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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

Just posing a question about children who damage others belongings in school and who should pay...

41 replies

MotherJack · 01/05/2011 22:39

I have a quick question with few details and would appreciate all initial reactions and responses from those in the know.

Child A has 1 to 1 at school. Child A's 1 to 1 carer took her eyes off her for a couple of seconds, during which time Child A snatched glasses of the face of Child B and snapped them in 2. Child B's glasses were not NHS frames so cost was involved.

Who should pay for Child B's glasses?]

Thank you

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RoadArt · 01/05/2011 22:46

If Child A is having 1 to one, why was another child there? This is confusing.

I would expect the child who damaged the glasses to pay for them, but being realistic it is unlikely to happen.

Does Child B have insurance?

c0rn51lk · 01/05/2011 22:47

child A's parents pay unfortunately

hocuspontas · 01/05/2011 22:47

Child A's parents.

nancy75 · 01/05/2011 22:48

child a's parents, Are you parent of child b and A's parents are saying no?

Original poster

MotherJack · 01/05/2011 22:49

Ah, sorry - by 1 to 1 I meant that Child A is given 1 to 1 care at all times during school hours. The person with them is not necessarily a teacher but a carer to try to prevent behavioural issues.

The children in question are aged between 4 and 6 btw.

OP posts:

GypsyMoth · 01/05/2011 22:49

child A's parents should.......

DaphneHeartsFred · 01/05/2011 22:50

I would also say Child A's parents. And I would be kicking up a stink at school if I was the parent of Child B to make sure they did.

Hulababy · 01/05/2011 22:51

As a matter of courtesy child A's parents should offer to pay.

southofthethames · 01/05/2011 22:55

Child A's parents should pay for them. Unfortunately, it happens. If child B's parents bought expensive frames that out are out of most parents' reach, it is reasonable for child A's parents to pay a sum that buys a mid-price range pair.

madrush · 01/05/2011 22:55

Putting myself in shoes of child a's parents - I would offer a profuse apology and offer to replace IF I could afford to.

I would hope that child B's parents would realise that at school accidents sometimes happen and that if my child has 1:1 (sounds behaviour related) care at school that our family are having a pretty tough time as it is and that accepting an apology would be the decent thing to do.

I might be devils advocate and ask why child b of between 4-6 years old doesn't have nhs frames for school use to be honest. But I will admit I know nothing about glasses and don't know if this is normal.

bubblecoral · 01/05/2011 22:56

I think child A's parents should pay, although if I were child A's parent, I would be extremely pissed off with the 1:1 support assistant for not doing the job properly.

If child A's parent is in a position where they would genuinely struggle to afford it, I would expect the school to offer some assistance out of their budget, as they were in charge at the time of the incident.

Original poster

MotherJack · 01/05/2011 22:56

Ok.. this is pretty clear. Thank you

I am Child B's parent and Child A's parent is distraught over the incident but I don't think that she is responsible as Child A wasn't under her care at the time. She has offered the money but I don't feel I can take it as she was not responsible for her at the time so I feel it is unfair. Her child has 1 to 1 for a reason that is outside of her control as it is.

I was thinking that school should be responsible as they provide the 1 to 1 without any external statementing/diagnosis etc as they have deemed it necessary (and it is) but the care failed. I know budgets are massively under pressure (and I do help a lot with this... ) but I was wondering about the principle.

Ta for setting me straight

OP posts:

bubblecoral · 01/05/2011 22:57

MotherJack, who do you think should pay?

c0rn51lk · 01/05/2011 22:58

motherjack you sound very nice

bubblecoral · 01/05/2011 22:59

xposted! You sound very thoughtful and kind. If the school won't pay, maybe you could go halves?

southofthethames · 01/05/2011 23:01

Yes, at that age, the child's parents (child A's parents) should still pay - or pay what they can if they have very little income.

Original poster

MotherJack · 01/05/2011 23:04

I can answer that question about non-nhs glasses Madrush. Child B (DS ) has Chiari and Aspergers with associated sensory issues and as such the most comfortable glasses with springy arms are not available on the NHS. To be honest, I would buy a child with non-sensory issues the same glasses - his glasses wearing non-sensory mates are all envious of how comfy they are.

The nice news is, the frames cost £50 but the optician was more than sympathetic to the reason we were there with 2 halves of a pair of glasses and I ended up paying only £30 due to his generosity.

OP posts:

southofthethames · 01/05/2011 23:06

xposted - my screen didn't refresh quickly enough! Maybe you can go halves.....not sure the school can afford it other than to offer an apology. If schools/hospitals/police/etc services make mistakes I know they don't offer compensation as a rule (otherwise we won't get any services at all I bet) unless the mistake is a serious/lifethreatening one. But certainly it is worth bringing it to their attention so that a more serious incident doesn't occur.

southofthethames · 01/05/2011 23:10

Motherjack, very nice of you to be so thoughtful of the other parent. Very pleased for you both that the optician helped out in this instance. I think it is reasonable to get your DS specs with springy arms - 50 quid is not so bad. I was thinking of some parents that let their kids go to school with belongings that cost 90 to 100 quid!!

kalo12 · 01/05/2011 23:12

school should pay. If it happened in my school we would pay. How old is child btw?

still my school is only 15-16 year olds and we would still pay

do you have any personal insurance?

Original poster

MotherJack · 01/05/2011 23:12

My thoughts on this, Bubblecoral, is that schools should perhaps have some kind of insurance to cover incidents for children in their care. You have to jump through hoops to remove children from school if you had such a child, so theoretically, those causing a lot of damage could be in mainstream schools and ripping through a £100 a week without any parental prevention ability, but pressure to open their wallets. I realise this could put pressure on already massively underfunded schools, but the same could be said of the parents.

It is a tricky area without a solution, really.

OP posts:

Original poster

MotherJack · 01/05/2011 23:18

Can I send DS to your school Kalo? He is 6, but I'm sure he would fit in

SouthoftheThames - are you calling me cheap?

OP posts:

2BoysTooLoud · 02/05/2011 07:38

I think the school should offer to help out with cost as children under their care. [As parent of child A I would probably offer to help with cost if I could but like others have said expect explanation from school re incident].

sunnyday123 · 02/05/2011 09:32

boy A parent should pay - i understand Boy B had carer but accidents do happen and i wouldn't necessarily blame carer - and it seems it all happened really quickly

hocuspontas · 02/05/2011 09:36

Can't see why school should be expected to pay. If your child's coat got ripped in the playground by another child would you expect the school to pay for not providing adequate supervision?

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