Incident at school

[bonvoyage23]

I'm looking for some advice on next steps with a school situation please.

DS is 5 and in Y1.

He has displayed ND behaviour since his Reception.

No huge issues but enough for his teacher/head to be aware of ND behaviours.

I've also had meetings with the SENCO lead and his is under assessment by the GP. Everyone is aware of this.

Today I had a call telling me DS had let himself out of the school building at home time and was only spotted by a parent in the playground, who then told his teacher.

Teacher, who is nice/kind and I'm really trying to work with, requested I speak with him to reinforce this isn't okay. Which I absolutely have.

However she was very put out when I asked how he was able to wander off unnoticed and let himself out of school.

I'm happy to acknowledge DS part in this but need the school to do the same. I did point out if highlighted this as an issue only this week and have done previously.

Any advice much appreciated

What’s the procedure t home time? Are the children released when they see a parent waiting?

YANBU. This is a major safeguarding issue on the school's part. I do think you need to speak to the Head as he could have been in serious danger .

I think his possibly neurodiversity isn’t really relevant in this situation. A child of that age should not be able to leave the classroom unnoticed by anyone at the end of the day. I’d be making sure the school address this with the whole class and would talk about it with your DS as a social story. What’s the normal routine at the end of the school day?

Procedure is that they wait until they see the child's parent and then release them.

DS teacher said he had asked to use the toilet and then instead of returning to class had just let himself out.

Im actually horrified thinking what could've happened. And the defensive attitude when I wouldn't put the full blame on a ND 5 year old has really annoyed me.

Not to look for excuses for DS behaviour , because it's really not okay, but he doesn't understand and struggles to follow rules or see danger and I have hammered this fact home since September

He’s a young child and is in absolutely no way to blame for this. In my school, a member of staff unlocks the gates at home time thus allowing parents into the playground, then stays at the gates to ensure no children ‘escape’.
Is there more than 1 door out of the classroom onto the playground?

Make the Head teacher aware. This is not something they can afford to shrug off.

@Soontobe60 the usual protocol is that a teacher opens the gate and allows parents in and then goes back to their classroom

We wait on the playground.

My sons teacher stands at the window looking out and when she sees us she releases him.

On this occasion DH was in the playground. DS saw him and just let himself out. Teacher wasn't aware until another parent pointed out what was going on.

Apparently they we're "looking for him".

You need to report it. Phone on Monday and say you need to speak to a safeguarding lead.

Did he let himself out of a different door?

Otherwise how he did get out unnoticed. Because if he can then any of the 4/5yos can (and will probably try at seam point because they are 4/5yo!)

They need to look at their procedures so it can't happen again and not rely on children that age doing as they are asked!

He let himself out of the door right beside his classroom.

I think he went to the toilet came back saw DH and just decided he was leaving. I'm not sure how they didn't see him tbh and I'd like to know how he's able to unlock the door!

He also spent a whole afternoon last week in just t-shirt, including lunchtime outside, because someone hid his jumper. they failed to notice that too. He was freezing when I collected him 😢

I'm finding these responses odd. Of course it's possible that a child can leave without being noticed. All a school can do is reduce the chances of a child actually leaving alone. For example:

• having an adult at the classroom door checking children leave the room without their adult
• having a staff member on the gate ensuring no child leaves site alone
• teaching the children not to leave school alone
• doing the best they can to keep an extra eye on children who can't understand not to leave alone
• potentially having a high handle on any internal doors if children are at high flight risk. But this must be balanced against other needs eg. Kids would not have access to toilets

The teacher isn't hiding the incident from you. They're trying to reduce the risk to your child in a sensible and proportionate way. They might have sounded "defensive" because they felt awful about it, or they had no idea how it happened, or they had already had a bollocking from someone else even though it probably wasn't their fault

i dont really understand this. By your own admission GS left school because he saw your DH was there in the playground . So why did your DH not get hold of him. presumably if the teacher had seen him there she would have sent DS out, so i dont really understand the difference?

DS opened a door that is supposed to be manned by a teacher and walked out of the building.

DH hadn't realised what had happen but another parent saw the whole thing and alerted his teacher.

My child is five and shouldn't be able to exit the building of his own accord

Is the door he exited usually kept locked? It doesn't sound like something they'd necessarily anticipate, really.

They'd expect a child to return to the classroom from a toilet visit.

I have never worked at a school where year 1 children are unable to get out of the school building if they actively tried to. Reception can't at my current school as they are in a separate area, but year 1 are in the main school and it is possible for them to leave via non-classroom doors, which are not manned.

The school gates are manned though, so there is a secondary level of safety in place.

If the child did not leave through the classroom door, why are you annoyed with the teacher? What could they have done, other than refusing your child's access to the toilet, which would also cause a problem?

There is absolutely no way to guard against this NEVER happening. There cannot always a person on every door. What if the staff member is sick? Dealing with a medical emergency? Covering for another staff member? Etc etc etc
Large institutions like schools only run when they can rely on everyone following rules and procedures. They expect the kids to do as they’re told, come back to class after a toilet visit and to not leave the school building without permission. Your son didn’t follow the rules. I’m not saying this is necessarily his ‘fault’ but it’s not particularly a load of other people’s fault either. If he can’t be trusted to stay in school as expected then he needs more 1-1 support than he is currently getting.

I dont understand why this is on the school, and not on your DH who waiting there on the playground. Why wasny he watchinh out fro the child he had come to pick up?

He was able to unlock the door as the doors aren’t allowed to be locked due to them being fire escapes. I’m not excusing what happened but schools are allowed to lock gates etc. but external doors can’t be locked while people are on the premises.

The teacher is hoping you will accept that this is a DS problem, discipline him for running off and not make a fuss about her massively dropping the ball.

Escalate to the Head, explaining that the teacher's reaction doesn't reassure you that procedures are robust enough to keep your son safe, and ask what measures will be put in place to prevent this from happening again.

As above, fire doors are never locked - for obvious reasons. Most are a bar which when pushed opens the door.

You need to speak to the headteacher to work with school so that your concerns are resolved. Sometimes, eventualities happen for the first time ( a different child, a new exit, a reduction in staff) and everyone has to think again.

The school should complete a full risk assessment which will work through the key areas of risk and make changes to address this so that the risk is lessened. That could include the use of a staff member, if available, using the adult collecting - perhaps by standing closer to the classroom, supporting children to make safe choices etc.

Adding, there should be a concerns and complaints policy on the school website guiding you through the stages. Initially thus is usually class teacher, headteacher and onwards if you are not satisfied with the response.

Its clearly from your description 100% the child's fault!
He has been there 18m and knows the procedure.

Its not even serious. The dad was there and parents in the playground. He didnt go off alone. Its maybe a near miss.

Its happened several times ive seen at dc school. The kids are comong out and one kid ran off and came back. He is imo possibly adhd but not severe as noone has noticed. ..
By school age most kids dont run off. So i would add this to the log of ND symptoms.

But it maybe that school need to keep the door locked? If its out of sight.
Many classrooms here have the doors open especially reception.

My youngest 5 during covid we parked for rainbows over the road and because of covid they brought them out to the road for collection. It was first session and dc had recently started reception. Dc ran straight across the road to us. It was scary as dc probably hadnt looked and there are buses though this was a sunday. Anyway despite probably being adhd dd dodnt do this again due to our chat.
I also ensured we parked on same side of road..

I would though be concerned about your dc being impulsive for school trips etc

Interesting

Scotland here and work at playgroup in a school room.

Due to a child leaving once, into playground all doors are security card opening only.

However they are linked to the fire alarm so if it goes off, the locks open. Otherwise no card no exit.

But I have raised concerns about this, on deaf ears.

And if there was a fire and the alarms failed nobody without a card could get out