Horrified by Section 47 Advice Needed

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My son has recently started in reception. Last week I had a call out of the blue from Social Services to say there was a section 47 incident at school and they needed to speak to me immediately. The information I was given is that my son was apparently touched over his shorts near his penis by another child. This was reported to the teacher by another 4yr old child, no teacher witnessed this incident.

I've been told by the head teacher that something did happen to the child that reported the incident and whilst telling the teacher what happend he just said 'oh it also happened to X (my child) who was playing with me at the time'. My son and this other child have been inseparable from day one.

When I met with the head teacher they agreed my son was most likely an innocent bystander in all of this but as his name was bought up they had to include him in the report. The school have spoken to him as have social services and he has no recollection of any event like this happening.

As a result of this two social workers turned up at my door unannounced, I was interviewed as were my other two children who happened to have an inset day. They have said they are going to do back ground checks on us to make sure our child is safe. Worst of all SS are going to contact the school that my other two children attend to check their safety which I am horrified about it. They have only been at their new school 6 weeks and apparently no context is given about the incident when SS send over the questionnaire to be filled out. I can't imagine how badly this reflects on us as a family when we have done absolutely nothing wrong.
I feel sick to my stomach that we are being treated as the guilty party for potentially not keeping all our children safe over an incident that happend at school and which our son was apparently the victim of. This surely can't be right. Even the headteacher was shocked that it had been escalated to this point.
I have no previous experience of social services or child protection services but I would really like to get some advice because this seems to be a completely OTT route to go down and it is ruining my life, I haven't slept, I'm not eating, I've cried myself to sleep with worry even though I know we have done nothing wrong. I'm just at my wits end.

Please don't worry. Proactively contact your other DC's school and tell them that they will be receiving contact from SS because there was an incident between children at school which is being investigated and your youngest child was present.

There isn't anything you're worried about at home, I presume, so the school is going to have very little to say.

This is good advice, also perhaps request the schools designated safeguarding lead contact the DSL for your other DC’s school giving context, as it will be better coming from them.

Exactly this

the schools have received this questionnaire before and they will many times going forward in regards to all different children.

its probably been escalated because your child is 4 and may not have the vocabulary to say what’s happened.

as upsetting as it is do not lose anymore sleep over this and get something to eat. You have done nothing wrong and nothing will come of it.

my nephew who was 8 at the time got a massive bump on his head in rugby and went to school and then social services got involved and there was some back and forth and checks made at the home and once all the boxes were checked the case was closed.

please stop worrying

This sounds like a massive overreaction from social services to a minor incident at school between children. I’d be contacting them and politely questioning the reason for looking into your home and other children. I don’t see anything here that would raise concerns about your family. I would also be asking the school why you weren’t informed at the time about what had happened.

Thank you for your very kind and rational advice, it's so hard to know what I'm 'allowed' to do. I had also thought about contacting my other children's school to let them know the reason they were being contacted but I wasn't sure if this was against the rules and obviously at this point in time I don't want anything to work against me. I'm ridiculously questioning my every move!

What makes it also so awkward is that the DSL at my children's new school is the mother of my daughter's new best friend - what a way to make an impression. I keep thinking she'll never allow her daughter over for a playdate because we have been investigated by SS!

Thank you, the lack of sleep is making the stress worse so it feels like a vicious cycle. The headteacher also said the schools are used to receiving these types of questionnaires (which actually filled me with horror that it was so normal!).

I think if my child had been injured outside of school or turned up to school with bruises etc I would be much more understanding of the process but the fact that it happened at school and he is the 'victim' I just can't rationalise how they are dealing with it.

For it to have been escalated to this extent makes me think that there is a lot more going on with the other children that were involved and maybe they already have an open investigation with SS but that is something I'll never know!

Thank you for your response I really do appreciate people taking the time to reply - this whole episode has made me become a first time poster on MN!

These are my thoughts exactly. I was horrified that I was only notified of the incident 24hrs after it had happend and by that time SS had been into school and observed my child and interviewed him with my prior knowledge or consent. The headteacher was apparently advised by SS to not tell us.

The only explanation I can think of is that there must be A LOT more going on behind the scenes with SS and the other children that were involved which is why it has been escalated to this extent.

I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place of wanting to make an official complaint to SS as to how this has been handled but not wanting to look like I'm being difficult and blocking their process and therefore not putting my child's safety first, it's just an absurd situation to be in!

I think you can and should complain. You can make it clear that you are willing to cooperate and have nothing to hide at the same time. They just need to explain to you, why they are concerned for your child, as from what you have been told that is not at all clear.

Thank you, I think I'm going to do exactly this.

Obviously my post above should have said 'without' my prior knowledge and consent... Too tired today!

SS in the uk are officially batshit. They’re heading towards norway/denmark levels of batshit. I hope when the birth rate has totally collapsed and everyone is too scared of falling foul of SS for not parenting perfectly or for not joyously welcoming their invasion of privacy in the name of “child protection” (that somehow still does nothing for the actual children who need saving), that someone looks back on this sort of thing and actually realises that western society did this to itself. It’s a complete witch hunt and they seem to target good families because it’s easier than dealing with the problem ones. Then they gaslight you into thinking you’re overreacting/imagining it/that you must be a bad parent because of course they are “far too stretched” to do this (but this sort of shit is literally why they don’t have time for proper help). The new law that came in in march just gave them carte blanche and I predict many more situations like this before anyone even believes how bad it’s got for innocent parents. Innocent until proven guilty doesn’t apply to SS investigations in the uk.

Social services are not your friends. Document absolutely everything and always get the names of anyone you deal with

I wouldn't worry too much if you've nothing to hide. It sounds like a very one off incident and social services will get that, but schools have to be very careful of anything of a sexual nature. I also wonder whether one of the other kids involved might already be subject to an SS order.

What's the new law and what does it change?

My mum always threatened us with social services taking us away if we didn't do as we were told and, though I know that was wrong and my response is irrational, I still really fear them now I have my own child.

Right? I'd definitely be worrying about every little thing they might find/ hear because this is such an overreaction, who knows what else they might think is worth more investigation.

There is no new law. Nothing has happened that gives Social Services carte blanche.

My reaction to the OP is that it is good to see Social Services doing their job. This is not a massive overreaction as some on this thread suggest. This is exactly what they should be doing.

I genuinely don't see why the siblings need checking. If my child were hit by a bully, I wouldn't expect my other kids to need investigating. The issue is with the instigator, not the victim.

Absolute nonsense.

A Section 47 enquiry isn’t some random witch hunt, it’s a legal duty under the Children Act 1989. It only happens when there’s reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm. None of this is based on a social worker’s mood or opinion, it’s triggered by information that meets a statutory threshold and is agreed through multi-agency discussion between CSC, health, education, and the police. The school will have raised the concern with CSC as part of their safeguarding duty, and they’ll know far more about the context than anyone commenting here.

It’s actually comments like yours that fuel the mistrust between professionals and families, when in reality most enquiries are routine checks to make sure children are safe and supported.

It appears that the school isn't entirely sure if OP's child was an innocent bystander. The child who reported the incident hasn't exactly been clear, which is not surprising given that we are dealing with a 4-year-old. SS therefore have to consider the possibility that OP's child is being abused, so they need to talk to the entire family to see if there is any evidence of abuse. There won't be, so OP has nothing to worry about.

Hi guys first time mum to a 6 month old baby. Today I needed to call police as my partner told me to leave before there was trouble at around 4am I did so for the sake of arguments and the baby. After 1 hour of sitting in the car I retuned but he had locked the door I had no key - he told me through the window to go away I did again for about 30 mins and knocked again and he told me he was keeping the baby . Naturally I panicked and called the police . He had been drinking and my concern was that this may have impaired his caring for her . The police went in and said the baby was fine they had no concerns i told the police that he has previously locked me in the house and taken my phone - the police then said this was concerning and gave me the baby .

Now iv been served a section 47 I’m terrified of what will happen what does this mean social services are trying to sugar coat it and basically acting as my friend . Iv been told she could be out on an order or it could go no further action . What is the likely hood of anything ?
There’s been one other police incident but that was squished while I was pregnant social services called me and it was closed they are saying they need to bring that up can they do that ?
the baby is very well cared for and is hitting all milestones never missed any medical appointments or health Visotr appointments.

iv been with the father for 15 years and like to ad that he had custody of his children since they were 2 months old . I told the police that he is a good dad and I don’t think she was in danger and I think acted irrationally.

I feel as though it’s been blown out of proportion and I probably shouldn’t have called them but I panicked .