School didn’t call me about a broken bone

[Tigerbreadbum]

DS (8) fell at school this morning around 10am, witnessed by a teacher and TA. Was in a lot of pain, couldn’t wiggle fingers let alone write. They don’t contact me at all. We are in an and e and it’s broken and he may need surgery. I’m fuming he’s been in agony all day with no pain relief, and potentially made it worse.

what on earth do I say to school? I’m absolutely livid. He only started there in January due to physical violence from classmates at his old school. We were both so happy with the new school and now I’m fucking furious! Is there someone I should be informing, council maybe?

Can you make a formal complaint to Ofsted? They have massively failed your child and made him endure hours of unnecessary pain!? Not only that but their neglect towards his health could have had serious consequences had the fracture been worse.

I wouldn't be able to trust the school again.

Hope your son feels better soon xx

Totally agree with this. I cannot imagine this happening at my kid’s schools.

I could forgive not realising it was serious initially if the child had seemingly recovered quickly but he’s clearly not been able to carry on normal activities and been upset and in pain. School have messed up here and OP is totally justified in making a complaint so that hopefully this doesn’t happen again to another child.

Op I'd be fuming as well, that said my brother once missed a broken arm in one of his students (primary school teacher.) He was mortified when it happened.

I would ask to speak to the head tomorrow, want an explanation as to what has happened and why no one rang you.

I agree this isn't great, but you also need to look at the bigger picture if he's already left one school and seems to be getting on well at this one. Plus he seems to have made a great friend. Praise him for resilience, get his surgery sorted and then decide what to do regarding a complaint.

I would be raging too. Make sure you ask for their formal complaints policy when you ask for the accidents one.

ALWAYS be that parent if your child has been let down.

My DM once told me that the squeakiest wheel gets the oil and she was never wrong. In fact her complaints to a hospital and a school when I was younger resulted in changes of policy that benefitted everyone.

No one is going to give you a ribbon for being walked over and shrugging off mistakes that have caused damage.

Also please contact a solicitor. Their lack of care could fall under gross negligence, especially if the number of hours he spent in school made the fracture worse.

I'm going to do the 'teacher here' thing.

And yes, you absolutely need to contact the head and ask why their procedures failed your child.

Every incident like this had to be entered into the first aid book at my school. Yes, some kids seem to be able to hide injuries or not feel the pain. But in this case the child obviously WAS in pain.

We're not perfect, and I've missed things under pressure. But in this situation, I would be horrified if I had been responsible, and I'd absolutely accept the right of the parent to come in asking to know what happened. I'd apologise and I'd expect the head to follow up on what had happened, my part in it, and any procedures that needed addressing.

Seems concerning you have so many injuries in your class a) you don't have time to report them all b) you're deciding what's important

I usually defend schools on here but I agree with you that this is not good.
I would be wanting a detailed investigation into why no one took better care of him.
Calm and assertive is the way to go - and don't be fobbed off. They've fucked up here - not necessarily re: the initial accident but seemingly failing in their duty of care subsequently.

I feel your pain DS broke his wrist recently at lunch time and they gave him an ice pack and sent him on his way. He was in PE in the afternoon and was literally running round the field holding his wrist whilst another kid batted for him.

Luckily for us it was just a buckle fracture so will be quick to heal. I think some kids mask pain better than others. Also I do think teachers are just trying to get through so it’s easy to ignore the poor kid who bashed themselves and now can’t write as a likely sprain.

Hopefully your DS heals quickly

My ds high school age knocked himself unconscious falling in school they call me said he had bumped his head nothing about knocking himself out I said i would collect but they let him leave an walk home alone. Obviously a trip to a an e comfirmed he was concussed I reported it to ofsted who came the school 2 weeks later with no notice I also complained to the Head off school as he had no clue off what took place the first aider phone me grovelling saying she didn't realise how bad it was I said yes because you never asked!!

We had this with ds over 20 years ago. He fell playing playground footie at lunch time. Really hurt his ankle. Hobbled to sick bay, perked up and went to class. At playtime he refused to get up.

There was a message on the answering machine when we got in from the school secretary. Evidently DS had twisted his ankle and as he was making a fuss, school called me.

Got to school and as I went into the classroom, he was as white as a sheet. When he agreed to sit in his sister's buggy to get home, I knew it was broken even before he blurted out "I didn't cry mummy, I was a man about it". He was about 7 but still in the infants.

A&E, plastered up, had the following day off to get used to the crutches. School were absolutely horrified when I told them. I just thought it was a normal, human error.

Through a friend who worked at the school, I heard the head had gone ballistic and commissioned an investigation.

I felt so sorry for the TA and dinner lady involved. I gave them both chocolates and hugs the day he got back and reassured them. Also because I wanted them to look out for him rather than give him and me the side eye for ever more for kicking up a stink over a playground mishap.

Sporty physical little boys get hurt. Sometimes more than other times. @Tigerbreadbum the previous summer he broke his wrist and it had to be reset. Only afterwards did I find out that it was to deal with a little bump that would have cleared after a few years, but parents complain. What exactly does the surgery comprise?

The odd thing that still surprises me now is that when it happened dd and I were at the Natural History Museum having lunch and I got an overwhelming need to go straight home because I was needed there and that's what we did. I think back on that more than the broken ankle (it was minor).

School have duty of care. Social services
need to be informed. It’s called children’s services and the county you live. No excuse for this. I hope AE also pick this up as failure to care.
poor little boy. Hope he is more comfortable now.

When I was primary school in the 1980s I fell off a wall on the playground and fractured my skull, the school didn’t ring my mum and when she found out she ripped the head mistress a new one.

Ds2 is the most accident prone child ever, his school use something called medicaltracker to record accidents and it automatically informs me if he’s been seen by the first aider, I get at least one or two emails a month from them.

I would email the head teacher and also the chair of governors.

I am very surprised there's no incident form. At dds school a slip is given if there's been even a slight bump or graze and whatever the case the teacher or TA will walk out with the child to inform parents of the incident and pass the slip over if the child has remained in school.

If the incident is before 2pm then parents are always called, the staff will inform and reassure parents if the child seems ok or parents can pick up early if they wish to.
DD in year 3 took a ball to the face once, right on one eye and her teacher was more than happy for me to pop in and make sure she was ok because she'd been really upset and her eye was starting to bruise.

This is awful, your poor boy. It sounds like he is unusually stoic so got completely overlooked. I wonder if the past bullying means he stays quiet when upset and in pain? I expect the teacher didn't really register because he wasn't making a big fuss like most children would. Perhaps they will reassess their injury form policy now. I hope the surgery is uncomplicated and he recovers well.

I would raise it as a safeguarding issue

What a bizarre post. It's not difficult to work out what OP might seek to achieve, surely? As a minimum, she would presumably iike to ensure that if anything similar happens again her child won't be left in severe pain all day, they will look after him properly and will contact her to get him taken to be medically checked. If they also learn to do the same for other children, so much the better. This could potentially have been quite dangerous.

How would asking the school to do their jobs properly make a fool of OP?

No advice but I remember this happening when I was at school. Friend fell on her arm, was in pain and couldn’t write, was told off by the teacher for not doing her work and cried from trying. She came in the next day with a cast and her mum was really angry. I would put it down to teachers not knowing the “warning” signs of a serious injury or when to send to the nurse to be checked. I’d be really annoyed with the school too for not even getting an opinion from the nurse or giving you a call. Hoping your DS has a really speedy recovery

They knew he was in pain and they did nothing about it. That sounds kind of deliberate, doesn't it?

Things that have happened at school in my years as a childminder....
Removed reception child's jumper to find white shirt covered in blood...3 loose teeth where he had been swung around and hit the playground.
One broken finger....happend in am break child at home time was visibly grey and clammy.
Burn to hand year 1 teacher hadn't noticed an iron had been plugged in when they were looking at domestic appliances in a year one class . All under 5s should go to hospital for any burn.
One broken leg child hobbled out of class at end of day....I refused him as supposed to walk home
Child carried out of class had fallen asleep had been sent to medical but as near the end of day returned to class temp was just over 39.
Strained ligaments in finger from netball left all day over 3 weeks splinted.
If parents do not complain nothing changes.

Ask for a phone call with the safeguarding lead and explain what has happened and ask for them to explain what the procedure is for serious injuries at school and why this was missed.

If your concerns aren’t properly addressed. Email the head teacher and explain what’s happened. Also look at the school complaints policy. This needs to be in writing, it absolutely isn’t acceptable.

Don’t be ridiculous.. it’s a H&S incident not safeguarding (child is not at risk).

(Headteacher, Safeguarding lead)

Op - which bone has ge broken?