Mumsnet Talk

Obviously swinging on branches is not acceptable or safe behaviour in the playground, however it is hardly crime of the century either , especially for a five year old.

If the school has low level branches in the playground and there are small boys at that level then unless they have been strictly told not to swing on them then in my opinion ( as the mother of 3 boys ) then most boys would be tempted to play with them and will need regular reminding of the rule.

The teacher does sound OTT but she was probably focusing on the safety issue . I wouldn't go in all guns blazing but I would have a word.

When my DD started school, her and her friend pulled a scarf tightly around another childs neck, thankfully the teacher noticed in time and was able to intervene. The other little girl was taken to hospital later on in the day as she developed bruising around her eyes . I rang the head mistress a) to find out what happened and b) to apologise and see what she suggested in terms of tackling with DD. The head was very understanding and told me that no one was "in trouble" as they were playing and all three girls were to "blame" so no bullying behaviour, phew! But still unacceptable and the head did go into all the classes and explain the dangers of such behaviour, my DD was embarrased, but she wont be throttling other children with scarves anytime soon!! I thought the head handled it really well.

It could be that actually, many of the boys have been repeatedly told about the dangers of swinging from the branch? And now the branch has been broken off and your son could have been hurt, so to highlight the danger the head decided to do a similar thing to the one at my DDs school?

If you have a "mothers instinct" about undiagnosed SN i suggest you ask the school about help in getting it diagnosed and the appropriate support for your son rather than shouting your mouth off like a fishwife.

I'd find out what actually happened before I'd go in all guns blazing. But if she did indeed take him round all the classes then that's extraordinary and an incredibly stupid thing for her to have done and I would be protesting extremely vehemently.

And how many of you would be rushing into school to complain if it was your child that got smacked in the face with a tree branch?

Yanbu I would be complaining if this happened to my children.

Swinging on low hanging branches is something that children will do tho I tell mine to be careful and have a look as some branches are OK to do this, others will get damaged.

It is entirely normal childish behaviour to swing from trees - problem these days is that children don't get to do enough of that. But if your teacher tells you not to do it, you are supposed to stop. And if you are punished reasonably for disobeying the teacher, that's fine. Being dragged round the school is not fine.

Well as a teacher myself I'd say I'd want to arrange a meeting to get to the bottom of this asap. IF it happened as you've heard in a way that demonised your dc I'd make a written complaint. Hopefully the actual events were a bit more sane, ie learning together in the classes and talking about safety and how bad it could be if ds was hurt or some such thing. Odd, but well meant.

She was probably sad and angry about the damaged tree, and just wanted to ram the point home to the other other children how unacceptable it is to do that, rather than demonise him as an individual. We would have had an enormous bollocking for that in my primary school too.

It's done now, and there's nothing to be gained from kicking up a fuss. I'm sure he'll get over it.

Ooooh you do over react a lot, OP - if there is a medical problem get it diagnosed.

If my child got hit by agree branch I would tell them it was an accident and these things happen and they need to watch out, I wouldn't complain.

We spent hours as kids swinging on trees, we made rope swings and hammocks and all sorts.

And how many of you would be rushing into school to complain if it was your child that got smacked in the face with a tree branch?

if it was an accident I wouldnt be running to school at all. Nor would I be having words with the tree....

frustratedworkingmum who said I would be shouting your mouth off like a fishwife. and I think a branch being broken off a tree accidently can hardly be compared to deliberately throttling another child. I would be very concerned if any of my children had done that.

YANBU at all!

March in there monday and give her what for! I would also complain in writing, I'm with euphemia on this one...totally disproportionate!

I am willing to be this was a "We told you (the whole school) this would happen, thankfully no one was hurt, now please don't swing from the tree or you wont be able to play in that area" type scenario.

You don't say what "SN" you suspect but some issues really do need to be diagnosed later on, if you are concerned asked to speak to the SENCO and go from there, to be fair, you do have to become a bit of a pushy parent to get these things rolling, but telling people to fuck off and loudly voicing your displeasure is not the way.

It's bad behaviour to swing off a tree branch? You're fucking kidding right?

I can just about imagine that the teacher might want to show a branch to the children to demonstrate that it had snapped off and swinging on branches might be dangerous. There is no need to involve your DS in that though. I would be absolutely furious at her humiliating him. He's five. He was swinging on a branch.

I was extremely concerned, which is why i called the head, and other parent immediately to apologise, only to be told it was a game that had gone awry. I do believe you said you would be Loudly complaining.

Wow - march in and give them what for? way to go!!

I think it was unacceptable for any teacher to behave like this. If health and safety was an issue all the dc should have been told about the trees. Ffs, you only have to sneeze in school and there's a risk assessment done.
There's no excuse and the poor kid was not being naughty.
I would find out exactly what happened and then go in all guns blazing . But there again, I don't use schools anymore.

Perhaps as a goodwill gesture you could offer to make a donation to Save the Trees if such a charity exists? to pacify the lunatic teacher.

I actually bit my tongue off doing just this.
Branch snapped, I landed on my bottom suddenly and managed to shut my mouth on my tongue. All but a very little bit was bitten straight through.

Had it been all the way through I'd have swallowed it. As it was it took two operations to sew it back correctly.

I can kind of see the teacher's reaction as almost reasonable.

Ah but it's ok Desiderata because these things happen, they're only playing, elf n safety gone mad. Not at all a potential risk 200 children swinging on trees.

DesiderataHollow understandably you would feel different to most because of this but its still rare.

It's bad behaviour to damage a tree on school property (or anywhere), yes. Kids can swing on trees if they are sensible enough to judge they can take their weight, but I doubt any school would be happy to allow it on their grounds just from a safety point of view. The little boy may not have realised this, but I'm sure that he and all the other children are well aware now.

OP why are you attacking posters that agree with you both Holly and frustrated, agreed the teacher was OTT and offered you sensible advice and you have been rude and condescending in return, perhaps your nickname refers to your own inability to react in an appropriate manner.