Attacked at school no help

[Nicolasaa9]

Hello,

I’m looking for advice and would appreciate responses that are helpful :-). I’d like to keep the details brief for privacy. Two weeks ago my 16year old daughter was attacked by another student at school, resulting in an eye injury that required a visit to A&E. She is now also experiencing neck and back pain and her visions been blurry. We have all relevant medical reports for this.

The school’s response has been completely inadequate and they are downplaying the incident. The outcome they provided does not address the seriousness of the situation, and it feels like proper safeguarding measures are not being followed.

Has anyone had experience taking legal action against a school in a situation like this? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Have you reported the assault to the police?

Yes sorry I should have said, the police were disgusted at the incident and spoke to the girl who did it and said that if it happens again she would be arrested. They agreed that the way the school handled it was poor. And that was kinda where it was left at

Your daughter has a few weeks left at this school at the very most, if she is 16. I would focus on making sure her placement for September is an excellent one, and that she will be safe at school over the exam period. Speak to the Head of Year.

As an aside, you won’t hear about consequences for the other child, that will have been handled by the school with parents.

What outcome would you like to achieve?

The school called you following the attack and you collected her?

You want to take legal action against the school…. For what exactly?

What would you be suing them for? You need to figure that out. Is it negligence? Or lack of supervision?

resulting in an eye injury that required a visit to A&E. She is now also experiencing neck and back pain and her visions been blurry. We have all relevant medical reports for this.

and yet the police didn’t think sufficient grounds to take any action?

What sort of legal action are you thinking of? Obviously civil, but suing them for money? What would it be for, their negligence?

you need to have a valid legal point, not just say you’re taking legal action because you think the school will find it scary .

if you have a legal point you’d need to consider the very considerable expensive of legal action as to whether it’s realistic/ beneficial

The police were placating you. If they thought it was serious they would’ve taken further action

Before jumping to legal action - although it's unclear what kind and for what outcome - you need to look up the school's complaint procedure. If you're not happy so far you raise a formal complaint which they'll be required to investigate. If still not happy you raise a complaint to the governors. I'm a school governor and have sat on stage 3 parent complaint panels and the focus is very much on the governance and process - did the school follow their procedures and if so, are those procedures for for purpose.

Has the school followed its own behaviour and safeguarding policies? What has been put in place to support your daughter and to safeguard her?

If the school hasn't followed its own procedures, the first thing to do is to make a formal complaint about that. If you're unhappy about the Police response being little more than an informal chat, you will need to take that up with them.

Try the LADO at your local authority. Why has school taken no further action?

You need to follow the schools complaint procedure.

That said with that sort of injury why hasn’t the police taken it seriously and why haven’t you pushed it further?

The girl is a know bully she’s attacked others and caused harm to others etc etc and now she’s hurt my daughter. Damaged her eye and hurt her back in several places. Where’s the safeguarding?

LADO is for safeguarding allegations made against professionals who work with children. They can't get involved here.

You need to take the emotion out of it and look at it in terms of actual legal steps here.

Find the schools behaviour & safeguarding policy- have they followed that yes/no, if no, complain- formally.

If yes, but you believe the policy is not fit for purpose, complain- formally, written, not a chat with a teacher.

Police wise though if this girl has genuinely deliberately attacked and caused harm that requires hospital/treatment, a chat is a joke.

Why hasn’t the girl been charged with a crime? That’s for the police, not school.

If you think your DC is at risk of further physical harm would focus on seeking to address that, via the complaints process.

Otherwise would leave it.

Seek legal advice from a solicitor. Your daughter has suffered physical and mental harm and you should be claiming compensation for her.

Isn’t this a police matter not a school matter ?

OP, your daughter’s vision could be permanently and irreversibly damaged as a result of the assault and I would be up in arms if this happened to either of my children. Don’t let the school brush this under the carpet.

You may have grounds for a civil claim against the school for breach of duty and care. E.g. if the other student has a known history of violence that the school ignored or there was inadequate supervision.

Even if the police don't prosecute, you can apply to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. This is a government funded scheme for victims of violent crime. You usually need a police crime reference number to apply, but a lack of prosecution doesn't necessarily bar you from a claim.

And if you feel the police haven't properly investigated, you have the Victim’s Right to Review. This allows you to request a formal review of the decision not to take further action. You can also make a formal complaint to the duty sergeant at the station involved.

Make a Subject Access Request. You have a legal right to request all educational records and any incident reports or CCTV footage regarding your daughter. The school must provide this within 15 school days (for records) or 30 days (for SARs).

Also keep a log of medical evidence. Make sure every GP and A&E visit is documented, specifically linking the neck/back pain and blurry vision to the date of the assault.

People can’t advise as you haven’t been clear on what they’ve done and what you want.

I always wonder what people think schools are meant to do in these situations. They don't have the staff (or funding for the staff) to constantly supervise 16 year olds, nor are they even permitted to eg in the toilets. It's almost impossible to permanently exclude children.
They can give detention? Maybe suspend for a couple of days? That's it. If you want more than that, then that's what the police are for.
Of course everyone should be safe at school but as long as schools are unable to permanently exclude violent pupils until they have had x number of chances, then there is nothing they can do.

Really? I’m in Scotland and the majority of school pupils stay in school until they are 17/18. She could still have another two years?

What outcome have you had and what outcome do you want ?
You need a risk assessment in place for your child to ensure your child is kept away from the child who assaulted her. Your child needs a key contact point of staff and a safe place if she feels she needs it in the day. All staff need to be made aware of your child and the other child, so that they can be proactive and vigilant in ensuring your child's safety. If you haven't got this, you need to meet with the member of staff in charge of behaviour . Not a HOY - assistant head or deputy head.
The other child should have had a sanction but it isn't usual that you would be told what that was. I would expect it to be a long suspension- 10 days if it was as severe as you say- and loss of social time when in school for a period of time.
I would be questioning why the police havent charged the other child if the assault was so severe.