Unprovoked attack at preschool

[user14809873]

My 4 year old was in the accident book at pre school today (nothing new as she often trips & walks into things) but today was due to another child attacking her. She was playing quietly & he launched himself at her scratching her face. They've told me it was unprovoked. It's broken the skin in several places & she has marks on both sides! In the shock, I didn't ask what happened to the other child. I just said ok & took her home! He's done this to other children & staff, kicking, biting, scratching, hitting. There is clearly an issue with him which I'm aware isn't my business & I'm all for inclusion but not at the risk of my child being injured! It took two people to drag him off her & she's terrified of going in tomorrow! Im going to speak to them about what happened. What should I expect them to do? I know they can't tell me anything about him/his issues but surely he should have 1:1 or be in another setting if he is this violent? She says the other children are scared of him & don't want to be his friend as he's mean!

Oh wow. I'm so sorry for your poor child. You can't go in demanding to know what they are doing about this other child. BUT you absolutely should go in and ask how they plan to safeguard (use that word) her in future.
I would be tempted to not take her in tomorrow until you have had a meeting with management. You don't have to tell her why she's having a day off!

We've had similar incidents.

Our 5 year old dd was kicked in the head while she sat on the carpet.

Our 6 year old ds was stabbed in the cheek with a sharpened pencil while he was working.

Both times teachers explained that the children who attacked mine had additional needs and they were sorry but they didn't have eyes in the backs of their heads so that was that.

When I said that they had a duty to keep my children safe, they said that I should complain to the head if I wasn't happy. I did complain and was told that I had to appreciate that her hands were tied and the children needed one to one but there was no funding.

All of the children were being failed.

I gave up in the end and I now home educate.

Thanks, she isn't keen to go in tomorrow & has asked I go with her (parents can do stay & play) so will see how it goes in the morning although my concern would be that they think I'm only going in because of the incident! I'm inclined to keep her off but worry that keeping her away will make her more nervous! I'm going to raise the safeguarding issue, there clearly is a problem & I'm always conscious of being an overprotective parent (which usually results in me being the opposite) but this has resulted in an actual injury, broken the skin/drawn blood & who knows what could happen next time! I'd assume there is a risk assessment in place due to this child's needs & whilst I don't need to see it, I would like to know it exists as that should be part of them safeguarding my child (& others).

Yes you should definitely raise concerns with them. I work in a nursery and at that age, it's common for children to hit, push or even bite others as they learn boundaries and acceptable behaviour but scratches like that would indicate possible behavioural issues or SEN to me and I would be worried about my child too. The funding in early years is disgraceful at the moment, we have some children where I work who we feel need 1:1 support and they get nothing! In the case of children posing a potential risk to themselves or others, however, if we can't get additional funding we will only allow them to attend at certain times to ensure we can meet the needs of all children. Obviously they can't discuss another child with you but they should be able to tell you how they are going to minimise such incidents in the future. Hope you and your LO are ok.

Not nice to hear your child's been hurt but from a nursery perspective, we had similar and it was clear the child doing the hurting had some further issues and we ended up applying for Element 3 funding (I believe available to all areas) and within 3 weeks we got that child a 1-2-1 staff member, the funding paid for it specifically, so whilst I know the nursery can't tell you specifics, if funding is mentioned then feel free to put that out there

It took two people to drag him off her

Are we talking about another 4 year old? Unless that child is kept well away from mine, I would tell the school that I am removing my child immediately and expect a refund of the remaining days of this month and my deposit back.

Even if your child starts school in September, I might look at other pre-schools in the unlikely case they have space.

I have seen my kids coming back with various bruises and scratches, which is completely ok, and very annoyed about another child snatching a toy but being attacked that way is unacceptable. It's will be your problem if your kid become a school refuser because of such incidents, a 4 year old should not be scared to go to school.