Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To take legal action against school?

194 replies

SingleNow · 14/05/2012 14:24

My 4yr old ds has had yet another accident at nursery. This time he has taken a chunk out of his thumb, it is quite bad and although it was bleeding a fair amount could not be stitched as there was nothing to stitch together.

He had just gone back to school last Monday after 2 weeks off after falling head first onto a wood flower bed and having a bump from his hair line to the bridge of his nose.

This accident/incident with his thumb I feel is one too many in a short space of time.
It was his fault partly as he put his thumb in the metal plate on the door frame and walked as he walked the plate sliced a chunk off his thumb. My point is that there shouldn't have been anything as sharp as that near 3 and 4 yr olds and also the fact that staff all say the same thing. " we don't know what happened" now whilst I agree that they cannot watch every child due to the amount of pupils (26) there are 3 members of staff and it is always the same they never know how DS gets hurt.

So I have decided to take legal action AIBU???

OP posts:
Original poster
SingleNow · 16/05/2012 08:52

Appt is tomorrow, am calm now his thumb is yucky but hopefully won't have too much of a scar.

OP posts:
Floggingmolly · 16/05/2012 19:34

Hope the appointment goes well, Single Sorry you were given a hard time on this thread. Good luck.

CountryMouse27 · 16/05/2012 20:49

I think you might have got more sympathetic responses if you had said you're really concerned and are going to see the head. Stop. Talking about legal action inflames the matter. But then you're posting on AIBU so you really should be prepared for differing opinions.

manicbmc · 17/05/2012 12:39

Any news?

manicbmc · 17/05/2012 17:31

Anything at all?

skybluepearl · 17/05/2012 18:04

I thin you could only sue if there was an negligence and an accident ie) injured hand due to doors without door protectors etc. Why don't you just confront the school and raise the issues with the Head/Governor?

StrandedBear · 17/05/2012 18:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Echocave · 17/05/2012 23:38

I really hope your meeting went well. Yes perhaps you've been a bit over protective but who cares? You've been given a pretty hard time on this thread I think!
You've made the right decision. A good mate of mine manages a nursery and the risk assessment and record-keeping requirements are very important. Whilst accidents do happen and taking legal action for damages over the injuries is not worthwhile, this place sounds like it could improve some of its safety practices.

Sometimes poor record keeping is the tip of the iceberg with safety stuff so worth reminding them of the rules.

fizzfiend · 18/05/2012 08:30

are you actually serious? Why not home school? Everyone would probably be better off then.

manicbmc · 19/05/2012 16:37

Still lurking about hoping for an update.

Maryz · 19/05/2012 17:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Clytaemnestra · 19/05/2012 17:15

I have a huge scar on my thumb from when my brother nearly sliced the knuckle off in a sliding door when I was 3.

I knew I should have sued the bastard.

Feminine · 19/05/2012 17:24

op I don't understand the hard time you have been given... to a point.

The suing is a waste of your energy , there really isn't a case.

But...my feeling is that your son has not been watched properly...it sounds a slack nursery.

On Friday dd3 got a bit of sand in her eye, I signed a book.
Week before that, she slipped on the last step going outside and bumped her but just a bit again I signed a book!

IDontDoIroning · 19/05/2012 17:48

I haven't read all the response but I think the Op has a point to an extent. Although im not sure about legal action. I'm a school governor and I know the Health and Safety unit did an audit recently and we have replaced several unsuitable doors, fitted hinge covers, thrown out unsuitable toys and equipment etc. in my opinion the school should be taking these things seriously and I would be concerned that they are not.
Some of the issues the Op lists can be accidents but issues like the frayed rope do concern me. A door that is able to cut a chunk out of a child's hand is patently dangerous.

Floggingmolly · 19/05/2012 17:49

Are you ok, op? What happened at the meeting?

Hopefullyrecovering · 19/05/2012 17:58

You don't sound as though you have thought this through. You don't sound as though you have consulted a solicitor.

I mean it's all very well to say high-handedly that you plan to take legal action. Lots of people say that sort of thing, without having the foggiest idea what legal action they plan to take. Their appetite for legal action soon wanes when they find out they're going to have to stump up a whole bunch of cash and put their money where their mouths are.

So, first things first. What do you plan to sue them for? Negligence? Difficult to prove that and costly for you. Your best bet is breach of Health and Safety, although you'll have to prove that they've breached the regulations. I don't know if this is a council-run nursery or a school. You need to find out and find out who exactly you are going to be suing and what you propose to sue them for.

manicbmc · 19/05/2012 18:07

This is why I bumped this. The OP was having a meeting with the head on Thursday and I was hoping there would be some news.

sparkles281 · 19/05/2012 18:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Buckingfiatch · 19/05/2012 19:04

My DS has had more accidents than I care to remember. Those which have happened in nursery/reception +, I have only ever been called when his head had split open and needed gluing. Every other time, I get handed an accident form. Not once have I had to sign anything, and not always have they known how he got hurt until I had calmed him down and dragged it out of him. No matter how many teachers are there, they still cannot have eyes on every child all the time. Tis life.

Honestly, all my DS needs is one more scar joining the other two on his forehead and he would have his very own Harry Potter scar. He has even fell and split his head open on a little table in the GP surgery. It happens, and I appreciate that it isn't nice. Every time I think it affected me more than him. But the best way to go about it is by going through the school.

Hope his thumb heals well.

ragged · 19/05/2012 19:05

pmsl @ KF Panda

MrsCampbellBlack · 19/05/2012 19:07

Golly Sparkles - so that's for 3 year olds? DS2's nursery class has 1:5 staff ration although they're not all teachers but some are. 26 3-4 year olds with only 2 members of staff doesn't seem many to me.

NinthWave · 19/05/2012 19:13

If you complain to OFSTED they will do a spontaneous visit to investigate safety protocol at the nursery. They'll ask to see accident books etc.

sparkles281 · 19/05/2012 19:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
SingleNow · 19/05/2012 19:53

Sorry for the delay in updating been doing a lot of thinking.

The meeting was basically a waste of time. I spent an hour in it being told how ds2 was "one of the most innocent children" the head teacher had ever come across Hmm
What that had to do with the issue in hand I don't know!!!

Anyway atm I am undecided as to whether I am sending him back or not. He is obviously bored senseless at home as he enjoys school BUT I am concerned for his safety.

The outcome of the meeting was to arrange another meeting with the nursery manager and the head teacher. The only thing I came away with was a photocopy of the accident report.

OP posts:
rainnie · 19/05/2012 20:34

If your child has frequent accidents, have you had him tested for dyspracia (clumsy child syndrome)