School Safety Issue

flossymcfly

Just canvassing for opinions really...

We are in Scotland so the schools have already broken up for the summer, but the week before there was a child safety issue within the school and I am unsure if I am overreacting or not.

Basically, the school runs a breakfast club for children (at the instruction of the council, all schools in the area do) and when this finishes at 8:45 the children are taken out to the playground before school starts at 9. Primary 2-7 children play in the playground with support staff supervision but the Primary 1 children are placed into the football pitch area with no supervision. Two of the children in the class left through an open gate (gate is open every day) and were found up the street by another parent who brought them back to the school. I know the parents of the children involved have taken this up with the school and council but this is where the concern comes in.

The head teacher has said that once breakfast club finishes at 8:45, the school is not responsible for the children and is refusing to put anything in place to stop this happening again, she even suggested it's the responsibility of other parents to watch the children if they want to be perceived as 'patrons of the community'. The council are saying they don't have enough manpower to supervise the playground AND the football pitch and it seems to just be a lot of passing the buck with nobody taking responsibility for the issue.

Am I right to feel annoyed? My child will be going into Primary 2 after the holidays so he will be in the safety of the playground but the new Primary 1 children will be exposed to the same risk (there is a main road right outside the school which is a bus route). I would hate for something to happen and think I could have done something to prevent it if I had taken things further.

flossymcfly

Apologies, this was meant to be in the Marriage, Relationships and Families board. Can this be moved by mods please?

Spendless

Im unfamiliar with the Scottish school system but if Im understanding this correctly, the youngest children (primary 1) are left unsupervised in a football pitch. Whilst the older kids (primary 2-7) are supervised? Where's the sense in that. Who are the support staff supervising the older kids and why aren't the younger ones altogether with the older obes?

tacpot12

I think you are right to be annoyed at the risk that your own child was placed in, but that risk has now passed. Your annoyance is best directed to ensure that a solution is found. Supporting the parents of the children who were found wandering should be your first aim - if they are able to work effectively with the council and school, the problem should get fixed. If they aren't able to work effectively with the school and council for whatever reason, you may need to get more involved.

While reying on adults in the neighbourhood to do the right thing is not an unreasonable expectation, it's also not a valid solution to this problem.

marcia_

You can go directly to ofsted with this type of concern if they cover Scotland? 

sheramber

marcia_ said:

You can go directly to ofsted with this type of concern if they cover Scotland? 

No, they don't.

In cotland it is Education Scotland  and the Care Commsion.

Savvy_Sue

Mind-boggling! As a practical suggestion, if that area cannot be kept secure, should the Breakfast Club not provide a member of staff to supervise the P1 children in the football area or elsewhere? Or could they be escorted to their classrooms early? 

I know both these suggestions have a knock-on effect - clearing up in the Club is a person short, or classroom staff have children arriving early. But the alternative is completely untenable to me. 

Out of interest, why can the P1 children not be with the others? Could that happen if the Breakfast Club provided an extra pair of eyes? 

theoretica

Does the school have a policy about collecting kids/what happens at the end of the school day?  Perhaps that would be useful to highlight discrepancies and that the school does then continue responsibility after their hours have finished.

Sapindus

If the school runs the breakfast club, how can this be termed "wrap-around care"?  More like "gap-around".  I don't see how the school are complying with the council's direction to run a fit-for-purpose breakfast club if it doesn't provide wrap-around care. As others have said - mind-boggling.

flossymcfly

Thanks everyone for confirming I'm not crazy to be annoyed about this 

Personally, I cannot see the rationale behind the P1 children being separated, I cannot fathom the logic and, no matter how much the headteacher may protest her innocence, it is her who decides where the children go when they leave the breakfast club. It's like speaking to a brick wall though, lots of other issues with her which I won't go into as they're not relevant here.

theoretica said:

Does the school have a policy about collecting kids/what happens at the end of the school day?  Perhaps that would be useful to highlight discrepancies and that the school does then continue responsibility after their hours have finished.

Yeah, the P1 children have to be handed over to an adult at the gate before they are allowed to leave. It's deemed unsafe for them to leave at the end of the day unsupervised but not in the morning 

The council are saying they don't have the manpower to supervise the pitch...so surely the easiest solution would be to keep all children in the playground? Nope, the headteacher won't do that and just says it's the Support Staff responsibility to monitor the children, but the Support Staff argue that it's her decision where the children go. Cannot win!!

Savvy_Sue

Do you have Governors up there? I'd be going to the Chair in that situation. (Although I have known heads with a mind of their own, who've caused an exodus of parents who preferred the highway to the head's way!)