School and broken limbs

[BeadyEyeBird]

DS has a broken ankle and is in a cast up to his knee.

School rules are that any child with a cast on has to stay in for all break times/lunchtimes until it is off.

DS will absolutely not cope with that amount of being cooped up for 6 weeks. He is massively active, sporty and spends his breaks running around playing football (which is how he broke it in the first place).

The school will not budge in the slightest. Not even if I write a letter absolving them of any responsibility. Not even if he sits on a bench and reads so he can at least have some fresh air. Obviously he can't and won't run around but I don't see why he can't go outside and sit in the reading corner or on a bench.

AIBU or is this normal? School is citing health and safety as the reason

* He is massively active, sporty and spends his breaks running around playing football*

I suspect this is part of their reasoning; it’s tempting for sporty/active adults to overexcert themselves, never mind a child who doesn’t understand that they could set back their recovery by trying to walk/run on the injured limb.

Re. insurances in these cases it’s not that the insurance wouldn’t pay, but in the event that they let him out and another child struck him or he tried to play and exacerbated the injury, there’s no realistic defence to a claim in those circumstances. The only reasonable thing you could do to avoid him coming to harm in the playground is sit him somewhere separately from the rest of the children playing and have a member of staff supervising him to make sure he doesn’t move. Still doesn’t sound like much fun and given staffing pressures I’m not sure how feasible that would be- al least in a classroom he can be watched by a teacher or TA having their own break or marking or whatever.

Oops... DD1 (special school) climbed up a slide backwards with roller skates on while wearing an arm cast (not approved by me, I hasten to add!), always went out at play times, using the climbing frame, using the trampoline at home, etc., she just treated it as part of her arm.

Similarly, when she had her below knee weight-bearing cast, she ran with it, kicked with it, albeit with a hobble and a funny angle. You couldn't have stopped her! We were never told she had to stay inside while she was casted.

DS1 - when in Year 9, so secondary school - broke his wrist. He is very sporty and I didn't want him to miss out on the excitement of sports day, so I asked the PE teacher if he could help with measuring, timing, etc. He came home at the end of the day and proudly told me he'd won the long jump! I suppose that just illustrates how difficult it is to stop a sporty kid being, well, sporty.

My son broke his arm badly and was in a cast for 6months aged 12. The school certainly didn't make him stay home (how would that work?) they did let him into the playground they took him on all the field trips. The only thing they wouldn't let him do was jump in the bouncy castle, which annoyed him but was on explicit doctor's orders!

Granted with your son it's a lower leg, still it seems extreme to keep him cooped up, especially at an age when most children can understand, ie not a baby. And isn't the playground supervised?

That does seem very strict, but I'm sure that the school have their reasons.

My DS broke his arm when he was 5. School allowed him to go out onto the playground, and even let him go on the climbing frame and play football on the last couple of days of his cast being on. 😳

We don't allow children with casts on any part of their body outside onto the playground. If they hurt themselves we'd never hear the end of it, so it's easier to just not have them outdoors. Temptation to move and run about and play with friends and over exert themselves is just far too great.