Ten Lates In One Term...

[ummmm]

Just read a message from my sons school. Apparently if a child is late 10 times in 1 term the parents will be fined £60.

Do you think this is acceptable?

[ummmm]

FF...some teenagers wander round like snails.

I'm so glad all my kids had paper rounds (youngest still does, 7 days a week)

[bednobs]

i think it is reasonable. terms are only ten weeks i think - that's late once a week. Every taxpayer in the UK has no choice but to pay for educating other people's children - they should be able to expect that those children will turn up on time.

[DaisyNonna]

Is it legal?

[factor-fiction]

Terms are 13 weeks on average so we are talking about 10 lates over 65 days which means being late on 15% of days

[factor-fiction]

"Do the teachers also get fined for every time they can't be @rsed to turn up because there's snow on their driveway?"
Well usually I'm there at least an hour before the students normally arrive and well before the decision is taken to close the school.
Closures have happened on average on one day every two years in my experience.

[DaisyNonna]

How late is late?
Many youngsters in my town travel by public transport, road and rail.
Not necessarily their fault.

[ummmm]

9:15am at this school and that's giving some leeway.

[factor-fiction]

If it's one of the school buses - or one of the taxis used- that's late then schools normally make allowance

[Peter Pedant]

If you wanna make a thing of it

contact the HM and say they cant just say 'Late! - penalty'
they have to inquire into the reason - flat tyre I think wouldnt count, stayed in bed might count...

You could also link it with the issue of supply teachers and say the lessons on his part have to be worth turning up to - er - must be of sufficient quality and he must know the unsettling effect of supply teachers. [children dont learn as much ]

[Peter Pedant]

btw sorry umm
does anyone know where the canadian dialect question is?
I wanna answer it. thx sozza ummm

[bhg481]

For PP

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1386796.html

[ToraToraTora]

Yes, is being late 10 times acceptable?

[ummmm]

Unless there's a good reason being late is never acceptable.

My point is that with teenagers who make their own way to school parents have less control. And then what happens if they can't afford the fine.

[factor-fiction]

I'd suggest that in those circumstances it's a good time for the parent and child to have a conversation about the importance of not being late so often so that the parents are not put in the difficult position of facing further times they can't afford

[factor-fiction]

I'm sure I typed "fines" not "times"

[Tefler]

People who work at schools aren't generally ogres. It is most likely that the fine would be for lateness without good cause. It might be an unpopular thing to say, but surely if 'punctuality is out of the parents' control' to the extent that the student is late this number of times, something is wrong. In my experience, it can be amazing how much more control a parent finds he/she has when the alternative has a direct effect on his/her convenience or pocket.

[Retrochic]

joeluke the children's parents aren't getting fined 'every time' they are late -the child has to be late 10 times in a Term which is at least once a week. I would think a teacher would get some sort of disciplinary measures if they were regularly late. I would p[resume lateness upsets everyone and the only way schools can bang home to parents the importance of punctuality is where it hurts them most -the wallet.