Induction day-school has forgotten my daughters existence!

[user1468352691]

My DD had a terrible induction day. Her primary school class walked up to the high school, lined up in the playground then the form tutors came out and took the children who were going to be in their class. DD was excited as we had been told that she'd be in the same form as all of her friends, but then the form tutor didn't have her name on his list, and neither did any of the other form tutors.

Someone at the school made a terrible cock-up and even though we had it confirmed many times that my daughter had a place at the school, the school apparently have no record of it, despite the fact the school emailed us themselves in June.

She was then sent to sit in a year 8 class (the school couldn't find anywhere else to put her for the day) , she said these year 8's would ask her who she was and taunt her. After sitting in her first class with these year 8's, no staff came to collect her so she had to walk around the school in tears trying to find the main reception area. Then, for the rest of the day she was sat in reception doing text book work because none of the staff knew what to do with her. The primary school grouped back up and walked back down, it wasn't until I went to pick her up when I found out, as her teacher wanted to "have a word" with me. I'm absolutely fuming. DD started crying in the car on the way back so I made her some hot chocolate, we had a cuddle and I told her we'd sort it but I don't know what to do. I'm having doubts about sending her to this school after this.

Op did you call the school today?

As a teacher and recent Year 7 tutor I am so sad to hear this. I know your daughter will be very upset. I would mention it to her primary school teacher(s), so that they can be sensitive when talking about secondary school transition now.

As others have said, I can't imagine what the school was thinking, either add her to another group while working out which group she will actually be in come September or, if they didn't think she should be there, phone you to collect her or discuss. However, my saying this now won't help the situation. I hope, at the least, the school can confirm that she does have a place and which tutor group she will be in (then possibly you could take her back one day after school to meet her new tutor?)

I can't imagine how this happened. Too many questions!

When your daughter was still left after the others had been put into a class, where were the staff who walked them up from the primary school?

What does the email say that you got in June?

What did you reply to it?

Have you received and returned paperwork from the school/filling in contact details/consent forms/health forms etc?

If this actually happened, they sound full and your child has no place for September but I can't imagine how you would think they had a place?

I didn't think primary school teachers stay at the school on induction day do they? Ours met with their new class back at primary school. They did meet with the secondary teacher in charge of transition, but that was at the primary school on another day.

Have the new school sent you a form asking for contact details?They would definitely have don this if they were expecting her for induction day.
To be brutal I don't think she has a place.The reason I suspect why they didn't let her in with the other induction children is so that you didn't use this as ammunition in a potential appeal.If they had had your contact details they would surely have rung you up to find out what the heck she was doing there.

Snowy Agree with everything you've said but then could the school not have asked the OP's daughter for her parents' contact details and then phoned to explain that she had turned up at the induction day and doesn't actually have a place at the school? It is odd that they "kept" her all day if they believed there was no reason for her to be there.

I have never accepted a school place, in my area they assume you're coming unless you say otherwise - maybe it's the same in the OP's LA.

You get an email saying you've got a place and then you start getting transfer information from the secondary school. Did your DD try to contact you during the day to try and get it sorted out there and then? Like others I just can't imagine a school putting an extra year 7 child in with a year 8 class, surely that's a totally bonkers thing to do.

When I did transition, we visited the primary schools and checked with the staff against our lists. They weren't put into tutor groups at that time and we emphasised that the group they were with on that day would not be the tutor group in September.

All the induction children were brought either by their parents, or under their own steam. The Year 6 teachers would be needed at their own school for their own induction.

I'm wondering if something has gone amiss during the application process and the OP, having moved, thought it was cut and dried when it wasn't.

If we had had a child there whose name didn't appear on any list, we'd be contacting the primary school and/ or admissions. We wouldn't have left a child adrift all day either. If nothing was resolved, we'd have contacted a parent and tried to find out what had happened.

So, OP, what happened today?