Overreaction about glue gun incident at school

[backinthestoneage]

https://www-thesun-ie.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.thesun.ie/news/8810155/furious-mum-school-son-burn-glue-gun/amp/?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16912722078861&csi=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.ie%2Fnews%2F8810155%2Ffurious-mum-school-son-burn-glue-gun%2F

Resulting in a teacher misconduct hearing
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-misconduct-panel-outcome-ms-sarah-mead

No wonder more and more staff are unwilling to do activities and trips. If the slightest thing goes wrong there will be a petition at the school gates and a public hounding

They would have won if they followed a risk assessment in the first place and the glue gun wasn't used.

I, throughout ds's school career, was 100% on the side of his teachers and he knew that I expected high standards of respect and behaviour but in this instance the teacher made a huge mistake and they themselves have accepted that.

Love how so many are bending over backwards to blame the 10 year old child for the teachers failings in this incident.

The boys mother was unreasonable with going to the papers, but the outcome of the investigation was fair.

It’s not fair, it’s an insane overreaction to a minor misjudgment on the teacher’s part.
if we insist on living in a world where this sort of thing becomes the subject of professional misconduct proceedings then I think we will have to accept that very few intelligent people will become or remain teachers. And we will have to deal with the consequences of that.

The boys mother was unreasonable with going to the papers, but the outcome of the investigation was fair.

Which investigation? The one that imposed no prohibition order, or the one which recommended she lose her job?

Yes but before she even contacted the school she put a post on twitter and contacted The Sun newspaper!

Not following procedures that are designed to prevent accidents are subject to investigations and severe disciplinaries in most work places. Most places are safety first. Teaching is not unique when it comes to safety in the workplace.

I have seen people sacked or final written warnings/supervision for similar. Some where there was an incident and no injury. Every incident is treated for the lack of adhereance to h&s processes and what could have happened not the severity of the actual injury.

The teacher was wrong in this incident and it was correctly dealt with.

I don't think anyone is disputing the fact that the teacher should have filled out the accident book and contacted the parent.

Certainly being dragged through the press isn't an appropriate sanction. I would suggest that the TRA process is also inappropriate and it should have been dealt with in-house.

They would have won if they followed a risk assessment in the first place and the glue gun wasn't used.
^
Most schools don't have a TA. It could have been accident caused by a pencil. I suspect the Mother would have behaved in the same way.^

Exactly. We also understand why she didn't contact the parent and that was a lapse of judgment. Had she not been on duty it could have been different.

It's such a sad story.

I'm late 30's and we were definitely allowed to use glue guns when I was in year 5 and 6.

One or two of us definitely got burnt. I don't remember any drama about it though.

Especially since it is made clear in the report that previously the role she was doing (Dep Head/DSL) wasn't also given classroom responsibility and that there wasn't a TA with the class that day so she was essentially doing the job of three people. This is a direct consequence of school funding cuts - plates being dropped, mistakes being made.

And of course it is the teacher getting the blame, not the government who put her in the position of having to do the job of three people at once.

That poor teacher. I hope the mother reminds her child to do what he is told in future. Any mother who would go to the Sun about this is obviously just after compensation.
Thankfully the teacher is still teaching.

Yes of course, blame the young child who REUSED medical treatment, like I said his injury should have been a priority and the teacher who “forgot” to inform the parent of the injury is in the wrong, the reason she forgot to, is irrelevant
she could have asked the office to inform the parent, or another teacher , dhe could have phoned the parent after the other issue, she did not

They shouldn’t be given glue guns, it’s ridiculous , what exactly are primary kids making that require glue guns

The child should have followed instructions and gone to first aid.

The teachers priority is the safety of all 30 children in her class.

She's lost her senior role and had to apply for supply teaching.

It's pretty obvious what kind of person the mother is and her child's inability to follow instructions is pretty unsurprising.

this kind of attitude isn’t helpful , “he should have..” he is just a child, the problem is that the teacher underestimated the severity of the injury

At least the child and mother are named in the paper. Let that be a warning to the boy’s future teachers never to take him on a school trip or let him take part in any science experiments. Parents like his are incredibly dangerous and can ruin careers and lives. He sounds like a brat who couldn’t do what he was told. Poor teachers !

You think the child refusing to follow the reasonable instructions of the teacher didn't contribute to the outcome of the situation?

There are lots of things that seem to have happened in a short space of time and the child refusing first aid treatment is one of them. That one can't be blamed on the teacher though.

The problem was not the teacher underestimated the injury. She told the child to go to first aid. She meant to talk to the parent but due to other duties forgot. She made mistakes I agree but she was hampered massively by circumstance, a child not following instructions and lack of support in school.

I understand all about health and safety in the workplace, thanks; I practiced in the field for a number of years. The equipment involved here is commonly used in schools; what she did was not flagrantly careless or dangerous. If you are going to insist on minor issues like this being the subject of professional misconduct proceedings you are going to have to take the consequences; a worsening of the already significant recruitment and retention problems in the profession.

How do people suggest you make a Y6 child go to first aid when they refuse? Including considering supporting 30 other children at the same time.

How do you know she does? Because she says so?
the actual medical info, and the outcome, suggests she’s totally wrong.

Not to mention that it happened at home time

I was merely isolating the facts as delivered in the report to clarify as some people think that the teacher failed to send him to medical.

Hospital? Wow.

If you don't know what to do when your child has a very minor burn, maybe YOI should be the one attending some training, e.g. the most basic of first aid courses.

Actually maybe instead of NCT courses about how we can have a relaxed childbirth we should all just learn basic first aid, to avoid this sort of problem in the future.

What a shame the teacher in question has to put up with this crap.