Dead child expected to be at school still...

[Kier]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1104477_letter_shock_for_grieving_parents

THE parents of a girl who died suddenly two months ago have been sent a letter from her school demanding she improves her attendance.

Signed by the deputy headmaster, the letter threatened to ban Megan Gillan from the end of year prom.

 

[vikerina19]

 

[EmmaM88]

I read about this on BBC news I think, it is awful how can they make a c**k up like that? Surely the admin staff in the school would have recognised the name, you dont forget a name when something bad happens.

 

[CLXCraig]

Fair enough if the school didn't know. but they must have done.

 

[Jonnio]

Heard this on the news, tis pretty bad but they blatently mustn't have informed them properly.

 

[Kier]

Heard this on the news, tis pretty bad but they blatently mustn't have informed them properly.

I'm pretty sure the school would have known, something like that doesn't happen very often, so the staff will have heard about it.

 

[Venters]

God damn admin should be taken outside and the parents of the girl should be allowed to shoot them dead for making a single mistake like that!

 

[Andy Monty]

Then again there will probably be some silly computerized system for attendance set up by some IT bod which if its anything like some schools doesn't work half the time staff arn't trained how to update it and it prints the twagging letters off automatically,

If you had to sign 150 letters about poor attendance would you read each one? On top of the other mountain of paperwork you have to do Dealing with kids who have been kicked out of classes, parents complains, and general running of the school?

my mothers is a teacher and its ridiculous the amount of paper shuffling they have to do on top of marking kids work,
planning for lesson,
Filing kids work,
Designing things to put on the intelligent white board (where as at one point you'd have written it in chalk during the lesson)
evaluating each lesson,
kids personal profiles,
collating Exam/test results,
That on top of actually trying to teach.

you should see the mountain of work my mum comes home with every night she must spend 2 hours at home jugling papers and most of saturday night and most of the summer holidays sorting out the class room and paperwork for the new school year.


Look at how many other organizations send out letters, my grandma still gets letters from companies addressed to my Granddad, who has been dead nearly 4 years despite informing them they still come through the letterbox as his name must still be on the database somewhere and no one has taken it off.......

 

[Kier]

I understand that teachers are busy etc, but how often does a child die at your mums school? Its something that everyone is going to know, at my brothers school (admitally its different as he goes to a special needs school, when a child dies, most the parents find know about it, as well as teachers etc).

I dont see how you can blame the amount of paperwork teachers have to do something like that.

 

[ChrisUK]

Computer glitch my ar**, more like lazy staff failing to update pupil records.....

 

[Andy Monty]

I understand that teachers are busy etc, but how often does a child die at your mums school?

Oh it does happen......

but like a lot of things everything is evolving piling on more work. Management as in other industries are piling on the workload and introducing more and more computer "aids" which create more not less work....

they send staff and admin on these "learn to use a new computer program" type courses which generally goes straight over their heads as its some IT boffin explaining it and not someone who can come down to their level. Stuff changes so often as in other industry you just get used to one way of working then it changes which is fine if you work in an office all day you soon get used to it But a teacher with 101 other things on their mind (dealing with bullying, child abuse, dinner money, Ofsted, and keeping the kids safe the wretched computer is often the last thing on their minds. To update records only cirtain members of the admin/staff will have the authority to amend details which it looks like they had done however the girls details were also on a different part of the computer program..


"He said: “Unknown to the school, Megan’s details had remained in a different part of the computer system and were called up when the school did a mail merge letter to the parents of all Year 11 students. The letter called up details of each student’s attendance for the whole year to date and because Megan had been on roll in September, she was included."


Look at school registers now many schools have a swipe card register so the central computer knows who's in class where as only a few years ago it was good old black and red pen and the register and the teacher dealt with absences directly and didn't rely on a computer sending a letter home Everything is becoming so detached the good old "computer says no" been quiet apt..


You only have to look at the other spectacular cock ups other government agency's make (Passports, Immigration, NHS, DVLA) to realize its not a one off and no doubt will be repeated again and again as they grow ever more dependent on the computer especially with the introduction of the large academy type schools.....


Its a Sad case of IT been over complicated and that someone shoved a letter in the envelope when it should have gone through the shredder(or not printed in the first place) but i bet its not an isolated case.

 

[dannygp]

Computer glitch my ar**, more like lazy staff failing to update pupil records.....

^^^

No way in hell should this have happened. Heard about it on Radio1, the family must have been speechless