What to do about an irresponsible teacher

[sammyjayneex]

So my child's teacher came to me after school and told me my child got hit with a ball during a game of dodge ball which made her fall over and bang her chin on the floor. The teacher said to me my daughter is fine and didn't cry. So we get home and my daughter told me that it was actually the class teacher who threw the ball at my daughter to 'try and get her out of the game' and she said that she did cry coz she got grass and stuff in her mouth. I'm so fuming that a teacher could do this as to be honest a teachers strength is bigger than a child and must have hit hard enough to make her fall. Apparently as the ball hit her side it bounced off her leg and she tripped up and banged her chin and then she went onto tell me the teacher locked her in the power cabin the outer day ( school classrooms are having work done so they are in porter cabins outside locked with a code) my daughter couldn't get out coz there is no way of her opening it herself the teacher has to do it and apparently my daughter was getting her coat and teacher didn't know she was in there but surely she should know how many kids have come out of the Cabin for play time and noticed my daughter hadn't?? Just seems my daughter is always the one who's caught up in this teachers irresponsibility. After she spoke to me about the incident she looked at the PE teacher as I was walking off and said something to him and started laughing. Do you think I should report her?

[soapboxqueen]

The only person you can report the teacher to is the head teacher. If you have a problem with them, which you do, they would be the person to speak to.

The incidents you have described could be perfectly innocent or need looking into. It's impossible to tell from what you have said.

I would expect a teacher to be involved in pe and taking part in the game of dodgeball. They are there to model and demonstrate skills etc. It sounds more like, from what you have said, that your dd tripped over the ball after it hit her. I've seen it happen. Doesn't mean it was the teacher's fault. It's not impossible that the teacher was deliberately throwing the ball too hard but it is highly unlikely.

Your daughter may have thought it was obvious she was upset. The teacher may not. Children fall all the time in pe. If he shouted over "you ok?" your dd says "yeah" even though she isn't. The teacher may not realise. Again it is not impossible that the teacher knew she was upset and did nothing but it would be unlikely they would tell you she hadn't cried knowing fine well your dd would tell you she had when she got home.

Teacher's don't routinely count children during the school day unless there is a specific reason to eg known flight risk or logistics of school site. If your dd slipped back in to get her coat and the teacher didn't realise, they would be unlikely to notice during a busy play time. Was your dd inside for the whole playtime? If so it would be worth mentioning it so that they can be more aware to double /triple check that children haven't slipped back in.
Unless you are saying that the teacher deliberately locked your child in as punishment? In which case this is quite serious and should definitely be reported to the head urgently.

[DeeWe]

So we get home and my daughter told me that it was actually the class teacher who threw the ball at my daughter to 'try and get her out of the game' and that is the game of dodgeball. And it's generally better if the teacher does thow it as they can control the ball better.

I would also expect that the portacabins (or any other classroom) may be lockable with a key pad from the outside, but opened with just a handle from the inside. That's certainly been the case since I was at school, and is at my dc's school. I doubt the fireregulations would allow portacabin not to be like that.

[WombatStewForTea]

The dodge ball sounds perfectly innocent and an accident. Would you be upset if another child had been the one to throw the ball? Incidentally we use sponge balls for dodge ball.

The cabin incident, I don't count my class in and out of playtime and probably wouldn't notice that someone wasn't there unless I was looking for them. As pp said fire regulations would mean the door was probably openable from the inside. What did the teacher say when they opened the door to find your dd? Were there no windows your dd could bang on to get attention?

If you want to raise it then see the head teacher.

[sammyjayneex]

Could have been an accident but my daughter said she now has pain in her head and her lip was bleeding but the teacher never told me this at the time and she never gave me an accident slip either. Might have to take her to A and E because he head hurts she said. She must have hit her really hard to cause injury like that.

[sammyjayneex]

She apparently said to my child ' if you be brave and don't cry I will give you 5 champion points'

[Cabawill]

How old is your DD?

Throwing the ball to get the player out is the premise of Dodgeball. The teacher was likely throwing to demonstrate how to play.

[sammyjayneex]

My daughter has just turned 8 but to me it's a danger this game to muse my daughter fall and hurt her head and get stones in her mouth!!! And all the teacher does is tell her not to cry and she can have some chapman points she practically bribed her ! And there was no accident slip given to me
Makes me wonder

[soapboxqueen]

Was her lip bleeding at pick up time? If the teacher didn't know she was hurt then she wouldn't have filled in an accident report/slip . If it was obvious, why did you not query it at pick up time?

If your dd looked upset and wasn't crying, then trying to get your dd to shake it off eg offering the house points, makes sense. It doesn't make sense to have a child crying in class then claim to the parent that they aren't when the child can say otherwise. However your dd might have felt that she was having to really stop herself from crying which in get mind would be the same thing.

If you end up going to A&E then mention it to the teacher in an FYI sort of way. It should be a shot across the bows in any event.

[fiveacres]

The point is that whether the teacher was at fault or not she wasn't honest with the OP about what happened.

I tend to think 'worse things happen at sea' but I do wish this Mumsnet attitude of the teacher never being in the wrong would stop. Most tiresome.

[WombatStewForTea]

Just because your daughter is in pain doesn't mean the teacher did it on purpose! What type of ball were they using? What's your daughter normally like with pain? A kid in my class got hit by a soft ball a few years ago it was a gentle hit- I saw it (I didn't throw it fwi!) and you'd have thought the world had ended the way he reacted. I'm not dismissing your dds pain I'm just saying that shock can make them cry too so it may not have been that hard.

[soapboxqueen]

Dodgeball is a great game and is fairly common in schools.

[WombatStewForTea]

fiveacres - teacher can be wrong. But so can children. We're just giving the OP possibilities!

[soapboxqueen]

Fiveacres you don't know if the teacher was dishonest or not. The teacher may have been unaware.

It's not about teachers never being wrong. It's about plausible alternatives being offered to the op.

[sammyjayneex]

The ball was hard she said that they used. If it was a child who threw it you could her understood as kids are kids but this is a grown woman!! I didn't query the blood thong at pick up time because my daughter only mentioned it at home. It worries me because she thinks she will be in trouble if she tells me things that have happened in school. I just think the teacher should have been more careful and maybe they should ban this game on school as its a danger. She said her head hurts to touch so she's obviously really hurt herself. And the fact she said my daughter is fine when she clearly isn't does make me angry

[soapboxqueen]

Which means it wasn't visible so therefore the teacher may not have noticed.

I personally would use a foam ball rather than say a netball. Maybe this is how you should approach the teacher with it. Say, could she use a foam ball in future because your dd was really hurt. It should get the message across.

They aren't going to ban ball games in pe because one person was hurt slightly but they might decide on which balls are suitable.

[Floggingmolly]

Dodgeball is usually played with a sponge ball, isn't it? Your dd literally fell face down, mouth open, and got a gobfull of grass????

[sammyjayneex]

Yes it should be with a soft ball but they used a hard ball. And she tripped over the ball as it hit her and fell over and got stones and grass in her mouth

[RiskManagement]

You're obviously unhappy with the way you believe your daughter is being treated, so you need to speak to the school.

I wouldn't treat it as "reporting" the teacher though, just a concerned parent trying to establish exactly what happened and wanting to work with the school for DD to have a happy time there.

It doesn't really sound to me like the teacher did much wrong, but you feel differently, so speak to the school.

[DocHollywood]

Not sure why 'to try to get her out of the game' is in quotes as that's the whole point of the game! The teacher sounds like she was relaying back to you that you should be proud of your dd for not crying. That's what the bribe was for, and it sounds like it worked. Is your dd the type to get upset easily? The teacher is trying to help her be more resilient by the sound of it.
Did she land on her head? I thought it was her chin. And yes, if you do land on your front you will usually get a mouthful of the ground! I would tell her how brave she's been and leave it.

[FATEdestiny]

This incident could be mentioned to the head teacher with a view to reviewing health and safety. Our school does not play dodge ball on H&S grounds. I wouldn't view this as a complaint against the teacher, more a complaint against the game.

A H&S review may result in instructions to all teachers to play only using soft balls and/or maybe only playing on the field rather than near any concrete. If the Head receives a number of complaints, this makes the H&S concerns more serious, so a parental complaint against the game is worth it.

[DinkyDye]

OP don't worry how others would feel, if you are unhappy go to the HT for reassurance. I had a teacher throw chalk at me to get my attention. That's what he said to my dfather when the truth was someone was talking and he just swung around and threw the chalk randomly.

Thankfully my df is a man of few words and great action and the teacher apologised for lying the bastard

[Fairyliz]

She got grass and stones in her mouth is that very likely? I can see you might trip and if the grass had just been cut a little might go in. But whats the likleyhood of stones ( your plural) been in the place she fell and the size to go in her mouth?
Sounds like attention seeking to me. it surprising the tall stories children tell if they get attention.

[newbieman1978]

Firstly the teacher ought to have told you it was in fact her that threw the ball. She obviously wanted to avoid that conversation, perhaps you can think of a reason??

I do find it a little confusing how you and the teacher didn't notice injuries at pick up time which you later feel are significant enough to warrant a visit to A&E.

As for the locked in the shed thing, these things do happen but staff should be taking better care to check on one is locked in. But it's lack of awareness of h&s rather than malicious I'd suggest.

Your best course of action is to calmly have a conversation with the head teacher and ask them to find out the facts and get back to you. Once you this has happened, take things from there.

Sounds something and nothing to me but these things can be useful in changing practice for the better.

[sammyjayneex]

Sorry but I don't think it's attention seeking. It's the teacher that told me my daughter got some little stones things and grass in her mouth from the fall and then my child confirmed that. Her mouth had stopped bleeding by the time I picked her up and we walked home and at home she told me her head hurts and that she grazed her mouth so I looked inside her mouth and saw a small graze but you have to look close inside to see it, it's not visible just by looking at her from a distance. I do think it's a health and safety issue as my daughter told me another little boy had fallen over and hurt himself too

[rabbitstew]

Tbh, it doesn't sound like a serious accident to me. Wait until they try hockey... There's much more harm you can do with a stick! Surely your dd has fallen flat on her face before?! Or is she not very active, or colossally well co-ordinated and exceptionally lucky? And to get away with just a tiny graze inside her mouth, too! If schools had to protect children from tripping over, they would have to ban running, football and playtime, not just dodgeball.

I would ask the school whether they use a hard ball for dodgeball, as they shouldn't do that, but it's just as easy to trip over a soft ball, tbh. You haven't described a bruise on her leg or side where she was actually hit, so basically all that hurt her was tripping over a ball.