Backpack strap cut with scissors

[IkeSmile]

Hello everyone!
Back in December I needed your advice for actions against the school who covered bullying of a migrant child. Here we are again, with the same child and his backback strap being cut with a scissor. You can see in the picture that it's a clear cut.
Question?
React and complain in writing or ignore it?
I feel is the same child or a friend of his, acting like a thug? The only people wurh access to the cloakroom are teachers and the pupils.
Thank you!

Do the school have a bullying policy? It should be on their website or you should have been given it when your son started at the school.

Find the bullying policy, take it to the school and tell them they are not following it.

If they don't do something, complain to the local authority.

Are there other children who are being bullied? Can you also talk to their parents? - You will have more sway in bigger numbers.

Hi OP,

Are you in Northern Ireland, if you have all Irish kids and staff, but still ofsted inspections? Would it be okay to ask where you yourself are from?

I haven’t read your previous post but I’d be furious if another child intentionally cut the backpack and I’d 100% complain to the school and the parents.

Nip this in the bud or bad behaviour will continue.

I agree that the strap hasn’t necessarily been cut which was why I voted YABU.

Also, there’s a word for prejudging people because of their ethnicity isn’t there…?

I think you should have said bag was cut by a sharp implement - surely that could be a knife so they need to be more worried than to dismiss -if there was then a sharp implement found there would I think be hell to pay by the school.

That’s not been cut with children’s scissors and no 8 year olds should have access to scissors sharp enough to cut webbing.
I think you need to escalate this and write to the school governors. The words to use are “ no child should be in possession of a bladed article on school premises” Emphasise your concern to safety. If they still do nothing contact Ofsted.
If you still get nowhere , as pp have said, look for another school. No child should go to school in fear.

Sounds like the school has their hands full with behavioural problems. Throwing chairs and slapping children in the face is not the usual. The teacher could well be off on stress or assault leave, hence the visiting (substitute) teacher.

You can't simply punish a child with behavioural needs and need to work on a behaviour plan and promoting the positive behaviour which from the outside can look like praising poor behaviour. Schools are very limited in this regard.

You lost your argument for a robust investigation and assurances from the school when you repeatedly implied that the Irish teachers and pupils are targeting your migrant child just down to the fact that they are Irish, like it is a given that they behave in the exact same manner worldwide. Irish people are individuals and we have good and bad like every other nationality, even your own.

Calling the teacher and school racist will not get them to assist you any more efficiently.

Are you in Ireland or the UK op?

Living up to your blonde reputation I see @BlondiePortz. Likely the OP is a foster carer or English is not their first language.

Exactly
Of course bullying should be addressed and the school can ask the child who was bullying your child if they did this but if they deny it there is not a lot the school can do unfortunately with no proof.
As for stabbing your child I doubt that will happen, damaging property is very different to stabbing someone

I’m sorry your child is being bullied but
your posts come across as xenophobic OP.

This sounds so horrible for you and your son. If you don't feel you're being listened to, you need to put it in writing and send/email it to the headteacher initially. If you still don't feel listened to then email or write to the chair of governors.

The school will not be able to tell you about the child who cut the straps of your sons backpack so it might be the school are dealing with the situation but they need to reassure you it's being appropriately handled.

You mentioned the pupils and teachers are mainly Irish. Presumably that means you are located in Ireland? Is so, oftsted obviously have no jurisdiction there as it is a UK thing.

It's hard where there's no witness. Yes school could talk to whole class and should do so. Look at their bullying policy and decide if they are following it.

To give another side, there's a kid in dd class who's always saying my dd bullies him. She had a very hard talk from me to say that is is never To go near him. If she was hurt and no one else around she never goes go near him under any circumstances. Never.

Not sure what's gone on before because its always been he said / she said. Except for when he wrote dd a note inviting her to fight after school and was caught doing so in class, but he still singles her out if he has had a bad day. She was named when police was called in for a incident at lunch. She wasn't anywhere near him. There's solid proof she wasn't. Twice he's insisted she has done something while not being present. Parents don't seem to care there's proof of her not being involved ( with a member of staff all lunch). The only witnessed proof is him bullying her.

School can blame her to placate his parents if they want to but without proof or in reality no possible chance it was her. They can't look into the real issue. I'm not saying my dd is an angel but she isn't writing to anyone for a fight yet one word with zero proof gets the police into school. Police didn't even want to talk my dd as it was impossible she was even remotely involved. But the parents and try to drag her into every single drama anyway because she called him a idiot supposedly three years ago.

They need to get the police in if there are children taking blades to school.

Can it be pinpointed to his class specifically?

Absolutely this should be taken seriously. I'd be scared to send my child to school knowing other kids had blades on them.

Unless OP is in Northern Ireland?

And? In my child's school, the white staff handle any allegations of racism VERY badly. They dismiss and deny. It's majority rule.

But a school won’t discuss any interventions they’re taking with another child - the one who’s slapping - with the OP anyway?

As others have said, OP, you MUST follow the school’s complaints procedure, which must be published on the school’s website. There is no point contacting the Chair of Governors at this point because governors will be involved if your formal complaint can’t be settled by the class teacher / headteacher.

Is this school in Ireland? Why do you keep making the point that the children, teachers and head are Irish? If it’s an Irish school isn’t that normal?
However I share your concern that a child should not be running around with something sharp enough to cut that. Surely children’s safety scissors couldn’t have done that? They also should be taking it seriously. Report it higher up. Your child should be safe at school.

Disgusting that the school won't support you better and investigate the bullying.
I was bullied in school and had my trainers stolen and set on fire by one girl, it's heartbreaking.
I am not sure what you can do but I would start documenting dates and times and creating an email chain with the school.
Unfortunately some parents of bullies might be accepting or not caring that their child is a bully.
I know a few people that moved schools becuase of bullying as the schools could not stop it, so last resort this might be the only option. Sometimes depending on the area and school, no amount of intervention can stop the bullying and the bullied child has to either move school or be home schooled.
My experience is that british schools do not effectively deal with bullying, they like to pretend it isnt happening and brush it under the carpet.
I am british btw.

You sound racist against Irish people.

If you are passing such a nasty attitude on to your child, it's no wonder they are not liked by anyone at school, because kids tend to echo what they hear at home.

Why are you desperately keen to minimise this clear escalation of bullying? 🤔
I really hope you’re not a teacher. 😳

The backpack Incident happened when the backpack was in the changing room so a child must have deliberately chosen to take the scissors or a knife into the changing room with the intention of using them. On this occasion they cut through a thick webbed strap. I sew bags for a hobby and there’s no way you could have slipped and accidentally severed the strap. It was cut with a blade!!

It’s hardly a leap to think that a child engaged in bullying a migrant child has upped the ante by using a sharp blade to cut a strap, and might use the same weapon on the child next time. Kids who stab other children didn’t just start randomly doing this in their late teen years. This sort of thuggish behaviour starts earlier and isn’t adequately dealt with at the time because teachers and parents don’t want the hassle.

@IkeSmile OP can you confirm if you’re in NI or the Republic as advice on how to escalate these matters will change depending on the country you’re living in.

True. Although do primary schools in NI have seperate maths teachers? I thought they had one teacher who teaches everything

I read Op's post as that they are in Ireland and she feels that pupils who are not originally from ireland are treated less favourably