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Original poster

Advice Please: Son was assaulted during Induction Day

31 replies

SarahG28 · 12/07/2019 08:18

Yesterday my 10 yo was on his last ‘Induction Day’ at the secondary school he will be attending in September when he was subjected to an assault by another boy, also on his induction day. The incident happened during morning break time when my son who was stood alone was approached by a group of lads, surrounding him and quite aggressively saying he had been saying things about one of these boys mothers! My child doesn’t know, has never seen or spoke with any of these kids before and definitely has not been saying anything about anybody’s mother so was obviously scared when he was ganged up on. With this he then tried to get away from the situation by running away, only to be chased down by the group who when caught up with him then carried out a totally unprovoked assault. He was grabbed on the back of the neck and forcefully pushed to the ground or in the words of my son ‘taken down’ by one of the boys who then repeatedly called my son a ‘pussy’.

Unfortunately my child was too scared to report this incident at the new school yesterday and now sadly fears that there will be further attacks in September when he starts and is therefore fearful of starting.

Witnesses have come forward and we have the first name and class teachers name of the child who carried out the assault, along with details of the school he currently attends. I have emailed this school to report the incident and I will be phoning the secondary school where the attack took place this morning. My question is.....have I done enough?

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
SarahG28 · 12/07/2019 09:38

@IncrediblySadToo not really no as all his friends from primary are going to the same school and I feel if moved to a different school he wouldn't adjust well due to being autistic.

Thankfully he was just verbally abused once on the ground but this will stay lodged in his mind now as he is quite a sensitive boy.

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Original poster
SarahG28 · 12/07/2019 09:17

@BubblesBuddy thank you for your reply. I will definitely be asking about the supervision, or lack of yesterday as one of my questions along with a long list of others I have!
I just hope the primary schools HT acts on this incident and speaks/does something about the child as I was horrified by the way another year 6 child attacked my son in such a grown up manner. This wasn't just some playground shove or punch on the arm but a vicious move that you would expect someone much older to perform, not a 10-11 yo! It scares me to think what this child could be capable of in another year or two's time!

OP posts:
IncrediblySadToo · 12/07/2019 09:15

Is there another Senior School you can look st if this Senior School doesn’t tell those boys they’re no longer welcome to join that school? I wouldn’t be sending my DC into a school with these kids who are bold enough to do that on an induction day visit. No way.

I’d make an appointment to see both Heads

DS is going to need to speak up

Once he was on the ground did they hit or kick him or were they just verbally abusive?

Original poster
SarahG28 · 12/07/2019 09:07

@EvaHarknessRose Thank you for your help and suggestions. My son was already taking extra visits as part of a transition group as he was already anxious about the 'big move' and worried about being bullied. When asked about the incident he retracts and doesn't want to talk about it so I daren't push him too much, I just hope he'll open up and talk when he's ready? My son is a thinker, he'll bottle things up rather than speak about it. I just prey this doesn't impact his learning when he starts in September.

OP posts:
BubblesBuddy · 12/07/2019 08:37

I think you have done the right thing at the moment. Await responses and follow up if necessary. Someone will know the legal side of it but it’s my belief the HT of the primary school is responsible for the behaviour of pupils off site. The child was on an officially organised trip off site. However whether it had the same status as a normal school trip is a matter for debate. I assume DC make their own way to the school and no teachers actually accompany the DC.

Heads can certainly punish DC on their way to and from school so I would expect the primary school to act because it would seem to fall into this area of responsibility for the Primary Head.

Additionally, I would ask about supervision at the secondary school. This took place on their premises so the Head does have responsibility for the safety of visitors. Were young visitors adequately supervised? Obviously the secondary staff don’t know these DC and trusted them but were they left alone too much? However, these DC are on roll at a primary and they can only be punished by them.

I hope you get a suitable and timely response.

EvaHarknessRose · 12/07/2019 08:28

Yes, you have acted appropriately. Think what you want to ask them for - him not to be in a tutor or learning group with them

  • him to have a further induction opportunity eg could a group of them from primary go up for an extra sports event with a teacher or something (so he gets to revisit and attach new memories to the school before sept)
  • a buddy to be allocated

Also as this is quite a traumatic incident, listen when your son talks about it, and gently help him process it and work through his feelings. I’m so sorry this happened. How do you think he is coping with it?