A mum has told of her anger after her daughter was left waiting alone by the side of a road for an hour after an after school club was cancelled.
Writing on Mumsnet, she explained that her daughter was in Year 6 and the youngster usually walked from school to a small nearby village where she would be picked up by her mum. But, as the club was cancelled, the girl ended up waiting by herself for an hour.
It's every parents nightmare to discover that your child has been left high and dry by a mix-up, especially if they're young. The school concerned has not been named.
Starting a thread titled "To be furious with daughters school", she wrote: "Year 6 daughter. I came to pick her up yesterday from after school club to find that they had cancelled the club and my daughter had stood waiting for me for an hour, by the side of the road, all alone.
Read More: Mum asks what age children can walk to school alone after head's email raising safety concerns
"She walks from school and I pick her up from the small village on her request, to give her some independence in preparation for secondary soon. I have a new job and have specifically given the school instructions to contact me on my work number because I have zero reception or internet at work.
"BUT the school hadn’t even attempted to contact the parents to say the after school club had been cancelled. They had only sent an email.
"When I later looked at the email it clearly says 'Please can you reply to this email to confirm you have received it' and normally they phone to check if they don't hear back. But they hadn’t, they had told her I had been made aware and let her leave at usual time.
"AIBU (am I being unreasonable) to be furious with them? I know some of you may think that Year 6 she should be able to deal with this but she had no phone and no money. And in future, yea I will make sure she has a phone with her to school."
Her post attracted scores of replies, with many parents saying the incident was shocking and urging the mum to put in a complaint to the school.
"I would be livid," said one, while another added: "That’s disgraceful, and a safeguarding issue. Report to the designated safeguarding lead at the school."
A third wrote: "Emails have a place. But for me if you're cancelling something with such short notice, you should phone."
And another parent commented: "That's terrible and seems like a possible safeguarding issue. Nobody looks at their emails minute by minute to see if they're updated. You should definitely complain."
Others advised the mum to speak to her daughter about what she should do in situations like this in the future.
What advice do you give your child if they walk to school alone? Let us know in the comments below
One school worker said: "I work in a school where we allow children from Y4 to go out and meet their parents. The caveat is always that if the parent isn’t where they’re expecting them to be, they walk back into school and we’ll phone the list of contacts. Our parents also say that to the children. Worth a conversation with your daughter on what she should do if you are not at the meeting place."
Another Mumsnet user added: "Absolutely if they didn't follow procedure I'd be complaining. As an aside I'd get a child of Year 6 a phone if they've started to travel alone. A basic non smartphone to make calls will be fine and also give them some emergency money."
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