AIBU or is this a little heavy-handed for primary school?!

[RichSherl]

My DCs go to a school in the south west and this term the headmistress has started a bizarre new drop-off policy...

Every day the children are expected to enter their classrooms for 8.45. This is when teachers open their doors and let the kids in. The parents then need to leave immediately.

I've got no problem with any of this but the thing that's changed is for latecomers.

Over the past couple of weeks the groundsman has begun forcibly closing the main school gate at 8.50 and telling late arrivals to go in via reception. It all seems pretty weird and draconian because he has to keep opening the gate for parents that are still leaving!

Some kids walk by themselves to school (so it may be a safeguarding issue?) or have genuine reasons for being late that's not their fault.

I know schools love rules but it all seems a bit needless and trivial to have an unfamiliar man telling children off and making them feel bad/naughty at the start of their day. I know some of the other parents have got pissed off about it too.

So, AIBU?! Tell me what you think.

Normal to me. Our school introduced this policy to discourage lateness and tbh it has worked for me, which ultimately has benefited my DC. Some of us parents need a little push in the mornings to be on time!

It sounds like lateness is a big issue the head is having to tackle so I'm not surprised the caretaker is having to shout to get the kids to the right gate. I don't see what else he can do, if they're approaching the gate they won't hear him if he talks quietly.

But to answer you, no I don't think this is Draconian at all this has been the setup at every single of the 5 primaries I worked in and the one my DD went to.

I'm actually really interested, what did they have before?
If pupils were able to stroll in even when they're late, and parents allowed in too, than that sounds like a safeguarding nightmare, not this.

The solution to this is don't be late and it won't be a problem. If you're constantly late, work out why, and sort it out. If you're late as a one off, they understand stuff happens, and it'll only be a one off thing where you have to go in via reception.

I wonder if the school was having problems with parents hanging around chatting for too long after drop off.

I don’t know if it’s the same at all schools, but in my dc’s primary, the teachers only have access to the register for a short, set period of time. After that you have to go through the office to get your mark, else you’d be recorded as absent.

Schools also have a short period of time after registration closes to locate children who are absent and that absence hasn't been notified by their parent. So they will have a protocol which includes phoning parent and then work their way down the contact list if they can't get hold of the parent, so it is really important that children get to school on time so this procedure can be set in motion, but will be hampered by parents/children wandering in late

So he's pushing the gate closed in the kids faces? I presume he's shouting you're late you're late so they back away from the gate so he can close it?

Would make more sense to have a member of SLT on the gate shooing parents in the different way whilst he closes the gate, leaving it only open enough for parents to get out

When my youngest was in infants they started a strict gates closed 5 minutes after drop off.
What it was was a few parents of year R had decided a really good idea was to stand in the year R outside area chatting for up to an hour, peering through the window and waving at their dc. When asked to move they were always "just going"... but could take another 15 minutes.
It was distracting for the children (and upsetting for some of them), and they couldn't use the outside area until they'd gone. Other parents were finding their dc getting upset because "you won't stand and wave like X parents do..."

Sounds like they have the right plan but have probably gone about it in a rather direct fashion.