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thereyougothenToday, the boys got the school bus for the first time in normal school term (we had tried it out for summer school). Today is also the first day of after school activities.
Thomas and Nico are both signed up for Choir. So there I am downstairs, with bleeding fingers, trying to pin a collar onto a shirt and my phone goes. It's someone at the school, I don't know who becasue she didn't identify herself. I answered and in not particularly good english I was asked if I was Nico's mum. So yes, why? What's going on? She said something along the lines of he was trying to get on a bus. Well, he's not supposed to get the bus home, just *to* school, and I said he was supposed to be at choir. Strange woman then said something along the lines of well, he doesn't want to, he wants to go home. She tried to give him the phone, but he wouldn't speak to me, I think he was a little freaked.
So I raced up to school, all the while on the phone to the school secretary telling her she better damn well have someone and an explanation waiting for me in front of the school, becasue I was, to put it mildly, hopping mad.
I arrived at the school and my phone starts ringing again, it's N's teacher. She has him, and says it's all sorted out now, and not to worry. Oh hah fucking hah. So I race around the bloody school grounds to find them, and then eventually do. Both of N's teachers and the ECC head, I gave him a big hug and he said he wanted to go home and was very clingy, but we managed to talk him into at least going over to the music room to see if he might like to stay. we get there to see that Thomas has been saving a seat and ok, he'll stay...
So, I go outside with his teachers and we try and work out what happened. It turns out that his name was missed off the after school list. The first day of after school activities is mayhem, so one teacher took the one child who was going on the bus to the bus, the other teacher was to take the after school activity kids to their respective classes, but that left 4 "car" kids to be picked up, These 4 kids were left with a parent while Miss A took the others to after school clubs. Nico was included in those 4. So somehow, N must have got the idea that if I wasn't there and he wasn't gong to after school, he must be on the bus. Hence me getting a call from a woman who might have been the transportation director's secretary. But since she didn't identify herself, we may never know. Aargh.
After after-school, Thomas was telling me that he saw that N wasn't in the after school activities "holding area", and he tried to tell Miss A, but she was busy talking to someone else and didn't notice him.
Aargh. Thomas was trying to look after his little brother, a task that he takes very seriously, but was foiled in the attempt.
I don't really know what his teacher should have been expected to do in the circumstances. She had to take the other kids, I guess there was a parent there that she felt she could leave these 4 uncollected kids with, probably one of the "room moms". She said to me, "you know I would never leave any child unsupervised". Anyway, I don't know how he got from the custody of whatever other parent it was, to trying to catch a bus.
I am hoping I will be updated on this tomorrow. I've said I won't make a fuss, but after what happened on the first day of summer school*, which I don't seem to have mentioned here, I really want an explanation. Or I will start to make fuss after fuss after fuss. I don't like my kid getting lost at school. It's really not good enough.
however, after speaking to the teachers, and asking them to set Miss Mimi onto finding out what happened, I went to the supermercado and bought some sticky buns to have as a treat, and treated myself to a cafe mocha from starbucks. then went back and got them, and they had both enjoyed choir. hallelujah for that.
now i have to get them to do homework.
and Bill is away at a conference for a couple of days, so I can't rant to him about this tonight, hence trying to get it out of my system now!
I know that I panicked on the phone and maybe I shouldn't have, but this is the second time he's been left adrift, and I didn't know who I was talking to, and she was trying to get N to talk to me and he was refusing, and all I heard was "bus" and I had visions of him getting on a bus when he wasn't supposed to. At least there are safeguards there to make sure that no kid rides a bus who isn't supposed to, but he should never have got that far. Aargh.
*The first day of summer school - they went on the bus, there was an assembly, and then the kids were all called away to their classes, but N never heard his class called, so he did the sensible thing and stuck with Thomas. Which meant he went to cookery class and martial arts with Thomas, but when it came time for Thomas to get on the bus to go to his swimming lesson, N couldn't go, becasue he had no suit. So someone realised he should be in the kinder class and took him there. But didn't the cookery or martial arts teacher realise that he shouldn't be in their class either?
Five year old child doesn't turn up for summer school and no one cares? No one looked for him, so he went wherever he wanted, luckily where he wanted was to go with his brother. So when they got home they told me all this, so I phoned the school and tried to keep my temper in check but probably failed miserably. They had no explanation, they said his name was called, and he didn't respond. I said he's 5, for god's sake, he probably didn't hear it. Anyway, then we had this discussion over whether he should stay in the classes with Thomas or go to the kinder ones. I said I'd rather he was in the kinder class, but it would be difficult to get him to do that when cooking, martial arts and swimming sounded more fun, so I agreed that he could do Thomas's classes. So I sent him the next day with his swimming stuff, and guess what? They sent him to the kinder class. This school prides itself on being the best in Chile. I'm yet to be convinced.
Thomas and Nico are both signed up for Choir. So there I am downstairs, with bleeding fingers, trying to pin a collar onto a shirt and my phone goes. It's someone at the school, I don't know who becasue she didn't identify herself. I answered and in not particularly good english I was asked if I was Nico's mum. So yes, why? What's going on? She said something along the lines of he was trying to get on a bus. Well, he's not supposed to get the bus home, just *to* school, and I said he was supposed to be at choir. Strange woman then said something along the lines of well, he doesn't want to, he wants to go home. She tried to give him the phone, but he wouldn't speak to me, I think he was a little freaked.
So I raced up to school, all the while on the phone to the school secretary telling her she better damn well have someone and an explanation waiting for me in front of the school, becasue I was, to put it mildly, hopping mad.
I arrived at the school and my phone starts ringing again, it's N's teacher. She has him, and says it's all sorted out now, and not to worry. Oh hah fucking hah. So I race around the bloody school grounds to find them, and then eventually do. Both of N's teachers and the ECC head, I gave him a big hug and he said he wanted to go home and was very clingy, but we managed to talk him into at least going over to the music room to see if he might like to stay. we get there to see that Thomas has been saving a seat and ok, he'll stay...
So, I go outside with his teachers and we try and work out what happened. It turns out that his name was missed off the after school list. The first day of after school activities is mayhem, so one teacher took the one child who was going on the bus to the bus, the other teacher was to take the after school activity kids to their respective classes, but that left 4 "car" kids to be picked up, These 4 kids were left with a parent while Miss A took the others to after school clubs. Nico was included in those 4. So somehow, N must have got the idea that if I wasn't there and he wasn't gong to after school, he must be on the bus. Hence me getting a call from a woman who might have been the transportation director's secretary. But since she didn't identify herself, we may never know. Aargh.
After after-school, Thomas was telling me that he saw that N wasn't in the after school activities "holding area", and he tried to tell Miss A, but she was busy talking to someone else and didn't notice him.
Aargh. Thomas was trying to look after his little brother, a task that he takes very seriously, but was foiled in the attempt.
I don't really know what his teacher should have been expected to do in the circumstances. She had to take the other kids, I guess there was a parent there that she felt she could leave these 4 uncollected kids with, probably one of the "room moms". She said to me, "you know I would never leave any child unsupervised". Anyway, I don't know how he got from the custody of whatever other parent it was, to trying to catch a bus.
I am hoping I will be updated on this tomorrow. I've said I won't make a fuss, but after what happened on the first day of summer school*, which I don't seem to have mentioned here, I really want an explanation. Or I will start to make fuss after fuss after fuss. I don't like my kid getting lost at school. It's really not good enough.
however, after speaking to the teachers, and asking them to set Miss Mimi onto finding out what happened, I went to the supermercado and bought some sticky buns to have as a treat, and treated myself to a cafe mocha from starbucks. then went back and got them, and they had both enjoyed choir. hallelujah for that.
now i have to get them to do homework.
and Bill is away at a conference for a couple of days, so I can't rant to him about this tonight, hence trying to get it out of my system now!
I know that I panicked on the phone and maybe I shouldn't have, but this is the second time he's been left adrift, and I didn't know who I was talking to, and she was trying to get N to talk to me and he was refusing, and all I heard was "bus" and I had visions of him getting on a bus when he wasn't supposed to. At least there are safeguards there to make sure that no kid rides a bus who isn't supposed to, but he should never have got that far. Aargh.
*The first day of summer school - they went on the bus, there was an assembly, and then the kids were all called away to their classes, but N never heard his class called, so he did the sensible thing and stuck with Thomas. Which meant he went to cookery class and martial arts with Thomas, but when it came time for Thomas to get on the bus to go to his swimming lesson, N couldn't go, becasue he had no suit. So someone realised he should be in the kinder class and took him there. But didn't the cookery or martial arts teacher realise that he shouldn't be in their class either?
Five year old child doesn't turn up for summer school and no one cares? No one looked for him, so he went wherever he wanted, luckily where he wanted was to go with his brother. So when they got home they told me all this, so I phoned the school and tried to keep my temper in check but probably failed miserably. They had no explanation, they said his name was called, and he didn't respond. I said he's 5, for god's sake, he probably didn't hear it. Anyway, then we had this discussion over whether he should stay in the classes with Thomas or go to the kinder ones. I said I'd rather he was in the kinder class, but it would be difficult to get him to do that when cooking, martial arts and swimming sounded more fun, so I agreed that he could do Thomas's classes. So I sent him the next day with his swimming stuff, and guess what? They sent him to the kinder class. This school prides itself on being the best in Chile. I'm yet to be convinced.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-02 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-02 08:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-02 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-02 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-02 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 12:03 am (UTC)I don't care what the teacher was dealing with. Leaving a child with A PARENT isn't good enough. That parent could be a moron, or a complete dork.
And the parent was not checked for working with children, I can bet.
As a teacher myself, I think the teacher who left 5 kids, including one that shouldn't be there, with a parent.. wasn't being responsible.
I'm glad everyone was okay. But I'd be reading the riot act, not being all understanding.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 06:49 pm (UTC)E's after school place is known to be really bad at this. I didn't believe how bad it was until it happened to us, and not just once... It's better now the school and after school place actually communicate and has stopped pointing fingers at each other, but still they managed to send him home to an empty house only a few weeks ago, because 'he didnt want to go to football practice'!
And this is scary enough here where the school is only minutes away (safe enough for Erik to walk on his own), and in a neighbourhood where 'everybody' knows them. I can only imagine how freaked out I would be in a new city where they might end up in a totally strange place. Not to mention when you are left unsure whether they take it seriously... hope N wasn't too scared.
Tine
no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 09:58 pm (UTC)