Ideas on getting child to school...

[chelseaMumma]

...with a broken leg??

Ds12 has a cast from above his knee to his toes. School is a 20 minute walk away and I don't drive. School are demanding he attends and I scrounge a lift for him or pay for a taxi everyday. I currently have £5 to my name so that's not going to happen.

Any ideas???

Any local friends he could catch a lift with? Any other relatives who could drop him off?

What would you do if you had an emergency?

Would the council fund a taxi? They do for children who are disabled/unable to get to school, which he temporarily is.

How will he cope at school? Can he get up the stairs with crutches?

Does he have a wheelchair? Could you push him to school?

Public transport. Walk on crutches. Lift off a mate.

He can manage two minutes on crutches before they hurt his hands.

Everyone walks to school here and no family nearby to help.

If it was an emergency I'd ask a neighbour, this isn't an emergency though.

The wheelchairs a good idea, I'll look into hiring one tomorrow.

When he's at school he'll be in one room mainly and work will be brought to him. They also have lifts there.

He should not be going into school until a risk assessment has taken place. That includes an assessment of his journey to school. If school are insisting he goes in whilst he has his cast on, and you are unable to get him there, they should pay for a taxi each way.
If they refuse, contact the LA and ask what support they can offer.

I would not send my child in and would request work he could do at home.

I wouldn't go to work with a broken leg so i certainly wouldn't send my precious child in to school.

If have my GP back me up saying its just not going to happen.

How old is the child OP?

When my son had a broken leg (nasty break that took a year to heal) the council took him to school in a taxi, but he would normally have caught a school bus.
We picked up a wheel chair for fifty pounds in a charity shop, they had a few in, so might be worth a look.
He had a fixator (to regrow bones rather than a normal cast) and apparently it was quite unusual that his school would let him back in as many don't want the responsibility of a child getting knocked.

If he's just going to be in a room with work brought to him surely the same work can be sent home

My DD13 has recently had a knee op and has been using crutches for a few months; get him the ones that have an arm hold; very easy to use. His hands are sore after 2 minutes? Has he just got the cast? Think he needs to perseveres. School transport isn't provided for temporary conditions; we are fortunate there's a school bus and occasionally I can drop her.

Can school collect him in the school minibus? We've done that occasionally...

You can borrow a wheelchair from the Red Cross and they only ask for a donation www.redcross.org.uk/get-help/borrow-a-wheelchair
But, I do agree that if the school are insisting he attends they should make it so.

Well he's not for for school in a way you wouldn't be for for work. On the basis he can't manage his aids for a long enough period to travel. What if there was a fire?

I'd be asking school (via email) for a copy of the risk assessment and copy of policies about what happens when a child is temporarily disabled and unable to travel.

Then once I had this information I'd make the decision I felt best for my child.

How recently did the break happen?

You need to go into school and have a conversation about how you and they are going to handle this and any health and safety implications. Managing with a full leg cast in a school environment won't be simple. He'll need to be able to elevate his leg while in the classroom, especially if the break was recent, and he may need help to get between classrooms.

My DS aged 9 was involved in a car accident and had a full leg cast for about 8 weeks then another 4 weeks in a half leg cast. Fortunately part of the time was the summer holidays so he only had about 6 weeks of school while in a full cast. He had a basic wheelchair with a leg rest in front, and the teaching staff wheeled him into and out of classrooms. He did have crutches but they are less simple to use with a full leg cast as you can't simply bend your knee to keep the cast out of the way when you walk.

Well I got him there!

Borrowed a wheelchair from a friend of a friend and pushed him to school, via my other children's primary to drop them off.

I'm going to look into other crutches options, he is a whinger over anything so whatever I do won't be good enough, he just wants an excuse to stay home.

Ds is 12, year 7. He fractured his tibia 12 days ago so he has had the last week off to rest.

Well done you 👍🏻
12 days is plenty time to practice the crutches, definitely the elbow supports are good; my daughter had the hang of these right away and her leg was rigid in a full brace.

Like these @Bookworm4 ??

www.co-opmobility.co.uk/mobility-aids/crutches/elbow-crutches/p/advance-elbow-crutches?o=42814

www.co-opmobility.co.uk/mobility-aids/crutches/elbow-crutches/p/nhs-hospital-crutches?o=19981&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjpjkBRDRARIsAKv-0O3k3lrpQDziwsaMmsvOhrk7pv9aAxL5Mu6ajZWzYcG7utzFafEf9IkaAkK2EALw_wcB
These are better as they actually clip round the arm do less chance of falling off, she was given them st ortho clinic; don't buy them.

Good to get him on crutches but I can’t see it is realistic for him to do equivalent of a 20 min walk each way.

Thanks @Bookworm4

Well tomorrow were forecast heavy rain all morning so I doubt he'll be going in. We don't have anything waterproof to go over him in the chair.

I'll see how he is when I pick him up, how he feels about being back.

Might I suggest he holds an umbrella while sitting in the chair? And/or coat on and bin bag over his legs?

I did think that @Orangedaisy but I'm not sure. It's about 40 minute walk as we go via the primary first. If I take him first it's 20 minutes but then his younger siblings will be late. Will see how bad it actually is tomorrow, hoping for no rain!

Can someone else walk the siblings in?

You can get little foam covers to go over the handles of the crutches if they hurt his hands. If you're new to crutches they are extremely tiring and I can see a full day at school would be hard work. I think if it was my DS I would be asking for a reduced timetable and work to do at home in addition to school, especially on days with PE etc. Poor DS!

The Red Cross as PP mentioned also loan a lot of mobility equipment, it's worth seeing if you have one local? Ours accept a donation of whatever you can afford to borrow the equipment.