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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be irked that teacher wouldn’t open 6-year-old’s water bottle at school?

229 replies

Tabletoppp · 09/09/2020 18:47

Just that really. 6-year-old came home very thirsty and said he has a headache. I took his water bottle out his bag and said, “oh you didn’t drink anything?”

He said he couldn’t get the cap off (It wasn’t on that tight, but oh well!), and that he asked his his teacher to help and she said no, she can’t touch his water bottle because of Covid.

So all day he drank no water.

Aibu that she should have helped him and then just washed her hands?!

OP posts:
Original poster
Tabletoppp · 09/09/2020 19:32

@Marmite133

OP, not saying at all that your child has lied but children do sometimes see things very differently and sometimes worry about things so much that they get mixed up between imagination and reality. A child in my class went home yesterday and told their mum that I didn't let them have a drink all day and they'd forgotten their bottle. I'd said 'that's tough!' apparently. I offered the child a sanitised plastic cup, the child said thanks and went off to the water. Little did I know that the child didn't want to use it and had just pretended to drink. Child didn't want to be in trouble with mum for not drinking so made it up.

As a teacher this sort of thing happens all the time and can be really upsetting. Much better to speak to the teacher to get the full story.

Oh gosh!

Yes he’s very young and may have misunderstood things. I actually really hope he misunderstood things!

OP posts:
TantricTwist · 09/09/2020 19:33

Well if she had opened it then she'd be expected to open it 10 times a day every day till the end of the School year so she did the right thing.

dietcokeandchill · 09/09/2020 19:33

It is unreasonable I totally agree, and I would have opened it myself as a Year 1 teacher!
However the guidance is so confusing and changeable at the moment. Teachers are having a hard time, so please don’t complain or raise a complaint or go in all guns blazing.
Maybe ask the teacher politely and see what her response is, and raise with Senior leadership team if you feel your concerns have not been addressed fully.

EDSGFC · 09/09/2020 19:34

@lotsolove

If she can't figure out hand washing before and after touching the bottle then I don't have high hopes for her tbh.
How does she wash her hands twice, whilst teaching? Do all classrooms have sinks in them?
RedHelenB · 09/09/2020 19:34

Washing hands in the middle of a lesson even 5 times adds up. If the class didn't have a TA it might not have been possible to open it at the time he asked. Did he not drink his school milk either?

Wakemeupwhenthisisover · 09/09/2020 19:35

I would have helped him. She could have just washed her hands afterwards. If contact the school (I’m a teacher btw).

TantricTwist · 09/09/2020 19:35

Yes @Marmite133 is right actually DC do lie a lot about these kinds of things and other kinds of things like being bullied by other DC just to get attention.

Happytobeme123 · 09/09/2020 19:36

The thing is, we've been trained, and have lots of practsise, in caring for the children.
So we open and close bottles, yoghurts, fruit packs, plait hair etc etc.
Its hard to undo what we've been used to.
I'm not going to see a child crying with a small injury and not automatically care for them, give them a wipe or ice pack etc. Its hard to do all these things and maintain a distance.
Its very hard to undo what we're used to.
OP, I'm sure the teacher could have sanitised, undone it and sanitised again.
However, as we know with our DCs, sometimes things get slightly lost in translation Grin.

Wakemeupwhenthisisover · 09/09/2020 19:37

For those questioning about hand washing. All classrooms should have hand sanitisers or she should have one on her person, I wear one around my neck.

JalapenoDave · 09/09/2020 19:37

You are absolutely not being unreasonable OP. Can't believe a teacher could be so fussy that they'd leave a child with no water to drink! Common sense seems to have slipped people's minds lately.

DominaShantotto · 09/09/2020 19:38

My youngest has a fractured wrist at the moment (non writing hand thankfully). She also has severe dyspraxia so her motor skills and muscle tone are really poor anyway. She has a hand splint on which she is allowed to remove to wash - but because no one will help her put two velcro strips back on after using the sink or sanitiser - she either has a sopping wet splint rubbing her hand raw all day, or an unsupported fracture. We've managed, after much looking around, to find a splint she is capable of doing herself - but seriously what the fuck are we doing to these little children.

She's also no longer allowed to type her written work because of covid - either using the school laptops or bringing her own device in from home.

uglyface · 09/09/2020 19:39

I’d check and get the full story if I were you.

FWIW I’ve opened about 532 water bottles/yoghurts/snack pots this week, plus applied several plasters, checked many new shoe blisters and received a lot of unsolicited hugs. And that’s without counting the number of children who have breathed in my face as I’ve helped them with their work. Every teacher of primary age children I know has accepted this, it seems odd that your child’s teacher would take this stance....

fluffyjumper · 09/09/2020 19:40

What a heartless person. Even if a parent did send a child in with food/fluids they cant open, dont punish the child. That really is childish! Although op has said he normally has no difficulty with the water she sent him in with.

cantstopsinginglittlebabybum · 09/09/2020 19:41

Pre covid and at my sons previous school, his teacher wouldn't help him open his pencil case when the zip got stuck and then shouted at him that he was unprepared.

Nothing surprises me anymore.

endofthelinefinally · 09/09/2020 19:41

It is just getting silly.
I would have got a paper towel, covered the lid, opened the lid, discarded paper towel (or tissue), washed hands.

ginsparkles · 09/09/2020 19:41

I'd be irked too but we have been specifically told to only send things they can easily open on their own in their lunch boxes etc.

Shelleymoon · 09/09/2020 19:41

'Kicking off' at teachers will get you a long way...
Not really the way forward is it? I know the op didn't use that expression but I've read it several times in the thread.
Send him to school with a bottle he can open.
Simple.

Whym · 09/09/2020 19:42

YANBU. Oh your poor son.

Aragog · 09/09/2020 19:43

HandfulofDust

To be fair it was very much the norm in the 70s and 80s to not drink during the day at school. There was a jug of water on the tables at lunch time, but we had no water bottles and no water fountains in school. So the only drink you had was mid day. Its not a case of mis-remembering.

Fink · 09/09/2020 19:43

I agree with a pp. As a former teacher as well as mum, I wouldn''t kick off with the school until I'd heard the teacher's side of the story. It might have happened exactly as your son said, but I've been on the wrong end of plenty of misunderstandings where what has been said to the parents has little ressemblance to how an adult would see and remember the facts. So many ways this could have happened slightly differently to what's been reported and it would make all the difference.

PurpleFlower1983 · 09/09/2020 19:43

I teach year 1 and I’ve spent loads of time today opening and filling water bottles that the kids can’t operate!

Codexdivinchi · 09/09/2020 19:44

YANBU.

She was being pathetic and making a point with a six year old child

BravoBilly · 09/09/2020 19:44

I would have made sure your child could drink their water

BravoBilly · 09/09/2020 19:44

As the teacher I mean

Greenmarmalade · 09/09/2020 19:46

@DominaShantotto your daughter should be able to use a laptop, as she needs to to accommodate her needs. I would strongly recommend sending an email expressing your concerns and request a meeting. I’m a teacher and would also advocate for her to be able to use a laptop AND have help with Velcro! I’m so angry reading these things.