When to send back to school after broken ankle?

Did the hospital or GP have an opinion on when he’s fit to return to school?
I would have thought that is much too soon in view of the fact it clearly was a more complicated break that required surgery and would need several weeks off a least. I knew a child who had 6 weeks off for similar, came back to school couldn’t cope and was off again a fair while.

maybe school could send him lesson plans/homework etc ?

Hope he’s on the mend soon,

DH broke his ankle with a clean break, no surgery, and was signed off with for a month. Your son may well need to be off for weeks, and you need to put his health first. He's likely to be very tired as his body works to recover.

School can send work home for him.

Yes DS wore joggers I think for a full half term! (did it the first Monday) as he much preferred them!

P.s. she's now out of plaster but definitely milking getting away with trainers for as long as she can while it's still a bit swollen.

DD had op on Friday (screw in one bone, plate and several pins in other) home Saturday, school on Monday for broken ankle.
Order some crutch pad things to reduce pressure on his hands (squishy things that go on the handles).
School gave a lift pass, 5 minute early pass and any upstairs lessons that were inaccessible by lift were room changed to downstairs.
Keep up the painkillers to the max - same with nothing prescribed so she alternated paracetamol and ibuprofen 2 hourly. Pain did become an issue if she didn't keep that up.
She took a small cushion with her to put on a chair with her leg up.
I dropped her off slightly earlier so I could drive on site each day.
She didn't want to miss school but some days were harder going certainly.
Id definitely be sending him in on Monday.

Speak to the school had to for both mine last year!

DD badly sprained her ankle - we were allowed to come onto site to drop her off at the office and pick her up from there. She was given a lift pass, permission to stay in at lunch and break time and her timetable was rearranged in terms of rooms to keep walking to a minimum and be near the lifts. She did it at school and they rang to organise that afternoon. Dropping and collecting her was a pain though given she usually made her way independently! She also wore trainers on the foot not on the boot

DS cut his knee needing 12 stitches - he wore tracksuit bottoms for the duration, was in lunch and break time and was given a foot stool so he could rest his foot

I went back to school a week after breaking my foot on crutches but didn’t need an op or anything like that (I’m a teacher). I would suggest when he does go back: wear joggers, trainer on other foot for balance and grip, lift key, leaving lessons 5 mins early with a friend, obviously no PE, an extra chair to elevate his foot in lessons.
He will get very tired- got me out of doing cover lessons and lunch duty!

Lift key
spare chair to put his leg up
Tracksuit bottoms if trousers won’t fit
Crutches.
we did this a few years ago.

I would wait until after the stitches are out and cast changed. It’s really important in the early days to keep it elevated. School is hard on crutches and so tiring. We are week 7/12 of it at the moment but it gets easier 🙂 Managed our first full five days this week which felt impossible when first returned. My 11yo had four weeks off school in the end as it was just too difficult with stairs, moving around lessons and the pain was hard when it wasnt elevated so much.

@DressedToThe90s it was a very long 8 weeks…for us both 🤦🏼‍♀️
We had a wheel chair for the first 2 weeks then crutches. Finally walked unaided after 10 weeks but needed a year of intense physio.
wishing your son a speedy recovery! ❤️

I’ve been there myself. I’d definitely give him another week off to let it settle, he doesn’t want it getting knocked about in the early stages and there’s a lot of hustle & bustle in school.

I remember having a few weeks off work as sick then had to work from home as I couldn’t get up to the top floor of their building (no lift). It fell during a lovely summer though so I made the most of that working in the garden.

hope he recovers well. It’s amazing how resourceful you become on one leg.

My child had similar to yours. They had to stay off school 8 weeks after their surgery. Then when they went back they was not allowed to change lessons with everyone else. They moved around the school 5 minutes before everyone else so that they didn’t get caught in crowds. They also used the lift and not the stairs. This was for roughly 3 months after they went back to school.

The surgeon who did the operation gave me a sick note for the 8 weeks that they were completely off school but school didn’t even ask to see it, think they were happy that they were off as it would have been harder for them to return to school while in recovery with how much would need to be put in place.

I'd say your son will need to be off at least another week until his lighter cast is on and stitches are out. If his leg needs elevating for 50 mins out of every hour beyond this next week, then he'll need to be at home until he doesn't need that, unfortunately - it's not practical in a school environment really. It also gives school time to put any necessary measures in place for him.
I completely get the worries of keeping up with his school work, particularly with him being in year 10. School will hopefully be able to send work home for him. If you haven't got the info already, I'd also check which exam boards etc. he's using for each subject and get some study materials for at home - they'll be useful anyway. I can't speak for all boys, obviously, but it's always been a struggle to get mine to do work at home without a lot of pushing. I do find that having a variety of materials at home helps and then at least they can choose something.

He needs to stay off if he needs to elevate it. My ds y12 fractured his femur last October. He was able to use the lift, could leave lessons 5 mins early, I drove him in and could drop in off in the disabled spaces, didn't have to wear school shoes and wore shorts or baggy jeans.
When he does go back buy some gel pads for his crutches. DS came home the first day with sore blisters hands from using the crutches all day. The gel pads were brilliant. Got them off Amazon

Talk to school.

dc’s school have a ground floor classroom for those who can’t mobilise as normal. They are supervised by a teacher and work through the days lessons online. They allow vehicle access before/after school starts so you can drive them to the door of the building, same with pick up.

the risk assessment is being able to make stairs, and wear appropriate footwear.

I’d say to go back when pain is manageable, and he can get to the toilet etc without (much) assistance. If they can’t provide ground floor class, it may have to be a little longer.

He needs to work from home if it has to be elevated. School must set him some easy work to keep him ticking over.

50 minutes out of every hour?? How can he possibly go to school? You would never expect that of an adult if there was another option

My dd is currently assisting a girl in her class who broke her ankle and needed surgery. They leave classes 5mins early to give lots of time to make it to the next one and dd carries all of her stuff for her. Maybe the school would put something like this in place for him?

Keep him home. He can read through his text books and watch some bitesize stuff.

He needs to be at home at least until the lighter cast is on and he doesn’t need to keep it elevated. However, school should be setting at least some (probably online) work for him whilst he’s off - he’ll struggle to catch up otherwise. We have supported some students in this sort of situation by having a Google Meet / Teams call so they can hear the lesson (literally just a camera facing the teacher / whiteboard and any slides shared) but that may not be possible or suitable for other students and/or in other schools.

He needs to be at home in that case!