DS injured again at school by statemented child with full time LSA

[AlwaysBizzy]

DS has been injured yet again by another boy in his year who is statemented (sp?) and has full time LSA supervision.
Following this last incident, I contacted the school immediately and recieved a follow up call from his teacher who was very apologetic. I was promised a follow up at parents evening, but it trasnpires that all that has happened is that my views have been relayed to the LSA.
My DS has been hurt several times by this child, so far, there has been no permenant psysical damage, but my fear it that unless this is dealt with, that is what will heppen. Also, because DS is being hurt at school, he normally reacts in someway because he doesn't feel safe at school.
I feel the other child has needs that are beyond what the school can fulfill....if they weren't my child wouldn't be hurt.
What are my options. I have emailed the head this evening, but what is the schools obligations to us in following up my complaint. They are in loco parentis, butr my child is hurt & I'm meant to be satisfied with an apology.
I'm so upset I don't know what they best thing to do is.

Can you help?

[birdbrain17]

What is the child who hurt him statmented with, as in is it medical, learning difficulties, or both? Is there a proper diagnosis?
not sure what to advise as you haven't been so clear about the boy who hurt your ds...

[deleted203]

I think the thing that concerns me about your OP is when you say your son has been injured 'yet again'. This signifies that this has happened several times and I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask the head how they are intending to safeguard your son. An apology becomes meaningless if your son is being repeatedly hurt by another child and the school is taking no action. I don't honestly care what the other child's special needs are - I wouldn't expect my child to be repeatedly injured by another one whilst at school. Ask them if they are intending to take action before or after your child loses an eye, perhaps?

[AlwaysBizzy]

Thanks for your replies.
I don't know what the other child's specific needs are & why he has a full time LSA. As a parent of another child, I wouldn't assume that I have any right to that information.
My concern is that in spite of an LSA being paid for full time care, she still allowed my son to be paired with this other boy, with the result that my DS has been hurt. The teacher in charge at the time, then tried to play it down by saying it was an accident when it clearly wasn't. this then upsets my child who knows it wasn't an accident as he has been intentionally hurt serveral times before. In reception, DS was strangled by this child & a red mark was left around my son's neck....the school played it down & we were naive to trust them to deal with it. They didn't even see it happen, i found the mark when i undressed him for his bath.
I get no concrete action plan from them...i want real reassurances that there is no possibility of it happening.
The school is an acadamy & so I've asked for the complaints procedure & a meeting with the head. What can I reasonably expect them to do? what measures are taken by a school to assess when a violent child is no longer suitable for a mainstream school.

[Chottie]

I have no advice to give, but just wanted to wish you well. Can you check the school website for details of their policies?

As mum, I would be worried that statement child is not being adequately supervised.

[mummytime]

You shouldn't be asking about the other child; but about what steps and assurances they can give that they are safeguarding the safety of your child. Don't allow them any get out by shifting the blame to the other child.

They know he has problems, and they need to be managing his behaviour. However at the same time they have a duty of care to your child; as a very basic measure they should be keeping the two apart as far as they can.

[learnandsay]

It doesn't sound as though the school is handling it well. If it was my child I'd start a formal complaint and escalate it through the usual channels.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

Are these incidents happening at break time or in the classroom? My oldest son has a full time 1-1 and she takes breaks at class break time leaving him very vulnerable. The school are now aware i'm not happy.

The next point of contact is the governors if the school aren't taking your concerns seriously.

Focus on the protection of your son not the other child. Its the inadequate supervision level that is the issue, not the child.

My younger son, 6, was assaulted twice at school by an 11 year old boy who had full time supervision. On the first occasion he was kicked in the face bruising his nose and causing a big nose bleed on the second, before the bruising on his nose had fully cleared up,the same child knocked out a tooth. Neither incident was witnessed.

We moved school.

[Highlander]

It sounds like the other child's needs are not being met either, which is very sad.

You are not allowed to ask for any details about the other child; that is a complete breach of his privacy. How would you like it if your family's personal details were made freely available to anyone?

What you can ask for is:

Given he has been injured, ask what specific safeguarding measures are in place for children in the event of being in a classroom with a child who has behavioural difficulties.

What safeguarding measures are in place when an LSA is on a break - INCLUDING toilet breaks and lunch/playtimes. This is v impt - only trained staff should replace an LSA; dinner ladies substituting are unacceptable.

All injuries are recored and communicated to you.

In the meantime, ask your teacher to inspect (with you) your DS for injuries each morning and at the end of the day. There is no way on earth that teaching staff will have time to do this with you, but you should insist in light of unexplained injuries at school. The sheer hassle might prompt them to tighten up safeguarding.

[AlwaysBizzy]

The other child is supervised constantly...although I don't know how breaks are dealt with. In fact, in this particular instance, I don't know where the LSA was.
I agree that I think both children are being let down. From what I have observed when helping out, the LSA doesn't seem to be very alert & responsive to the needs of the other child. A week following an incident last year when Ds had his hand stamped on, i was helping out for the afternoon. Even though she only covers half the day (another LSA covers the other helf of the day) moaned that she hadn't eaten her lunch & wanted to eat it say away from her charge. She then sat in a seperate room, whilst her charge started acting up & niggled another child. from that incident, it doesn't look like she is doing her job properly.
My view is that, if the LSA is paid to provide 1to 1 care, and another child is hurt, surely this is gross misconduct on her part...my feeling is, why is no-one being held accountable for my son being injured?
DSs teacher seemed to think i would be happy in the knowledge that he had replayed my concerns to her...personally I think she is thick skinned & doesn't seem to care that my child was hurt.
Thanks for the advice, I'm happy to follow the complaints process, i can't help but feel really let down by the staff & the LSA.
Would legal advice help in anyway? Mind you, if I go down that route, I may aswell look for another school. I'm annoyed at having to think about moving my son because the school can't manage the other child's need properly.

[cansu]

When you say again, how frequently has this happened? Is this once in reception and once in Y1 or what? what actually happened? Did the child push your ds, hit him? What actually happened? I think tbh you need to give a bit more info. Was your ds and the child playing, working together in class or having a fight over a pencil? With children whether statemented or not, in order to judge an appropriate sanction or decide whether supervision was adequate or not you need to have more information.

[VinegarDrinker]

I was going to say the same about breaks - my youngest brother had a full time 1:1 but not during break time/lunch time. I guess they legally need breaks too in their working day although how this works I don't know.

[ssd]

I'd be going crazy and kicking up a massive fuss and not letting it go

both boys involved arent having their needs met, this needs sorted

[birdbrain17]

I am an LSA in a primary school, and to be very honest what's happening is unacceptable. We actually had a child with very bad anger management problems (she is now in year 5 and has managed to overcome them a lot) but until she was able to control herself she was never left alone, definitely not near other children, her LSA had to go with her if she went out the class for the toilet, at break times, at lunch etc and if this boy has anger problems the school need to ensure somebody competent (unfortunately I have seen many LSAs who aren't capable of dealing with special needs children) is with this child at all times, and if this is already the case then the statmented childs parents need to be aware that the school are not dealing with the situation as they should and if you have them on side with you hopefully you can get the school to listen to what you have to say...
good luck!

[Goldmandra]

If this is a regular occurrence and you feel that no action is being taken to protect your son you should make a formal complaint. This will mean that the school has to demonstrate that the have dealt with the situation effectively.

It also may help the parents of the other child if the school is not putting in sufficient resources to meet their child's needs.

[AlwaysBizzy]

Birdbrain - thank you !!My husbands late mother was an LSA so I am really supportive of the role that LSAs carry out, especially the huge benefit they can give to children with extra needs by enabling them to stay in a mainstream school.
My feeling has been, that if the LSA did her job properly, there wouldn't be a problem here.
I'm really nervous about speaking to the other parents. We pass them every day & get nervous smiles from them. His mum is looking increasingly worried of late & I know there have been problems with other children & her child.
I'm trying to make sure that my little boy knows that i love him & that he can count on me to keep him safe. i want to make sure that he tells me everything that happens, otherwise I can't fight his corner properly.
Thank you again to everyone who has replied. I'll come back & update. Fingers crossed ....

[steppemum]

my friend has a child who has a full time LSA including playtimes and lunch. Although he has other needs, the full time LSA including breaks is because in reception he lashed out a few times, and another child got hurt. The school recognised that in order for the child to be properly integrated they had to ensure that everyone was safe. In fact, one of the times he lashed out, his LSA was on th eother side of the room, and it caused a massive stink, the job of the LSA was to be there, next to the child.

The LSA has a responsibility to ensure that the child is integrated safely into the class, it is her/his responsibility to make sure that kid is not in a position to hurt someone else. If the LSA isn't doing that, then the school needs to ensure that somethign changes.

It isn't fair on the child who needs an LSA, to then be left with no LSA. It isn't fair on the others in the class to be left unprotected