To think the school were neglectful?

You have no idea what she was told to do though. So OP is right to find out what went wrong.

We also don't know if any other children have heat exhaustion.

Which is why I advised asking the teacher in good faith.

Except that MIL would have been looking after 1 child and not 30.

MIL would also have the capacity to stop whenever the child asked. In a class of 30, you need to do things at the same time. It's why we schedule in frequent toilet breaks on a school trip and don't just stop to find one everytime an individual child asks to go. (Childen with specific toileting requirements would be factored into staffing levels and the risk assessment before anyone asks about children with additional needs.)

What would you expect a teacher to do beyond give opportunities and reminders?

If your child can't be trusted to follow instructions perhaps it's safer she doesn't go on school trips.

If the whole class or significant numbers suffered heat exhaustion you might have a point. This is simply a child who didn't do what she was told to do and didn't use the resources she was given.

And yet I grew up in a place where this kind of weather was prevalent every summer and somehow survived without water bottles or constant reminding. We were outside all day. Walked that far to the mall. Played sports in the heat etc. it’s isn’t Armageddon just because you aren’t used to it.

Honestly the total overreaction to this weather for healthy people is ridiculous.

Yep, OP is right to question what happened.

She's totally wrong in her interpretation of the problem though.

They should review their risk assessment processes because one child didn't follow instructions or use the water and hat provided,, and one parent goes whining to them?

This. I’m sorry she’s unwell but maybe she’ll learn an important lesson here!

I haven't bashed any teachers.

I'm just saying that MN is almost never willing to accept that a teacher did something wrong. I think teachers generally are fantastic, but I am willing to accept they make mistakes at work, just like anyone else.

School do have duty of care and OPs child came home with heat exhaustion, she's right to question what happened.

They should have cancelled the trip. No matter how much you remind them, there will always be kids that forget to drink. Please do tell the school that your daughter is poorly as they'll need to review their risk assessment policies in future to take account of extreme heat. Hope she's better soon.

Would the MIL be responsible for one child or 30? Changes things slightly doesn't it.

Doesn’t your dd drink water when thirsty at home ? Or do you tell her to drink every hour or two? I know that some kids with SN don’t recognise being thirsty and hungry but ime an 8 year old know when they are thirsty and that drinking water will sort it out. Have you asked de why she didn’t drink?
Also doesn’t she wear a hat when you take her out in summer or for summer playtimes? If she takes hers off when she’s with you then it’s not surprising that she did the same at school.
Neglectful would be if they left the water bottles at school.

Couldn't wait to get a bit of teacher bashing in, could you? If MIL had taken her she wouldn't have been supervising her along with many other children, so it's not comparable.

If you have a HT that lets you. I doubt the class teacher wanted to go either 😂

And you're 1:1. There's a huge difference. She's 8 and unless there's a reason she can't determine if she's thirsty or not then she's more than old enough to drink water herself.

Op I’m sorry, she’s old enough to take responsibility for herself.

I bet the school told them to drink and told them to wear their hats if they had them. I bet she just didn’t.

i would bet my house that she was told to drink water at some point during the day. The school is not neglectful because they didn’t stand there and watch to ensure every child consumed water as they were reminded to. It is also not their fault if your child chose not to wear a hat. They can’t force hats on children.

Not UK here but in this country, no primary school child would be going on a school trip without a hat on. But I assume it isn’t a compulsory part of the school uniform where you are so I’m not sure that the school have been neglectful.

As for the water, it’s your job to make sure she has some, and that is where anyone’s responsibility stops for an 8 year old. She will drink when she is thirsty.

Presumably you reminded her to drink water and wear her hat before she left?
If she ignored you then she has probably also ignored her teachers.

OP you won't get anywhere with this.

Next time, change the post to say MIL took her and see the difference in response.

I think your child is old enough to drink when thirsty, but I do also think that it's quite easy to see when a child isn't wearing a hat. Also perhaps the child felt unable to stop to get water out of their bag etc? Have a chat with the teacher from a position of good faith and see what they say.

Having worked in a school, I would have expected the trip to go ahead but (at 8 years old) hats and suncream to be non-negotiable, so I'm surprised she didn't wear a hat. I also agree that water breaks should have been scheduled, but that they couldn't force children to drink - but surprising she didn't have any?

As a teacher, considering the heat and the amount of walking involved, I would have taken public transport instead yesterday (if available) or just pulled the trip altogether. From a health and safety perspective, doing a 40 minute walk in over 30 degree heat with young children is really not advisable.

I also think 8 year olds are not especially independent or full of common sense, so if I had been mad enough to have gone ahead with the trip, I would have stopped every 10 mins or so on the walk to have a mandatory rest and drink before moving on.

Children can't regulate their body temp as well as adults and dehydration and heat stroke are serious risks you'd have to consider as part of a risk assessment for a trip involving so much walking in 30 degree heat. The teachers should have put in place actions to mitigate those risks.

So if the rest breaks and time for drinking en route weren't enforced, then you'd have an argument that the school were neglectful. If your daughter didn't drink when directed to do so, then I don't see what else you could expect them to do.

Of course they did. What are the odds of having a crap teacher and a crap TA. The Y6 teacher in the class next to me yesterday is a man and not a parent and thus maybe doesn’t think about these things as perhaps a parent might. I did hear him remind the children but maybe not as much as I would about drinking etc but you can bet your bottom dollar I heard his TA reminding them 4 billion times!

Did you DD specifically say there were no water breaks, no reminders to put hats on, to take their bottles to drink(even if no one told her specifically ).Did no one else drink/wear a hat?

I would expect there to be scheduled stops on the walk there and back for a drinks break. I'd also expect them to have had a lunch break at the museum where they would be encouraged to eat and drink.

If you're saying that this didn't happen and your child wasn't given the opportunity to drink all day then, yes, they were negligent.

But, I think we all know, that this almost certainly did happen and your DD made the choice not to drink her water.

Are all the other children in the class in a similar position today with dehydration /heat stroke? That'll be a clue as to whether it was a teacher level problem or just your DD not listening/doing as she was told.