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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Am I right to be angry with school?

109 replies

24hourmommy · 18/04/2023 18:28

Hi all, so my daughter is in year 3 and she has after school club on Tuesdays. But today when I went to pick her up she was crying. She had been sat not inside school but in the reception area where the doors are constantly open and visitors come and go.

Nobody has informed me or noticed that she has been there for a whole hour! I asked her why she didn’t speak to any staff and tell them and she said she was scared and shy as she is not familiar with some of the staff. But surely if she had left school unnoticed it would be a safeguarding issue. I am a teacher myself but in my school children stay with a member of adult inside the school for a certain time and then parents/guardians are contacted. On schools part they have been very careless.

So would you be angry if this had happened? And should I go speak to the head tomorrow, I know him very well even outside of school but I know he will get all defensive.

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CaptainMyCaptain · 18/04/2023 18:34

Why was she there? Had the activity been cancelled or were you late?

Dilemma19 · 18/04/2023 18:36

At least give a reason as to what actually happened? Why was she there for an hour? What happened to the AC arrangement?

Soontobe60 · 18/04/2023 18:41

Why was she there?

Gregorylass · 18/04/2023 18:42

She didn't actually leave the school. If it was the reception area then there should have been a receptionist there too. So she would have been supervised.

Gazelda · 18/04/2023 18:43

Was ASC cancelled?

GiltEdges · 18/04/2023 18:45

Were you late collecting her?

NagathaChristie · 18/04/2023 18:45

As others have says, it really depends on why she was there. Had she been told to sit there by someone? Had she taken herself there instead of club?

SynchOrSwim · 18/04/2023 18:46

You need to explain what happened in more detail.

Original poster

24hourmommy · 18/04/2023 18:48

Oh sorry missed some details, they had a cover teacher and my daughter didn’t tell her that she has after school club and assumed I’m late for pick up and told her to sit in reception with the other children. I would have picked her up but was not contacted. Once all the children had gone she was sat there crying until I picked her.

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Rockbird · 18/04/2023 18:48

Our children wait in the reception area when they haven't been collected. An adult doesn't stay with them but we're there in the office and we know they're there, keep an eye on them and check in with them. We would also contact parents as soon as they were late collecting.

Why were you an hour late? I would have put your child in wraparound care and charged you £13 if you were that late. Or do you mean that you thought she was in a club for that hour?

Rockbird · 18/04/2023 18:50

That's different then. I'm surprised at the office, we have lists of which children do which clubs and would take them if we knew they should be at one. Your daughter really needs to speak up as well though but she shouldn't need to.

WTF475878237NC · 18/04/2023 18:51

She isn't responsible for her own safety, she's a child. There needs to be a better system than relying on kids to say where they're supposed to be. Speak to the school.

Mammyloveswine · 18/04/2023 18:51

We have children wait with an adult in the reception area whilst adults are contacted.

Was there a receptionist there? As the doors can't just be opened and no staff member would fob out and just let a child wander out on their own.

Was it a school ran club? Or outside provider after school care? This is the big issue, what happened to the care you were had planned for your daughter?

We're you contacted?

I'm a teacher too op and on the surface it doesn't look great but there are a lot questions to ask/details to find out!

Mammyloveswine · 18/04/2023 18:52

Just seen the update op, why didn't your year 3 child say "I'm in after school club"? Did the office not check registers? Did no one ring you for a whole hour?

BrutusMcDogface · 18/04/2023 18:53

I have no idea that could have happened!

doesn’t the after school club do a register?

why didn’t the receptionist call you when your daughter had been sitting there for a while?

shocking.

Original poster

24hourmommy · 18/04/2023 18:55

I wasn’t late, I went to pick up for when her club finishes. I understand that technically she was still in school but she wasn’t supervised as they was not aware she was there and the reception area is quite small.

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Original poster

24hourmommy · 18/04/2023 18:58

Exactly no register and no call. I’m familiar with the admin team and they know my kids. I did speak to daughter that she needs to be more assertive and should have asked them to call me instead of waiting for an hour.

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purpleme12 · 18/04/2023 19:02

Yes you should be annoyed.
Cos there should have been an adult with all the children in reception waiting to go home anyway and so when she was the last one there not picked up it should have been noticed.
Or do the adults not stay with them to make sure it's a known adult picking them up? They must do surely

Blondeshavemorefun · 18/04/2023 19:04

So she sat in reception for an hour (or however long asc is)

Very surprised school didn't ring you

My dd was meant to be picked up by a friend. She forgot. I got a call maybe 10m after school finished saying dd was there in reception and was everything ok

I said xxx was picking her up. I imm rang xxx and she was back on her way. Had forgotten was picking up my dd

Dd was given a lolly and sat waiting for friend to pick her up

I can't beleive your dd was in the reception by herself for all that time

Yea her would have sent her to reception. Surely dd would have told them /or they knew dd was meant to be in asc

Original poster

24hourmommy · 18/04/2023 19:09

Mammyloveswine It is an outside provider for the club but takes place inside a classroom in the school. The reception staff were there and seemed busy. The reception doors are often opened by parents and visitors as there are buzzers on both sides so she could have sneaked out if she decided she wanted to walk it etc Like someone has said she is a child and children can be impulsive. Other staff members were still seen in school I’m really surprised they missed this.

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thesmee · 18/04/2023 19:10

No it's rubbish of the school but honestly, I think we have pretty low expectations of Y3s if we don't expect a child to speak up in a situation like that. 10 years ago there wasn't even an expectation to see KS2 children out to a parent at the end of the day - we opened the door and off the went, coming back if no adult was there. The jump in responsibility when they go to secondary is now HUGE because there's no build up in responsibility.

somedogsdo · 18/04/2023 19:12

I would definitely be v upset by this. And find it hard to see how it happened. Our school receptionist would know if a child was supposed to be at an ASC and ensure they were taken there. And I can't see how a child could be Sat crying in reception with nobody asking about it. All sounds v strange. I would speak to school to find out where the communication broke down to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Heroicallyfound · 18/04/2023 19:14

I would be fuming and complain. The school should be handing her over to after school club, and after school club should have her on their register and be expecting her. Something has fallen down badly and if they say it’s because it was a cover teacher that would be a shoddy excuse. The cover teacher needs to know the after school drill.

DrHousecuredme · 18/04/2023 19:15

Yes for sure the school's systems are very poor.
There should be an ASC list for the cover teacher to look at plus management should be talking to the children left after ten minutes or so and checking where their parents are.

At the same time though, your dd is in year 3 and she sat crying for a whole hour rather than explain to one person what the problem was.

"Excuse me I should be in after school club"

Would have sorted it.

So you really need to work on this with her. I wonder if the school could have any speaking and listening groups that she could join to help her brush up her skills a bit?

Original poster

24hourmommy · 18/04/2023 19:17

Thanks everyone. If I’m honest I’ve been feeling panicked since I picked her. She was really upset with me but it’s understandable she felt alone and didn’t know what to do. I’m thinking of stopping her school club and finding some reputable out of school activities she can do instead.

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