I am furious

[milkybarsrus]

I have just returned from A & E, due to the fact that my 4 Year old did a back flip and whacked his head on the ice at school. He was taken to school early to attend the breakfast club which is in a school annexe by my husband. When agreeing to him going to the club back in september we were assured that he would be walked by one of the supervisors accross to the main school building. Today, after getting a call from school to collect hime at 11am (accident happened at 8.40am) I was told that he was picked up from the playground by one of the mums who saw the accident happen and that he did not have his coat on when found on the floor. His head was bruised and a bump was on the back of his head. the mum walked him to class and told the teacher what happened and wanted to know why he was on his own. The teacher (who is lacking in common sense) said he looked fine and class began. 1.5 hours later he was found asleep on the carpet area in class whilst the other boys were playing lego. The teaching assistant picked him up and talked to him whilst he sat on her lap. He promptly chucked up. Thats when the school phoned.Picked him up from school and he was sick again and very sleepy and quiet, so took him straight to hospital. I am so cross about a number of what seems to be neglectful things, and very upset to think that a head injury was taken so lightly. Does anyone know what should have taken place, and the order of things. I will be taking it further, but I'm not sure how to get things rolling without alerting the school and then them concocting a quick story of how things happened.

Is he OK? What did the hospital say? Poor boy.

In most circumstances, making a complaint about a school does involve the procedures laid out in the school's complaint policy (should be on their website). The order is usually Class Teacher to Head to Governing Body to LA. In some cases you can skip the school and go straight to Children's Services in your LA useful link. I can see why you'd want to skip the school bit but tbh I think you will be taken more seriously if you follow the school's complaints procedure.

You seem to already have a clear picture of what happened when - who told you all this? Would they write it down and date it, if you are concerned events might be tweaked? You may be surprised, though - the Head may well be already on the case re the Breakfast Club and the crap teacher. I think you need to give them a chance to sort it out/apologise/retrain their staff before you go any further.

That's terrible - thank heavens he is okay. Poor lad.
I would be fuming too.

I hope your little one feels better soon. Poor little thing. xx

a head injury should have been recorded by the member of staff who looked after him including details of any treatment given e.g.cold compress

He seems ok and is watching a dvd on the sofa with his dad. Looks a bit off color, and hospital have given us a head injury pack.
Snice - he walked from the breakfast club to the main building on his own. So I presume he would still technically be under the Breakfast clubs care?
And head injury aside, where the hell was his coat? It's -2 here!
madamdeathstare- good idea re the hospitals statement, I will ring them and ask for it.
Hassledge - thank you for the advice. It was his class teacher who I got through to and she told me what happened. that he was on his own, went down with a thud, and fell asleep on the floor. Surely, it should be the policy to ring parents straight away re head injuries, then as a parent you can make an informed choice whether they should see a doctor? Most 4 year olds say they are ok to adults/teachers even if they don't feel well. And a bang to the head certainly makes you feel crap, even if you're not concussed. Plus, why wasn't a first aider called?
I know he will be ok, but I am cross because
the teacher herself said that there did not seem to be a procedure followed. This is not very reassuring when you leave your child somewhere for 6 and half hours a day.

Milkybar as the heads First Aider at my school our policy with regards head injuries is to monitor the child closely, every ten minutes, and if they seem fine then the parents just get told at the end of the day via a letter in bookbag and sticker on jumper.

If the child where to fall asleep, go pale and cold and clammy, feel dizy or confused, or throw up, then we would call for medical assistance and also call the parents.

Sorry if you already mentioned it but how old is your DS? Unless he is in reception he should be the one to remember his coat, not staff. Breakfast club slaff should be walking him to school, but are you sure he didn't leave without anyone knowing? Kids do that.

The TA did notice when he fell asleep and dealt with it in a way that sounds fine.

He could have fallen even if no adult present, but if a responsible adult had witnessed the fall they may have monitored him more closely. I would raise that but be prepared for them to tell you your DS left without permission.

Unless his teacher is a qualified first aider she should have made sure he was seen by one. School policy usually states that all bumps be seen by a first aider.

Hello, I personally would be horrified if my 4 year old was left unattended to walk outside at any time (much less the freezing conditions we have here) from breakfast club to school. My first port of call would be to the breakfast club to find out why your ds was not being escorted across the playground. I agree it may not have made any difference to him falling, but somebody could have seen whether he fell straight on his head, or another part of his body first. I would also expect my 4 year old to be reminded to put their coat on.

Once in school, I would've expected the breakfast club escorter to inform the class teacher, and although I maybe wouldn't expect him/her to immediately call me, I would obviously once they fell asleep/were sick, which it sounds like they did.

So, my annoyance would be directed more at the breakfast club organisers, and if your ds left without anyone knowing, then that is worse !!

Any injuries at DD's school are recorded. Even the smallest of bumps to the head means they have to wear a sticker all day saying 'I have bumped my head today'. This is a brilliant idea as it means whoever they are with thoughout the day can keep an eye on them.
Hope your LO is ok. Definately take pictures and note down what has happened. Take it to the head and complain until something is done. The next kid might not be so lucky.

Just wondered how your little one was doing? Big hugs x

How dreadful for him...and for you and DH! I really feel for you...I know how awful it is when my DDs fall and I aam with them but for you to find he had been neglected in this way and at only four is awful!

I hope he feels better now...and you are right to go further with this. Utterly shocking.

Hi there all you lovely mumsnetters,
thankyou for all your replies and concern for my little boy. He seems fine. He had yesterday off school and today I have an appointment with the Head Teacher to see her take on what happened/should have happened. After that and when I have got all my facts together, I will write into the school with what I feel was neglectful and also some reccomendations that the school might be able to implement in the future for the other childrens benefit as well. At the moment it seems that the breakfast club is seen as a seperate entity to the school, but as a parent I feel it is part of the school as they are employed by the school and some supervisors actually work within the school the rest of the time. They need to tighten up considerably on many of the health and safety issues and also take into account a childs age. The teacher said that when the mum explained to her what she saw happen, the teacher said ' are you ok now?' he said 'my head hurts, but yes i'm ok'. She said that because he said he was ok then that was good enough for her. I said that most very young children would answer that, and that even when you ask where does something hurt , they often can't explain or as my little one says (iv got a headache, but actually means tummy ache). She also , after registration sent him to another classroom without explaining to the new teacher what had happened and to keep an eye on him. No first aider was called at any time.
I can feel myself starting to rant on again, so I will let you know later how I get on with the Head.
Thanks everyone.

Similar happened to my dc, in that bump on head at lunch but class teacher bot told. I was called to pick her up as she was sick and I noticed the bump and we ended up in hospital as she had mild concussion. School were very good and reviewed their policy and kids now get a sicker saying I bumped my head - helps remind people if they are ill later in the dayt