To think the school were neglectful?

I know schools are very likely to have done those things, but I also think that a child clearly not wearing a hat should have been addressed just like any other unsafe behaviour should. We tend not to let kids hurt themselves even when they're being daft or naughty. She might have refused and that needs to be tackled differently to a distracted child not paying enough attention.

Either way, OP needs to speak to a teacher and report what the child is claiming and find out what happened.

They are 8 year olds not 3 year olds.

Yep. And one of them became unwell under the schools duty of care. That's a problem, however much you'd like to blame the child entirely.

I’m sorry your daughter is not well. But I really doubt the teachers didn’t encourage her to drink water or wear a hat. I think the thing to do is explain to her why she’s not feeling well and why drinking water and wearing a hat is important when it’s hot.Your DD is 8 years old and needs to understand why we need to do certain things and why we individually have to take steps to look after ourselves. I understand it’s upsetting to see your child ill but I really think there needs to be some resilience building and not immediately looking to someone else to blame. Sometimes things don’t go smoothly but it doesn’t have to be a big issue with finger pointing. I hope she feels better soon.

Well, yes.

If one child was made ill by the trip they should review their processes. It may be they find everything was tickety-boo, but you would normally re-evaluate if the existing processes didn't succeed in safeguarding all of the children on the trip.

Cancel the trip and they would have had parents Moaning !!

your DD carried a hat and 2 bottles of water for a 40 min walk, round the museum and back again, and then carried them home …
and you are concerned she didn’t use hat and have a drink ????
I’d be looking at my DD and saying - doh !!! Why you think you were carrying 2 water bottles ?????
I mean really ???
time for parenting !!
warm weather means you need to drink more, you aren’t breast fed / bottle fed now babe, so you need to use your own hands babe xxx

If my 8yo was that awkward for his grandmother, we would have a problem. It's old enough not to pull that shit for anyone.

She is 8, not 2! Teach her to be a little more responsible. There are thousands of 8 year olds in hot countries currently on summer camps or still in school and they are not all ill. She is way too old to need reminding to put a hat on or drink water that is in her own bag!

A child became unwell in their care. That's definitely worth mentioning - and, yeah, reviewing their procedures. However you feel about what happened in this specific instance (and I think we all have a pretty good idea) to be informed of an incident like this and NOT change anything for next time, even under duress, is certainly neglectful.

The thing is, OP doesn’t know yet (or if she does she hasn’t said ) what the child/class was told or not. We’ve had these types of complaints before . 99% of the time the children didn’t listen, lied that they did have a drink, put a hat on and then off as soon as our backs were turned , denied they had a hat or “lost” it, or simply refused.
We also had complaints for keeping a child in the shade /asking them to take regular breaks in 30 degrees with no hat or suncream on, or no water bottle in school.

Either way, someone will complain.

I wouldn’t say the school was neglectful - you as a parent are neglectful if you didn’t remind your child to make sure she drank and wore her hat and if you haven’t taught her how to meet her basic needs. I’d say it says more about you than the school.

Do you not think the teachers would have wanted a drink? Or a rest? Or worn hats? Or put suncream on? Maybe not all of them but none of them?

Do you honestly think there are teachers who would walk along merrily meeting their own biological needs whilst not giving a second thought to the children?

School trips are really stressful for the staff. They'll have done a risk assessment of the trip, packed inhalers and epipens, liased with every additional member of staff who was going in order to meet the statutory child:staff ratios to make sure every single person knew exactly who and what they were responsible for at every stage of the day.

They'll have packed a first aid kit, a pack of blue paper towels and possibly a sick bowl or two.

Extra packed lunches for the children whose parents "didn't have time" to make them one.

They'll have head counted at several stages during the day.

They'll have stopped for lunch.

Children's safety and wellbeing is a priority in school. The sense of responsibility ramps up massively in a school trip because of all the external factors we can't predict or account or mitigate for.

Do you honestly think they'll have just failed to consider reminding children to wear hats or have a drink in a heat wave?

Honestly?

"The school has a duty of care - and if their risk assessment for a heat wave didn't include making sure all the children were taking regular water on and wearing hats (or specifically noting refusal), then they do indeed hold some responsibility."

They are 8 year olds not 3 year olds.

It was free.

Let’s just talk this over …

so as a parent would you be happy to not get any money paid for the trip refunded?

what should we do for the parents who DO want their child to still go but now also can’t get a refund?

I think you’re shoving the blame in the wrong direction.
Assume you reminded your daughter to drink plenty and to wear her hat? If so, did she ignore you?
The school would have reminded the children countless times and would 100% have had lunch/refreshment break/toilet stop.
This is on you and your daughter.
Oh and maybe if you think the school have been neglectful, maybe offer to be a parent helper next time because trust me, (I’ve worked in an infant school) school trips are a bloody nightmare!

If it really was the absurd situation that people seem to be implying where adults were pleading with a child who was resolutely refusing to drink then I think OP would have been informed of that - given that it's such an obvious health risk. As it was that nobody mentioned any stand offs, I would be much more inclined to say it was an oversight.

When we are on school trips the children are often in small groups so perhaps the adult charged to her group wasn't paying too much attention. It happens.

But however much MN are desperate to heap all the responsibility onto this 8 year old, they have forgotten that she is, in fact, a child in an extreme situation - many adults have fallen foul of not realising they need to drink enough in the last few days so why the vitriol for a child I don't know. It's just the MN way I guess.

The school has a duty of care - and if their risk assessment for a heat wave didn't include making sure all the children were taking regular water on and wearing hats (or specifically noting refusal), then they do indeed hold some responsibility.

And people wonder why teachers often aren't keen to run school trips any more.

I teach this age. I can guarantee that all children will have been regularly reminded/encouraged to keep their hats on and drink often. I can also guarantee that there will have been a number of kids on the trip (your dc in this case) who will have ignored the instruction.
Who told you that the staff did not do this?

I work in a First school, so Foundation to Year 4. I work with Year 3 and 4 (non-teaching role) and always remind the children to drink plenty of water and wear their hat. What I can't do is force the children to do this. At 8, your daughter is most likely Year 3, unless she's a young Year 4, who hasn't had her birthday yet. I would be expecting this age group to start taking responsibility for themselves. A child knows if they're thirsty or not. I would also find it very odd that no staff member reminded the children to wear their hat and drink. You need to check this information with the school. Staff can't stand over each child making sure they drink, especially on a school trip. You perhaps need a chat with your daughter about taking responsibility for herself, and using what's happened as a consequence of not doing so.

Also this. Please respect the 48h rule if your child has had diarrhea!

We don't know what they were given in terms of opportunities or reminders. I think a lack of hat should have been spotted in every head count and ought to have led to a direct instruction. Now, it's possible that the child refused to wear it, and if so OP needs to know.

She will 100% have been told over and over again to drink her water and wear her hat. What did you expect school to do if she wasn't listening? Glue the hat to her head? Feed her water like a toddler? In future tell her do as she's told and explain why hats and water are important.
And anyway, the headache and diarrhoea might be entirely unrelated. Kids get bugs all the time.

No i don't think they were neglectful

Presumably her mother provided her with a hat and told her to wear it and told her to drink her two bottles of water. And it's inconceivable that she wasn't told by the teachers.

Yabu. Do people in society genuinely think that teaching staff and educators don't have common sense and care for the children in their class? Of course the teaching staff want the children to be healthy, comfortable and happy - just like they would their own children! Many teachers are mums themselves. Of course they tell the children to go to the toilet, put their hats on, have a drink, stop for a drink break at a safe place, keep on moving, have another toilet and drink break when they reach their destination, etc etc.... it's literally their job. Educators do it for the children, because they certainly don't do it for the perks of the job.

So no, it isn't the schools fault if your daughter didn't wear her hat or drink her water. Children forget they have one, or misplace it, or find it uncomfortable to wear so take it off, or can't be bothered to put it on to begin with.