5yr old daughter punched at school

[Shewuwyag]

I got a phone call from the school to say my 5 year old daughter was punched in the face by another pupil. I went straight to the school to collect her as she was upset and I asked the school what they will be doing about this and to safeguard my daughter to make sure this doesn’t happen again. They told me they can’t tell me anything about what they are doing! My daughter has had nothing but problems with this child since being at school and keep getting told that measures are being put in place but they clearly aren’t helping because this child is continuing to target my daughter. She used to love going to school and now she hates going. Does anybody know if this is correct they can’t tell me anything? I already feel like they don’t take anything seriously. I want to know my daughter is safe while at school.

I'm so sorry, this is awful. I am afraid I don't know if they can or cannot tell you anything about the punishment but they should be able to tell you how they plan to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Of course you want to know she is safe. I am so sorry.

No they can't tell you anything

They are safeguarding the other child for obvious reasons

They can't tell you anything about how they are managing the other child but they should be able to tell you what they are doing in regards to keeping your child safe, although I appreciate there will be a cross over.

Given that it seems this is an ongoing problem with child X targeting your DD, it is escalating in severity and your child has gone from happy to dreading school I would think it's time to make an appointment with the head to discuss your concerns and insist that your child is safeguarded more effectively.

Absolutely this. For confidentiality reasons, there is a limit to what they can tell you about the other pupil but they must tell you how they propose to support your child. This is horrendous, and is clearly impacting your child. Insist on a meeting with the HT and be insistent that they have a duty of care to safeguard your child. Are you friendly with any of the other parents? Is this pupil only targeting your child or is there a more general behaviour issue? The school needs to step up and address it either way.

How awful, I'm so sorry to hear this.

They can't tell you about any consequences for the other child (eg exclusion) but they should be able to answer your very reasonable question about how they are ensuring her safety.

For example (if this behaviour is specifically towards your child), ensuring they are never in a group together, extra supervision on the playground, a class move. In our school we would do everything we could to keep them separate in this situation while seeking additional support for the child.

Isolated incident - not yet a worry.
Always targeting your child - i'd move her to another school before it ruins her experience of school.

The school should have a behaviour policy and it should outline the consequences for behaviour like this. You could ask them to confirm that the behaviour policy is being followed.

I also think it's fair to ask how your child will be made to feel safe goung forward.

Purely on the basis you are saying this child is targeting your child; then if the school is unwilling to demonstrate that they are looking after your child then tell her she has your permission to punch this one child back if they do it again. Bloody hard!

Ridiculous. Op deserves to know why her child is being assaulted.

Agree 100%

A kid in DD’s class stabbed her leg with a pen, so DD leaned over and scratched him hard across the face. Guess what? He hasn’t gone near her again.

Self defence is legal and morally completely justified

They can’t tell the OP anything about the other child. They can say how they plan to safeguard hers. There is a difference.

Unless this other kid is kept in solitary confinement, there’s nothing they can do to guarantee OP’s daughter is safe.

They can tell you what has been put in place to safeguard her but can not tell you any sanctions that apply to the other child.

They can do things. Of course they can. Supervision. Providing separate activities. Ensuring they aren’t in the same group for activities. Managing entry and exit into classroom. Etc etc.

What a faff

A faff?? Stopping a small child from being punched? 🤦‍♀️

What I meant was that’s going to be a huge amount of work for the school to monitor every interaction, is it realistic?

They can't tell you what provision is in place to support a other child, but they can tell you what is in place to support your own child.

They can't tell you things they are doing with the other kid or any consequences they might have implemented. They should be telling you things they are doing with your daughter, eg. Moving her to different table or group, having staff keep a closer eye when their together, anything to resolve whatever issues there are between the children.

They may well be doing these things already. Some children can't regulate themselves in the classroom or school environment and accidents will happen, even with support in place such as 1:1!