teacher injures my child

[lulamay]

My daughter of 14yrs has recently had her appendix removed, and was told by the hospital doctors NOT to do PE for six weeks.
The school were aware that she was absent due to her operation, and I had sent three emails to the school, to tell them what the doctors had advised.
The staff were aware, but the cover teacher told my daughter to just be a fielder, which meant lots of running around, as the ball seemed to come to her a lot, and the pupils were overly keen for her not to let their side down. She then gets hit in the nose by a tennis ball, thrown at her by this teacher!
She was in so much pain around her stitches that the school called me after PE for advice on what my daughter should do! She wanted to soldier on and come home on the bus, as I don't drive. But, when she got home I was really cross with the school, as they should never of allowed her to be pressurised to play.
She even had school work she could of caught up with due to her absence, under the guidance of another teacher, had she been aware that she was being made to do PE, even after I told them she can't.
The school is afraid of what I might do now.

Can anyone advise me as to my next move. Do I take her to the doctor's in the morning and make a case, or report to the school? Do I write a firm letter, or email. This should never have happened. Am I being unreasonable to expect the school to be held accountable for my daughter's injuries? Is this a case of negligence on their part? And what can I expect as recompense?

Thanks Imnotamindreader that is really helpful advice. I'm going to go to bed now, in peace knowing that there are very caring people in the world, who understand and give their time so graciously. God Bless. Sorry about my subject title, I suppose it made more of an impact then I Intended so I would get responses quickly, as I said before, I am new to this (never joined a forum in my life). Thanks again, goodnight all : )

Squiggly, healthcare in the UK is not free. We pay something called National Insurance out of our wages for healthcare and other benefits.

Right, I get that. But the same amount comes out of your wages whether she goes to the doctor or not doesn't it? Therefore OP isn't taking a hit financially. It's a moot point as OP doesn't want to sue, but there's no out of pocket money she had to pay.

Jesus, you lot. What part of 'had her appendix removed, and was told by the hospital doctors NOT to do PE for six weeks' don't you understand? It's in case of rupture of the stitches in the abdominal wall. Is that clear enough for you? Give the OP a break. I would be furious in her position. My DD recently had abdominal surgery. She told the school, yet the supply teacher made her DD do PE. The school should be shitting themselves that she might sue. FFS.

OP: I would ignore the getting hit on the nose part, but write to the headteacher insisting on an explanation and apology.

recompense means: make amends to (someone) for loss or harm suffered; compensate. It doesn't mean money.

So what are you actually expecting then? How can they compensate your daughter?

I think some people saw OP as an easy target due to a few grammatical errors .

it's a bit unfair to criticise 14yr old DD for not standing up to an authority figure. as someone who was painfully shy in school, that is possibly a nightmarish prospect. as for 'what are her injuries?', if the PE dept. thought nothing was wrong, they wouldn't have called OP 'for advice' would they?

suing would of course not be the way forward but definitely an apology.

I'd be cross too. And very unfair to blame a fourteen year for not standing up to a teacher. It's a really hard thing to do when all previous dynamic has been about complying = good and defiance = very bad. Poor girl.

At my dcs school they will make children participate in PE no matter what.

They get them to be umpire or coach or keep score or write up training schedules if they can't participate fully. They will always fine them something to do, and I think it's a good thing.

IAmNotAMindReader and Biscuit are spot on.
Some of these posts are ignorant and rude for no reason.

What FunLovinBunster said. If you can't work out what injuries might be involved in being made to run around after an abdominal operation directly against doctors' orders, and being hit on the nose by a thrown ball, it's you that has the problem, not OP.

How does a tennis ball to the nose effect the appendix area. Your dd shouldn't have been playing but she's 14 not 4 come on some responsibly like sorry pe teacher I've had an operation recently and unable to join in at the moment. I suspect the teacher knew nothing. If your dd had Said something I dare say this teacher would have excused her. Sounds Like you been threatening the school.

Some bullying MNers on this thread.... Just cos op didn't answer their question directly!

It was a long time ago but I was put in a similar position to the op's daughter at school. I was a very shy child, the teacher told me I was doing pe. I tried to say I was y supposed to and my mum had sent a note. Told off by the teacher for 'answering back', shouted at, ultimately made to do it in 'spare' clothes from the lost property box as I didn't have my kit with me.

Wasn't supposed to, sorry

I imagine how this could of happened is that your dd didn't actually open her mouth and tell the PE teacher what was up.

The email arrived too late to be passed on, and she forgot her handwritten note... . She's 14, not 4.
Were her "injuries" caused by the ill judged tennis ball, or not????

Unfortunate that she forgot the note.

She was asked to be a fielder.

Did she agree to that or say no?

Teacher of course shouldn't have suggested that she do anything.

But was she really forced?

sorry I would have expected her to speak up , especially if when she started to play she was uncomfortable, and for friends to back her up. Why did she not head straight off to her catch up lesson ? Noone, not even the teacher, made her run around. At secondary you simply cannot expect the school to do all the thinking for you. Take her to gp and ask for a sick note . What on earth do you mean by make a case?

I wonder how many of the 'she can't be forced' brigade are also the 'it's your child, make them do it, mine all do as I say' brigade when posters ask for help with rude/disobedient teenagers

Agree with you Lady- of course the child should have spoken up more than once, but it might have been difficult for her to do that.

I would definitely tell the school what happened. The PE teacher needs to spoken to so he/she doesn't ignore medical advice again.

I would write/e.mail a very polite letter saying stating the facts as your daughter told them e.g. I did this and the cover teacher did this, explain that your daughter is now feeling unwell, ask the head teacher please could he investigate and let you know the outcome of the investigation as you would like to prevent this happening again. If the investigation throws up an issue with that teacher then the head will deal with it and as a disciplinary matter if necessary.

I would leave out the tennis ball bit, it sounds like an accident and could happen any PE lesson where as the main issue was that the office didn't pass on your message to the cover teacher, and the cover teacher didn't listen to your daughter. PE teachers have to deal with all sorts of excuses, although I've never heard of an appendix being removed as one!

I don't know quite what else you'd expect, you'll almost certainly get an e.mail/letter apologising and they will find out where the communication went wrong. Hope your daughter is feeling better today.

Hi lula my son has medical needs and we have struggled sometimes to get his needs catered for. If you want to complain you need to ask what the school's formal complaints procedure is. I would also write/email the chair of governors.

I had abdominal surgery recently and doing PE when she's not ready must have really hurt your daughter. I also agree that it's difficult for children to speak out about stuff like this to people in authority over them.

I would get in touch with the school, tell them what happened.
I would expect them to give an apology and make sure it didn't happen again.
End of incident - other than another time make sure she has a duplicate note on her.

Lula, you state in your last post that you are new to this and have never joined a forum before in your life.

I note you yesterday posted this same problem about compensation on the financial site that you joined in 2005 and since then you have made 290 posts on the financial site. You received the same answers about compensation that you got here and then complained that both they and Mumsnet had misunderstood you.

I'm sorry you have had such an unwelcome baptism of fire on here lulamay. I'm with Biscuit and the other supportive posters on here.

I would be extremely angry with the school, and as a school governor myself in charge of overlooking the School's H & S policy, I would be very concerned that a teacher at my school would make a child do PE so soon after abdominal surgery.

You need to raise this with the school - a learning mentor or head of year, or even the head teacher as I'm sure this contravenes the school's H & S policy.

Can I also suggest that you ask the doctor to write a letter that you email to school and ask your daughter to take a physical copy in for the PE department.

Oh, I am so pleased for those posters who have teenagers who have the courage to stand up to people in authority. Not everyone has such confident children and not all teachers like being stood up to. At DD's school she would have been awarded some bad behaviour points (unfair, I know).

I hope your daughter feels better soon. Do come back and let us know how the school responds.

I wonder how many of the 'she can't be forced' brigade are also the 'it's your child, make them do it, mine all do as I say' brigade when posters ask for help with rude/disobedient teenagers

I am not in a brigade I am just one person with an opinion.

At the age of 14 I would think they were old enough to know right from wrong.

Right - Being asked to do your home work by your parents. Yes to making/forcing them do it as they are just being unruly and it is of benefit to them.

Wrong- Being asked to do PE after an operation. No you cannot force/make them do it as the refusal is legitimate and with good reason.

So your analogy is not the best given these circumstances.

OP hope your DD is ok - I imagine that being hit in the face with a tennis ball was very painful and may have caused her to move suddenly or cry, both of which can aggravate the site of abdominal surgery.

I hope you get an apology from the school - and a couple if people on this thread could do with offering you one too, unfortunately you committed two if the must heinous MN crimes: criticising a teacher and poor grammar