AIBU to think school should have called me?

[tootiredtoadult]

So, I will take my error in all this but I feel school should have called me or kept DD age 8 inside or out at least shaded the kids.

To cut a long story short,y DD school have had. A sports week this week, but due to the rather British wet weather it has been cancelled, and all activities off, we received an email to say that they would be doing sports today.

In the usual morning rush and remembering pe kit at the last minute I packed her off to school.

She has come home sunburnt to hell. I asked "have you been outside ALL day" she confirmed they had, I asked "did they ask if you had sun cream on"? She confirmed "they asked and I said No, they offered me some but I told them I'm allergic to that one"
(well done for realising that DD)

The school clearly knew the kids needed sun screen as they were offering it out, I feel at this point they should have called me for my views on what they should do (I would have taken some into school for her) I wouldn't want her to miss out but I feel they should have kept her inside or at very least, put the kids in the shade where possible.

I appreciate I should have put cream on her this morning but I wasn't aware they were going to be out in baking sun all day doing sports.

Should I approach the school about this? WWYD?

It does make a difference. The teacher may have limited the sun exposure by keeping the children inside during lunchtimes for example.

It's always advisable to get all of the facts so a discussion can be helpful for everyone in terms of moving forward.

Thanks again for all your help, I wasn’t looking to blame the school, I am quite aware that its is my responsibility, and I messed up, and yes I had mum guilt, but that doesn’t excuse leaving a child in the sun all day unprotected, once you have been made aware of it. I was asking if I should approach the school about it (mainly to safe guard others) I would never go in there all guns blazing it would have been a polite side chat with her teacher.

Anyway she has woken up, the aftersun has done it’s job, she has gone to school looking like a milk bottle she has that much on, and yes her sunscreen is in her bag. So no harm done this time.

@pepperpot99
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So they suddenly decided to carry on with 'sports week' at the drop of a hat. That's not how schools work

Yes it is, in primary schools at this time of year with SATs over and done with.

U2- schools have to support inclusion. Why should a child spend all sports day sat under a tree?

Because they are burning and aren't adequately protected from the sun?

This is a no win for the school. If they put suncream on her and she had a reaction you would be cross. If they made her stay inside all.day and.not take part - you would be cross.

Nonsense. They could have "won" by phoning OP to get the right suncream brought in. And there's no suggestion that OP would have been cross if her child had been kept in, given that she has fully acknowledged her own fault in this.

Yes it is, in primary schools at this time of year with SATs over and done with.
'sports week' suggests a carefully planned week of activities which might include outside agencies such as sports coaches and experts.
Also the whole school wouldn't be outside all at the same time all day long if they had a carefully planned programme of activities.
Year 6 could be outside all day having fun after SATs but OP's daughter is 8.

Op, you have posted this just for people to agree with you, so you are not asking AIBU? are you?

Schools have got very strict with this - they are not your kids parents, they are not responsible for applying sun cream to huge groups of kids that are perfectly capable of applying it themselves, or should have had it liberally applied by their actual parents before coming to school.

You have admitted it is your fault, it's a mistake you won't make again , just leave it at that and stop blaming the school for something that is not their responsibility.

'Sports day' is usually an afternoon or sessions during the week, not the whole day. English and Maths still have to be done at other times of the day to ensure coverage of the curriculum.

But this school on this occasion had an all day sports event. So what usually happens is irrelevant.

stop blaming the school for something that is not their responsibility.

A child is sunburned on their watch and you think they bear no responsibility for that at all.

A kid is injured because they are swinging on railings and no-one was watching. Kid has been told not to but does it anyway. Not the school’s fault? A kid is starving because they brought no lunch, not their problem at all?

I can not believe people send their kids to school every day, happy with the scenario that the school apparently bears no responsibility for their well being if a parent or child makes a mistake.

Yabbers I doubt any of the teachers watched a child burn. They would have been running sports week which tends to be very intensive and busy with lots of timetable changes, etc.
Going forward, I'm sure OP could provide extra suncream for her DD to be kept in the office or with the nurse so if she forgets again, there's suncream available for her.

'Sports day' is usually an afternoon or sessions during the week, not the whole day. English and Maths still have to be done at other times of the day to ensure coverage of the curriculum.

In our primary school sports day is indeed the whole day. They do games in the morning and races in the afternoon; with a picnic lunch in between.

No Maths or English that day but the school has managed to succeed in sending educated pupils up to High school year after year.

U2, you are missing my point. No child should be excluded. Yes they shouldn't be allowed to burn but the answer is not to sit them under a tree. What 6 year old will happily sit under a tree all afternoon while the other children are doing sports?

Schools have got very strict with this - they are not your kids parents, they are not responsible for applying sun cream to huge groups of kids that are perfectly capable of applying it themselves, or should have had it liberally applied by their actual parents before coming to school.

Sure. So the answer to that is to have the child sitting indoors, isn't it? On what planet is it appropriate to send that child to sit out in the sun for long periods knowing that they have no sun cream on?

Also if all the class were outside who’d have been there to teach/supervise her if they’d kept her in? What would they have done with her while the rest of the class were doing something else?

No school has every single member of staff outside on sports day. Apart from anything else, they need someone to answer phones, and the chances are that there are other children who can't go out for various reasons, e.g. severe allergies. It's easy enough to sit the kid down with a book and/or drawing materials, or even a few work exercises to get on with.

YANBU, yes it's your fault she wasn't protected from the sun, but, once the teacher knew she wasn't protected there is no way she should have been allowed in the sun. People don't seem to take sunburn seriously. If a kid showed up without a bike helmet would it be OK for the teacher to let them cycle on roads without one, because it's the parents fault they forgot the helmet? No, it wouldn't.

OP - did you contact school and check she had sunscreen?

You expect them to contact you, but you knew she didn’t have any, has allergies and was outside

All of this cuts both ways

People don’t all burn to the same extent in the same level of sun. I can be out in 19/20 degrees all day and will not burn. Put me in 25 degrees for fifteen minutes and I turn into a lobster. Teachers can only be responsible for sum protection in terms of reminders and giving the child the choice, because otherwise they are going to be in for a world of shit, aren’t they? Children saying they’re wearing it when they aren’t (complaint). Children wearing it but burning (complaint). Children wearing it but having an allergic reaction (complaint). Children saying they’re not wearing any and not being offered any in case they’re allergic (complaint). Parents know their children best and have to take responsibility for this.

No school has every single member of staff outside on sports day.

In the past a child could sit quietly with one adult in the school. Safeguarding now says this should be avoided for the sake of the child and the adult. Which is why keeping a child inside means either two adults, or more than one child.

People keep quoting loco parentis, but no schools are not expected to look after kids in the same way parents do. For example if a child is dirty, it is not their job to give the child a shower. If a parent is not parenting properly it is their job to contact Social Services.

All of this cuts both ways

@UniversallyUnchallenged, OP has acknowledged that several times, not sure what you think this adds to the discussion.

It doesn't change the fact that the school knowingly sent a child out to spend a long time in the sun without sun protection. Was that a responsible thing to do?

@tootiredtoadult I would definitely raise with the school, as you say to stop it happening again or to anyone else. If they had known they would be outside all day they could have stayed this in the email by way if reminder, but once they realised, DD should have been kept out of the sun or you contacted. The school has no valid defence for not doing this and allowing a child to be burnt. What else did they think would happen...? There was never going to be another outcome without them taking action of some sort, which they didn't.

Not much you could do at that point if you weren't made aware of the situation. Duty of Care was on them.

And nobody is saying that is a responsible thing to do either.

Generally I find if you want people to do something then come up with a reasonable plan.

I am amazed thought at the person who posted who said she was a teacher and that if a kid turned up at school without a coat she would either rummage through lost property to find them a coat, or keep them in. My pov is that all teachers are entitled to breaks. If parents don't parent, it is not the teachers job to do that, it is the teachers job to report to SS.

@jennymanara

There are often children who have injuries, though. My DD2 has a broken bone in her wrist and had to stay in at break times for the first 2 weeks. So there would have had to be a teacher stay in with her (there was always a willing friend staying in with her).

I have known of other children in a similar position, as my DDs have stayed inside with them.

I should think some teachers will help a child to find a coat because they don't want them to be soaked to the skin/get cold if they don't have one? It's not that hard to understand, is it? It's called empathy. (It's obviously the parent who has been negligent, I'm not disputing that.)

I meant, my DD2 had a broken wrist, she's properly healed now.