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Original poster

Would you make a complaint about this?

134 replies

IDrewThat · 15/07/2023 06:52

My dd was taken on a school trip last week. It was an outdoor event with plenty of opportunities to go inside for refreshments and learning events. I've been to this place before and I'm aware of the indoor spaces.

The day came and the weather was awful. Torrential rain and winds. The school proceeded with the trip telling parents to rest assured children will be kept inside at all chances.

I collected dd at home time and she was hysterical. Shivering and crying. Her clothes were equivalent to if she had been swimming in them. I was furious.

All the children came home soaked. A lot of them really distressed!

Dd said it was so horrible. They were kept outside all day. Didn't go inside anywhere at any time. Dds lunchbox was soaked through as they had to sit on them to eat their lunch or stand and eat in the pouring rain.

It sounded horrific. Dd said the children kept getting told to hurry up and the whole time was spent practically running in the rain trying to keep up with each other. They didn't learn anything. Some children slipped and injured themself. One child wet themself as they couldn't find the toilets.

My dd is 6 and the eldest group was 10 year olds.

Would you make a complaint about this? I would complain about the fact the children did not go indoors at all as promised. They learnt absolutely nothing and were distressed by the end of it.
Not to mention the amount I paid, but that's irrelevant really.

OP posts:
LakeTiticaca · 15/07/2023 08:28

WaitingfortheTardis · 15/07/2023 08:18

Where did they go that it was cold enough for blue lips? It is wet and rainy, but even if they were wet they wouldn't have been cold enough for blue lips! She may have felt a bit damp and chilly and been keen to get home and dry, sorry but it just sounds like a big drama over not much at all. I also agree with pp that your friend is enjoying stirring the pot on this one.

That driving rain across the UK yesterday was awful. It wasn't a summer shower. I was out in it for 10 minutes and pissed wet through and freezing.
Imagine being out in it all day with soaking wet clothes stuck to you.
A little damp and chilly doesn't cut it really

Mumofoneandone · 15/07/2023 08:30

Yes you complain as the school lied to you about what would happen on the trip. Potential safeguarding as well.

skelter83 · 15/07/2023 08:31

As a teacher, I would expect a complaint about this.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

6 year olds Families General education
Stonebridge · 15/07/2023 08:33

OP I would be disgusted and I'm not afraid of a bit of rain either. But hours getting soaked with freezing rain is horrendous. They would have been freezing and so uncomfortable.
I would definitely complain.

DinnaeFashYersel · 15/07/2023 08:33

@Fairyliz

Waterproof jacket, over-trousers and wellies can be purchased from supermarkets for about £20 for that age range or in outdoor stores for roughly the same, or a little more.

plasticwallet · 15/07/2023 08:33

It's not about minimising but the fact that you can't undo it.The teachers probably had a miserable time as well.

Some of the children were 6 yrs old!!! The logic of you can't undo it means what never complain about anything? You are minimising it.

babysharkdoodoodedoodedoo · 15/07/2023 08:33

I can’t believe what I’ve read. I’m a teacher and if my students had this experience, the parents (and the boss!) would be absolutely beyond furious. We would have multiple complaints. Similarly, if this were my child I’d be furious too. I’d definitely contact the school and request that if similar circumstances occur on the next trip, I be contacted to take my child home as I’d not want them having that experience. It sounds thoroughly miserable and pretty dangerous. I’m a teacher abroad and perhaps there are cultural issues at play (parents pay for school so accept less!) but teachers are generally far more respected here and parents would never be angry with, or complain about, the teacher for no good reason. I’d consider this a very good reason.

Original poster
IDrewThat · 15/07/2023 08:33

This is why I wanted to complain. They lied to the parents saying children would have chance to be inside. From what I gather, no attempt was made to do that.

I don't care if I complain and I've got some things wrong. I want the school to know how annoyed I am about the state my dd came home in.

OP posts:
Pawpatrolsucks · 15/07/2023 08:35

Definitely complain. You wouldn’t be wrong to go off at them too.

ZeldaWillTellYourFortune · 15/07/2023 08:35

WaitingfortheTardis · 15/07/2023 06:58

Personally I wouldn't complain as I wouldn't want things like this cancelled for a bit of rain. My own dd would love a wet and wild day out, rain doesn't really hurt anyone as long as you send them in woth appropriate clothing. I'd just take her home and give her a nice hot bath and a hot chocolate and encourage her to think of it as a bit of an adventure. I might be a bit miffed that they didn't take shelter for lunch, but even that isn't the end of the world. No child should be distressed by a day out in the rain.

This.

AP5Diva · 15/07/2023 08:35

IDrewThat · 15/07/2023 08:33

This is why I wanted to complain. They lied to the parents saying children would have chance to be inside. From what I gather, no attempt was made to do that.

I don't care if I complain and I've got some things wrong. I want the school to know how annoyed I am about the state my dd came home in.

If you can get several parents to do a joint complaint, it will go further. Do you have a PTO? WhatsApp?

notacooldad · 15/07/2023 08:37

Someone was injured actually, if you read my first post!
I did read your post and if the parent of that child wants to complain then fine.
I had a complaint against me when a child broke their arm on a trip. However when the investigation took place it was found that the group had a clear briefing what to do where already risk assessed to take part in the activity etc. However the young person involved chose to deliberate do something they were not allowed to do and went to an area where they were told they were out of bounds.
Initially the parents came in complaining but they only had 1/4 of the story.
You weren't there. You haven't got facts. You friend hasn't got the guts to complain but you are getting it in the ear from her. Hmm mmmm. I wonder why?

Original poster
IDrewThat · 15/07/2023 08:37

@AP5Diva I haven't had chance to talk to the other parents yet. I will do though. I can't be the only one annoyed about it.

OP posts:
MargaretThursday · 15/07/2023 08:37

I very much doubt you'd have got anything refunded if they hadn't gone. Things like that they'll have paid for in advance and are unlikely to be refundable unless the weather was so bad they had to close.
If they'd cancelled it would have been a different set of complaints.

leopard22 · 15/07/2023 08:38

I would be interested to know how many people who have commented saying this is okay are school staff?

I'd complain OP, or at least ask the question as to why parents were lied to regarding indoor spaces because surely if it was due to risk assessments as so many people ah w said, they would have known before they left that indoors time wouldn't happen.

Iwasafool · 15/07/2023 08:38

DinnaeFashYersel · 15/07/2023 08:33

@Fairyliz

Waterproof jacket, over-trousers and wellies can be purchased from supermarkets for about £20 for that age range or in outdoor stores for roughly the same, or a little more.

I don't know if they would stand up to the rain we had yesterday. I was out with a supposedly waterproof coat and in half an hour my clothes were damp as the rain was so heavy and the driving wind was making it worse.

The specialist waterproof stuff is different. We tested GSs stuff, cost hundreds. Stood him in the shower for a few minutes and although he wasn't wet the water wasn't beading so it all got a wash with specialist product and then put through the tumble dryer. Then in a shower nothing getting through, just beading on the outside.

plasticwallet · 15/07/2023 08:40

@leopard22 I work in education, I don't know anyone who thinks it's ok to keep 6 yrs olds out in heavy rain all day & not dry off. £20 waterproofs aren't going to make a difference either.

plasticwallet · 15/07/2023 08:41

I don't know if they would stand up to the rain we had yesterday. I was out with a supposedly waterproof coat and in half an hour my clothes were damp as the rain was so heavy and the driving wind was making it worse.

Of course they wouldn't!

Soubriquet · 15/07/2023 08:41

I would be very unimpressed if my dc came home soaked through and upset because of it.

If it was me on the trip, I wouldn’t have been able to hear after an hour as the wet would have buggered up my hearing aid!!

leopard22 · 15/07/2023 08:43

plasticwallet · 15/07/2023 08:40

@leopard22 I work in education, I don't know anyone who thinks it's ok to keep 6 yrs olds out in heavy rain all day & not dry off. £20 waterproofs aren't going to make a difference either.

And quite clearly I didn't say everyone who works in a school thinks this is okay, I said I'd like to know how many of the posters saying it is okay work for a school- it's quite clear that some do with the knowledge they have re school trips/RA.

Whenever someone posts about not being happy with teachers/schools there's always plenty of school staff jumping in to defend whatever the issue is, regardless of what it is!

notacooldad · 15/07/2023 08:44

You wouldn’t be wrong to go off at them too 🤣
Yeah, while you're at it get the local paper to take your picture next to the school sign with you arms folded and a sad face, prefably with your kid looking sad to.

Original poster
IDrewThat · 15/07/2023 08:44

I'm going to email on Monday with some questions I'd like answers to. I won't make it a complaint just yet. I will talk with the other parents and see what their children had to say about it.

For those saying I'm only getting info from my friend and dd. I trust both of them. They are neither lying or trying to make trouble. They have nothing to gain from doing so. Both dd and friend have told me similar accounts from the day.

OP posts:
cinnamonfrenchtoast · 15/07/2023 08:44

I'd be annoyed too. And I work outside in all weathers, all year round.

People can keep going on about appropriate clothing, but a £20 set of waterproofs from the supermarket isn't going to keep you dry when you're out in the wind and rain all day long. You need proper gore-tex for that.

I don't think anyone here would be happy if they were sent on a team building day that required them to be outside in the pissing down wind and rain for hours. I mean, would you really want to eat your lunch sat on your lunchbox in the rain? Really?

Schools should have plans in place for bad weather - and if that means cutting the trip short then that's what should happen.

BeautifulWar · 15/07/2023 08:47

I'm sure there are loads of teachers who would enjoy standing around in a monsoon with cold, hysterical kids who are pissing themselves because there are no toilets. Presumably the teachers would have needed the toilet too? Maybe they pissed themselves too? Sounds like a dream day out!

SavedbytheBe11 · 15/07/2023 08:47

Yanbu OP. I'm not sure why so many posters on the thread are defending the school with their lives!

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