To think the school were neglectful?

[frogshead]

Dd (8) went on a school trip yesterday in a heat wave, 40 minutes each way walking to and from a museum.

I sent dd with 2 bottles of water and she didn’t drink either of them and a hat which she didn’t wear.
She arrived home with a headache and has had diarrhoea since.

I know this was partly down to her but she is juts a child and nobody encouraged her to wear her hat or drink anything all day.
I applied sun cream before she went so at least she had that.

They weren't aware of it though. That's the whole point. They weren't aware that a child in their care wasn't wearing a hat, and they weren't aware that they hadn't had a drink on a 40-minute walk in a heatwave.

They weren't aware.

It doesn't matter if you think the child was old enough, it doesn't matter that you think they should have known better, it doesn't matter that they were 'reminded' every 5 minutes, the staff in charge of the children's wellbeing were oblivious to the fact that a child in their care wasn't doing it. That's poor.

I agree, my dc school let them out in the heat for 10 minutes at playtime then brought them inside to do crafts as it was too hot for even the TAs supervising to be stood outside. They gave the children lots of encouragement to drink water through the day and no one came home from school with heatstroke because the adults kept them safe. Classes of 8 year olds have a mix of sensible children and children who would stay out in the sun with no shade or water until they had heat exhaustion. That's why children need adults to be their pre frontal cortex and make the safety decisions.

to be talking to your daughter about why she didn't have a drink (too busy talking, looking at things, doing activities maybe?)

Just the same as the adults need talking to about why they didn't notice.

Did YOU tell her to wear her hat and drink plenty?

OP wasn't there, the adults on the trip were. They were the ones who missed it.

Why would she? She was going on a school trip with supposedly competent adults. Why would OP preemptively assume that they wouldn't keep an eye on things? That can only be known after the fact.

Says who? Where does it say that the staff weren’t aware? On the say so of an 8 year old?
As previously stated countless times …. the children would have been told to drink plenty, put their hats on and reapply sunscreen if they need to.
And again, as previously stated, were the staff supposed to line the children up at regular intervals and do an inspection of hats and physically watch each child drinking???!!!!
You’ve clearly never worked in a school!

That's a illogical thing to say. Why on earth would she keep her home when she knew adults were going to be there who were responsible for keeping her safe in a heatwave?

You could say 'you could have kept her at home' after any accident/illness/adverse event. Sure, it would have prevented the thing from happening, but then nobody would ever leave the house.

I very much doubt the permission slip said 'no one will be paying attention', please sign here...

Again, they can't force it down her. She made the choice not drink. She'll be fine, she doesn't have symptoms of dehydration or heat stroke, sounds like she has a bug. This is all a lot of drama over not very much at all.

But she said “I wouldn’t have walked 40 minutes there and back in the heat”. If she thought that was a poor decision she should have kept her at home.

How on earth could you possibly know that? Nothing the op says suggests that at all. Its more likely she was repeatedly asked and chose not to. We can't know either way.

Says who? The fact that OP's daughter didn't drink anything or wear a hat... and now is unwell.

If staff were aware of that and didn't relay that info to a parent after a 40-minute walk in a heatwave, that's a problem.

If they weren't aware of it, that's a problem.

It doesn't take much effort to clock that a kid doesn't have their hat on. It takes a little more effort, but not rocket science, to make sure you see kids drinking when you stop for a break in a heatwave.

If they were aware that a child hadn't had a drink or worn a hat in a heatwave and they didn't mention it they're also accountable.

Thanks, doctor. Glad you're here.

Once again, not 'forcing it down her' isn't the point.

She also said 'so if someone else is going to I expect them to make sure she’s safe'

That's fair enough really isn't it?

If you don't understand how teachers have SO much more to do than stare at eight year old children to check that they have followed basic instructions to "drink your water", then you should probably stop commenting.

As I said, you’ve clearly never worked in a school. It’s very obvious which posters haven’t.

Oh and @frogshead(who has seemingly disappeared - what a shocker), hasn’t come back to answer any questions.
As with countless bloody posts on this forum …. light the touch paper and watch it burn ….

I appreciate and understand she wasn’t there but surely she would have spoken to her before the trip as in ‘here’s your hat, I’ve put extra water in your bag - make sure you drink it.’

If they're too busy to make sure basic safety is occuring during a heatwave, then they're not competent.

It's not difficult - safety is paramount. Reminders alone are NOT enough to absolve responsibility if no action is taken to ensure an action is completed. Especially when dealing with children, especially in extreme situations.

Maybe she did. She still wasn't there and so couldn't have been able to make sure that was acted upon. The teachers were, they should have.

As I said, you’ve clearly never worked in a school.

You have no idea what I do. Simply because I would make it a priority to make sure all the kids were drinking, not just ineffectually reminding them?

We're talking about a walk to a museum.
A little over half an hour.
With abundant access to water.
In the UK.

It's not a four hour trek across the savannah. There is absolutely no need for dramatic language " safety is paramount"
" absolve responsibility" " extreme situations '

Think it’s on your child tbh rather than the school.
5/6yo on the trip I was on recently all knew to drink when they required to (and they did!) and a reminder during lunch of which they were all doing so anyway.
of course, bring it up with them and ask what they did to encourage the children? My guess.. they said it a few times as encouragement but children can’t be forced to do so

My child has a half hour walk to school. No I don't keep him at home when it's hot. He's older than your daughter, but really she's 8 old enough to put a hat on and drink when she needs it!

Well yes it is useful to have someone with medical knowledge comment on symptoms.