Hello all - apologies for the long post.
My son is 7 (year 3) and I'd welcome perpective on some recent events at school.
About a month ago, three boys from his class, including his best friend who we'll call Max (not real name) were calling him names and teasing him as a group at playtime. They were kept back from play the following day by the teacher as a consequence. I found out after my son told me and I checked in with his teacher about it.
A few weeks later, on the last day of term, he was cornered in the playground by Max and two girls from his class, who all began calling him names - some silly versions of his name, but also mean comments about his personality. One of the girls started pushing a plastic hoop into my son's side as they did this. He said he then sat in a corner of the playground and cried for the rest of play.
My son told me about it after school that day and when I emailed the teacher she knew nothing about it but mentioned an incident earlier the same day when Max had been mean to my son in class and broken something my son was working on. He'd been made to apologise.
I've reminded my son to find a TA or teacher straight away if anything happens but he said he was cornered in the last incident.
He hasn't mentioned anything during Easter holidays but bumped into one of the girls yesterday and it brought it back up.
For me, a situation where more than one child is ganging up on another is really horrible and definitiely bullying. The repeated incidents by Max also look like bullying. I'm also concerned about the apparent lack of supervision in the playground.
My inclination is to speak to his teacher again about the bigger picture here and also loop in his head of year, who is very nice. I'm trying hard to not show how cross/concerned/sad I am about all this.
I'd be really grateful for perspectives on whether I am over or under reacting to the recent events. Thank you!