To raise a formal complaint regarding school isolation

[HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend]

Last week a group of 20-30 kids were throwing acorns at each other in the school playing field, a child who also throwing the acorns, got hit in the eye which I've been led to believe required medical treatment, teacher asked who hit the child and DS said he believed it was his acorn, and that he was sorry, and did not mean to cause anyone harm.

He was given a days isolation plus after school detention, however on the day with only 10 mins notice.

His head of year called and said as he admitted it was him, they had no choice to follow the isolation process, however admitted they thought it was harsh, however rules and rules which we will adhere to and support the school with.

DS has NEVER been in isolation.

My AIBU is, Ds was made to sit in a 2 by 4 booth, being made to sit upright and face a white wall for the whole of the school day. NO SCHOOL WORK WAS GIVEN AT ALL

He could not tell the supervisor he had no course work as he isn't allowed to talk while in isolation, and tbh nor should even have to ask for course work, its the supervisors role to ensure DS has course work, which is the policy in DS school.

Only one teacher called the isolation supervisor to ask if DS was present, however did not send course work, not one of his other 4 teachers called to ask if he was present.

The isolation supervisor has confirmed all of the above is true his HOY has advised us that they have passed it on to the isolation manager who will be calling me, however even after chasing it up everyday for the past week and leaving messages for them to call me I am still awaiting the phone call.

My own DS ended up requiring medical treatment as he endured a headache with sickness and sensitivity to light, ds has never had a migraine before isolation, which the A&E doctors advised was the cause.

Flash

Ok, fine so you don't have time to carry out what the school has said you should. I can see that this may not be your fault as an individual teacher but it does show that the school policy is unworkable and ineffective. Therefore, OP is right to complain to the school about what happened- they need to have a more robust and reliable system in place to ensure that children in isolation are not left to sit and stare at a wall all day.

Astars

What exactly do people think should have been done?

I think that ALL children involved in throwing the acorns should have been taken aside and given a firm bollocking by the headmaster/mistress. It may also have been appropriate to give them ALL a detention. And that should have been the end of it. It was stupid, childish behaviour but really throwing acorns is not guaranteed to be putting them on the first step down the road to being involved in knife crime and drugs. A firm dressing down, possibly adding in a detention is all that is required. Especially in a child, or group of children, who are not persistently in trouble or disruptive.

If the school felt they had to put OPs DS in isolation (and it seems every they thought it was OTT but felt they had to do it because of school policy), they should have followed their own procedures and given him some work to do. The isolation supervisor SHOULD have noticed OPs DS had no work and either sourced a textbook/some other work or arranged for his school books to be obtained from his locker.

I think a formal complaint is a bit much.

Biologi

the other child was hurt and if I was his mother I would be very very interested to know what the school was doing about your kid

Have you read the OP? The child who was injured WAS ALSO THROWING ACORNS! So it was really bad luck that this child was injured and not the one who injured another child, it could very easily have been the other way round. It's not as though OPs DS threw the acorn at an innocent passerby. They were all as bad as each other and I don't understand why you can't see that.

Before medical redundancy I ran an isolation unit in a big secondary. It was both long and short term. I am a qualified teacher.
We always carry work for every subject in case a student has been given isolation last minute. Stops staff being disturbed.
I find it hard to believe he didn't say a word. Didn't say all day he didn't have work.
You keep focusing on 'sitting upright' how do you expect him to sit?
We had a mixture of children- regular attendees, some who just didn't gel with certain staff, some who just liked quiet and also some really unpleasant naughty students who were enabled by their parents.
I believe as a regular thing it is rather draconian. For some it works. For some they want to come back regularly.
I just believe your focusing on the wrong things....

“Or a child might have lost a jumper or shoe might have developed a hole and parents come in late from work and not been able to replace it immediately that night or child has broken their ankle so can’t wear the school shoes.

These are also reasons why you can get sent to isolation.

If you have SEN and can’t do the homework

Behaviour in a lot of cases has nothing to do with it.”

My school is fully aware of these issues, are extremely supportive and sympathetic with such families. We know our pupils really well and know when to give a bit of leeway because of circumstances outside that child’s control. We provide decent quality, clean uniform and shoes (at a cost to the school) to loan to pupils who are not able to come to school correctly dressed. A child would only be sent to isolation for refusing to wear the school issue uniform.

Our school also knows the children who struggle with homework because of SEN issues and seeks to give detentions for lack of effort only. I think most schools know their children really well.

Isolation doing schoolwork seems too harsh a punishment for acorn-throwing, but not something I'd complain about.

Isolation with nothing to do all day is horrific, and the fact that your DS couldn't ask for work as he 'wasn't allowed to talk' makes it even worse. One would expect that to be a reasonable exception to the rule of silence in isolation, but apparently not.

Teachers aren't supposed to send students to stand in the corner for misbehaviour any longer because it's seen as inappropriate - and that was never something that happened all day. This is far worse. I used to work in a primary school and I'm horrified by this sort of thing. Not everyone in education has this awful punitive attitude towards children.

I think there is a lack of communication going on here, it is unbelievable that your son wasn't allowed to communicate with the staff by raising his hand and waiting for that member of staff to come to him/address him. (I don't mean stick his hand up and immediately shout across the room which a lot of people think is acceptable). I wonder if your child has ASD or similar for him to interpret the 'rules' in such a rigid fashion. As a 'reasonable adjustment' for a SEND issue I would expect a little time talking through the rules but not an average NT 12 year old.

I would also doubt that he was forced to stare at a white wall. It's true that the glare from white can trigger migraine especially with electric lights often found in schools, which is one reason why schools rarely decorate in white. Magnolia or some other 'off white' colour is far more likely which is much less likely to trigger a migraine. Many 12 year olds might call it 'white' but this would be a misrepresentation, especially to a medic. It is far more likely, I think, that he was emotionally distressed by the lack of understanding of the , especially if he is generally a 'good kid' and this triggered his body into a stress reaction (which could be a migraine). The school SHOULD have provided work, but I would be more concerned about what caused your son to interpret the rules in such a rigid fashion.

["@Astars Given that the 'acorn throwing was deliberate, but the injury was accidental, do you think the other 19 - 29 children who were throwing acorns at the same time (including the boy who was injured) should receive the same punishment?"]

@Astars

"Quite frankly yes."

That's clear. So presumably you think punishing OP's son, while not punishing the other 19 - 29 children who were throwing acorns at the same time is unfair and not equally 'just'?

So perhaps not "a good punishment" after all?

I wonder if your child has ASD or similar for him to interpret the 'rules' in such a rigid fashion.

Only on MN!

My daughter is almost 12, has never been in trouble at school and I can just imagine her doing the same as OP's son in this situation.

If she was messing about with her friends and accidentally hurt someone she would be mortified and if she was told not to talk when she was in trouble she probably wouldn't put her hand up either.

She does not have ASD.

Besides, it was the supervisors job to make sure he had work. It was their responsibility and they should be doing their job properly.

CurlyhairedAssassin

Again you are talking about your school.

A lot of schools don’t operate like “your” school

Friends Ds broke his ankle and ultimately ended with him being put in isolation till the ankle healed or he could be suspended and only come back to school when he chose to wear the right shoes

Friend pulled him out of that school and found another school that weren’t so draconian.

Thing is friends Ds is seriously bright and a credit to any school. He is one of those who got A* GCSEs and A levels and is now doing well at university.

In not being able to use a bit of common sense they lost one of their brightest pupils

Magnolia or some other 'off white' colour is far more likely which is much less likely to trigger a migraine.

The level of nitpicking from some posters so that they can prove a stranger on the internet wrong is absolutely amazing.

Yes I did read it. The other child was throwing acorns too.
As I said if I was the other mum I would be very cross and awaiting an apology.
I think the OP is reasonable in her concerns but there should be an apology from both her and her child. I don’t understand why you would disagree. It wasn’t an accident.

Oliversmumsarmy: are you absolutely 100% sure that the use of the isolation room in that situation wasn’t just because your friend’s DS was unable to get to upstairs lessons or the school was frightened of his ankle getting injured in the corridors between lessons? Sometimes there is more to these stories when you dig a bit deeper. Friends of parents don’t always get to hear the full story, or they make assumptions or misunderstand what actually happened and the reasons for something. Schools are a hotbed of rumours, especially stories that go from one school to the other.

I do find it hard to believe that no common sense allowances are made for students when they have an injury.

I really do think there is a place for isolation centres in schools but some of the assumptions about them in this thread are way over the top by people who have never been in one and seen it in operation. “Made to stare at a white wall.” No, they’re not. In any school. Children may complain and exaggerate to parents that’s that what they have to do. But it’s an exaggeration or a misunderstanding. If a child has misunderstood and honestly believes thst’s what they had to do then yes, it is worth raising it with the school and asking them to make sure that children sent to isolation rooms know exactly what they can and can’t do, spelling out with examples if necessary, for the kids who woukd either take this literally because they are shy or have ASD and to clarify with the naughtier ones who will wrongly claim to parents that that’s what they had to do all day.

Op, you say your son did not complain at the punishment so I would move on, but maybe email the school to express concern that your son wasn’t provided wirh work and to ask them to look at their policies and procedures again, even if that is to explain clearly to pupils that they must put their hand up if they don’t have work for each lesson they are in there. And that clearly they should be allowed to raise their hand and speak to a teacher if they are feeling unwell. If too many kids are taking this literally then there is an issue.

Re: the actual acorn throwing. Therr will have been lots of “ows!” when the acorns started hitting bodies, so for any of them to carry on throwing them is then clearly poor behaviour. In a large group of kids throwing things it’s often hard for staff to identify culprits if they all scatter and there are no CCTV cameras or if the staff on duty don’t recognise the kids involved. Then they simply have to deal with the worst of the issue which is to punish whoever caused the injury.’ In this case it was your son. Yes, it may well be “fairer” to punish everyone for the actual act of throwing but not everyone caused an injury did they?

All that will happen if you go in all gung ho about the nitty gritty of throwing acorns and the punishments for it is that he school will just chop down the tree so it can’t happen again. Schools don’t have time for such overinvolvement by parents on individual rules and punishments for each and every incident.

Check that the achools’s Policies and procedures for the operation of the isolation room are as good as they can be, but don’t make it about the punishment as some on this thread are trying to.

Ridiculous, isolation for throwing acorns with other children?! Seriously? Your DS owned up too, didn't that count for anything? As far as I'm concerned, isolation should not be used as a punishment full stop. Old fashioned and teaches nothing. Complain away OP.

I really do think there is a place for isolation centres in schools but some of the assumptions about them in this thread are way over the top by people who have never been in one and seen it in operation I have seen one. Blank wall. Nothing to do (Confirmed by school)

“Made to stare at a white wall.” No, they’re not. In any school. Children may complain and exaggerate to parents that’s that what they have to do. But it’s an exaggeration or a misunderstanding

Yes, they are. (Confirmed by school) There were no misunderstandings or exaggerations on the part of my child which I have in writing from the school. I have posted about my child's experiences with the 'Ready to Learn' behaviour policy and am in no way 'over the top' with my disgust and disdain.

I am amazed that a child can be made to sit in silence for hours on end, staring at a blank wall. If this took place in a prison there would be complaints.

I cannot see how anyone can think treating a 12 year old like this for mischievousness is reasonable. Were a parent to do this the MN clique would be suggesting social services.

A lot of posters don't believe that this happens, despite the press coverage recently.

It's all 'exaggeration' apparently.

CurlyhairedAssassin

That is exactly what happened.

Like the op the school confirmed everything her Ds had said had happened did actually happen. My friend had a meeting with the HT and HOY. She said it was completely surreal.
A lot of talk about him choosing not to wear school shoes.

I too have seen isolation rooms in operation and they are exactly as described.

I don’t know why you are having such a problem with this.

I realise it isn’t what your school does but it is what a lot of other schools do.

Reason and sense seems to have gone out of the window.

I was called in weekly because of Ds’s attendance was only 33%

Ds was ill the 2nd and 3rd day of his senior school having dragged himself to school because he didn’t want to miss the very 1st day.

I was called in on the Friday and was told they were not happy and he needed to think about his future.

After him getting 10 isolation days in one day I did give up.

Another boy who was in hospital (having been beaten up by older pupils at the induction evening the week before) was actually expelled because his attendance was none existence.

School have gone mad

I can’t believe what I’m reading. Yes teachers are wonderful people with difficult jobs, and schools are generally good places, but that’s not to say that mistakes can’t be made and that we should accept every decision that is made! And not every kid that does something stupid is a hoodlum with no boundaries that needs a strong hand!! The generalisation on here is horrific at times.

My ds is a similar age to yours op and has never had a detention in his entire school life. He is a great kid and every one of his teachers speaks very highly of him. It wouldn’t however be beyond the realms of possibility that he might mess around throwing acorns with his pals. He and his friends are all lovely boys, but they don’t always see the potential consequences of their actions. Yes, someone was hurt but it was an accident, and I think seeing a friend upset and requiring hospital treatment is lesson and punishment enough in this instance.

I think what happened in this case was draconian and it has obviously affected the poor boy enourmously if he has suffered such significant physical symptoms. I don’t think this was a ‘just’ punishment, I think it was cruel and unfair and my ds would be as traumatised as yours if he had experienced it. I would not let this rest and I would complain until I was heard. I hope your ds is feeling better now op.

*enormously

The irony of the selective readers fitting their own perfidious fabrications to suit there own idealism

Only one person while skirting around the facts, and not answered the below AIBU, all the people who've said they are happy with DS treatment have again skirted around this question, not ONCE actually answered this question! Says a really

WOULD YOU ACCEPT ANY OF YOUR CHILDREN BEING FORCED TO SIT UPRIGHT FACE FRONT, IN A BOOTH, FORCED TO FACE A WALL WITH NO SCHOOLWORK AT ALL FOR THE WHOLE SCHOOL DAY ?

I've spoken to the Childs parent today, and they did not know DS was put in isolation, she advised her child needed first aid treatment to rinse some soil out of her eye, she had to collect her DC from school, as the school was worried she might have damaged her eye, as there was some redness, however she advised her child was unscathed, and didn't need any other medical treatment, was only concerned that DS had a good time at the sleep over.

DS HEAD OF YEAR confirmed DS events, she confirmed it with the isolation supervisor, HOY is also unhappy, but cant do anything as its not her department.

DS school day is 8.30 to 3pm, he had a cold meal bought to him, and also was only allowed to go to the bathroom after his school meal, after his day in isolation he then had detention until 4.30pm, so was in the isolation unit from early 9am to 4.30pm, not the 4/5 hours previous posters claimed.

I do have to LOL at the poster who has claimed the wall was not white... I've seen the isolation unit first hand, its white!!!

DS is gifted at multiple sports, hes at County and Academy level for many sporting activities, so rule following is just part of him, just because ds follows rules, does not mean he has a disability only on MN do you hear mind boggling statement.

He's a normal kid, silly at times but just a kid, once again I'm not unhappy that hes been punished, I'm unhappy with his treatment while in isolation.

Thank you for those have given advice and understood why I am unhappy and also given me alternative view points and advised to go ahead with the complaint to the school as another poster advised I am going to give the school another chance to contact me on Monday close of business, and if not I feel the school has given me no alternative but to go down the formal route.

I may have missed it, but did your DS put his hand up and wait for the isolation supervisor to come over?

If the rule is that you can’t do that then that IS daft.

I hope you get the chance to suggest a couple of alternatives re accessing work in isolation.