Daughter injured in high school

[loopylou6]

Yesterday dd came home from school with a cut right below her lower eye lid. She told me that a boy (who's known for bad behaviour) had chucked a ruler at her face.
I phoned the school and asked to speak to head of year, was told she was busyand would call me back, I gave details of the incident and asked that she call me as soon as she had finished with her phone call.
An hour later I'd heard nothing, so I called back and spoke to someone else and was told this teacher had gone home she asked what the issue was, so I told her, she said she would flag it as urgent and make sure the HOY calls today.
So after hearing nothing today, I've called back yet again about fifteen minutes ago only to be told by the receptionist that HOY has passed this to the teacher of the class in which this happened, who apparently will be calling today
So, AIBU in feeling that this isn't being dealt with properly and also being pretty pissed off that this woman couldn't take five minutes of of her day to ring me back as promised?

I teach, and if a child gets hurt in my classroom it is a priority that it is dealt with. Above and beyond any thoughts of teaching the rest of the day or getting home on time.

Criminal incidents on school grounds are still criminal incidents. If you aren't happy with the way the school are dealing with it, contact the police.

Having said that, I'm not sure the school can tell you what sanctions they have out in place for another child, only how they are going to protect your child in future.

This school is skating on thin ice. They're quite simply crazy to ignore a phone call from a parent inquiring about an injury their child has received from another child.
Delay on their part is only going to exacerbate the issue. Very foolish.

The school absolutely should call you back. I am sceptical of police involvement. In a previous job, we had a serious assault by a pupil on another pupil. We called the police ourselves, and they were very reluctant to get involved. And it wasn't a thrown ruler.

Thank you, I really appreciate everyone's input. I'll definitely keep you updated

When a criminal offence (damage, assault, theft etc) happens between students on school premises, the school is considered the primary investigating agency. They are required to follow their standard procedure first, before it becomes a recorded crime.

If the school deem the offence too serious for them to deal with, or if the parents are dissatisfied with the actions of the school, then responsibility can be passed to the police.

did you get a response today OP?

Hi, HOY called yesterday, she says it's for the geography teacher to deal with, she apologised for not calling straight away, aaaand that was about it. I told her I wanted to be contacted straight away by this teacher to let me know how she will be dealing with it, then I had to go to work, guess what? She didn't call

Get the geography teachers name and ask for a meeting with hoy and teacher. I would want an explanation as to why it has taken so long to have someone even speak to/reassure you!

It needs to be brought to their attention that it is not acceptable to just not bother speaking to the parent for days after an incident.

Because the school is passing the buck, I would be phoning the head, if not going to the police, after all these will be several witnesses to your dd assault.

Whoah no, this has gone way beyond a standard class teacher's remit. Sure, s/he should be involved in the investigation, but you need to get the Head involved now.
I would be getting really angry now!

Call the police, write a formal complaint to governors, head and ofsted.

My Head Teacher would go ballistic if anything like this happened in school and she wasn't informed immediately. After all, the buck ultimately stops with her.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts, just thought I'd update with the conclusion.
Call from geography teacher yesterday, ruler thrower has been given a 45 minute detention, apologised to my dd and insisted he didn't aim it at her

That's not very good, is it? Sorry.

*45 minute detention^

What a rubbish school.

*45 minute detention^
shock
What a rubbish school.

In my son's school it would have been an hour.

I'm surprised the school actually said what the punishment was, that's a breach of protocol.

Nowhere else in life would we have to put up with this. Why should our children have to just because it's school!

It is an assault so it is appropriate to report to police.

It is an assault so it is appropriate to report to police.
Indeed.
The school is being shockingly dismissive - 45 min detention!
OP - pls report to police - this is completely unacceptable.

Ah yes, a 45 min detention. That will teach him! Sorry to hear how poorly this has been dealt with OP. Can things like this be reported to OFSTED? (sorry if a pp has already said this)

Have you contacted the Head Teacher? I think that's your next call.

You are not being unreasonable.

If you haven't done so already, please don't worry about reporting this to the police. My son was punched by another child and we called the police for advice as school is closed for half term and we didn't want to wait a week with no action.

A police officer visited us and reassured us that we were doing the right thing. That although there was little they could do (child is too young to prosecute - don't think we want that anyway) there were things they could do to help ensure school takes this seriously. An officer will visit the Head, for one thing.

(And thank you, by the way. I searched MN for info on what we should do and found your post and the contributions from others.)