To be completely furious with my daughters school?!

[bigfam]

So yesterday I picked my children up from school, dd1 was crying at the door, so I asked her what was wrong and she told me that whilst practicing for sports day she had fallen and hurt her foot, she refused to walk properly, I asked her if she'd been to the medical room (because only the week before she collapsed after school, after not feeling well, the school told her to have a drink and she'd be fine) she said she had and that they'd put an ice pack in it and sent her on her way, they didn't even remove her sock.

Fast forward a few hours, I knew something was wrong, so took her to a&e and sure enough it's broken, she's now in q cast for 4-6 weeks.
Aibu to be furious that they didn't call me, and left her in agony and unable to walk for 2 hours? She was clearly in pain and had been crying and after her collapsing last week I specifically asked them to keep an eye on her.
I'd like a meeting with the head teacher, I won't lose my temper but I'm very upset, is there anything I can do? Thanks in advance

We see so many threads on MN where someone posts something and the first responses are " are you sure that's what happened" or "X/y would never do that there must be a mistake your child has misunderstood" etc. There's often little belief in what the child has said even when.the op has stated that their child don't usually lie or isn't known fir exaggerating etc.

That's because those saying it have experience of working in schools and with children and they are right to point it out.

I have less than zero understanding of school safeguarding issues, but my experience as a mother is that some kids are extremely prone to exaggerating their injuries.

This is not a statement on the OP's daughter, but rather the balance that the school nurse has to strike in interpreting the severity of an injury. My oldest son could react to a sprain the way that someone else would react to a fracture.

But parents also know their children. If they believe in them enough to post surely we should have some faith in that over bunch if strangers who have seen other kids make stuff up.

If she was still crying and distraction hadn't worked then seriously, someone. should have checked again.

sprains are still painful. and require a medical examination though. not something a kid should suck up and go back.to class with either

As with others, my DD had a fall one evening. It just looked bruised so I gave painkiller and it was not til the next morning that it looked worse and i took her to A and E to find it was broken. I would speak to the school to clarify what happened but be aware it is difficult to know a break immediately.

And quite frankly of she was making it up they'd soon have forgotten when it came to show and tell or getting to play a game in golden time or whatever.

why is it people post about seeing a toddler cry in nursery fir 10 mins at pick.up with no one going to it and there's outrage.

A child is left crying for two hours with what turns out to be a broken ankle and somehow that's down to kids being liars or excused because they gave a customary ice pack which clearly hadn't worked as, well, she still couldnt walk and she was sent in her way? it was given clearly as a placebo not treatment or they'd have realised she wasn't any better with it.

I would complain formally and also contact ofsted. I don't care if it would be deemed an overreaction. If my children were injured at school I would expect to be notified immediately. Even if it was 'dc has fallen over but appears ok at the moment' so at least I have the opportunity to visit at school and make my own judgement.

Fractures are commonly picked up hours late in children

Yes they are. but at home you'd administer some pain killers and if an ice pack appeared to not have helped you'd think about further action wouldn't you?

shed broken her ankle that's the point. She would have been in alot of pain and instead of calling the mother they sent her to class. The ice pack wouldn't have worked in a short space of time so at the point they should have called they just sent her back to class. that's not acceptable.

Good God Spammit really? The last thing I'd want is to be expected to trudge down to the school each time my children fell over and make a judgement about the injury - I'd be there every day. I want the school to do the judging and call me when they think necessary. I accept that they may misjudge but would expect them to have a reasonable protocol in place to help with decision-making and first aid trained staff.

It's her 'middle foot' That's broken. I know that she did get upset when she saw me but I also know that she was walking awkwardly as that's what her teacher said when she spoke to me briefly this morning, when dd's uspet at school for any reason she does tend to keep quiet so she probably didn't complain too much with the pain, but when I collected her it was swollen and she couldn't walk properly.

I would go and talk to the school, make sure it is in the accident book and put it in writing but...as others have said it isn't always that obvious and if they saw the accident and the fact it is a break is a bit of a freak event I can see why they behaved the way they did. They can't know every child that well...
I know an 8 yo who has just had a broken wrist -she slipped in her house,fell on a carpeted wooden floor ...only when it started swelling (a few hours later) did her mum think to take her to A&E. Same with another child about 6 yo hurt her wrist out with her friend and their dad - a doctor - who examined it and said they didn't think it was broken...24 hrs later it was still sore -a visit to A&E and break confirmed.
And children react different ...so hard for schools to call it - I have seen children hysterical after minor bumps, other really hamming it up.
I was just (privately) laughing at an older child (10ish) who has hurt their ankle (been checked out - minor sprain) they are walking around with a rod straight leg limp - until they forget ...and walk pretty normally -then remember and start with dramatic limp again.
My DD1 twisted her ankle at around 12 on an activity camping weekend - she wanted to come home, I was phoned to collect her. She needed to lean on me etc to walk, winced every step. Talking to her it became clear she also had a falling out -a bit more talking and she decided she would actually stay overnight - she was still limping (she had a minor sprain) but nothing like when I arrived.

But then my DD2 is very stoic - at about 3 had a dislocated elbow (pulled elbow) - there were no tears etc, she just said it hurt. I actually made a 'joke' sling out of a teatowel and she carried on playing. It was only when she was crying out in pain in her sleep that I realised how sore it was. Worse she did the other arm a week or so later -and I didn't believe her at first because it was the other arm, I saw it happen and she was having a minor strop when it did...then talking to another mum about pulled elbows and their child was screaming and crying when they did theirs...
And remember parents - - especially ones who work - can get equally stroppy about being called into school unnecessarily. This could easily be AIBU to be annoyed at the school for calling me because DD had twisted her ankle?

I have had sprains and fractures in my feet, and without exception the sprains have been more painful. I also know some people who have been on crutches for weeks with severe sprains (and have myself been on crutches for a few days with one), so actually even if this was 'just' a sprain, that does not mean that it is okay to just ignore it.

I agree badtime even if it was 'only' a sprain, the girl deserved more attention than that. If she was walking awkwardly on it then she should have been given more chance to rest it. Fractures can be missed and I wouldn't be too bothered about that. It's the general lack of attention that bothers me.

yy lem

at the point they made the decision to send her to class they should have called her mum.

at least at home she could have had some medicine and a chance to propery rest.

I may have missed it, but doesn't the treatment at school, depend on the age of the child somewhat?

Eg 5 year old, err on side of caution and call parent to inform - 15 year old, probably able to make the decision as to whether they feel they need medical attention.

Schools simply cannot call a parent every time a child suffers an injury, it would be ridiculous.

My mother told me the first child is made of glass, second of plastic and the third of rubber, and without wanting to shout "PFB" at OP, I think it's true. "Collapsing" at school could mean anything from a six year old falling in a dead faint necessitating an ambulance, to a fourteen year old feeling a "bit funny" and sitting down with a drink.

Mind you, I'm currently lying in bed dosed up on morphine after refusing a hospital trip, so I'm probably not best placed to give advice...

She's 6.5, in year 1 just to clarify

She's only little then, isn't she, poor little love. In year one, I would also say perhaps she didn't have the "confidence" (not quite the right word, sorry) to explain it was hurting so much? The trouble is though, for every dozen children having the same fall and reaction, eleven of them will probably just have a bruise and be fine, so it's a judgement call on the part of the teacher or whoever dealt with it.

I think if they have followed procedures and assessed her, it just has to be written off as an unfortunate accident which was worse than it appeared.

Even though I'm a bit "well if you're still talking you're fine" it is awful when your DC are hurt though, its understandable that your first reaction was of anger as well as upset. I really hope she feels better soon, if you're in UK at least she will hopefully be better by summer holidays.

Yes cast will be off sometime during summer holidays, she's currently sat in the 5 month olds pram so we can get up to the school for her brother's transition

Forgot to say...Although I think it does depend on the reaction of rhe school to learning it was actually a serious injury. They should let you know exactly how they handled it and why they decided not to contact you, and apologise if necessary.

One of my DSs (who has SN and a one to one TA) fell in the playground at primary and unfortunately suffered quite a bad head injury. When I met his TA, she was crying and very shook up, it really was just one of those things but she was clearly anxious that I might blame her (I didn't). So much depends on the people involved and now they handle it,doesn't it.

I shall stop rambling now and sleep off my morphine

She's only 6? Bless her. Somehow I thought she was older maybe because teachers get a bit blase with older kids. Give her some from me!

6!! Poor thing :(

They should have been more careful.

Yes at 6 I think they should have called you.
The GP was adamant that my 19 month old couldn't have broken her leg as she was moving it and, when not trying to put weight on it, was fairly happy. An X-ray 4 hours later showed an inch long crack down her shin bone

Even doctors get it wrong, at 2 years old we took DD2 to the hospital after a fall on the stairs.

I was assured that there was no need to Xray it was just a bad sprain.

During the next week, I took her to the GP and to a friend who is a doctor but was told the hospital were correct, it wasn't a break, it was just a sprain.

A week later, I took her back to the hospital she was still painfully limping and her leg had started to bow.

The hospital weren't happy, but when I pointed out the bowing of her leg, they xrayed (still saying it was a sprain and it was a waste of time) - her leg was broken in 3 places.