School Bully Broke My Child's Wrist :(

[dilydaly]

Can anyone please offer advice on where I stand with this. I live in Swansea, South Wales (as I know rules can vary with area).
There's a boy in my child's class who is constantly in trouble / causing trouble with all the kids. There have been numerous incidents over the years (they are currently in year 4, age 8/9). For example, fighting with other kids, throwing chairs across the class, throwing kids lunch boxes, breaking things, defecting on the changing room floor on more than one occasion. There was an ongoing situation with another child which resulted in the other child changing schools. It's this incident with the other child that makes me worry that the school won't take this as seriously as they should.
I can't say that he's bullied my child as this would imply that there has been an ongoing issue between him and my child which isn't true, there was one incident 2 months back where he kicked her (nothing overly serious, no mark left) but on Thursday he couldn't get his own way in the school yard and was told by their class teacher he couldn't do what he wanted to do (which was to continue to annoy my daughter and her 2 friends) so he (in front of the teacher) lost his temper and shoved my daughter to the ground, with such force it broke a bone. Aside from the broken bone in her wrist, she was left with 2 large grazes down the side of her face, small grazes to her knee and a tiny graze to her wrist.
I phoned my local PCSO for some advice about taking this to the police, she consulted with her sergeant then phoned me back to say this could indeed be reported and recorded as an assault. I went straight up the school and spoke to the deputy head (head mistress wasn't there) and told her what had happened (she noted everything I said down) and I told her that something must be done to stop him. Missing a play time simply won't cut it. She told me that something will be done but they can't tell me what will be done to the bully. She also asked me to hold off reporting it to the police until Monday when I'll have a meeting with the headmistress to discuss the next step.
I suppose what I want to know is does this warrant a suspension ? The deputy head as good as told me he won't be expelled. Also, what affect will reporting this to the police have on the school ? I mean it won't be ideal to have it recorded that an assault has taken place on their premises. I just want to go to this meeting armed with as much info as possible to try and get the right outcome, because so far this child seems untouchable.

Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated,
Thanks

Your poor DD, I hope she's ok and isn't in too much pain.

I don't think the school is doing well by either child. As PP have said we don't know if there are any other agencies involved and what's going on with the bully. Defecating in a public area is a HUGE red flag for sexual abuse. If this is the case clearly the support he is being given isn't working for him and would need to be escalated- going to the police about your daughters assault would help this to happen.

Hugs for DD

First of all, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply, I really appreciate it :)
I am currently writing a letter of complaint for the headmistress which I will also send to the board of governors. I will be reporting it to the police today (I am aware that not much will come of this but A) there will be a record of this and B) I want to show the school that I plan to make a lot of noise over this).
I know they can't tell me certain things about what will happen to the boy that did this, but I don't think I'm being unreasonable (considering his record of bad behaviour) in expecting a suspension from school. This was a completely unprovoked attack on my child, simply because the boy couldn't get his own way.
The school has a history of sweeping things under the rug and I just want to make sure it doesn't happen this time.
Thanks again :)

Report it to the police, but you haven't really given them time to respond before writing a complaint about how it has been handled. If the HT wasn't there, they wouldn't have been able to make a decision about an exclusion. I think you should wait until you've met with the head on Monday before deciding what to do.

Whats the issue with the boy? Do you
Know?

The complaint needs to be in writing - she can ask what they intend to do - rather than so far -

But OP hasn't said how it was handled on the day - was she called straight away? What first aid was received - did they complete the required accident forms

For info OP unless this child moves schools - you have 2 more years of this

To add a different perspective, my son has SEN and in the past (due to ineffective 1-2-1 support) has punched, kicked, and bitten other children. He was suspended THREE times in one term, at the age of 4! I wholeheartedly supported the school and also would have welcomed any parents of the assaulted children (because it is assault, no matter the age of the perpetrator!) to ring the police in the hope of scaring the bejesus out of my son. Ring the police, definitely! And don't let the school fob you pff! Hope the boy in question has some support in place also!

Your poor Dd, have heard of so many scenarios lately where things like this have happened and leniency is given to the bully because they have a history for it.
Please report and hope your dd is ok

I don't know what the issue is with the boy, aside from the fact that he has severe behavioural problems and always has.
While I do appreciate that this child may have issues, that shouldn't mean that my child is at risk of getting broken bones when in school.
Sorry I didn't mention what happened on the day. As I said before, the teacher had told him he was to leave my daughter alone, he lost his temper and shoved her to the floor, resulting in the broken wrist, 2 big grazes down the side of her face, grazes on her knees and a small graze to her wrist. They got her up and took her in, cleaned her grazes, decided there was no broken bones and sent her back to class. They didn't phone me to tell me let alone to ask me to come and fetch her. She was sent home with a first aid slip that said she FELL (I told them what for regarding this) and that her wounds were cleaned.

dilydaly the school sound awful, bordering on negligent.

When I asked why they didn't call they said that they said that they didn't deem it necessary considering she had a graze and was moving her wrist and arm around so they didn't think there was anything broken and it was just a sprain ...

That's appalling! My DS1 was injured at school, badly enough to warrant immediate A&E treatment and a week off, and after we'd calmed down and he was back at school we had a meeting with the head, deputy and the bloody negligent support staff to ensure nothing like that happened again!

I would be fuming if anyone hurt my daughter, speak up OP, they are very much so in the wrong

Report to the police. Straight away.

Report to local education authority.

Go into your school's website and find out:

• their bullying policy
• their safeguarding policy
• use the information contained in these documents in your discussion with the head.

Also look up the safeguarding lead person in the school and the safeguarding governor. Write to both.

The problem with children with severe behavioural problems being educated in mainstream school is that they are often not properly supervised - even when they have an EHCP (used to be a "statement), insufficient money attaches to that to provide the supervision and 1:1 help that is stated as necessary.

The system stinks.

If all else fails report to OfSted. Make sure that the head knows you will do this if the situation is not properly dealt with.

Teacher here. If no one has suggested this yet, can I suggest you ring Ofsted as this is a serious safeguarding concern and recorded incident of injury, and also that you ring the Local Authority and let them know too. If the school is an academy then contact the trust/owners too. The governors should be fully involved in this and a lot of questions should be being asked.

I'm hoping on Monday you discover there is a serious plan being put into place, and the HT is able to reassure you they have it in hand. But if not, while they obviously can't discuss another child with you, you can ask if the child's risk assessment has been updated to reflect the severity of this incident and what measures are going to be put in place as a result so you can send your child to school with reasonable belief she won't be attacked again? Why isn't your child (and the other children) already being managed within planned, adapted room lay outs and strategies on how everyone comes in/ out from the playground and staff positioning themselves so that this child with obvious severe difficulties can't physically get to another child if he reaches the point of losing it? Why isn't your child (and the other children) immediately removed or sent away from his vicinity the moment he's seen to be starting to escalate?

Again, really hoping (I hope not too forlornly) that the HT has this more in hand than it looks and on Monday can give you some proper reassurance. Your poor dd.

MissHavishamsleftdaffodil thank you, can I ask would this warrant a suspension in your school ?

I honestly can't think of any school I've ever worked in where the HT wouldn't suspend for something this serious. But then I'm not aware of the specific circumstances of this child, who clearly has major problems. Not wanting to make excuses for them, but there is likely to be a whole lot happening behind the scenes for a child with needs like this, who clearly isn't doing ok with the current set up they have for him. You can only discuss your own child with them, and it needs to be about how you feel safe enough to let your child return to school.

So if the child has certain issues they can do something like this and not get suspended ? I'm asking because I don't know, not to be funny (just read it back !) thanks again x

Priority has to be the safety of the children and this child is a threat, the op's child is the victim not the boy who caused this

Read the behaviour policy that will highlight the reason they give fixed term exclusions for.

Also be aware if this lad has ongoing behaviour difficulties and the school haven't put in place the right support they could end up looking bad so they may go on the defensive.

Your email needs to be factual and unemotional - easier said than done when a child's just broken your DDs arm.

So something like

Dear HT,

I am am writing with regards the incident on x date at y time where child pushed DD over as witnessed by .

The incident occurred because child was asked to leave my ds and her friends alone and he was unhappy with this instruction.

Please explain why the first aid slip gave false information that DD fell.

Your behaviour policy states that in this situation X sanction is applied and I'd like confirmation you have followed your policy.

I'd would also like it in writing what support and intervention school are putting in place to ensure no further incident occurs.

This was not a once off occurrence of a pupil getting angry and behaving inappropriately but an escalation of previous proven behaviour.

I would also like to meet to discuss this incident further and will be bringing an independent witness to take minutes.

Regards
Cxxxxx

And of course speak to police. You'll get a crime number if nothing else which will help you.

And whatever difficulties a child has it's not ok for that to impact the safety of others.
My ds is autistic. His behaviour can make others vulnerable at times. If they can't meet his needs and keep others safe he's had short term inclusions whilst they make plans to improve the situation for everyone.

Ultimately this is what's got the la to finally fund a higher level of support for him. Because children with difficulties are entitled to the right support to access education and those who can manage with the usual teaching set up are entitled to be safeguarded too.

Definitely report to head of governors and offsted. That will make school sit up and take notice and they will have to follow procedures (
l speak as a school gov btw. I would expect to know about a serious incident )

I think my post was clear I'm not in any way suggesting this is acceptable, or that the OP's dd isn't the victim.

I know you want to see drastic action OP. I would too, as a teacher as well as a parent. This is something you need to talk about to the HT on Monday, but I can't say when I know nothing about the child's circumstances or situation what options might be open to the HT and what factors they have to take into account.

Just by way of comparison, DS was pushed (in fun, but still pushed), fell and cut his face. Within 15 mins, school had phoned to let me know. They called again later, once they'd spoken to ds, the other child, and other children nearby. They couldn't tell me the outcome for the other child, but roughly explained.

I wouldn't be at all happy with your school.

Fixed term suspension from my experience as a teacher in secondary school. Fixed term could mean one day or longer.
Expulsion only if there is "lasting damage" to the victim.

If my child had their wrist broken I would kick up an almighty stink. Too many schools do just sweep "unfortunate accidents" under the carpet. Make them spell out exactly how they are going to keep your child safe in the future!