School punctuality

[whenskiesaregrey]

Part of my job role is to monitor attendance and punctuality in a school, the latter being an issue in our school. Parents will regularly rock up 15, 20, 30 minutes late for school. This obviously impacts on the kids and them settling into class, starting their learning etc. The reasons from parents are very often that the parent overslept or they didn't leave on time AKA not real reasons. Or no reason at all! It's always the same families, often multiple siblings. I'm thinking of bringing in a rule that once you've had five lates in one term, the child will start staying in at break to account for however many minutes late they are and catch up on missed work. This will obviously not include extenuating circumstances (SEN, medical etc). If there is a one off problem, this won't affect you (because they will have been late fewer than five times). Kids are primary age. What would you think? AIBU? Is it reasonable to be late more that five times a term for no good reason?

I know it's shocking, I walk passed the same parents every day walking in late, no rush. However, the consistently late parents are most likely the ones that won't care if their child misses breaktime meaning it just punishes the child.

Please don't punish the child. If the parents are late bringing them in so many times in a row, call them in for a meeting with the head. If there is no real reason for lateness then perhaps fining the parent? But this may result in these lates turning into absenteeism instead...so?! Not sure what you could do really.

10% That is going to make a huge impact on everyone. Are there concerns from senior leaders and if there are, what do they suggest?

i've also called emergency contacts if they are late after register closes and I cant get through to them- this is our standard procedure after the case of that poor child whose mum died and no one found him until it was too late. Often their contact (which is usually their own mum) gives them a lecture and they come in on time for a bit.

Sorry, I've missed loads of posts.

Can you rejig timetables to put some popular activities first thing? PE/ music/ fireman visits/ cake eating? But possibly not all flagged up in advance? Hopefully the late children wouldn’t completely miss the fun, and it might encourage parents to see what they are missing?

At my primary, a child who was 10~15mins late was always counted as ‘abscent’ (As per school report) so much so the HT asked parents to not take a child to see the GP around 8.30 (too many abscences for the school) but after the register was taken.

I would remind parents of the rule and then apply rules linked with abscences rather than lateness. Or is that too harsh???

We're just moving this over to the staffroom at OP's request.

It is of concern.

We have tried school bus, early morning phone calls, knocking on the door to pick the children up, meetings, gates locked and entrance through reception, arduous signing in routine, positive incentives for being on time. All to no avail. It is the same parents, the same families, that live just round the corner, who have "slept in" or similar.

But as I've said, it's back to the drawing board. I've broached the idea of breakfast club in the past but it hasn't been possible.

Agree with others - it is completely unfair to punish a child for actions of a parent. It is also utterly unreasonable to make a child suffer so you can hit your work performance targets.

Play is important for children. For many children, school playtimes are their only chance to play with other children. Play is vital for children's development and socialisation.

Furthermore - a child who has not had time to play will be more likely to be disruptive in lessons. There are plenty of case studies where increasing play time/ quality of play, improves children's bebaviour in class.

We have no external services. It is left to school to resolve, and there are repercussions if we don't.

What are the repercussions? Something to do with OFSTED?

Have you actually asked any of your teaching colleagues if they're prepared to supervise these children in their break time?

Coz like fuck would I do it, even if I was in my classroom.

Sorry, but whilst I can sympathise I'm afraid your proposed tactics won't work. One of my DD's has serious MH problems [has been hospitalised at times]. She is fairly chaotic when unstable and her children were often late for school due to DD's total lack of organisation. When the school introduced sanctions for lateness my DGC's attendance sadly plummeted as DD decided it would be better/easier to keep her little ones at home all day rather than risk the lateness sanctions. I tried very hard to help but largely to no avail I'm afraid. [Sorry, very complex but would be outing to offer further explanation.]
Also, some people really don't understand the importance of education or routine for that matter.

If my child was punished like that when it was not her fault any subsequent lateness would end up in a day off school. Its a bloody stupid idea.

It sounds like you’ve tried everything OP. Hope you find a solution

I'm a parent who sometimes ends up arriving 5-10 minutes late. My DDs are adopted and DD1 (10 next month) has SEN and behavioural problems. She spends half an hour sometimes refusing to cooperate with getting ready for school.

Obviously there will be some parents who can't be arsed, but I suspect there will be others who are under a lot of stress, and you won't know which ones are in which category.

Would a local suoermarket sponsor the breakfast club? Or donate the cereal, bread , etc?

I think the unwritten breakfast club rule needs to go when it is the welfare of children vs stepping on toes. I know you’ve asked but I think pushing this could be worth it.

If U then reiterate that unauthorised absences can lead to fines. Which county are you in? Staffordshire fine for 10 unauthorised lates (discretion of headteacher). However, fining hasn’t been shown to reduce lateness! Could asking county to help with a letter directly from them have any effect?

Re always missing the same lesson, I think I would change the day around. Assembly at that time instead (if you have daily ones)?

Could you (or the office) ring the families at 7:30am to check Xx is going to arrive on time that morning? Each phone call would only last 20 seconds so you could get loads done in 10 mins.

10% is a lot and impacts on all children if lessons are disrupted. I like the suggestion of the Head being there at some drop offs and can the. Ask to see the parents there and then. If you have an electronic system could you print off reports off to show hem how much time is being missed? We introduced this and it did shock some parents when they had to give a reason. Ageee with making it as difficult as possible for parents e.g. meetings, forms to complete.

They need to see the Head and you need to document everything that you are trying to do. Do you have good relationships with nearby schools - could you ask them. What they do?

Could you use PP funding for some incentives? Whatever you do you need to do it consistently to break the habit.

My school has similar issues (I'm a Governor). We have a staff member who works tirelessly at this and it's always a struggle. She knocks on doors, they've tried meetings with the HT, it sometimes has an impact but doesn't usually last. The only thing that has worked is when they introduced a breakfast club, targeting the children for whom this was a persistent problem and who were able to get themselves in to school. The school bought them alarm clocks and told the kids to get up, get dressed and come into school for a free breakfast, basically removing the parents from their routine altogether. It's incredibly sad that it's necessary but they've had some success with it.

I hate the idea of keeping kids in at break to be honest, I know you must be frustrated but I don't think that's the answer.

Sorry - seen you’ve tried a lot of the ideas already. It sounds tough.

Some people just don’t care. One of DDs classmates lives a 30 second walk from school.
The child is always late. They just don’t get out of bed and they try to leave home when the school bell rings but are already running late at 8.50am. Her mum doesn’t even walk her anymore and just opens the door.
The child is frequently off school because she is ‘tired’ or ‘has a cold’. Her mother has no ambition for her daughter at all and it suits her to keep her daughter at home as company.
Many of the secondaries nearby start before 8.30am, next year is going to be a huge shock for them.

Is this something you could look into OP?

www.magicbreakfast.com

Beware of whatever you put in place makes families who find they are running late in the morning start to think it's better to keep their child off that day. If a child thinks they are going to lose their break once they are late, they may well refuse to come in at all.

Similarly, if you ring, the number will either show up as "school" or "unknown". Who's going to answer the phone knowing they are going to be told off? You have to start from where the families are, which may not be where you want them to be. For some families, getting out the door in the morning is a major achievement.

Call in parents and explain the importance of being on-time, effects on education of persistent lateness. Listen to what they say are the difficulties and work with them on solving them. What is the atmosphere like on the playground before school opens? Would it put some people off? (i.e. it's easier to face the office staff than the mass of other parents).

Run regular, but not predictable, late-sweeps, get staff out to talk to parents as they come in the gate. Talk to the children informally at lunchtime and formally through school council, run assemblies. Work out if there are advantages in being late - easier to park, no waiting in the cold, opportunity for a cosy chat with a friendly face in the office, avoiding the class teacher asking for a "quick word"?

The "unwritten rule" about Breakfast club needs to be scrapped - it's clearly not there to benefit the children. Could you run a parent and child breakfast club, or have a morning activity/ sports club to encourage children to come in early?