P E teacher. Please help.

[Chickencuddle]

I phoned in today about my daughter being denied her inhaler during PE. I asked to speak to head of pastoral care. But I got a phone call back from PEt teacher who flat out denied and basically said my dd is lying. She also said she wasn't working hard enough to be out of breath or even breaking a sweat. I said this didn't matter and she needs her inhaler. She said she didn't say she needed her inhaler.
I felt so bad and actually considered if my dd had lied although would be so so out of character for her. I spoke to dd who was shocked and upset about what the PE teacher had said. She insured me she was telling the truth and said her friend had been with her and also she had spoken to a classroom assistant after teacher told her she couldn't get it telling her what teacher had said and classroom assistant said if she didn't feel better soon she had her permission to go get it. But she told me she jyst dealt with the breathlessness and got her inhaler after PE.

Teacher mentioned that changing rooms are 10 minutes away from hall and that dd has never brought her inhaler. I said maybe that could be mentioned that next time she brings it with her. She said that needs to be something I tell her as she has enough kids to deal with. I said that's fine but I wasn't to know it was so far away. I'm only just hearing that now. Also why is she telling me this if dd actually didn't ask?

She has said mean things to dd before denied her toilet which I had to phone for. I didn't want this to be a big thing just wanted PE teacher to let dd use inhaler. But now feels like a big thing and feel like I have to clear dds name as head of year bas spoken to PE reacher and obviouslt believes this as she told her to ohone me i assume.. I believe dd. the details and things she was saying and way she was saying it. Plus I phoned friends mum and explained and asked to speak to her dd. Her dd said exactly what mine said.

What do I do now?

I assumed changingbrooms were next to sports hall as mine were in school. Shouldn't have assumed.
Didn't tell dd to take it with her as I assumed she could just get if needed. I only found out today. If it's been an issue before I assumed p.e teacher could have just said. Bring it with you next time?

If so she needs to carry it with her. Not leave it 10 minutes away.

Tbh I understand why the teacher thought it was an excuse to spend 20 minutes away from PE.
Your daughter learnt her lesson I suppose.

People really will defend teachers for anything on MN.This is entirely unacceptable and I understand people saying 'DD must take responsibility for her own medical needs' but she is a child, sometimes children forget. Asthma is deadly and not taken seriously by a lot of people, I would be livid in this situation and escalate.

I get it's annoying, teachers get children bunking off etc. but this is a serious medical condition that the teacher did not take seriously. They need training urgently as another child might not be so lucky next time.

She was letting you know that she has control over the grade your daughter gets….therefore if you complain she also has the power to lower your daughters grade….well that’s what I believe she was doing
Very hard to prove though

Some of these responses have floored me.

I’m a lifetime asthmatic, well managed now, but have had severe attacks in the past. Asthma can kill, and quickly.

DD didn’t ask to go get inhaler “just in case”, she was struggling to breathe! And has had pneumonia recently.

PE teacher shouldn’t have refused even from a liability perspective, health & safety and morality aside.

I would escalate and put in a complaint but that’s just me. DD managed her breathlessness but what if she hadn’t been able to? I can totally see why you’re so upset.

As an aside, agree DD needs to be reminded to keep it with her at all times going forward. Not to pander to school staff, but because 10 mins is a long walk when you’re struggling to breathe.

Grades are moderated both by other teachers in the school and by link schools. Someone internal and external will moderate the grades so that teacher has to evidence the grade. They cannot lower grades at will or raise them. They are held to account for grading.

I honestly doubt that they are checked that closely unless there is a actual complaint

They are checked frequently during the school year and during pupil progress meetings with the SLT. Moderation is about ensuring grading is accurate and is done from EYFS all the way up. Schools link with other schools in staff meeting time and moderate per subject. They also get moderation from external sources periodically such as in Y6 can get moderated from the LA to ensure teacher assessments are accurate. It is not based on complaints either. It is routine.

My youngest DD is asthmatic and after an incident in Yr 7 when she didn't take her inhaler from the changing rooms out onto the field for the 1500m in PE (which luckily ended fine after a friend was allowed to pop back and collect it for her), I bought her a pair of leggings with a pocket, so she can keep her inhaler in there. It's part of her PE routine now; change into PE kit, tape over earrings and put inhaler in her pocket. For the summer when they wear a skort I made a small hole in the plastic housing of the inhaler and threaded some string through it so she could wear it around her neck, under her PE top.

I would just leave it with the PE teacher now, and make sure your DD knows how important it is for her to remember her inhaler and to take responsibility for her own health.

What do you mean ‘what do you hope to achieve’?

You do realise that asthma is life-threatening? People die of asthma attacks even now, with all the modern medical interventions we have. You can’t mess around with it to teach someone a lesson.

OP will be wanting to ensure her child is not denied access to her life-saving medicine in future. This teacher sounds quite ignorant of asthma, and needs retraining sharpish.

The usual day to day niggles around pupils forgetting stuff they ought to remember is an issue of much lower priority than ensuring a pupil has medication for a serious medical condition.

OP - I would speak to the safeguarding lead at the school and outline your concerns. I would want assurances that there would be an emergency inhaler on hand or DD would be allowed to retrieve her inhaler if she forgets in future. DD also needs to have it drilled into her that she needs her inhaler with her at all times, in case she runs into others who are similarly ignorant as the PE teacher.

So why do you think this particular teacher brought it up when she was suspect that a parent was about to make a complaint about an unrelated issue?

Absolutely no idea - deflection maybe?

The parent had made a complaint. The teacher didn't suspect it was about to happen as the parent was on the phone to them making the complaint so it was in progress as they were talking!

Hmm….the teacher the OP is referring to sounds pretty dodgy in my opinion

Totally agree with sparkleghost

"Some of these responses have floored me."

Totally, what is wrong with people!

"PE teacher shouldn’t have refused even from a liability perspective, health & safety and morality aside.
I would escalate and put in a complaint but that’s just me."

I agree, complain. This is not acceptable.

Dangerous.

Yes your daughter should have had it on her, but children are forgetful. Even if she was pissing about to get out of lesson, it’s not worth the risk. If she had denied her the inhaler and something bad had happened… never worth the risk. The PE teacher is in the wrong and if I were you I’d go to the head. However I’m biased against PE teachers as mine was a sadistic fuck and I was fat so an easy target.

I had a similar situation OP, i was ropeable. I did ask for them to have further education re asthma first aid and normal first aid, as there were also some other medical incidents that were concerning. The principal was so arsey about it, and we weren't friends after that! The teacher was also spoken to but I'm sure they just reassured each other that I was 'one of those parents'. That said, they did start treating DD medically a lot better and made sure to report everything to me at the time. Probably because they didn't want me up in the office getting cross with them again.

Re the inhaler, they did not allow kids to carry any medications on them, and still didn't after this. So I got her one of those little running belt things to keep her inhaler in under her shirt, for when she didn't have pockets.

FFS this thread is just the perfect example of why teachers are leaving in their droves, kids have no resilience and massive anxiety issues. Why are you so involved in her school life?

As for this - She has said mean things to dd before denied her toilet which I had to phone for

Honestly get a f ing grip

Some people are arseholes. Sounds like a teacher feeling a need to assert authority. Not her place to second guess a medical need.

If people say stupid things on phone calls, put it in an email to 'confirm what they said'. Either they'll have to retract it in writing and say something more sensible, or you've got a written record of them being reckless which you can forward to someone who can provide better training.

Dear PE teacher,

Re Child X asthma medicines

Thank you for your call yesterday. I am emailing to follow up on a couple of the points raised.

You mentioned on the call that my daughter should have taken her inhaler with her to the sports field. She was not aware that she could do this, I have now informed her that she should bring it and [write in here where exactly it should be stored - put it in the medications tray, or whatever else the arrangements are - if you don't know what the arrangements are you need to go back to either the PE teacher or whoever formulated the asthma plan and find out. This is the most important thing.].

You said that it was not the case that you did not allow DD to fetch her inhaler. She must have misunderstood the situation as she is convinced she did ask and was not permitted. I have let her know that while she should remember to bring her inhaler, if it inadvertently gets left behind again her safety is more important and she should ask a teacher and expect to be able to fetch it. I would of course support any negative consequence you felt appropriate for forgetting.

You also said on the call that you felt DD could not be experiencing shortness of breath because she was not engaged in strenuous exercise. I would like to highlight that exercise is not the only thing that can trigger an attack, and degree of exercise is not relevant to whether an inhaler is needed. This is explained in DD's Asthma Plan which you should have on record, I have attached a copy for quick reference.

You may not be aware that DD is new to managing asthma as she has only been diagnosed following her recent pneumonia. I would ask you to please be supportive as she gets used to managing her condition, she is less experienced with this than others who may have been dealing with the condition throughout primary school.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

cc to form tutor and whoever set up the asthma plan/a pastoral person.

I think you are making some false assumptions here OP.

The classroom assistant said she could go and get it if she really needed it but she then chose not to go and get it and was fine? So did she 'need' the inhaler or did she just ask to go and get it?

I said this didn't matter and she needs her inhaler. She said she didn't SAY she needed her inhaler.

PE teacher saying DD 'didn't say she needed it' doesn't mean she is calling your daughter a liar at all, or that she is denying the exchange happened.. YOU accused the teacher of not letting her get something she needed, and she responded that she wasn't told that she 'needed' it. If your daughter, who was seemingly fine, only asked to go and get it and didn't specifically say she 'needed' it then the PE teacher is being honest about what happened.

She isn't calling her a liar, but now you have told your daughter she is being called a liar and are making a huge deal about it, even though it is most likely just a failure on your part to understand what actually happened.

It is up to your daughter to carry her inhaler with her at all times, and you to remind her to do that, you can't make a massive issue with the school about her needing immediate access to it when she asks for it, if she always chooses to leave it 10 minutes away from where she is! very mixed messages there.

I understand the asking for the toilet as another way for child to get out of the PE lesson to be fair. So if she's asked to go to the toilet and then asked to go for inhaler on separate occasions then that is a way of trying it on I reckon.

I was diagnosed asthma as a child and given an inhaler which I don't think I ever needed. It all started with a chest infection/bad case of flu/pneumonia. I have no issues now and can run marathons. Even 40 years ago things were wrongly diagnosed. An adult (the teacher in this case) can surely assess a child's needs in the moment? I mean if she is able to walk 10 minutes to changing room for inhaler then surely I don't think there is a huge need for it t9 he able to breath? That is just my assumption though

Clearly the majority posters on this thread do not understand that asthma can be deadly, quickly.

@Chickencuddle you need to raise with the head/head of year… and keep escalating until this is resolved. Your daughter should never be denied her inhaler and as a PP stated, the PE teacher needs some training on asthma.

Get tough and if the school don’t respond appropriately, go to the governors.

It’s not for the PE teacher to diagnose her pupil.

if she’s been told she needs to carry an inhaler by a medical professional then she should be given access to it.

it really is as simple as that.

Why risk being wrong?

If she’s about to die then surely she can’t walk back to the changing rooms herself to get the inhaler? She’d be safer staying with the rest of the class.

It's not about that and anyone pearl clutching knows it. It's about kids taking the piss and going home telling tales so that mummy rings up and stresses out a probably already depressed and overworked teacher over nothing.

Even if the tale is true, the TA said she could go and get the inhaler and DD declined - so what's the issue?

I note the OP has already phoned up the school to make sure her DD gets to use the toilet - maybe the PE teacher is sick to the back teeth of DD making excuses to get out of lessons?