P E teacher. Please help.

This is all very new to your daughter has she learnt the difference between her having an asthma attack and being out of breath? If she were having an attack it would have been really irresponsible for her teacher to send her off on her own.

I hate to say it as I will probably get flamed but there is a pattern here with your daughter telling you something that seems really unlikely and you then kick up a stink. Is she telling tales because she likes your reaction and wants to cause a little trouble.

if this is not the case and the school is so bad that they are stopping genuine needs to go to the toilet and not providing assistance during medical emergencies it is time for her to move. If there are no other schools around there are more and more virtual schools cropping up. It may seem unfair that your daughter has to move but it is a safety issue.

I would write a formal letter to the head teacher raising a concern that there is a training need around asthma and this member of staff and querying if it’s a whole school training need. I would also ask to see their policy on inhalers. Then both you, your daughter and the teacher can move forward and understand what you should all be doing. I would be framing it as a how do we make sure this doesn’t happen again, both with your daughter and any other child.

however I would great exception to the teacher seemingly lying. I’d keep an eye on that

A boy in my DS's class has a "mini" backpack for his inhalator that he brings everywhere including PE. This is what DD needs.
The PE teacher doesn't sound very nice but what do you hope to achieve in calling her a liar? You weren't there so you got two sides of a story. Focus on reminding your DD to always bring her little backpack.

In my experience there is something wrong with a lot of pe teachers and they enjoy seeing children suffer. I'm slightly joking of course 🙃

PE teachers usually have first aid training so while you want to believe your DD I don't think it was as serious as she was saying as otherwise the teacher would have known she needed her inhaler and made sure she got it. As you have noted yourself asthma can be serious and it is the teacher who is responsible for medical care.
Also you mention the classroom assistant saying she could have had it - in secondary any assistants are usually for a specific child, it is not like primary school, so while they might have meant well it wasn't really their call to say to DD they would have let her get it (unless she is their 1:1 child in which case they could have dealt with this).
I think the transition from primary to secondary is hard for children but more so for parents. You need to encourage them to be independent which does mean biting your tongue and stepping back a bit. You have already fussed over the toilet (where you said she needed a drink) and made a thing about basic human rights so are already becoming that parent. If your daughter has specific needs and has an EHCP then you need to speak to the senco and have everything written down in black and white. If she needs a medical card then this can be part of the care plan for use of the toilet, however these are given out only to those in genuine need as otherwise everyone wants one.

This is not good. Changing rooms would be locked. Was there another member of staff to accompany your daughter?

I’d of forgotten my own head at 11 if it wasn’t screwed on, that’s what children that age are frequently like. An asthma attack is a medical emergency, not a time for learning lessons. It doesn’t matter if the teacher has heard a million excuses for getting out of PE already.

Ah good old Mumsnet. All teachers are saints who never do anything wrong and all children are liars.

You don't mess around with asthma. The moment your DD said she needed her inhaler, is the moment the PE teacher should have made arrangements for DD to get one, whether that be sending DD or requesting an emergency one from elsewhere.

It doesn't matter if DD forgot to bring it with her. The school should be prepared for that type of situation.

It is absolutely ridiculous for anyone to try and defend the teacher's actions. The fact that the teacher told OP that DD was not working hard enough to become breathless just goes to show how ignorant this fool is.

Make a formal complaint OP. You've tried the informal route and the response is not satisfactory. There are serious safeguarding concerns here that need to be addressed.

Op does your child have asthma?

I appreciate PE teachers have a hard job and I remember all the excuses kids had to try and get out of PE but I think this is formal complaint territory. Because what the PE teachers did is dangerous. A reminder about it would be enough if she had accepted it was a mistake she shouldn’t have made, but denying it makes it sound like she does whatever she wants and thinks she can just get away with it because her word will be accepted over a child’s. This needs formally recording somewhere so that she is aware she hasn’t got away with it and is more likely to take greater care over children’s medical needs.

No child who regularly needs an inhaler should ever be a 10 minute walk away from their inhaler. Your dd needs to understand this properly - her inhaler needs to be within arms reach at all times. Exception during swimming, where on the pool side is ok. If a child with severe asthma was having a full-blown asthma attack then a 10 minute walk to fetch an inhaler could kill them.

The PE teachers have heard every excuse in the book from children wanting to escape PE. I don't think the teacher perceived a noticeable difference between this situation and the other 6 kids who were simultaneously pleading unrealistic special circumstances to not have to exercise, and she may well have conflated two students in her memory rather than be deliberately lying

I think the truth lies somewhere in The middle with this one
your daughter has learnt a lesson about being responsible for her medication
the teacher is now aware of medication

draw a line under it and move on
the teacher is ether being a twat or your daughter has form for taking the piss

It's not about that and anyone pearl clutching knows it. It's about kids taking the piss and going home telling tales so that mummy rings up and stresses out a probably already depressed and overworked teacher over nothing.

Even if the tale is true, the TA said she could go and get the inhaler and DD declined - so what's the issue?

I note the OP has already phoned up the school to make sure her DD gets to use the toilet - maybe the PE teacher is sick to the back teeth of DD making excuses to get out of lessons?

If she’s about to die then surely she can’t walk back to the changing rooms herself to get the inhaler? She’d be safer staying with the rest of the class.

It’s not for the PE teacher to diagnose her pupil.

if she’s been told she needs to carry an inhaler by a medical professional then she should be given access to it.

it really is as simple as that.

Why risk being wrong?

Clearly the majority posters on this thread do not understand that asthma can be deadly, quickly.

@Chickencuddle you need to raise with the head/head of year… and keep escalating until this is resolved. Your daughter should never be denied her inhaler and as a PP stated, the PE teacher needs some training on asthma.

Get tough and if the school don’t respond appropriately, go to the governors.

I understand the asking for the toilet as another way for child to get out of the PE lesson to be fair. So if she's asked to go to the toilet and then asked to go for inhaler on separate occasions then that is a way of trying it on I reckon.

I was diagnosed asthma as a child and given an inhaler which I don't think I ever needed. It all started with a chest infection/bad case of flu/pneumonia. I have no issues now and can run marathons. Even 40 years ago things were wrongly diagnosed. An adult (the teacher in this case) can surely assess a child's needs in the moment? I mean if she is able to walk 10 minutes to changing room for inhaler then surely I don't think there is a huge need for it t9 he able to breath? That is just my assumption though

I think you are making some false assumptions here OP.

The classroom assistant said she could go and get it if she really needed it but she then chose not to go and get it and was fine? So did she 'need' the inhaler or did she just ask to go and get it?

I said this didn't matter and she needs her inhaler. She said she didn't SAY she needed her inhaler.

PE teacher saying DD 'didn't say she needed it' doesn't mean she is calling your daughter a liar at all, or that she is denying the exchange happened.. YOU accused the teacher of not letting her get something she needed, and she responded that she wasn't told that she 'needed' it. If your daughter, who was seemingly fine, only asked to go and get it and didn't specifically say she 'needed' it then the PE teacher is being honest about what happened.

She isn't calling her a liar, but now you have told your daughter she is being called a liar and are making a huge deal about it, even though it is most likely just a failure on your part to understand what actually happened.

It is up to your daughter to carry her inhaler with her at all times, and you to remind her to do that, you can't make a massive issue with the school about her needing immediate access to it when she asks for it, if she always chooses to leave it 10 minutes away from where she is! very mixed messages there.

If people say stupid things on phone calls, put it in an email to 'confirm what they said'. Either they'll have to retract it in writing and say something more sensible, or you've got a written record of them being reckless which you can forward to someone who can provide better training.

Dear PE teacher,

Re Child X asthma medicines

Thank you for your call yesterday. I am emailing to follow up on a couple of the points raised.

You mentioned on the call that my daughter should have taken her inhaler with her to the sports field. She was not aware that she could do this, I have now informed her that she should bring it and [write in here where exactly it should be stored - put it in the medications tray, or whatever else the arrangements are - if you don't know what the arrangements are you need to go back to either the PE teacher or whoever formulated the asthma plan and find out. This is the most important thing.].

You said that it was not the case that you did not allow DD to fetch her inhaler. She must have misunderstood the situation as she is convinced she did ask and was not permitted. I have let her know that while she should remember to bring her inhaler, if it inadvertently gets left behind again her safety is more important and she should ask a teacher and expect to be able to fetch it. I would of course support any negative consequence you felt appropriate for forgetting.

You also said on the call that you felt DD could not be experiencing shortness of breath because she was not engaged in strenuous exercise. I would like to highlight that exercise is not the only thing that can trigger an attack, and degree of exercise is not relevant to whether an inhaler is needed. This is explained in DD's Asthma Plan which you should have on record, I have attached a copy for quick reference.

You may not be aware that DD is new to managing asthma as she has only been diagnosed following her recent pneumonia. I would ask you to please be supportive as she gets used to managing her condition, she is less experienced with this than others who may have been dealing with the condition throughout primary school.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

cc to form tutor and whoever set up the asthma plan/a pastoral person.

Some people are arseholes. Sounds like a teacher feeling a need to assert authority. Not her place to second guess a medical need.

FFS this thread is just the perfect example of why teachers are leaving in their droves, kids have no resilience and massive anxiety issues. Why are you so involved in her school life?

As for this - She has said mean things to dd before denied her toilet which I had to phone for

Honestly get a f ing grip

I had a similar situation OP, i was ropeable. I did ask for them to have further education re asthma first aid and normal first aid, as there were also some other medical incidents that were concerning. The principal was so arsey about it, and we weren't friends after that! The teacher was also spoken to but I'm sure they just reassured each other that I was 'one of those parents'. That said, they did start treating DD medically a lot better and made sure to report everything to me at the time. Probably because they didn't want me up in the office getting cross with them again.

Re the inhaler, they did not allow kids to carry any medications on them, and still didn't after this. So I got her one of those little running belt things to keep her inhaler in under her shirt, for when she didn't have pockets.

Yes your daughter should have had it on her, but children are forgetful. Even if she was pissing about to get out of lesson, it’s not worth the risk. If she had denied her the inhaler and something bad had happened… never worth the risk. The PE teacher is in the wrong and if I were you I’d go to the head. However I’m biased against PE teachers as mine was a sadistic fuck and I was fat so an easy target.

Totally agree with sparkleghost

"Some of these responses have floored me."

Totally, what is wrong with people!

"PE teacher shouldn’t have refused even from a liability perspective, health & safety and morality aside.
I would escalate and put in a complaint but that’s just me."

I agree, complain. This is not acceptable.

Dangerous.

Hmm….the teacher the OP is referring to sounds pretty dodgy in my opinion