6yo absconded from school - help?!

[KimberleyS91]

I'm looking to gain some understanding/perspective as obviously my anxiety is at an all time high right now and I'm exhausted from the last week.

Tuesday my 6yo managed to escape from school. It was a serious incident - he was missing for 30-40 minutes, walked home, met a stranger, walked back home again with the stranger, crossed multiple roads... so yeah, a LOT of risks and just pure luck nothing went wrong. The school didn't call the police when they realised he was missing.

Thankfully my son is safe and of course I am grateful for this. He is awaiting an ADHD assessment and this has all been added to his referral and they're looking at different strategies to help with his emotional regulation, etc.

Thing is, I can't understand why the perimeter of the school playground can't be secured. The gates have bolts but the main gates are open all day long. He literally walked up a set of steps and off out. No one saw him despite PSA's being "strategically placed". Access to the buildings is secure, but in theory, anyone could walk into the grounds.

I'm originally from England where I understand that primary school perimeters are secured/locked. Here in Scotland, that doesn't seem the norm? I've been told it's so the school doesn't seem "like a prison" and that there are kids and parents coming in and out at various times of the day, which makes complete sense... but based on this, how do schools that ARE locked manage?

It's been an awful week, so please be gentle with me! There have been countless meetings, conversations, emails... it's been genuinely quite traumatic but I just don't know where I go from here. Thank you.

So you’re okay with the knife wielding maniac being in the playground? And not all doors only open from the inside!

I live in Scotland and at the primary school my children attend, gates are most definitely locked except at drop off and pick up times. The only way you can access/leave the school is via the main office. This is also the case in multiple schools I've worked in. So, it's not quite accurate to say all schools have gates left unlocked even though people will say they've experienced similar.

I would be extremely concerned if the school my children attended didn't do this. I would also be questioning why they didn't phone the police as soon as they realised your child was missing.

Have also seen ofsted mentioned. They aren't a thing in Scotland. You would need to go to the council or the care inspectorate.

I'm in Scotland and have two daughters with special needs. Both used to abscond regularly aged 5 and 6 (they were 18 months age difference) and police called out quite a few times.
You are not bound by law to send them to school - they can in fact be home schooled and I took both of mine out of that school as the school could not be trusted to( a) keep them safe and (b) keep others safe from them .
They were both quite violent at times.
At home, things calmed somewhat, they both learned to read and write, and they are now aged 25 ,and 26 and living independently with some care input

Wow
to my knowledge kids in our primary could theoretically just wander out. There is an “outer gate” which is def not padlocked. Kids are secured the other side of another gate but although shut I’m virtually certain it’s not padlocked either

this is on the outskirts of a big city, not a rural school

luckily we’ve never lost a child to my knowledge though some kids did come in once and nick some bikes. Apparently security was “enhanced” after that but we were never told how

Goodness I can't keep up with the comments.

Firstly, THANK YOU to those who have been kind, asking after my child and validating my concerns.

Secondly, to those saying it's up to the child/parent/both and that they are the one's at fault, I'm really saddened by this. I did say to be gentle with me because of how traumatic this has been.

So for more context - my son had lunch, fell over in the playground at lunchtime and cut his knee. Went inside for a plaster about 1pm. Come back out and then, I assume, left the top playground (which yes, he shouldn't have left but the bottom playground is where they queue up to go back in the classroom after lunch anyway so not uncommon for children to wander there) and then he's walked out and where the fence is, there's a gap between the hedge and the fence. This isn't a small gap though - it is one which I'm guessing has been created by children and parents looking for a shortcut and it's made it's own little pathway now, if that makes sense. He's then just walked out the front gates of the school. If PSA's are "strategically placed" there should have been multiple opportunities where he was spotted, even from walking down from the top playground. He walked home, (crossing multiple roads - thankfully we do drill road safety into him) knocked on our front door, and I wasn't in. He's then left, walked towards a busy road, walked down it, met a gentleman and at this point was upset. The man was thankfully lovely and kind. He offered to stay with him or walk him home, and my son chose to walk home. When the staff knew he was missing, a member of staff from the nursery who knew where we lived ran up and found him.

I was told he comes in from lunch at 13.15 (younger ones come in before the older ones). They called me at 13.35. They said they were checking the toilets but I can't understand how that took 20 minutes. When they didn't find him, they called me and asked if he was with me. Obviously I've panicked, cried, ran back to the car with my youngest and got to school, by then the member of staff had found him. But at no point did they call the police. I called them myself a couple of days later to check and they had no log whatsoever and were really concerned. They spoke to the headteacher on the phone and apparently they "took on board" the fact the police should have been called.

The gates around the school are bolted, and apparently they are checked before break and lunch. But bolted is not locked. Entry and exit is still possible. I've been told that PSAs may have been dealing with another child who was hurt, upset or anything else, which I completely understand. But again - he should have been spotted multiple times, in my opinion.

I'm looking at options to move schools but there appears to be no primary schools close to us where the gates are locked. In all honesty it makes me want to move back to England even more (it's a move we've considered anyway!).

Ok you can try to explain to your son why this is not a good idea, but it's a serious fuck up by the school. They need to reassure you how they can keep your son safe in school in future.

At the schools I've worked at the gates aren't locked, but the door are on an electronic locking system.

Policy is usually not to "chase" an absconder for fear of chasing them into the road, but 30 minutes missing is a long time. What action was being taken in that time? Amd absolutely someone should have been "guarding" the gate at lunch, if it's not locked. They should definitely have known he'd gone.

Reading your explanation...
The first question is why they haven't blocked up the gap in the fence. Regardless of gatesbeing locked or not, a gap shouldn't be there.

Secondly ask them for procedures for when they notice a child is missing. (I'm guessing it wasn't just the toilets but the whole playground etc they were checking?)

Thirdly... why they rang you to ask if you had him... would they expect you to be at home?

Locking the school gates just isn't really a thing here in Scotland. Maybe like a city centre school which is right on a main road but otherwise nope.
Our local primary has gates but not locked & there's a very low wall that could just be stepped over anyway. If a child wanted to leave then they easily could.
There's no law about it & OFSTED is only for England.

My BIL is Scottish, and - obviously he's older now so I'm sure things have changed massively - he said they used to leave school at lunch time when they were 5 years old onwards. They used to get lunch at the chip shop! Seems like a very different approach up there.

Is it an old school as I thought all new schools were secure by design (or could be made so easily).

I remember when my DCs old school (Scotland) had a runner. They did make it more secure by locking all gates after 9am. Felt sorry for the jannie and office staff who had to ferry other children/parents back and forth to various gates during the day (jannie was more like a jailor). Felt sorry for runner too as they didn't get out at lunchtime or playtime as even with 1:1 supervision they had bolted and climbed a five foot wall and scaled the railings onto main street (Victorian school buildings). I remember one of my DC (P7) being tasked to help the classroom assistant at lunchtime when runner had to exit the main building and go to dining hall.

Runner ended up in another school where they could manage him more easily (It had a unit for kids with behavioural issues)

I’m in Scotland and our school gates are most definitely locked. Playground is all enclosed and only way in is to be buzzed in to reception.

I'm in Scotland and the main gates are open but you can't get in or out the school without going through the reception.

They have a side gate into the playground which is locked in the day so no kids can leave on their own.

That's awful, I'm really surprised they didn't call the police, how long did it take them to notice he was missing?

We're in Wales and DD's primary school perimeter is locked during the day apart from one gate leading to the main entrance which is locked with a bell to ring for access. The norm here.

Even if kids are taught not to escape and the staff are very vigilant I would still be worried about people getting in to the school if the gates weren't locked

Im shocked that in Scotland they arent locked. England started locking down schools after the Dunblane shooting, so I would have thought Scotland (as it happened there) would have been the same.

My DCs infant school has free access to the front office, but you have to be buzzed to go through the door into the actual school building. Both the playgrounds on either side of the main building are locked all day and are only unlocked at drop off and pick up time. Its extremely safe and I am reassured that my DC cant get out and no one else can get in. Its not at all prison like either.

I assume the kecel of sen is lower in scotland?

But even just having smaller schools would mean each school would have fewer sen/kids likely to.run off.
But also scotland they findit easier to delay starting school so likely any child with worse behaviour maybe delayed year.group so.getting closer supervision etc.

All this talk about ‘schools aren’t locked in Scotland’ is NOT universally true. At my son’s school in central Scotland the gates to the playground are locked during school hours. The gates to the car park are open, and from there you can access the main door to the school, however this has a secure entry system so you have to be allowed access, you can’t just walk in. All other entrances/exits to the school lead into the playground. There are two gates from the playground; one directly onto the street, and one to the car park. Both are locked during the day.

So during the school day, there is no way a pupil could leave the school grounds, other than being permitted to leave via the main door, and there’s no way someone could enter the area where the children are other than being permitted entry through that same door.

The other school close by where my son goes to afterschool has similar arrangements so it’s simply not true to make a blanket statement that schools in Scotland are not locked.

No point blaming a 6 year old. The school is culpable and should keep a better eye on their pupils.

Even when schools are locked, it's to keep people out, not students in.

Please take this further. At 6 years old a child needs to be in a secure environment and this school isn't.

There is no OFSTED in Scotland and Scottish schools don't have governors. They are run directly by the LA.

Yes in Scotland school gates are not locked. In my children’s school, the playground is actually a right of way for pedestrians so anyone can walk through it. We live in a small town and there’s never been any issues with that however.
Is your child getting support from a classroom assistant? If so, they should be keeping an eye on your child. If not, there’s no way assistants in the playground can follow one child to ensure they don’t run off. I’d request a meeting with the ht to get a risk assessment put in place. If your child is a constant flight risk however, there will be a limit to what they can realistically do. Often in these cases, the authority will offer to have your child moved to a flexible learning unit with small class sizes to ensure their safety.

In that case the incident should be reported to the LA and the parent should report this as a safeguarding issue to the LA. Assuming Scotland takes this seriously!

Of course someone with a gun could shoot through gates but if playing is at the rear of the schooL, it lessens opportunity. Risk management is about lessening risk. You cannot eliminate risk. You can however prevent a 6 year old from leaving the school premises. This is vital to prevent a serious breach of health and safety regulations and duty of care. No LA or school should have open gates in play time and entry systems at the main entrance and exit point.

What a ridiculous thing to say, Its the schools duty to safeguard the child whilst they are in their care especially, if they know the child may have additional needs. Had the child gone missing from home the authorities would have been involved so how is it any different at school?

The first question is why they haven't blocked up the gap in the fence. Regardless of gates being locked or not, a gap shouldn't be there.

Exactly, this.