To expect to be told if a teacher examines my DD

[Ermintrude77]

Hello
My Dd is just 4 and attends reception class in our first choice local primary. She is a confident and happy little girl with no problems at school.
A month or so ago she had a scratch on her face - I think from my nail with ran about 3cm on the side of her face and was superficial.
Tonight whilst putting her to bed my Dd told
Me that when that happened ( she was mentioning it as I had cut my finger) her teacher checked her all over , including lifting her shirt to look at her tummy and chest to make sure there were no more.
I understand that teachers need to be vigilant and that part of their job is safeguarding, but is it normal not to tell the parent/carer? I had a look at the school website and can’t see a policy on this and just wondered if this is standard practice at other primary schools?
Thanks for your opinions/ advice x

This exact thing happened to me! almost word for word, my son had a scratch just above his eye, for some reason he told them it was me, it actually wasnt it was his younger brother (and it was witnessed by a few people) they examined him, even including taking his trousers down! and called ss, luckily it didnt go anywhere but it was pretty scary and the school also didnt tell me they did it it was my son who told me.

I'm a teacher. There is no instance that we would examine a child. No matter the concern. Find out what the teacher has to say about it.

To be explicit, if we have safeguarding concerns we forward them in writing to the designated member of staff and then we don't have much other involvement. No one in school should be looking under shirts or down trousers.

Not of reception but I am a teacher This is not right. I would question the school but remember that your dd may be misrepresenting. That doesn't mean she is a liar just that she is 4 and might have misunderstood or remembered things incorrectly.

it definitely happened to my son as when he had fallen or whatever if ever he had a scab he use to constantly pick at them till they bleed and left scars, they seen them on his legs and asked where they had came from.

If a child in my class (year 1) said their back was hurting or they had hurt their tummy, I'd say "Can I have a look?" and if they said yes I'd have a look by lifting up their top. We've also done this if a child has spots on their face and we think it might be chickenpox. I've never told the parent specifically that I've looked, I might say "X was saying his back hurt today, we couldn't see a mark or anything though" or "Can you please come and collect X, she has a rash on her tummy".

I was a TA at a school which was very hot on safeguarding policies (rightly) but have never heard of a staff member inspecting a child in that manner. I would never have done something like that. It doesn't feel right at all.

I'm a (deputy) designated safeguarding lead. If we report up (to SS) it's entirely likely they'll instruct us to do further investigations, which includes checking out a child's body (although usually they'd ask us about how they presented in PE class, or ask us if the visible areas - face, neck, arms etc - show any clues)

Teachers and TAs wouldn't necessarily be aware.

Under safeguarding, staff members are not allowed to carry out an investigation, unless instructed to do so.

At the end of everything, the most important thing is keeping children safe.

Maybe cut your nails?

p.s. If we are asked to check out a specific area (eg, if a child says they were hit on their leg and a social worker asks us to look at the leg to see if there's a mark) there would always be more than one adult present. So it would NEVER be one adult asking a child to expose an area

I would think it highly unusual that a teacher would lift up a skirt.

I volunteer in a school, teachers usually have a 2nd adult present (not me, a paid member of staff, although I have had full safeguard training) and ask a child to show them their tummy if they are injured on school property, or take off their tights in the toilets and come back and show them their legs. They wouldn't remove them.

If they suspected other injuries they would just ask the child if they had any other marks on their body, not go looking for them.

I would ask school what happened. It seems weird.

Thank you all. Really good to get teachers’ perspectives. I do understand my daughter may misrepresent what happened but she did say specifically “ she put up my t shirt and checked my tummy and back “ which is why I made this post as these aren’t normally exposed areas. It was actually the TA whom she said did this- sorry it said teacher in the OP but not sure this makes a difference.
I will most likely mention it on Monday In my best, non-confrontational voice and clarify what happened and why.
Thank you again - not posted before- great to have advice on tap even at this time on a Friday night!

I work in a special school, and on the odd occasion have checked a child over when they have come with marks on them that are a bit odd... (two adults will check together as a safeguarding matter).
There is a process for this and anything unusual is a ROC (record of concern) but this doesn't usually apply to kids who come in with bumps and scrapes, more if there are regular or marks in unusual places or a child is known to be at risk.
After the many failures to protect children that have hit the news in recent schools, staff have to be a bit more aware.

However it seems a bit OTT for a scratch on the face!

My ds1 was questioned by his PE teacher when he was about 11. He was absolutely covered in bruises, and quite rightly the teacher was concerned. DS1 explained that he was practising for an extreme wheels competition (aggressive skating) and had pretty much battered himself trying 360 flips and pipes .As it happens the teacher had seen him at the skate park and realised it was the truth.

It is OTT sometimes but better to be cautious than to miss something that later becomes a pattern. They wouldn't have to inform you if it was because of concern, but in your case it does sound ridiculous!

*shirt not skirt

I’m also a teacher and cannot imagine a circumstance when I would lift up a child’s clothes to examine them. Even SS get medical staff to do that sort of thing.

I find that really weird! A scratch on the face is pretty common occurrence and I would probably just ask the child how it happened in a casual way (not just safeguarding but because I like to show an interest!). I might ask the parents if the cut was deep or if the child wasn’t quite making sense or I just wanted to check they knew it had happened before school not during school.

In an otherwise happy, no issues situation it wouldn’t raise loads of alarm bells, but even if I was ultra cautious this would be a case of filling in a note for the file, parent being asked and safeguarding lead being made aware. It wouldn’t be a report to SS issue.

I’ve had a child I taught seriously harmed by an outside of school adult. So I don’t think I’m at all complacent.

I would have no problem, at all, with a class teacher or TA checking my 4 year old child’s tummy or back if they were worried & I wouldn’t exoect them to remember to tell me about it.

It’s all getting a bit mad, we used to do PE in our knickers.

I am a safeguarding social worker and have worked on the "front door" at various authorities when schools have rang in a suspicious scratch before. Firstly any concern unless it would child at risk of significant harm should be shared with parents before children's services would even know. However, I have asked on multiple occasions safeguarding staff at schools to ask pupils who have a mark they are concerned about whether it "hurts" anywhere else on their bodies, and staff to then check where the child has referred to. I wouldn't for a minute expect school staff to do this 1. Without telling the parents of the referral or 2. Without the child giving some indication of injury (unless non verbal/ SEN - then a judgement call would be based on parental view and staff who know the child best).

Would place the child at risk of significant harm sorry

well if the school referred to social care the first thing they'd ask is does she have any other marks. So what would you do. Id be glad they are so vigilant and if you caused a scratch mark you should have told the school yourself. They will be worried that the scratch will be attributed to the time in their care. Really don't stress.

Why on earth would you check a child's body in such a manner because they have a small scratch on their face?! Fucking hell. Massively OTT, isn't it? Yeesh. You should have seen the state of me as a kid. I had barely any skin below the freaking knees and elbows thanks to tree climbing and falling off my bike!

I think I'd want a little clarification on this from the school come Monday, OP. It seems quite extreme to jump straight to an examination without asking your wee one if she's hurt anywhere else or giving you a quick call about it, etc.

Surely the first thing the school should do is ask the parent how the child got the scratch?? I believe that unless they feel a child is at risk from significant harm, they need to keep parents informed of all safeguarding matters and referrals

That sounds odd. I worked in a hospital and even the paediatricians had several witnesses when checking over a child for signs of abuse. It's not something for a teacher to do on their own.

If a child told me that they were sore on their tummy, for example, I'd have a look.

If I knew the parent had scratched their face then I wouldn't tell the parent I'd looked.

I'd pass it to the safeguarding lead. FWIW I'm primary principal but our school counsellor is in charge of safeguarding.

I meant to ask if you're angry someone looked at your child's tummy (who cares) or embarrassed that staff may have noticed her injuries?

Surely the first thing the school should do is ask the parent how the child got the scratch??

Why on earth would you ask a parent how a child got a mark? In this case it was just a small scratch and nothing unusual. But if you see a mark on a child then the first person to ask about the mark is that child. If a mark could had been inflicted by an abusive parent then why would you give them an opportunity to make up an excuse about what happened?