To take my daughter out of school lunchtime?

[DanceJunkie]

My daughter is in reception class at school. On Friday lunchtime a boy the same age forced open her mouth and cut the inside of her mouth with a metal nail drawing blood and leaving a mark, there was also a small scratch near her lip. When her Dad picked her up no one told him what had happened, she told me when she got home. Understandly she was very upset. I asked her if she had told the lunchtime supervisor and she said yes but they hadn't helped clean her up, she had to go to the toilet with her friend and clean her lip and mouth with a wet paper towel. I telephoned the school to ask why were weren't informed and why she'd been left to clean herself up, it was the first they had heard of the incident. They are going to look into what happened and speak to the lunchtime supervisor but this won't be until Tuesday as its a bank holiday weekend. Would I be unreasonable to take my daughter out of school at lunchtime until I have an explanation as to why my daughter wasn't looked after and why we weren't told? She wouldn't miss any school as I would take her out after the morning session and return her for the afternoon session. I'm not sure if I'm overreacting and could do with points of view from people not as involved as I obviously am! Thank you!

[Blazing88]

You are definitely not overreacting.

I'm not sure that you can take her out at lunchtime, but tbh, I think that would be my reaction too at this moment in time.

Never mind the lunchtime supervisors, why the hell hadn't the teacher/ta noticed when she went back to the classroom??!

You also need to encourage DD to tell a teacher (not just the lunchtime staff). ime lunchtime staff aren't that bothered!

[LucyLastik]

YANBU. We had a similar situation with DS in year 2. He is known for having coordination issues which result in him falling over a lot, requiring frequent trips to first aid.

One particular day he fell over in the playground and banged his face in such a way that he had a nose bleed and knocked a front tooth out.

School didn't think it warranted a phone call . So when DH went to collect him from school, he was furious to see the state of DS' face. Apparently it didn't matter that he had knocked his tooth out because it was a slightly wobbly baby tooth. They didn't seem to think the lack of phone call was that important.

We now have an understanding with them that they inform us by telephone of EVERY incident and then, as we work relatively close by we can decide whether we need to check him out.

The next day, the school sent him home for a headache, but still failed to notify us of the head injury the day before. I kicked off tbh and since then there have been no problems.

[PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange]

How did an infant manage to get hold of a nail and then injure a child with it.

[Charis1]

As a pp said, you need to check whether she needs a tetnus shot. being uptodate isn't enough, she might need another shot as well

[DanceJunkie]

She is up to date with her tetanus thankfully.

I hadn't thought that there might be an issue with taking her out at lunchtime, I remember my mum occasionally taking me out for lunch at home when I was little but that was 30ish years ago.

[Panzee]

No issue with going home for lunch. You are allowed for no reason whatsoever. Hope you get this sorted.

[Isthatwhatdemonsdo]

I'm sorry! I'm a TA and also a lunchtime supervisor. We bloody well do care! This is an appalling thing to happen to your child OP. I hope the school will give you some answers.

[Mrchubster]

YANBU. Last year when I picked DS up from school I thought he had ketchup all round his face as he walked towards me.

He told me he had tripped over at lunch in the playground and had badly grazed one side of his face.
No 1st aid given by lunchtime assistant - just told to go to toilets and put wet tissue on it.
What staggered me the most tho was that his teacher let him sit through afternoon lessons and did nothing.
Poor boy was in agony.

Proper sound off at Head ????

[Audna1]

I would ask to join her at lunch until the issue has been resolved. Your presence will serve as a reminder for staff, your daughter won't have to miss out and last but not least it will provide you with an insight into the situation.

[SomewhereIBelong]

There is no issue taking a child home for lunch. School day consists of a morning session and an afternoon session - hence they can get away with having very little supervision at lunchtime - there is no legal minimum staffing level as children are not legally required to stay for lunch.

(I left as a mid day when we got down to 4 of us for 460 pupils - to cover indoor when eating and outdoor playing, on a rolling lunchtime since only 150 fit in the hall at any time- that was "fun")

[momtothree]

Just a point - tell DD to speak to an adult - not teacher as if their teacher is away or off sick they only remember u said Mrs X. - lunch - yes u can take home - not sure if this will help as DD will need to cope at lunch in future. Maybe a phone call after lunch as a reminder. Should have an incident book - suggest retrain staff? DS had an asthma attack at lunch he was blue at home time - he told a dinner lady who did nothing and his teacher wasnt in. They upped training and posters round school made inhalers accessable in each class not a cupboard etc

[soapboxqueen]

You can take your child home for lunch for whatever reason so if you want to do that it's fine.

If there have been no previous incidents I wouldn't be inclined to keep my child from having lunch at school and would allow the head to fully investigate.

It could be possible that the school have not kept the school yard safe (eg the nail being available) and the lunchtime staff have failed to take good care of your child and the teaching staff didn't follow up.

Or

The incident wasn't seen due to the nature of lunchtime play, one errant nail was found near a fence, your child reported the incident in such a way that didn't fully communicate to the lunchtime supervisor what the problem was (eg child runs up saying little Bobby had hurt her cheek. Adult looks at cheek. Sees no injury because it's on the inside, says "never mind I'll talk to Bobby and sends child on their way). Teaching staff would not know of any incident to monitor or investigate.

If the latter, then at least they'll know to ask more specific questions of your child next time. If the former then they need a total overhaul of their procedures.

[StillStayingClassySanDiego]

I used to take ds2 out of school at lunch time as he hated eating in the dining hall and was becoming very stressed by it.

He was in year 4/5.

[OhWotIsItThisTime]

Christ, that's awful! It's up to you whether you take her out on Tues, but I would have thought she would be very safe as the school will be walking on eggshells.

[crispandfruity]

Your poor dd.

Soapboxes post is very sensible.

[shewept]

You can take her out.

However she will still have to be in the class with this boy and looked after by the staff at this school.

Personally I would, if she wanted, bring her home until the school have investigated.

[PtolemysNeedle]

I'd thnk you were overreacting, and it seems a bit pointless only to take her out until you have an explanation. If you think your daughter wasn't looked after then an explanation doesn't make much difference.

The supervisor didn't do anything wrong by letting your dd clean her own mouth, it doesn't sound like it was that messy foe your description, even though the experience do it happening must have been awful for your dd. There usually just aren't enough staff to have one going in with every child that needs a little clean up, as well as supervising the playground and the dinner hall.

Your dd may have told the dinner lady that she was hurt, but not given any information, and I can see how something like this could easily be missed so they didn't have anything to tell you.