We’ve all been there, running late for work and the kids missed the school bus.

But what if the school gates were locked when you arrived, and you had to wait with your kids for hours until it would open again?

Apparently, there’s only one logical solution – throw them over the fence and get on with your day.

Or at least that’s what parents at a primary school in the south of France were doing.

Let’s not get off on the wrong foot, the French are renowned for their food, wine and language.

Their architecture is exquisite – you remember the Eiffel Tower – the Louvre is full of treasures and the language is famed for its dulcet, seductive tones.

The croissant is unrivalled, and what even is a crème brûlée?

La Tour Eiffel is the symbol of Paris, the capital city of France.

The French education system is also considered to be excellent – French students seem spend a lot of time at school.

While most Aussie kids arrive at 9am and are heading home by 3pm for a Milo, the typical French child arrives at school by 8am and doesn’t finish until 5pm – at which point they have their goûter (a light, sweet afternoon snack).

To provide extra security for children and teachers, all French school gates are supervised as students arrive and are promptly locked at 8.30am.

Education is very important to the French, which perhaps – but not definitely – explains why parents were so keen for their children not to miss a day that they were tossing them over a locked gate to get them inside school grounds.

The Trillade school in Avignon has resorted to putting up signs instructing parents not to throw their kids, and instead just wait for the gates to open again at 10am or 3pm.

Tweet from @omniaomnibus

The school’s head teacher Sanaa Meziane told La Provence that staff were tired of “irresponsible” parents hurling their children over the 1.8-metre, barred steel gate when they were running late.

“Parents arriving after the bell were literally throwing their kids,” Ms Meziane said.

She said it doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough that the school had to take action to avoid potential accidents.