grrrrrrr

[niki]

i am bloomin fuming. It has just come to my attention that the school gates which were always locked during school hours (due to keeping children safe from "escape" and abduction)

have been left unlocked and due to the heads instructions will stay that way! her reasons? "to enable swift access to emergency services" well! blow me down if i am wrong but if an ambulance etc was on it's way surely the person that calledthem would know?

My son is hudini for goodness sakes! and up til now i have been comfortable that the school was secure!

[helenl53]

Hi Niki

 

I think that the school need to do a Risk Assessment for your son attending school.

 

I think they then have to remove the risks!

 

Best wishes

 

Helen

 

PS - Phasmid will come along and confirm or correct this post - I hope

[puffin]

I think that you should meet with the head to discuss what measures can be put into place to protect your son.

 

It may be that it is a condition of the school's fire certificate that there is access at all times. I mean if there was (god forbid) a fire - you wouldn't want staff to be diverted from evacuating kids by the need to hunt for keys and unlock gates.

Edited October 21, 2005 by puffin

[helenl53]

Hi Guys,

 

At one of our local schools, the police helicopter had to be called out to search for a child who had been able to leave the school because the gate was open. He was nine years old.

A few months later, I visited this school and was able to walk into the school unchallenged and was approached by some children. A man walked into the school behind me. Despite there being supervisory staff in the playground and despite these children approaching and speaking to myslef and this man, we were not challenged. I reported it to the staff and made the comment that I could have been an abductor or a paedophile and that I or this man could have left the school with any of these children and it would not have been noticed. When I drove off, I noticed some children playing in an area adjoining the school and which contained a bungalow. I was informed that there was ntohing to worrry about - this was the caretakers bungalow - HELLOOOOOOO - Have we forgotten the job of Ian Huntley already!!!!!!

 

More recently, a friend of mine told me that she received a phone call from her son and he was hysterical. She said that then a man's voice came on the phone to say that her son was OK and that he would look after him until someone came to collect him. This man said that he would not take the boy indoors but would sit with him on the wall outside his house. It seems that my friends son had been chased by some school bullies and had run out of the school and was screaming hysterically when this man found him. My friend told me that the school were not even aware that he was not on the school premises (it was after registration) and guess what - it was the same school!!! Is it going to takea tragedy before common sense prevails.

 

I think that in an emergency, there are enough 4 wheel drive vehicles around to make mincemeat of a school gate! - besides, I am sure that the Fire Service would have ways of removing the gate from i'ts hinges etc to gain access.

 

I think there is more risk to the children by having an open gate and that the confilict between open or closed should be looked at. I can't remember who, but someone else posted recently about their small child was in danger because a gate was needing to be left open.

 

Best wishes

 

Helen

[Canopus]

Gates are unlocked for emergency service access.

 

A car caught fire at my school and a fire appliance couldn't access the car park because some bollards were locked upright. Nobody around had the key to the bollards and by the time they were cut down the petrol tank on the car had exploded like a bomb being detonated. Luckily nobody was hurt, but the LEA introduced policy to ensure access to emergency service vehicles throughout times when the school is open.

[Flora]

Reminds me of when my youngest ASD son was in reception. There was a posse of teachers waiting for me when I went to pick him up one day... to ask me to ask him to stop escaping from the school gates at play time (straight on to a very busy road I hasten to add). I couldn't believe my ears! He was none verbal at the time with virtually no understanding of perceptive language. The reason they left the gate open was to let the senior's come and go with ease!!!!! I won't go in to the details of my response but it was quickly sorted out. Don't know where they get these people!

 

Lauren

[nightingales]

Reminds me of when MY son was in Reception too... I found the head + posse of teachers waiting for me to tell me that C must understand that he had to stand still in the playground while the building contractor's lorry DROVE THROUGH IT at PLAYTIME!!!!

 

 

[Zemanski]

As a teacher I would be very worried to find that access to emergency services was restricted in any way - the gate can be closed but it should never be locked when children are in the school.

 

I have experienced several incidents in schools that required immediate access for emergency services; on one occasion a girl collapsed and would have been dead if the ambulance had been delayed even by the couple of minutes it would take to unlock or even destroy the gate.

 

if a child has a tendency to wander out, or to escape, then extra supervision should be in place to ensure that child is safe - this is the school's responsibility.

 

if a child doesn't turn up for registration then it should be investigated immediately, this is the school's responsibility - our son's high school is on the phone within 5 mins of him not turning up, even when he is on the premises and just hasn't got there yet. He has 1-1 supervision but is very slow and tends to lose himself in the building, while his LSA looks, they always check with me, just in case. This is the level of response there should be to any child not turning up for register, never mind one they know needs extra supervision.

 

if school is not doing these things then they are not acting responsibly, if they were locking the gate should not be necessary

 

Zemanski

[niki]

I understand the safety point of view, but the school itself backs out into a HUGE field which is part of the school, i suppose i felt let down because they have always been locked and there were no issues before, and maybe some sort of notification of the change in the policy would be desired, but i cant help but feel unsettled about it, i will make an appointment with the head to discuss this issue and although supervision over breaktimes is good noone has eyes in the back of their heads and ive always been secure in the knowledge that he couldnt get out.

[niki]

oh and by the way in order to get any emergency service THROUGH the gates they would have to move the army of staff cars in front of it!?

[helenl53]

What About Security Gates that are unlocked and opened from the office.

 

Surely there will be some kind of Capital funding for such things.

 

This would then get around the problem of safety of children who are escapologists and also get around the problem of access for emergency services.

 

I feel qute concerned at the ability of people to just enter a school without being chekced out.

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[Zemanski]

it is well documented that peole who are the most danger to children are not strangers but the people they know and trust. I've never been in a school where anyone entering the premises where there were children present has not been immediately greeted and directed politely to the office - even people having a casual glance into the playground to see the children playing are approached sometimes. Someone might wander in an empty playground for a few minutes but they're hardly a danger when it's empty and are always challenged when they're spotted. With all the locks on doors and security codes I sometimes feel we're sending our kids to Alcatraz rather than school.

 

I agree, a kid leaving the premises is a worry but the stranger danger thing is not the issue here.

 

and if they are parking cars across emergency access they are breaking the law.

 

Zemanski

[phasmid]

I'm supposed to be busy writing Level 3 Critical Review and dissertation for college right now (got sidetracked as ever!). Have been searching through an absolute mountain of papers, book, leaflets and so on looking for things to use (if anyone has good - sourcable - quotes on learning theory PLEASE throw them my way). Whilst doing that I found this booklet:

 

Safe School. DfES (2002) Prolog ref no DfES/0504/2002 (Tel 0845 60 222 60 to order a copy)

 

It deals mainly with attacks on members of the school 'community' (mainly staff but most of it applies equally to the children too!). In the back are the following links which may be useful re the situation described in this thread. They are:

 

DfES school security website

 

HSE guidance on risk assessments

 

Hope they help.

[madme]

Just want to say that my son was a few years back attacked and threatened by a fellow pupils mum in the playground and in full view of the staff and nothing was done. The parent was not banned.I was as I deigned to complain yet again to the authorities and that time the police. The head saw me as interferring. My son was thrown against a wall and no one interferred. The school were aware of the dx.,He had apparently spoken to the girl in a way which the mum didnt like. He was apparently retaliating. Nothing was done. The mum had previoulsy attacked another parent( head teacher warned me) and the parent later thtreatened me as I had involved the police. She was however allowed to continue to enter the premises with a warning. The Police couldnt act as staff cliamed not to see anything and other parents too frightened. I was subsequently banned for causing the breakdown of he senco for complaining that they hadnt implemented the iep which they subsequently admitted. If you turn away you dont see and so apparently can get away with it! I tried at the time to get the head to accept that they must accept responsibility. Apparently not

[stressed out mum]

Outrageous

 

My son had a similar problem with one of his teachers.

 

She was about two inches away from his face and bellowing at him about his school work.

 

Fortunately I was outside the classroom at the time (listening to children read) and was able to grab him as he left the classroom and take him straight to the head to complain.

 

The teacher concerned was spoken to but she still shouts constantly at the children. I was told when I trained as an LSA that no shouting for any reason in the classroom was allowed!

 

It is heartbreaking to see your child treated badly I am surprised that you managed to keep cool.