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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to consider changing schools?

20 replies

ToChangeorNotToChange · 24/04/2021 09:35

Sorry, bit of a long one.

There hasn't been one 'major' incident, but enough smaller issues after the first year for me to be more than considering it. My husband is so on the fence, he has splinters in his backside, and thinks to think we need to give it another good term or two before giving in.

My biggest gripe at the moment is the injuries that he's coming home with and has evidently not been checked over or noted by a teacher. I'm not talking just bumped shins, I mean full scrapes or lumpy heads. His poor knee was black and blue one evening, if I had sent him into school with that level of bruising I'd probably have had a phonecall, but the school just brushed it off as 'one of those things'. The worst one was a phonecall to say he'd 'bumped his head', when I went in to get him he'd obviously scraped half his head on the playground. Again, the school was pretty blasé about it, basically shrugged and said they hadn't seen what happened but he seemed fine, they just had to follow protocol. They never seem to see what happens Hmm.

There are other issues as well. He hasn't had his class teacher for weeks, but the school haven't officially confirmed that they have left or taking a break. I dont need to know the details, but I do want to know who is actually teaching my child. He had a difficult time settling in, and is under a pathway for possible ASD diagnosis based on his social issues primarily. I asked from the start for the school/his teacher to keep me updated on what he's struggling with, and specifically said that he needed calm time-outs when obviously getting over stimulate (he stims when this happens) - all I ever had was one end of week email, and in the early weeks a very frustrated little boy who was being told off and sent out. They tried to suggest the issue was that he'd not had enough social interaction before starting Reception as he hadn't been to nursery - even though he had been to both preschool and local playgroup full time, along with other activities. I gave a full background before he started, they just hadn't read it and continued to insist he hadn't had group experience several times.

For all he struggles with socially, he currently is excelling at some of the learning aspects. He could read exceptionally well before starting school (he reads at least one Julia Donaldson type book a day), but the school don't encourage this. His weekly reading has only just changed from the Level 1 Oxford books - even his nursery had him on higher levels. He has a natural aptitude for maths, yet never seems to do anything but the very basics with the other children. I don't expect them to treat him like a genius, but is it unreasonable to expect a bit of differentiation? During lockdown we ended up pretty much doing our own thing outside the creative tasks as they were just too easy and took zero time to complete. It seemed rather unfair, as often they set tasks he couldn't partake in due to his sensory issues.

One other issue, which will seem pretty trivial but does genuinely affect him, is that they refuse to use his 'shortened' name over his full one. They asked for his preferred name on the forms, yet never call him anything but his full name. Let's say his full name is Frederick but he insists on being called Freddy. They make a point of always calling him Frederick and insist all the other children do as well. He is the only 'Frederick/Freddy' in his year, so it's not to avoid confusion, and it's certainly not a posh school. It just seems such a silly thing for them to not only push themselves but have all the other children do so, and again unnecessarily upsets/irritates him. Obviously on schoolwork and forms I expect him to be full-named, but when saying 'good morning'? Possibly unreasonable on this one, but his preschool never called him anything but short form and he was far, far more settled when there.

That was a bit of an essay! The TLDR is, don't feel the school adequately communicates, worried about how often he's being injured beyond the usual bumps, and don't feel he's being treated like an individual - would you move your child under these circumstances?

OP posts:
CoffeeWithCheese · 24/04/2021 09:44

Moved mine after reception year for similar types of concerns - never regretted it for a second. The school just wasn't a good fit for her - the one we moved to was brilliant in terms of supporting her to settle in, supporting her social skills (academically bright, socially... not adept) and she absolutely flew then.

I basically emailed around the local schools asking how they were placed with spaces in the year group, went to look around one school that the secretary had told me had one spare space and I burst into tears as I left as it was so much better of a fit for DD.

FortunesFave · 24/04/2021 09:45

Is it a large class? I don't think their reaction to what sound like very common playground scrapes is bad.,..kids fall constantly and they are very blase about it because it's such a regular thing.

But the lack of care seems apparent to me. Especially about the correct name and telling him off when he's being assessed for autism...they should not be telling him off... I'm torn about the providing him with more work...he's very young still and they prefer children to settle in before trying to make them stand out with extra or harder work.

Given the tellings off and the incorrect name thing, I would make an appointment and raise these issues...the falling over and the work...not so much.

You can support his learning at home though.

Cam2020 · 24/04/2021 09:46

The bottom line is that you feel uneasy about your son's care whilst he's there. The school is not going to change as it seems like an issue with the way they run/culture, rather than an isolated incident.

Start putting feelers out quietly and see if you can get a base for comparison. Is he in reception? If so, I guess you had to choose the school without seeing it in person, which is difficult. Do you have any friends you could ask? Local facebook groups are sometimes quite helpful in getting the lowdown on expeirences at certain schools.

My daughter is starting school in September so I have no expeirence at all, but if somethibg feels off, its worth looking at options.

ToChangeorNotToChange · 24/04/2021 09:59

@FortunesFave

Is it a large class? I don't think their reaction to what sound like very common playground scrapes is bad.,..kids fall constantly and they are very blase about it because it's such a regular thing.

But the lack of care seems apparent to me. Especially about the correct name and telling him off when he's being assessed for autism...they should not be telling him off... I'm torn about the providing him with more work...he's very young still and they prefer children to settle in before trying to make them stand out with extra or harder work.

Given the tellings off and the incorrect name thing, I would make an appointment and raise these issues...the falling over and the work...not so much.

You can support his learning at home though.

A very large class. Which was my main thought about their often shrugging away of all accidents. Obviously he's my little boy so my reaction to looking like he'd been kneecapped was probably too far in the other direction!

As for the extra work, I'm trying not to be 'that parent' as I know he will very likely average out by KS2, but he genuinely loves learning. He watches Brian Cox documentaries for fun Confused. We are very happy to follow his lead on extra interest at home, but unfortunately school is rather exhausting for him in terms of holding it together at times, so it's difficult to find a balance of doing extra curricular he really enjoys and just letting him defuse ready for the next week.

I have raised the issues of the 'telling offs' and they generally have seem to have lessened, but with his teacher now AWOL and seemingly only TAs running the class, I feel things are slipping again. I respect TAs will have supervision, but they're not teachers, and with it brings even less communication about accidents or any difficulties.

OP posts:
ToChangeorNotToChange · 24/04/2021 10:11

@Cam2020

The bottom line is that you feel uneasy about your son's care whilst he's there. The school is not going to change as it seems like an issue with the way they run/culture, rather than an isolated incident.

Start putting feelers out quietly and see if you can get a base for comparison. Is he in reception? If so, I guess you had to choose the school without seeing it in person, which is difficult. Do you have any friends you could ask? Local facebook groups are sometimes quite helpful in getting the lowdown on expeirences at certain schools.

My daughter is starting school in September so I have no expeirence at all, but if somethibg feels off, its worth looking at options.

I did see the school, and they actually put on a very good show at the time of all their SEN provisions and explaining how understanding they were of kids looking at a DX or even just struggling. Of all the schools I visited, they ironically impressed me the most with their enthusiasm. Then he started, and the curtain fell. They hadn't taken anything I had said in person or in writing about him on board. His preschool had been so different, but they're highly oversubscribed for their reception and I thought it wasn't worth trying to fight for a place there. I then had the saddest/sweetest message from his nursery teacher saying how they all had so hoped he'd be placed with them. Perhaps we were a bit spoiled by a teacher who had been so enthusiastic with him, despite his issues (that she recognised from day one and worked amazingly with).

I'm wondering about a smaller school, no easy ask when we live in a city unfortunately. We're planning to move, but since my husband restarted his career in the last couple of years, we have to wait a couple more for the right type of household income. I'm almost regretting leaving my small childhood village, where the biggest class size in primary was 9 children Grin.

OP posts:
FortunesFave · 25/04/2021 01:58

I'd have a look around....the school's lack of communication re. the teacher's absence is weird and unsettling. Do you know of any other schools nearby which may have space?

Subordinateclause · 25/04/2021 02:09

People often cite small schools for children with SEND. They're not actually always the best place as they have much less flexibility in terms of available staff, breakout rooms etc, even if the individual classes are small.

It's not clear what kind of updates you want - if it's a little chat at home time that's fine but I don't think a weekly email is reasonable. The teacher will likely have several children undergoing assessment for various diagnoses (I've taught in a bog standard state school where quite literally 10% of children on roll had, or were under investigation for, ASD or ADHD) and emailing all parents weekly would be unduly onerous. Your other concerns sound reasonable though and ultimately if you're not happy with the school and there are other options I'd move him, especially as he is so young.

eatsleepread · 25/04/2021 02:39

Some kids are just accident prone - you can't expect staff to witness it every time. If the playground is adequately supervised, in terms of adult:child ratio, then I'm not sure what else you'd expect Confused

lollipoprainbow · 25/04/2021 03:22

I moved my dd to a much smaller school when she was in year 3 and haven't regretted it for a second. She is also on the ASD pathway and her previous school was far too big for her and the sen manager was hopeless.

Nat6999 · 25/04/2021 04:24

I left my ds in a school that wasn't doing their best for him & I have regretted it ever since. He is 17 now & the way he was treated still affects him now. Do your detective work, ring round to see
Which schools have vacancies visit each one & get him moved.

Cam2020 · 25/04/2021 08:09

That's really disappointing that they put on a good front, OP.

9 kids per class sounds amazing! Smaller may well be the way to go.

ToChangeorNotToChange · 25/04/2021 08:22

@FortunesFave

I'd have a look around....the school's lack of communication re. the teacher's absence is weird and unsettling. Do you know of any other schools nearby which may have space?
Teachers go off with stress or illness all the time, I'm absolutely understanding that it's none of my business as to why they've gone - however there has been zero acknowledgement from the school about it, which is definitely weird.

There is a couple of schools nearby that I think will have space. One is actually closer to my other child's nursery but that's the one I know least about, one is smaller but I discounted it last year due to it being part of a huge academy (I don't like how they're run like a business) and the 'executive assistant' being rather abrupt when doing a show around (didn't even get to ask questions!). There's two more, but they don't have a great reputation (think one is in special measures). I can widen my search now though, I didn't have a car when I was applying a year ago.

OP posts:
ToChangeorNotToChange · 25/04/2021 08:32

@eatsleepread

Some kids are just accident prone - you can't expect staff to witness it every time. If the playground is adequately supervised, in terms of adult:child ratio, then I'm not sure what else you'd expect Confused
Yes they are accident prone (or possible mobility issues around the SPD/ASD) and I really do not want to be updated over every bump and scratch. He's had a few accidents that may not have been witnessed, but definitely needed some tlc and an accident report though. Any head bump should be noted, and coming home hobbling with a swollen, bruised knee that they 'hadn't noticed' was also unacceptable. As I said, if I was sending him in as often as he comes home as bruised and bashed up as he is, I doubt 'ah well, some kids are accident prone' would be an acceptable answer.

He was coming home every week with at least one or two accident forms, when I noted my concern about what exactly was going on, the accident acknowledgments stopped altogether.

OP posts:
ToChangeorNotToChange · 25/04/2021 08:39

9 kids per class sounds amazing! Smaller may well be the way to go.

It was and it wasn't. Tiny welsh school - 50 kids at most, half of us related to each other, everyone knew everyone else's business, parents constantly in a passive-agressive war with each other. Was more like an insanely big family rather than a school! You never got lost in a crowd though, no one was ever left out, it was definitely a much nicer environment for small children.

OP posts:
SquashMinusIsShit · 25/04/2021 08:44

He was coming home every week with at least one or two accident forms, when I noted my concern about what exactly was going on, the accident acknowledgments stopped altogether

That seems.really suspicious to me! What does he tell you about how he hurts himself?

ToChangeorNotToChange · 25/04/2021 09:05

That seems.really suspicious to me! What does he tell you about how he hurts himself?

He doesn't like talking about it, usually all I get it 'I fell'. He sometimes he admits he was being silly. Once another child accidentally hurt him but he was very vocal about that one, so don't think he's being pushed about by other children.

OP posts:
jessycake · 25/04/2021 09:19

Has he got dyspraxia too ? that might explain all the accidents.

ToChangeorNotToChange · 25/04/2021 10:21

@jessycake

Has he got dyspraxia too ? that might explain all the accidents.
It hasn't been mentioned, his brother is showing more mobility issues than he has. He's also not the only one who's had a nasty bash, but it doesn't seem to be happening as often to others. I have asked the school to please keep an extra eye just incase all the extra scrapes means we should be adding mobility issues on to the list of things that need following up, as I said suddenly I was getting less forms about accidents. It's another instance of communication being not as great as I'd like.

He often has knocked shins, in the holidays/away from school etc. He's not constantly bashed up at home/after the park though. The other day he came home from school with a scraped elbow that needed cleaning up. He swore he told the supervising adult but said they didn't do anything (it didn't look it either) and again no form to say he'd cut his arm.

OP posts:
Nat6999 · 25/04/2021 15:45

My ds fell on the ice at school landing on his wrist, school rang me to say he was in their words "being a drama queen" but in their opinion was OK. When I collected him from school his wrist was swollen & he couldn't move his fingers. The teacher had been forcing him to write all afternoon. I took him straight to A & E where after an Xray I was told he had badly broken his wrist, he had to have it pulled before having a pot on. The poor boy was nearly fainting when I collected him, thank goodness I followed my instinc & didn't listen to what their opinion was.

wingardium8 · 25/04/2021 18:31

I’d move him now - the school sounds shit. I wouldn’t be so worried about the injuries, but the lack of differentiation of work combined with the SEND issues they’re ignoring does not bode well for the future.
Sounds like they just don’t have the bandwidth (for whatever reason) to cater to anyone but the average middle-of-the-roaders.

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