Worried about my DD in reception

[Sundaymonday97]

My DD is 4 and one of the smallest in the class as some children are nearing or have already turned 5. She has a few friends she is close with but everyday she is coming home with injuries such as bruise on head, sore hands from falling over etc. She is telling me that it is her friends that push her over in the playground. She also says one boy who ‘isn’t her friend’ was telling another child to push her over. She told me she’s been pushed off climbing frame also. Apparently one of her friends hit her and her friend said she had done it because she’s smaller than her.

It’s even got to the point that I asked her if she had a good day at school and she said ‘yes, no one pushed or hit me me today’

Parents evening is coming up. How can I raise this and how would the school deal with it?

At our school, parents evening is only a very short slot so I would email the teacher asap and ask to speak to them before . I would set it out exactly as you have written it. My daughter says x, y and z. See what they say.

I'm really sorry that you are struggling with that. It sounds hard.

I think the kids in reception are not really plugged in yet, and will do silly thoughtless things. My son couldn't run fast and his friends made him be "it" in games of tig for weeks and months on end, even though he never caught anyone.

I'm honestly not sure what the answer is. I think if you wrote to the dwarfism society online they would probably have some ideas. I fear it may involve her learning to shout.

https://littlepeopleuk.org/

Thanks both. I will get in contact before parents evening. Sorry for any confusion, she doesn’t have dwarfism. @WhenIsTheGeneralElection She is a lot smaller than most of her class and she’s the very youngest and isn’t 5 until the end of august. Apparently her friends just always talk about the fact they are taller than her

write to her teacher and the head (why not, they can decide if they respond but you are making them aware). List everything your child has said, accompany that with any evidence of injuries you have seen and ask them explicitly ‘I understand and accept that some children are still learning to make positive choices in their behaviour, however this should not be at the expense of my child’s well being. How will they keep DD safe now we have observed her being injured’

the focus needs to be on how they will keep her safe and happy and not you asking them what they will do about X Y Z child as they are less likely to engage with you.

I would also work with your daughter on the concept of friendship, people who make her feel happy inside and knowing her worth (ie., not to give her friendship or attention to someone repeatedly hurting her)

good luck - you are her voice.

I have a small August-born reception child (although he's a boy) and we've had this a few times. I'm never 100% sure of the exact circumstances but whenever DS says anything to me, I always raise it with the teacher the next day - or even that afternoon. I'm not sure if it makes me 'that' parent but I don't really care if it does.

Thank you for your reply. I have spoken to the teacher about it before the next morning as my DD normally tells me when we get home. She said she thinks it is because she’s the smallest and that she thinks she does get bossed around. She said she has actually given the children a telling off and spoken to their parents when she has witnessed something. But it keeps happening so I’m wondering what the solution might be. I was going to raise it again at parents evening as there’s always a que in the morning and afternoon and haven’t had the chance to properly discuss it so I thought maybe more one to one talk would be better. The last thing she said was that she would keep an eye on things

Hi,

I had a similar incident with my DS in reception but must admit the school were brilliant. They did lessons on treating others with kindness etc.

Also, my little boy is so tiny he’s just gone into Year 2 and he’s still the smallest of the class and it’s a mixed class for Year 1/2. He’s a pain to buy school uniform for but it doesn’t stop him doing anything. At least he’s little for longer ❤️ xx