school the Head waits by the entrance and says 'good morning' to everyone as they come in....and 'spots' those who come in after the bell. She then speaks to those parents who were late on thier way out -i.e not in front of the children. Which i think is v good as it isn't the children's fault - not in KS1 anyway. Children who arrive after the register have to collect a 'late slip' from the office, so the children do get to understand the stigma of being late.

But the 'persistent offenders' seem to have problems way beyond getting themselves to school on time, and i don't think any of these methds reach them.

Oh, and they have also put a HUGE clock on the outside wall which faces you as you go in through the gate, which has very clear minute lines, and is kept strictly to the right time!

School gate is locked within 5 monutes of the bell going. Anyone arriving after this time has to get buzzed in by reception and reoprt to the school office before heading to class. For Years 2 and under they must be brought to the office by the parent. The school office is rather out of the way, and the introduction of this measure has had a very noticable impact on those who were typically late by 10 minutes or so.

i think its mortal embarrassment - my kids harassed me if they thought they were going to be late - which asn't that often.

the mortal embarrassment of signing in and entering class when everyone had settled down - it was deffo a peer pressure thing

so witht hat said - vertificates every week to kids who get in on time.

ah but custy, MN has already raised its wrath against schools for giving children certificates for things that the children can't control.

thats when i realised that my thick kids wern't improving it was reverse psychology

kid pressure rules

the rest is bullshit

Several schools I know use pretty much the same policy as Mercy described - you can arrive anytime between say 8.45 and 9.00 but then the doors are closed and you have to go to the office. This stops children from being a couple of minutes late and 'getting away with it' by making it to class before the register.

Also, certificates/stickers for punctuality are a good idea.

x-posts with MB - don't want to upset anyone but pester power is very useful in many situations.

My dd was late for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago and she was so horrified by this that she burst into tears in front of the HT (who now walks round the playground which also helps imo)

Sounds harsh but that one time has been a good reminder for when she's messing around not getting dressed etc.