Child burnt at a forest preschool

[Sugarbaby1]

Hey! Can anyone help? My 3 year old son attended a forest school preschool last week ( for the first time as it was a holiday club) and ended up burning his hand roasting marshmallows in their care. I ended up having to take him to A&E (for the first time since having him) to have the burn treated. How would you go about this as a parent? Because they have said they take risks at a forest school but I am just shocked as to how this could have happened? Advice please! X

This was my thought entirely.

My DS had an accident in a normal nursery and was hurt. Accidents happen, despite precautions.. And if you send your child to forest school you are accepting slightly more risk due to the activities they are doing. In exchange for the additional experiences and skills your child will have/learn.

We need to stop thinking as a society that we can manage all risk out of everything. And nor should we want to. Plenty of learning and experiences gone out of raising some calculated or managed risk.

i do hope your DS gets better quickly.

I am a director of our nursery and when in the uk we went to forest school. They still have to ensure the children are safe, and this incident is negligence. I know in Australia we would be required to report it to the department and commission within 24 hours and for something like this I think it would be referred onto the police to decide if they need ot investigate. Read this- nowhere does it say we will get the children to hold sticks with marshmallows in the fire www.nurseryworld.co.uk/content/features/enabling-environments-forest-schools-part-5-on-fire/

following on from my previous comment, toasting marshmallows is a 1:1 adult children ratio and the adult may not leave the fire. Here is a good description, the staff member in the ops case has breached the policy. thespinneydaynursery.co.uk/toasting-marshmallows-forest-school/

The forest school was definitely negligent. A three year old should NEVER, EVER be left alone near an open fire. Why on earth do you think fire guards were invented? When I read @Sugarbaby1's update, my blood ran cold. He could have easily fallen into the fire. As it is, his hand has been badly burnt. Poor little boy. Activities that carry high risks should always be very closely supervised, especially with such small children.

@RigIt, of course we know that accidents can and do happen anywhere but there is a huge difference between a child falling over and grazing a knee or banging his/her head and being left unsupervised next to a bonfire. A painful, burnt hand is bad enough, but this little boy could easily have fallen into the fire and been killed. It doesn't bear thinking about but something must be done to ensure that no other small child is left by themselves next to an open fire because a tragedy is all too likely to happen.

@Sugarbaby1, I really hope your little boy is soon better.

Accidents do happen and you do have to accept a greater risk with things like forest school but there ought to be an adult at the fire at all times, no matter what else is happening elsewhere. And toasting marshmallows is really not appropriate for 3 year olds, choking hazard and they get incredibly hot. I would be asking who approved the activity and why did they choose marshmallows considering they're not recommended for under 5s.

I hope your DS heals quickly. Burns are so painful 😞 don't let this put you off forest schools though, properly run ones are wonderful for children

Yes exactly! The idea that a forest school nursery would be running a pre-school holiday club for 3 year olds they weren’t familiar with is really bizarre.

Forest School leader here. These are what you need from the organiser: copies of the leaders' qualifications, a copy of their public liability insurance, copies of first aid certificates, the risk assessment and a copy of the entry in the organiser's accident book.
Also, did you sign a waiver? Please read the small print carefully.
FWIW I don't do marshmallows in any group with under eights in it and even then, only once I've got a handle on the participants' capabilities.

Don't be daft

It is not daft. In fact, the child himself can sue at age 18 if the injury restricts his life. Eg, if his chosen career is not possible. I hope this burn will heal fully and leave him with no lasting effects, but the possibility is there and there is a legal remedy.

Many Forest Schools exist wholly outside pre-school school settings. Although I primarily teach bushcraft these days, I used to run under fives sessions and home education sessions in a Forestry Commission woodland. I assist at holiday/ inset day Forest School regularly; it is situated in a woodland within council owned parkland. We get new children all the time.
It isn't at all exceptional. Take a look on Bookwhen or Eventbrite.
In this case I'd like to know if the people leading were qualified and whether they had adequate ratios of leaders to children. Something like this should never happen.

No idea who thinks 3yo’s roasting marshmallows is a good idea, because it is not. It’s not something they are up to without risk. So, that’s a fail.

I ended up having to take him to A&E (for the first time since having him)

This tickled me though. Just letting us know you have a parenting blue ribbon as you have never needed A&E (said from someone who worked there for several decades) 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Why do you think they’d tell you?!

I was going to suggest that supervision was the problem here before your update. But for them to say they left your 3 year old unsupervised with fire is absolutely shocking. They do need reporting for this. What the hell were they thinking?!

It would most likely affect their OFSTED rating, and as they have received the top rating for the last few assessments I’m assuming they haven’t had burn incidents, or repeated incidents at the very least.

The waiver is irrelevant, you can't contract out of statute law.

We often have campfires with our 7-10 year old brownies, there is no way, I would do them with a 3 year old

As previous posters have said: Marshmallows are a no no at that age. They're a choking hazard. They also get skin burningly hot and they're sticky, so if a child cooks one and sticks it straight in their mouth they'll get burnt.

Forest School teacher here - the setting should have an insurance policy which states the adult to child ratio for activities such as fire. For all nurseries I have been at, it is 1 adult to 4 children. During fire time there should be a clear, visible boundary the child must stay behind at all times unless called in by the fire lead adult. When at the fire, the fire lead should be demonstrating to the child how to sit safely to ensure they are not as risk of falling in to the fire and they must be supervised at all times. It doesn't matter if King Kong rocks up - the fire lead must not leave the fire. If there is an emergency then the child should be sent out of the circle and water should be on hand to douse the flames immediately.
It seems every basic bit of training has been thrown out of the window. The new Early Years Curriculum has also made it clear that marshmallows is a great big no. I would definitely report it to Ofsted as it sounds like your little one got off lightly.

Ouch bless your son. That looks sore

3 is too young to be holding hot melting substances and tbh in shocked the setting thinks this is safe

I would report to ofsted and went to see their risk assements of fire /cooking

was he holding the stick

did he grab it

how exactly odd this burn /blister happen

I've previously raised concerns with a forest preschool near me about their fire safety protocol (e.g. area around the fire is clearly marked, fire glove is worn by adult/child at fire, children and adults take the ‘respect’ position when approaching the fire, 1:1 adult support for children aged 2 - 3 years) because from photos posted on the preschool's Instagram of young children toasting marshmallows around a fire, it was clear the safety procedures weren't being followed. They also run summer holiday camps for 3-8 year olds - do DM me if your post relates to a South London setting...