School interogated son and took pictures of him

[startstop]

need guidance please . My son, who is 5 years old, has informed me that he made a statement about me to his teachers, which resulted in them questioning him, removing his top, taking photographs, and causing him to cry. He alleges that the Deputy teacher, teaching assistant, and another person were all involved in this incident. Despite the teachers' denial of the entire situation, the level of detail he has provided indicates that something did indeed occur. The school has denied the incident and replied by stating that my son is confused. This situation is deeply troubling, and while I acknowledge that these are only allegations, I believe that their CCTV footage could verify whether the incident transpired. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I intend to contact the school and request evidence to confirm that he was not removed from class on the day of the incidenet.

[wead]

it sounds like they were looking for evidence of physical abuse.

I would go to the police. They undressed your child and took photos of him, thats pretty concerning.

[VenetiaHallisWellPosh]

This is a safeguarding failure.

I'd ring HT in first instance (like you are) and demand why you or a trusted adult were not there when they undressed him. Also, ring 101 for the police, because this needs to be properly investigated. The school will try and downplay things, but the facts need to be established.

[VenetiaHallisWellPosh]

@VenetiaHallisWellPosh

This is a safeguarding failure.

I'd ring HT in first instance (like you are) and demand why you or a trusted adult were not there when they undressed him. Also, ring 101 for the police, because this needs to be properly investigated. The school will try and downplay things, but the facts need to be established.

I apologise, I thought he was alleging something against the teachers, not his mum.

[ThisIsMyRubbishUsername]

I worked in a school previously and I’m certain that they are not allowed to do this. If there was anything significant that he showed them they would have had to call social services rather than photograph it etc themselves. This situation sounds absurd, given your child is so young it’s not something that could be made up though. Had you hurt him? (Even accidently).

[Justyouwaitandseeagain]

I would start by writing up a full report of the incident and sending to school asking for a full explanation of what actually went on so you can compare to the account provided by your child. Ask specific questions - was any of his clothing removed, were any photos taken (and if so where have these been stored or what has been done with them). I would write to the Head and nominated safeguarding lead if there is someone else in this role in school. Given school are denying anything happened I would also capture their counter explanations / denials in writing and say that you remain concerned about the incident. Send on to the Chair of governors or safeguarding lead and ask that your concerns are investigated. It you need extra support do you have an independent schools family support service who could raise concerns and push for an answer on your behalf. I would consider putting in a SAR (Subject Access Request) meaning school have to supply all info held on your son. They should have recorded a full account of the incident and very concerning if they haven't.

obviously we don't know the background of what initially might have raised their concerns. If you have any contact with your health visitor or social care, then I would flag proactively But presume you don't. NSPCC Should be able to give good advice about how to follow up with the school and any other relevant bodies.

[startingagain202]

It sounds extremely odd.
I can't think why any teachers/school would do this - it definitely wouldn't something I've ever heard of happening these days.
If they suspected your child was being physically abused/neglected this wouldn't be the way to establishing that, they would contact/share their concerns with other parties.

Does your son have any idea why they did this to him?
It sounds made up to be honest, but you know your son and hopefully you can find out what happened and why.

[startstop]

Just to confirm I had not hurt my child – not even accidently. Each time I ask him questions about the incident he keeps crying and asks me not to talk about it. I don’t want to keep putting pressure on him.
Thank you all for your advice –
I don’t know if the police will entertain me , shall I call them?
i will be taking some legal advice
i know something has happend - i can feel it
Also, the incident is not made up – fortunately I have some (sound) evidence to suggest otherwise, also had another two people that work at the school confirm that something happened. But i dont want to drag others in at this point

[Beeinalily]

Did you find out what was going, OP?

[startstop]

yes! I have had to do my investigation and know that something happened.
I found the details of the incident a little disturbing, so I won’t share them here. If those details are correct someone can get in a lot of trouble.
 If I’m honest, I’m still thinking of whether to escalate this matter or not - do I go with my heart or my head?
Whatever move I decide to take will have a direct/ indirect impact on my son. Also, I know that the consequences for the teachers could be major if I escalated the matter. I must be 100% sure about my next move.
One thing I know is that - there is never any smoke without fire.

[IAteAllTheCake]

You need to report to your local authority designated officer (look up the LADO for your area).

They are responsible for investigating when there are concerns about a professional or volunteer who works with children.

They will be able to check if there is a history of professionals behaving in a way that could cause harm to a child.

They will be able to recommend any additional safeguarding training if needed.

[HoppingPavlova]

I don’t think someone at school can undress your child! They would have to call someone relevant at social services to do that surely, and it would be done in the correct manner?

I had one child that is a little odd and often had preliminary safeguarding investigations from their school - obviously determined as unfounded. Think stuff like child claiming we watched porn with them (child not understanding what porn actually was), when on investigation it was that child watched Pawn Wars with us, about people taking items of potentially historical and monetary value to pawn shops associated with the program. We were always called by the school though with the verbiage “Here’s a funny thing ….. child made a claim …. incident raised …. safeguarding investigation undertaken with your child, proven to be unfounded as child did not understand ‘porn in context” etc. Was always the same child, they have ASD and had trouble with context. But the school always contacted us after to let us know. We were never put out as we didn’t have anything to hide and by doing this maybe one day they may have picked up a child where this was valid.

Edited to add, we now have 101 funny stories involving this stuff and preliminary investigations that never progressed🤣. To make it even better at the time I was a clinician so gave ‘drugs’ to people (aka patients in hospitals) so that was another aspect🤣🤣🤣. Too many to list.

[RiotC]

Contact the LADO straight away. It sounds horrific for you both, but always trust your gut with these things.