10 Excuses for being late to school. Village version
When you live in a village and your school is not more than ten to fifteen minutes walk away, excuses for lateness are pretty limited. The usual, “teacher the bus was late” or “there was a lot of traffic” and “there was a car accident on the way” are not available to you so it forces our students to get creative with their excuses
- I was brushing my teeth. (Number one and two are common on a Monday morning because Monday is the day we check student cleanliness. Should I then ask how long it takes to brush your teeth, excuse number 2 is thrown into the mix.)
- I was bathing.
- I was eating. Even the kids now know that having breakfast is commendable. If your parents are able to provide breakfast then it’s worth being late for school to fill your tummy and they expect me to get that.
- My mother sent me to fetch water from the well. That’s another way of saying, blame my mother not me.
- I was playing football. This is as honest as an answer gets. Turns out some of the boys from the government school called him to play and he figured if they are playing I can too. It’s a fine line making sure you praise him for his honesty yet at the same time making sure he understands why playing football instead of coming to school isn’t an option.
- The cockerel didn’t wake me up. (the more creative version of mum/dad/brother/sister didn’t wake me up. I couldn’t keep a straight face
- I couldn’t find my uniform. I can only assume that the student figures that’s a good excuse as we insist on every student coming to school in their full uniform.
- My mother sent me to take food to my grandmother who lives on the hill.
- The flip side of number eight and an extended version of number three. “I went to my grandmothers to have porridge”
- My sister didn’t give me money. Note: there is nothing available to buy at the school. She had already used up I was brushing my teeth and I was bathing.