To mention to DDs teacher that a classmate appears to have hygiene issues

[Crazybit]

or shall I mind my own business?

DD1 is in year 6 and is always mentioning that a girl in her glass stinks. I feel really sorry for the girl. Her mum doesn't seem the type of person I could approach so would it be really wrong to mention it to DDs teacher and perhaps suggest a little chat with the whole class about the importance of person hygiene? I also wonder if the girl has an infection of some type as DD says she smells of fish and her knickers are often black from urine, I assumed meaning she hasn't wiped after going to the loo.

Or should I keep stum and tell DD to stop being so horrible and keep her mouth shut about it?

OP, I really think you should speak to the teacher. The child could be neglected, and in any case is being gossiped about. Poor girl.

in my friend's dd case, the child's parents were separating and she was living with dad, who had a lot on his mind and had not given her hygience advice
the teacher was not aware, my friend's dd was, because she sat next to the girl and cared about her

omg poncey now you are implying that because a child has smelt they are now in fear of being sexually abused.....jeez...
that is just going abit too far

eh? who mentioned sexual abuse?

I would speak to the CPLO rather than the teacher, and I would expect a reply. This is key to suspected CP issues.

It is not normal for a 10 yo girl to have severe unresolved hygiene issues. Followup is needed.

ah, missed that.
If I was op I'd be concerned about the issue in hand rather than the whys and wherefores, all of which are speculation. I'd want to find a way to help the child sort out the hygiene, and yes I would speak to teacher if I was concerned. And leave it at that.

I have Child Protection training and the mantra was, if in doubt, report your concerns. Better than possibly letting a real problem be overlooked.

The other children are commenting on this child's hygiene. She needs help. A concerned parent wants to speak to her teacher in case it has been overlooked. What is wrong about this?

Why would a teacher be looking at knickers as children change for sport?! Another child in close proximity in a changing room is far more likely to notice imo.

yeh i remember my training very well but that does not mean to make the assumption that the girl is being sexually abused...

there are far too many assumptions on this thread...that it is sexual abuse, neglect etc etc etc...

as i said before you will be very suprised how many children who attend nursey stink, smell unwashed, but you knw they have been bathed.. should i make an assumption that the child is being sexually abused, neglected etc etc like some of you have mentioned on here....

would be interested to know how many on here have their children attend nursery....and would be horrified that a nursery nurse would think like this....

this isnt about a child in nursery tho

we are talking about a year 6 schoolgirl,how as it become about nursery workers/children?

In would suggest that if a child stinks everyday, the is an element of neglect there. It is not normal.

A child of nursery age should not stink either, unless they need changing.
Why would a child pre-puberty naturally stink?

I work in a nursery; we did have one very smelly toddler and he did indeed have an infection (ear) of very long standing which did not respond to treatment. We knew the reason for this.

No other children stank unless they needed a nappy change.

tiff i am giving an example...that children do come into nursery stinking even though you know they have been bathed....it doesnt necessarily mean they are being neglected...

as someone else has mentioned it could be fishy syndrome where as the young girl is approaching puberty, her hormones are kicking in, periods etc...and she becomes smelly...this doesnt necesarily mean the child is being neglected or abused....

if she was also
underweight
hungry
had bruising and marks
ciggie burns
cried all the time
low self esteem
lack of confidence
secretive
saying things that were not in the normal vocabulary of a 10 yr old child
plus other things
then i would say it COULD be a case of neglect....

i honestly believe other children are saying things about this poor girl and it is esculating....into bullying....

I did some safeguarding training only last week so it is very fresh in my mind and I would absolutely agree the OP should say something too.

It may be nothing but it is not the OP's job to check this out, she can only raise her concerns with the relevant person. The CPLO is probably a good place to start because if the teacher has noticed she might not be doing the right thing and trying to sort it out for whatever reason. The CPLO is usually the head teacher.

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing" (or something like that) is the quote that springs to mind when reading this thread. If everything is fine or the girl is being treated in some way then no harm done and at least, if handled sensitively, she can be supported whilst she gets sorted out. If she isn't fine then she needs help and that won't happen if everybody stays quiet.

I talked to ds's teacher because ds was constantly complaining about another boy's behaviour. To the extent to which I couldn't believe that one child could be to blame for, apparently, everything and I was worried he was being scapegoated.

She laughed, explained that yes the class did indeed scapegoat this boy (and two others - one being ds, hence the amusement) and that they were addressing the issue. She also thanked me saying that it was a shame parents were getting the wrong idea about this boy and it was good to know not all parents took gossip at face value.

I am not an interfering guttersnipe.

Thank you for all the replies.

I didn't necessarily attribute neglect to the girl smelling. Just that maybe she either needed to get a bath more often or she had a medical problem. She has several older/younger brothers and sisters so I thought maybe her mum just didn't get chance to remind her to bathe. I know I usially ferry my kids straight upstairs when they need a wash but I only have 2.

DDs teacher is very nice and experienced, I'm sure she will appreciate it if I just bring it to her attention that dd and others have metioned it a few times about a girl in the class, and just thought I better tell her. I don't need feedback over it, just feel that it is my duty to at least bring it up. If it turned out that anything was happening to the girl, or she had a problem then I would be so ashamed that I had not dome anything about my concerns.

doormat, if this is bullying then the teacher needs to be informed!

yeh we have responsibilities to every child and i take mine extremely seriously...i would never want a child to be the victim of abuse either mental, physical, sexual etc but i would report any concerns i have to the relevant person...i have done in the past.....and i will in the future...but i will not make assumptions....i will do my job to protect children varociously

Definitely say something to the teacher. As others have said, it might not be neglect. But either way, if your DD has noticed then others will too and it's not fair on the child for her to carry on like this.

jenai i said that earlier on...that for op to go n spk to teacher about the child maybe being bullied because of hygeine issues not go into the nittty gritty of black niks et

I wouldn't assume that the teacher would know that classmates are talking about this girl. Ds had a medical problem that caused him to smell and his classmates called him names. All done discreetly so the teacher was appalled when I told her what was being said to Ds. That was in yr 1 in a class of 15 so I'm sure it could easily be missed by a yr 6 teacher.