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 do here in New Zealand. Our children have to wear them when outside for about 6 months of the year.

I lived in NZ for about 18 months as an adult and I was constantly told by friends, acquaintances and total strangers to wear a hat! I hate wearing hats in the summer, they make my head overheat and make me more sweaty and uncomfortable. Plus you can't easily tie your hair up in a hat and I have to have it off my neck to be comfortable. The insane hat-related peer pressure I was subjected to in NZ is non existent in the UK except in those under 10.

I don't like them either and just prefer to stay out of the sun. Sometimes I will even use an umbrella. I also find they blow off at the beach. You can get the ones that have an opening at the back for a ponytail.

If you wouldnt have allowed it - then why did you let her go?

" Hey teacher,
Just checked the weather forecast and it will be too hot for Jane to walk. She also doesnt wear her hat or drink much.
Can she come in and spend the day at school today instead?
Kind regards,
Jane's Mum"

So she walked 40 minutes each way and then was inside a museum for the rest of the day, which is probably airconditioned.
Have you asked her why she didnt put her hat on whilst she was walking? You would have one but, the teachers would have loads to look after!! Was she wearing her hat when you dropped her off? Where did she put it?

Wake up people!!! The OP lit the touch paper and now she’s watching it burn!
These posts fuck me right off.

This isn't reflecting badly on the school its reflecting badly on you op. Have you not taught your child to listen to instruction from teachers and to understand self care? This is on your parenting op and you are more to blame than the school. Perhaps use this as a learning curve that you need to work on your child's listening skills.

YABU. Maybe next time you could be the parent volunteer.

I’m a little surprised by the responses here as a teacher myself. I would expect that it should have been put into the risk assessment by the school that there could be issues with such a long walk in hot weather. I would not expect 8 year olds to be entirely sensible in drinking water/wearing a hat- I teach teenagers that still have issues with their own self-care and awareness over such things! My own DS 10 is also terrible at knowing when to drink water/ wearing a hat and some days will not drink when he should (he is being assessed for being ND) and I lecture him til the cows come home but he just doesn’t always recognise thirst or other needs until too late. I’m sure she will not have been the only child on this trip to have not drunk enough or not ended up with some form of heat stroke.

Jesus wept.

My 3 year old spent the day outside yesterday. I applied suncream (which she rubbed in) and she drank PLENTY with very little prompts from me. Oh and she didn't take her hat off all day as she knows we needs hats outside when its sunny.

I think you need to hope your DC has discovered a valuable life skill here. How on earth do you think a teacher is going to police water intake for a whole class 🤣🤣

How on earth do you think a teacher is going to police water intake for a whole class 🤣🤣

It's pretty simple, actually. It isn't the arduous, impossible task people are trying to make out.

It also wouldn't have been just her looking after a whole class, as much as this thread would like to think. Casting your eye over 6-10 kids in your group isn't rocket science. Neither is noticing a child isn't wearing their hat.

Once again @Hopoitygp, do you work in a school? Do you frequently help on school trips?

I imagine it would have been in a risk assessment.
As @frogsheadlit the touch paper and stood back to watch it burn, I imagine this whole scenario is an absolute crock of shit.

Go on then

Explain it

If you felt that way, I think the best thing would've been to keep her home, if not possible then go to school and say you withdraw permissions for her to be on the trip, they always have someone stay back or there'd be another class she could have joined. I agree with you, it shouldn't have gone ahead if it was literally an 80 minute walk in over 30 degree heat - but often schools can't easily cancel things and some children are more resilient than others. Our sports day happened in 30 degree heat, luckily we were watching so I wandered over and grabbed my kids extra ice cold water and brought one of them over to sit with us to be fanned at one point. If you don't want them doing something at school, you have the right to say so.

So how would you do it? Marks on their water bottles perhaps? You would have to ban opaque bottles first. And get permission for the marks from every parent. You would have to use permanent marker or tape otherwise it would rub off.

Or you could use a ruler? Again, a ban on bottles that you can’t see through. Then measure the water in all thirty bottles once an hour. Everyone has to wait until the non drinkers have drunk to the required depth. Bottles are refilled by the teacher three times per trip. Absolutely easy peasy. The five children who ‘only drink Vimto’ can have that strapped to their backs.

Tie their hats on with string. Anyone seen without their hat on is pushed under a bus Squid Game style. No second chance?

What time did they start the walk? First thing in the morning it's cool so should be an issue for otherwise healthy children.

It's on your daughter to drink when she is thirsty. At 8 I would expect her to know hot=drink water.

I do feel for teachers these days. They don't get paid enough for all this crap.

A young teacher I know was bombarded with aggressive messages on a school residential, demanding photos of their kids. Wanting to know if they were ok, appalled at the lack of contact/photos.

These were 11 year old kids who are off to secondary school in a few short weeks. When mine were that age, no news was good news. You'd soon hear if there were any problems. Crazy times.

Which bit are you struggling with?

Using your eyes to see whether children are or are not wearing hats?

Or, again, using your eyes and paying attention to make sure a small group of children are each actually taking on water at each rest break?

Would it ruin your triumphant gotcha to know that I do?

(And I've been a brown owl for 13 years... and co run a summer camp. In the summer - you know, when it's hot (usually))

Why do you ask?

Is this what you think needs to happen? I'd just use my eyes and pay a bit of attention, but whatever works for you.

Whichever way you choose doesn't really matter, as long as it gets done and not overlooked because 'reminding' is the sole tool.

As a teacher stuff like this gives me the rage. Do people not realise how difficult it is to organise these trips? You're lucky the school even has school trips currently.

Teachers are far more concerned about not losing anyone when they have 30 of them. One year I had a class of 36.
They're not going to be concerned about getting 8 year olds to drink their water.

OP get a grip.

Needless to say I'm no longer teaching because of bullshit like this.

They're not going to be concerned about getting 8 year olds to drink their water.

In a heatwave? It's pretty minimal standard of care.

Perhaps it's best you left.

Wow, you're rude.

Have you ever been a teacher? Ever taken kids on a school trip?

Of course if they get a minute they'll maybe remind the class to drink but they're not actually going to check each individual child.

They're 8, they're old enough.

Ah, just seen all your other posts. I'll move on with my day.

Why do I ask?
Because you come across as not having a bloody clue how school trips generally work!