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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Year 2 teacher not acknowledging my child's allergy!

126 replies

101waystoworry · 15/03/2018 09:28

Hey guys, I am really not sure what to do here! My DD is in year 2, she is very allergic to chicks, she cannot touch them at all. Yesterday they had some chicks in class, parents were not informed, and DD was told by her teacher that she was fine to pick them up, ect. Luckily she was ok, last time she was incredibly poorly. I don't understand why the children's notes where not checked, surely teachers are meant to check when doing a safeguarding check?
I spoke to him this morning and he did not apologise, he just stated the children all washed their hands after!! This is the second time the class has not looked after her properly, last month at the end of the day, they lost DD and to make it worse they didn't even notice. She had gone off with her friend! ( I have spoken to her about this obviously and she understands this was wrong) My friend notice her and took her back to school! So AIBU to be worried they are not safeguarding properly? Would I be unreasonable to write an email to the head expressing this worry? I am at a loss at how someone could be so unbothered about an allergy!

OP posts:
Notwhatthedogsaid · 15/03/2018 09:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

UtterlyRainbowed · 15/03/2018 09:36

Yes write to the head or ask for an appointment to speak to them at least.

Alternatively, complete Parent's View on Ofsted if you put what you have written here it would potentially trigger a section 8 inspection (no notice to check one aspect) which if they find something could trigger a section 5 and they could have their rating changed. I taught at a school where this happened we were straight into special measures for safeguarding and the school definitely improved as a result

I would be inclined to go straight to Ofsted as you have spoken to the teacher and he brushed it off and didn't see a concern.

Hope your daughter is well :)

Didntcomeheretofuckspiders · 15/03/2018 09:39

How exactly did you discover this chick allergy and is it specifically baby birds or all birds? Strikes me as a bit bizarre.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 15/03/2018 09:58

Awwwwww. I love baby chicks.

This is highly concerning.Would she be so blasé about a potentially fatal nut allergy.
Is she allergic where she just can't touch them or can she really not be in the same room as them. What are the effects of her allergy

5plusMeAndHim · 15/03/2018 10:05

she can't be severely allergic if nothing happened.Has this been medically diagnosed or are you just putting 2 and 2 together and making 5. Why are kids picking chicks up anyway- surely it is incredibly frighteneing for them (the chicks)

Salmonpinkcords · 15/03/2018 10:08

I have no idea about chicks but my DS is allergic to cows...... yes cows.....how do I know ..... because he came out in immediate hives. It's the dander I presume. Perhaps the OP had a similar experience

It really irritates me when people who don't understand allergies do this Hmm

cloudtree · 15/03/2018 10:10

Are you sure she wasn't just incredibly poorly by coincidence?

If last time she was 'incredibly poorly' and this time after handling them she was fine then clearly she is not allergic to them.

Salmonpinkcords · 15/03/2018 10:11

I do not test his allergy by taking him to see cows and so I guess he might have grown out it. But I certainly won't expect his school to let him stroke a cow without a prior discussion with me

sentenceinterrupted · 15/03/2018 10:20

I'm afraid I'm a bit confused by the allergy description too... if she can pick them up without a reaction then it seems she is not allergic. What was the reaction you described as 'poorly'?

QueenofmyPrinces · 15/03/2018 10:23

Wouldn’t your child know she’s not allowed to pick up chicks because they make her poorly?

My 6 month old has a dairy intolerance and although I know it’s not the same my 3 year old understands that he can’t give dairy products to his brother because it makes him poorly.

My baby’s allergy is pretty complex but if my 3 year old can get his head around that I would have thought a Year 2 child would understand that she couldn’t touch a chick?

MiniAlphaBravo · 15/03/2018 10:27

She’s not allergic to chicks anymore. If she ever was.

Snowyhere2018 · 15/03/2018 10:38

Where did they lose your child?

Imsosceptical · 15/03/2018 10:41

I would imagine schools have very clear policies in place to safeguard children with severe allergies that can lead to anaphylaxis, I would imagine in such a case there is clear knowledge and communication between the child, teachers and parents and an epi-pen on hand for emergencies with all responsible parties trained in using it, certainly at my child's school no one can take nuts in their lunch boxes due to a few children with severe nut allergies and its taken very very seriously by the school. Children have to be educated also, its totally reasonable to expect a year 2 child to have sufficient understanding to tell the teacher they are allergic to chicks and therefore cannot handle them, its not reasonable to expect a teacher to trawl through each child's notes before any excursion/incursion 'just in case', parents with serious allergy concerns should be communicating to a teacher regularly rather than just expecting them to check their child's notes, safeguarding can only be effective when all parties take responsibility and don't delegate it to others.

SD1978 · 15/03/2018 10:50

As others have said- she has obviously grown out if, or it was something else that caused the previous reaction- allergo s wither cause an issue every time you are introduced to the allergen or not at all- you can’t be allergic to peanuts one day, but good with them the next. Whilst I agree that a note should have been put out/ maybe you should organise allergy testing for your daughter, as poultry feathers obviously isn’t a trigger anymore. The being lost incident- she went off with a friend- is there supervision in place at the end of the school day and children are only allowed out of an adult is present or are they allowed to juts leave? If you have safety concerned, raise it with the h admaster, and a gentle reminder regarding allergies also seems reasonable. Your daughter cl welt isn’t allergic to the allergen you’ve previously documented now, but that doesn’t mean the school shouldn’t have taken it more seriously and ensured that the children didn’t have an issue with farm animals/chickens.

Snowyhere2018 · 15/03/2018 11:04

It doesn't matter if the child has grown out of the allergy. This could easily have had far more serious implications. You've spoken to the teacher and not got a satisfactory response. I would put your complaint in writing and send to the Head. This teacher clearly needs some training.

Soubriquet · 15/03/2018 11:06

Let's forget the fact that your child's allergy is chicks Confused and focus on the fact that a teacher ignored a potential allergy.

It could have had fatal consequences especially if it caused anaphylaxis so this needs to be taken further

Original poster
101waystoworry · 15/03/2018 11:29

Wow thank you for all the replys! So the last time she had an allergic reaction to chicks she was in nursery, it was definately an allergic reaction but she could have grown out of it. Salmon that is similar to what happened to my DD!

OP posts:
Original poster
101waystoworry · 15/03/2018 11:34

I spoke to DD about it and she started crying and said she knows she shouldn't but they were 'so cute and fluffy!' Which I'd understandable, she is only 6! Regarding the school loosing her, she and a friend had spoken about DD going to friends for tea and she went off with her friend after school. The teachers did not notice and it was only when my friend saw her on her own without me or her childminder (DD should have been in the hall as the childminder is an after school club) and took her back to school, she was in the playground for about 10 minutes.

OP posts:
Original poster
101waystoworry · 15/03/2018 11:37

SD1978 the children wait at the door and are let go when the teacher sees their grown up.

OP posts:
upsideup · 15/03/2018 11:41

Why is no one concerned about the school loosing and then not even noticing loosing two 6/7 year olds!?
It is doesnt matter if the child even ever had an allergy to chicks or has grown out of the allergy, the teacher didnt know either of these things were the case. As far as the school were aware the child was 'severely allergic to chick' as told by the OP but they failed to acknowledge this.

The school certainly has safeguarding issues and you need to raise them with the school.

TERFragetteCity · 15/03/2018 11:43

I am allergic to chicks, in fact feathers of all variety.

You need to follow it up and if she has grown out of it then great - but the fact is that the allergy was ignored.

YellowFlower201 · 15/03/2018 11:47

That's pretty poor OP. Try to speak to the head about this. It's not good that they are losing children.
The allergy thing is also pretty poor. Children do grow out of allergies so maybe you're lucky and she'll be fine now. I'd still mention it though!

happyvalley74 · 15/03/2018 11:48

Did you follow up the fact that they lost her at the time? What happened?

Original poster
101waystoworry · 15/03/2018 11:48

Thank you upsideup! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being ridiculous!!

OP posts:
happyvalley74 · 15/03/2018 11:50

Is the allergy medically diagnosed and on her records?