Dublin People - School's out for late students

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School's out for late students

Thursday, 09 October 2008

A BALLYMUN father has questioned a school’s punctuality policy whereby students are told to return home for half a day if they are just a few minutes late for school.
Second year Trinity Comprehensive student, Jack McCreary, has missed six half days of school because of the policy.
His frustrated father described the penalty as “heavy-handed” and not in the best interest of students.
“He has been just two and three minutes late for school and he gets sent home,” Rodney McCreary told Northside People.
“Anyone who knows what teenage boys are like will understand that a 13-year-old can often be a bit lackadaisical when it comes to time keeping.
“We are trying our best to get our teenager to school on time.
“While I do accept that he would disrupt the first class if he’s late and that he should be penalised, I don’t think that sending him home for five classes is warranted.
“Students should be sent to the library or given lines to do until the next class begins.
“The policy is open to be abused by students who know that if they are late for school, they’ll get a half day off.”
He added: “Teenagers are teenagers at the end of the day.”
Rodney emphasised that his son is a good student and is well liked by his teachers.
“We were speaking to his form teacher the other day who said that Jack is an overall good student but that he was missing a lot of his school because of lateness,” Mr McCreary said.
“It’s affecting his education.
“Jack gets the bus at 8.20am every school morning but with Ballymun the way it is with all the road works and detours, he’s not always able to make it to school on time.
“It is very frustrating to know that after getting a bus to school he’s told to turn on his heels and go home because he’s just a few minutes late.
“Also, it’s not right that these students are being sent home when their parents may not necessarily be there to let them in.”
It is understood that Trinity Comprehensive introduced the punctuality policy just this year.
“I really think the policy is more damaging to students and that it should be reviewed,” Rodney concluded.
His son Jack told Northside People that he wanted to learn but he had being turned away from school for being late.
Trinity Comprehensive principal, Des Kelly, said the issue related to an internal policy within the school and he did not wish to comment on the matter.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said that while it could not comment on individual cases, the governance of school policies is at the discretion of its board of management.
“In general, the board has the responsibility to ensure that the school operates efficiently and effectively,” it was stated.
“With regard to Guideline on discipline in schools, Section 23 of the Education Welfare Act 2000 requires all schools to have in place a Code of Behaviour.
“The school principal is required, before registering a child in the school, to provide the child’s parents with a copy of the code of behaviour and may, as a condition of registering the child, require parents to confirm in writing that the code is acceptable to them.”

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