Should I complain to the governors?

[camegonfle]

DC has a history of anxiety. Severe episode 2 weeks ago which resulted in A&E trip and CAmhs referral within 24 hours. DH went to school to pick up DC for therapist appt which for which we'd pre-notified school. School were unable to locate DC. They'd been marked medically absent from a previous lesson and hadnt turned up to the following lesson. We had a torrid 40 minutes whilst they looked for them. They were found sitting in a corridor with a member of staff (thankfully) having had a panic attack.

Is it unreasonable to think this is a major safeguarding fail? Surely if a kid goes out of a class on medical grounds they should be checked on/notified to pastoral care at the very least.

We'd already been in discussions with safeguarding as they truanted from the last lesson of the day recently and it was not flagged up to anyone; I had to tell the school that DC had truanted and wanted to know why school hadn't contacted me.

Would it be unreasonable to involve the governors at this point?

This sort of thread is a real eye opener to me. What happened to teachers you know just teaching the kids , are they really expected to issue an alert every time a teenager leaves the room to get a breath of fresh air or something? Ridiculous!

When she had the panic attack in class did the teacher pass them over into the care of another staff member or did they just leave and the other staff member stumbled across them

For ours, they have a note added to sims that they have a safety plan and any absence must be notified to SLT on call/do not allow to leave class unsupervised.

The child is able to present themselves at medical on lesson changeover as it's always staffed and then has to stay there for the rest of the lesson until collected by a member of SLT or returned to class. This means that they often see other unwell or injured kids. But they're under supervision, so they're safe.

It's unrealistic to expect that there is always somebody waiting in a quiet space to fit one child that isn't the usually very busy medical room. If nothing else, because there could be 20 kids in similar circumstances.

@Gagaandgag there wasn't a handover - the other staff member just found them in the corridor. First teacher wasn't aware they were still there. It just strikes me as an odd way to deal with things. If it was a work colleague this wouldn't happen (not on my watch anyway); if someone left a meeting I was running on medical grounds I'd follow up with them to make sure they were ok.

By the way I am grateful for all the responses - even the rude ones :)

It's difficult for you, I can see that.

But the teacher's job is to teach the class. You expect him/her to interrupt a lesson to notify someone about your child. That just isn't practical.

Your child needs a better plan for if he/she needs to leave the classroom. Somewhere else to go. But the teacher has to teach the others. That's their job.

So your DC was using an 'exit pass' but actually needs a Safety Plan. Talk to the sendco and dsl about getting one set up. That will mean that dc isn't allowed to leave class on their own for any reason, but has to be escorted everywhere if they need to move during lesson times and SLT are notified if they aren't in a lesson from the start.

We don't know that they have this protocol in OP's sons school though. I work in a secondary school and we do not have the staff available to escort students around the school site, unless they have a 1:1 TA funded by an EHCP. Vulnerable students are flagged up to "on call" by the Teacher if they leave a lesson or don't turn up to a lesson and someone will look for them, which seems to be what happened in OP's case.

@NeverDropYourMooncup thanks that's interesting to note re the safety plan. I can see how that can be problematic for both the child and the school but as you say it keeps them safe.

@neverbeenskiing DC hasn't got an EHCP and I doubt the school would be able to support this level of safety plan without one. I think asking for DC to be flagged up to on call is probably the most constructive way forward. Again thank you for replying. Getting an understanding of possible procedures has been really helpful.

Kindly, I don't believe this for a second. If you were at work, giving a presentation, and a colleague stepped outside having a panic attack, then you would stop your presentation and check on them even though you knew other members of staff would be in contact and were tasked with handling that exact scenario? Leaving all your other colleagues sat on their own with nothing to do and no support? And that doesn't even take into consideration that your colleagues are (presumably) adults who can be left alone in a room without you. Would you really be ok with a teacher just walking out of the classroom and leaving an entire class (minus one pupil) on their own? What if your child were one of the ones left behind - I assume you'd be wanting to complain to the governors...

How does a teacher stop a child leaving the class when they want to?

I agree with others regarding saying you are concerned for your DC's safety and please could a plan be put in place whereby at minimum there is an immediate flag if they don't turn up to a lesson, or if you really feel it is warranted supervised at all times (what would happen at lunch time?).

However if a child is at serious risk of self harm that they have to be accompanied everywhere I'd wonder whether school was the best place for them.

I am a teacher (but primary - which I do understand is different here) but even so I believe the teacher had a duty of care. I would personally not be happy

But you can't expect a teacher to follow your child out. What about the twenty other people they are supposed to be teaching? Your child had a panic attack that lasted 40 minutes. A teacher was with them. I can't really see what the school have done wrong in this particular situation.

Are you serious?? Your child was being looked after. Probably by a very busy teacher when he or she was going to be doing some marking or planning instead, but did the right thing and looked after your child. And you want to complain? This is secondary school. Teachers do not keep tabs on every pupil for every second of the day. It isn't a prison, and some level of responsibility is expected from the child.

I get what other posters are saying but in an emergency like this I would always have someone to hand a child over to. I am not suggesting the teacher leaves. They should have a plan in place for situations like this. I know the child is older than I am used to dealing with but they are still a child in the care of the school

PS I'm a teacher too and I've had a pupil run out of the classroom with a panic attack too. I couldn't follow the child out as I was obviously responsible for all the other pupils too. I quickly sent an email o the head of house asking for someone to try and find him, and sent two of my more responsible pupils to see if they could see him across from the building. Someone found him in the end. Short of tagging all our pupils, I'm not quite sure what else you would expect a teacher to do??

Maybe she is expecting the teacher to do something similar to you did - ensuring at least someone else is there for her

What would you prefer to have happened?

DC specifically not allowed to leave the class?
DC accompanied to their destination? By whom? Always handed over? Paid for by whom?

What about the other teens? Do they get taught or left? Does the teacher follow up with an email- to whom, phone call- mobiles not allowed, in person, abandon a class of kids.

In schools there is a degree to which a child (particularly at 14) has some responsibility. If they're not up to that, a meeting with the Senco to discuss their needs and the funding is required.

Complaining to the governors is ridiculous.

@KrisAkabusi would you still think this was acceptable if a child was having an asthma attack? You seem to be a bit dismissive of panic attacks - any idea what they're actually like to experience?. A teacher happened to find them (and I'm very glad and grateful to them that they did)

But you can't expect a teacher to follow your child out. What about the twenty other people they are supposed to be teaching? Your child had a panic attack that lasted 40 minutes. A teacher was with them. I can't really see what the school have done wrong in this particular situation.

This. Some posters seem to forget, or ignore the fact that the primary function of a teacher is to deliver lessons. They can't just leave a class unattended every time a student decides to leave the room.

The panic attack didn't last 40 minutes. The OP said it took 40 minutes to find (him, I assume, although the OP is being ridiculously coy about the child 's sex), after he had had a panic attack.

@surreygirl1987 what you did in emailing someone to alert them is exactly what I would hope would happen in these circumstances.

Maybe have a look at the schools safeguarding policies etc

I'm surprised the school even had a spare teacher wandering aroud to be fair. Nowadays any spare teacher is used to teach non specialist subjects.

OP there should really be a 'plan' in place. A member of the safeguarding team or similar should be alerted and looking for your child.
I'd be having a polite and constructive conversation with the school about this. I certainly wouldn't be going to governors.

For context I work in a primary school where safeguarding matters are absolutely huge and a number one priority.

@surreygirl1987 what you did in emailing someone to alert them is exactly what I would hope would happen in these circumstances.

So the teacher has to stop teaching to send someone an email? I can imagine how you would react if your son came home and told you his teacher was emailing someone during his lesson.

Also, most people don't answer emails immediately (especially not another busy teacher who is, you know, teaching at the time?)

Rude, again.