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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think school should have rung me?

161 replies

Quandary2018 · 27/09/2018 23:30

Turn up to after school club tonight at half 5 to be told DS10 has had an accident at lunch time and his arm has been put in a sling
He’d fallen awkwardly on it playing football and had told them the pain was a 9 out of 10.
He’d been asked if he could have calpol, he said he could, but wasn’t given any.
A teaching assistant had to sit with him all afternoon because he couldn’t hold a pencil to write because of the pain.
No one rang me, I was at work but had my mobile on my desk and the school have my office number too.
I would’ve come and picked him up early had I known. Instead he was at school, in pain, all afternoon.
I took him to a&e straight from school because of how much pain he was in and he has fractured his wrist.
I cant work out why they didn’t call me

OP posts:
Honeyroar · 28/09/2018 00:26

You're absolutely right, the sling, the not being able to write and asking for pain relief should have told them it needed investigation!

I also find it shocking that all that happened, then the staff also handed him over to the after school club and went home without any contact with you. Plus the after school staff are hopeless too as they also did nothing. I'd be asking what kind of first aid training they had, they clearly need more!

NarcolepticOuchMouse · 28/09/2018 01:13

They let him sit for hours with a fractured wrist?! Surely that's child neglect???

klondike555 · 28/09/2018 01:32

That's shockingly negligent. I'd be taking this as high as possible. The school massively failed your child in their duty of care towards him.

SeaToSki · 28/09/2018 01:40

A broken bone can compromise the circulation and damage nerves and ligaments. He is lucky he doesnt have permanent damage from not being properly assessed in the hour after the injury. Was anyone watching to see if his fingers were turning cold and blue, did anyone ask him if he could move them appropriately. I would be raising merry hell. It is dangerous to ignore a limb injury with a child refusing to use it and saying the pain is 9 put of 10 (apart from being cruel - no pain meds, no ice)

TruculentandFarty · 28/09/2018 02:00

I think I'd have to tell them "how can I trust you are going to take care of my son if you are willing to let him sit in such pain and obviously injured without letting me know?"

Dontfeellikeamillenial · 28/09/2018 02:05

It's confusing that they felt the need to put it in a sling, but not call you? In what situation would they call a parent, then?

Confused
Dontfeellikeamillenial · 28/09/2018 02:06

Was there actually a first aider at the after school club? Or just a supervisor? Are they trained in first aid? I'd say they're not....

Topseyt · 28/09/2018 02:07

Yes, you must follow this up. They failed to inform you of a serious injury which occurred while he was with them.

This was an injury which really should have necessitated collection from school for a visit to A & E.

Dontfeellikeamillenial · 28/09/2018 02:07

Sorry just saw it happened at lunchtime which is even worse imho

glagdy · 28/09/2018 02:14

I was prepared to say 'don't complain' but Jesus, I'd be fucking furious. Angry

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 28/09/2018 02:30

They absolutely should have called you! What a failure of care on their part. A sling and no painkillers?!
Poor boy.
I'd be really angry - but then my boys' school phone me for anything more serious than a bump or a scrape.

JAMMFYesPlease · 28/09/2018 05:41

Definitely NBU to be angry. that's shocking. The school should have called. My dd's school would have and have called in the past for much less.

Upsy1981 · 28/09/2018 06:36

I'd be willing to bet that because it happened at lunchtime, the teacher thought the lunchtime staff had phoned and vice versa. Not that that makes it ok because they should have communicated exactly what they'd done but it probably explains it. The teacher h a probably been wondering where you were all afternoon. But if it had have been me, I'd have been ringing again if you hadn't arrived within an hour to see where you were and how long you thought you would be.

Happygummibear · 28/09/2018 06:55

What seatoski said.

First aiders can administer care to make someone comfortable they are not medical professionals. Therefore an Injury should be looked at.

First aiders can't be prosecuted if they carried out care as they did something. However they should either take the person or get someone to take the person to hospital or doctor depending on what is wrong.

I had someone come into work with a bleeding injury to their head which occurred on their way to work. As they had a headache I advised they needed to go to the doctor at least... and that was a grown adult.

Perhaps there was mis communication one person thought the other was making the call etc however that still doesn't answer why the teacher didn't follow it up when he was still sat there.

kirkandpetal · 28/09/2018 07:02

Agree with all that's been said. But echo what a pp touched on. If this is how they deal with something like this, what about something mores serious like a knock to the head....which could have dire consequences if not auctioned appropriately. (Not downplaying your sons injury at all)

Sounds as if the school need to seriously overhaul their basic first aid training and protocols. God luck, hope there is a satisfactory result at the end of all this, and of course, hope your DS recovers well and get back to football soon!

PurpleFlower1983 · 28/09/2018 07:06

You should absolutely have been called! Are you sure no one tried. This is very unusual!

BookMeOnTheSudExpress · 28/09/2018 07:08

How odd- we send kids to A&E for the tiniest of scratches.

Definitely take it up with the school as to why he wasn't taken, what level of first aid cert the person who put his arm in a sling is, and also the calpol thing. In my school I am deputy safeguarding lead (this isn't a safeguarding incident btw) but not qualified enough as a first aider to treat a child with a physical injury, we do have one person qualified to do that, but she's done a lot more bandaging and patching up than we have! Did you sign something at your school about the Calpol? We have a blanket no medicine ever rule at ours.

mummagirl · 28/09/2018 07:14

You should have been given a copy of an accident form at the very least. Even if it had been less serious. Poor
Recently 2 of our staff members took a 10 year old to a and e with permission of parents when they could not get there easily

tinstar · 28/09/2018 07:14

That's appalling. My dcs' school would ring me up over any accident or illness to discuss whether they should remain in school or be collected.

I'd make a formal complaint to the school.

Original poster
Quandary2018 · 28/09/2018 07:15

Am absolutely certain no one tried to call me, the office phone didn’t ring and my mobile had full signal all day and no missed calls

Am going to try and track down the teacher who put his arm in the sling this morning and find out why I wasn’t called or why, if they thought someone else had called, no one enquired where I was when I didn’t show up!

OP posts:
swingofthings · 28/09/2018 07:16

That's bad. In my case, the school rang, said he might need to be taken to A&E, spoke with DS10 and asked how much in pain he was, said a bit but not that bad so asked if he could make to end of day and he said yes.

Picked him up from afterdchool club, went home, then in the evening noticed his fingers were blue. Took him to hospital and he'd broken his arm in two places. Never felt so guilty in my life!

LooksBetterWithAFilter · 28/09/2018 07:20

I have often thought our school were too quick to phone parents. I had a phone call once to say it looked like ds2 had a bite of some sort on his leg after playing outside at lunchtime during bitey insect season and as he has food allergies they just wanted to give me the option to come and look at him. But the reality is over cautious is better than the alternative.

MemoryOfSleep · 28/09/2018 07:20

I would go in, all guns blazing, straight to the top. And the governors if not satisfied with the response. And the newspaper if still not satisfied. The thought of a child sitting in agony for nearly six hours through sheer negligence makes my blood boil. I would want more than an apology. Heads would roll. And I work in education, so I totally understand that mistakes are made, but that's shocking.

namechangedagainII · 28/09/2018 07:20

MAJOR safeguarding fail on their part

SuburbanRhonda · 28/09/2018 07:21

You sound very calm and sensible, OP, unlike some on here, so I hope you get an explanation from the school.

Make sure they have the correct mobile number for you on their system, and that they also have another contact if they can’t get hold of you. We often find parents forget to tell us when they change their mobile number, so it’s worth ruling that out.

Also, we’re not allowed to administer non-prescription medication without parental consent, and we wouldn’t have any in school anyway, unless it belonged to another child.

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