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Original poster

S6 "children" and parental responsibility?

26 replies

RaspberryCoulis · 24/05/2021 12:40

Not getting stroppy about this but wonder if teachers can shed any light.

I have a son in S6. He was 18 in March, is officially an adult. He arrived home an hour ago after being in for the first couple of periods, he has free periods this afternoon and left before PE which in his words is "literally pointless".

So I get the text "Your Child has not arrived for his period 4 class, please contact the school as a matter of urgency".

Firstly, although he's my child, he's not a child. He's an adult. But on the other hand, he's still a school pupil. And on the third hand, in any ordinary year he wouldn't have gone back in after Easter as he'd have been on study leave. This is such a grey area for kids who turn 18 and are still at school, when I was in S6 many moons ago one of my classmates got married in the summer between S5 and S6 and was living with her husband! Would her mum still have got a call asking why she hadn't handed in her French homework?

OP posts:
LizzieMacQueen · 24/05/2021 13:23

I take your point (though I also have an S6 who regularly misses classes without texts from school) but I imagine it's just an automatic process. You could ask to be removed as a contact and get your son's details on there instead. So he'd then receive the annoying texts 😁

ClerkMaxwell · 24/05/2021 14:22

I remember feeling the same with my DD and wondering why it didn't happen with my eldest two. Turned out they had replaced my mobile number on the yearly contact form with theirs from S4 onwards.

HarrisMcCoo · 24/05/2021 14:42

"literally pointless".

Yep, I have one in S2 who feels that way about PE.

HarrisMcCoo · 24/05/2021 14:43

Now you are making me see implications of deferrals in the early years 😬

HarrisMcCoo · 24/05/2021 14:45

He is an adult and you can't really force him to stay for PE. As a PP has said, sounds like it's a formality to contact you.

Original poster
RaspberryCoulis · 24/05/2021 15:02

Well I doubt they'll be chasing it up anyway as since I posted they've had a major GDPR breach where every S6 parent was emailed the wrong child's report...

OP posts:
Summerzz123 · 24/05/2021 15:08

It’s basically because the school has a responsibility as the pupil is supposed to be registered and their safety is regarded as the schools responsibility.
Obviously some pupils ditch classes to avoid assessments atm, or just in general. And if something happened to one of them and no one had been alerted of their absence, the school would be liable in a sense.
It is also very necessary for some pupils, but it is just an automated system linked to the registration.

latissimusdorsi · 24/05/2021 16:24

@RaspberryCoulis

Well I doubt they'll be chasing it up anyway as since I posted they've had a major GDPR breach where every S6 parent was emailed the wrong child's report...

OopsConfused

mummywithtwokidsplusdog · 24/05/2021 17:05

It will just be automatically generated... the computer won’t know your ‘child’ is 18... and I think schools still have a duty of care to alert next of kin if your ‘child’ is missing.... in the same way your workplace would if you didn’t turn up to work one day for no reason?

Mistressiggi · 24/05/2021 21:14

Some parents will complain if they get a text, some will complain if they didn't..
I was going to post that schools have more than enough to be worrying about just now with the ACM but I see this particular school has even more!
Given how much stuff has been closed and for how long I wouldn't be negative about doing some PE tbh.

Waitwhat23 · 24/05/2021 21:27

Not the same scenario but you've just reminded me of the time that I got into a discussion with my tutor group leader in S6 who insisted I remove my coat during tutor group (on a cold day, in an under-heated room) so I could 'get the benefit of it' when I left to go to my first class. I was 18 at this point!

HopeValley · 24/05/2021 21:33

I'm Scottish but live in England now and have lots of English friends. I find it odd looking back on my S5 and S6 days how little freedom we had compared to my English peers in their final two years (sixth form). We had to a be on site for the whole day even if we had free periods, wear uniform and basically follow exactly the same rules as S1 children despite many of us being 18 by the end. Our parents had to call in sick for us if we were unwell. It seems a funny way to prepare young adults for university...

BendingSpoons · 24/05/2021 21:37

I remember being very annoyed by this as an 18yo. My mum had to write me a note if I was sick but I could legally drive, get married, vote etc. 6 months later I went to uni and could then do what I liked!

I think part of the issue is that they can't change policies when you turn 18, as everyone does at a different point. I do think they could generally treat the eldest years a bit more like adults though.

ElephantOfRisk · 24/05/2021 21:38

@HopeValley

I'm Scottish but live in England now and have lots of English friends. I find it odd looking back on my S5 and S6 days how little freedom we had compared to my English peers in their final two years (sixth form). We had to a be on site for the whole day even if we had free periods, wear uniform and basically follow exactly the same rules as S1 children despite many of us being 18 by the end. Our parents had to call in sick for us if we were unwell. It seems a funny way to prepare young adults for university...
My Dc didn't have to do that in S6. In S5 they had a full timetable so pretty much were in school the whole day. In S6 they came and went as required and managed that themselves. I think it depends on the school. Some schools also require DC to be in school full time during exams time, my own school way back in the day and DCs school more recently just give the time off completely and they just attend for exams.

Obviously this year and last year were a bit different!

ElephantOfRisk · 24/05/2021 21:42

Mine both didn't turn 18 until the summer after leaving but at that point they were both driving to school etc. It is an odd time between 16 and 18.

One of my DSs was dealt with directly by dermatology once he turned 16 (and would have needed to give me permission to attend with him) but when he had appointments for dyspraxia as a 17 year old, I needed to attend as he was deemed a child. He drove us to the appointments but all the letters were issued to the parent or guardian of...

Lidlfix · 24/05/2021 21:52

They are just automated and part of a duty of care. Yep in any other year he wouldn't be in, my DD is only going in for assessments or any classes where she will be taught. She doesn't know her leaving date (probably to prevent muck up day) yet but she's desperate to pick up extra shifts at work. II got a text today but didn't phone in as I was teaching, the school didn't follow it up like they have in the past.

Some pupils even at 18 will still be vulnerable and an absence a concern. The stressful nature of the assessment torture the seniors are going through just now means we do worry if they don't appear. But as Mistress said we can't please everyone.

Had a pupil in my Friday afternoon double Higher who had been a deferred start- he used to love heading across the road to the pub then the offie in his uniform just for the shock factor .

Wonder what the fallout from the GDPR breach will be.

Original poster
RaspberryCoulis · 24/05/2021 22:00

I would imagine some poor admin person in charge of the mail merge will be rocking quietly in a corner while the Head frantically googles "Data Breach". They did email back within the hour with a "please disregard message" and say they had reported the incident to the council.

It wasn;t a full report with teachers' comments, just working grades and details of attendance. Nevertheless, I now know that a random child is on track to fail his Higher Maths and has been late 8 times since Easter...

DS is allowed to leave school when he has a free period. They are usually asked to spend the time in school studying, but because of Covid they're just asking them all to vacate the premises.

OP posts:
user1487194234 · 24/05/2021 22:04

Oh dear that’s very embarrassing really GDPR
Obviously as it’s all within the local authority there will be no actual consequences,unlike if it was private sector

Haudyourwheesht · 24/05/2021 22:32

@RaspberryCoulis Goodness! Did every parent get the same child's report or did you all get a random one?! That's quite the fuck up.

Mistressinthetulips · 24/05/2021 23:34

@Waitwhat23

Not the same scenario but you've just reminded me of the time that I got into a discussion with my tutor group leader in S6 who insisted I remove my coat during tutor group (on a cold day, in an under-heated room) so I could 'get the benefit of it' when I left to go to my first class. I was 18 at this point!
Come on now, most of us will have been challenged on our coat-status by mothers well into our 30s! GrinBlush Though they usually want us to put one on not take one off.
Torvean · 25/05/2021 06:36

@HopeValley

I'm Scottish but live in England now and have lots of English friends. I find it odd looking back on my S5 and S6 days how little freedom we had compared to my English peers in their final two years (sixth form). We had to a be on site for the whole day even if we had free periods, wear uniform and basically follow exactly the same rules as S1 children despite many of us being 18 by the end. Our parents had to call in sick for us if we were unwell. It seems a funny way to prepare young adults for university...
Scotland is different as we go from March to February for the time given for children to start school. We also have no reception year. In sixth year though, it's much the same as 5th. We stay in the same school and often were doing different highers than in 5th year.

When we finished our exams in 6th year there was not more than 2/3 weeks max before Summer holidays which started in June.

Very few ppl were 18 as it was only children whose birthdays were from March to June. The vast majority of us were still 17.

ssd · 25/05/2021 09:01

Wow thats pretty bad if the school to send out wrong reports like that. I can imagine certain parents running round with their knickers in a twist though. As you say op, poor admin staff!!

Original poster
RaspberryCoulis · 25/05/2021 11:51

Same one child's report emailed to the whole year group. Apparently he's not bothered. But if I was his mum, i'd be so cross.

OP posts:
ssd · 25/05/2021 12:03

Oh that's pretty bad. The boy in question is probably braving it out but he must be mortified. I'd be furious if it was my son.

Happylittlethoughts · 02/06/2021 20:19

My daughter is pretty much free lancing in 6th Year. Why not? She has hardly any "assessments" left and on course for her conditional offer results. It's up to her when she goes in.