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Original poster

Help please! Fracture at playtime

53 replies

MagicMN · 20/04/2013 09:51

Hi.
Mynson is in reception. I went to pick him up yesterday. He came out in tears. The T.A. said he bumped his face at 2.10 while running in the playground, he was taken inside he was fine, and that he started crying again when he was putting his coat on few minutes before. "he is tired", she said. We arrived home, he said he could not take his coat off cos his shoulder hurt. I took him to a&e.
Result:fracture of the collarbone.
I am furious!!!
The way they dismissed his tears, the way they let them run madly at playtime, everyhting. This is supposed to be an "outstanding" school.

Can anyone suggest me what to do? Do i have to speak to the teacher first? Or should i go to the headteacher first? On monday we have an apoointment at hospital so he will not go to school but i could pop to see the headmaster?
Could i sue the school??? I am really furioous!!!
Any suggestion will be appreciated because i dont know how to deal with this.
Thanks!

OP posts:
podgymumma · 20/04/2013 11:31

Did he mention his shoulder hurt to the TA?
Was there any marks on his shoulder to suggest he'd broken it? Probably not!!

What has an outstanding school got to do with it?
What would suing achieve?

I guess you've never worked in a school by your comment "the way they let them run madly at playtime" are they supposed to stand still on the spot?

radicalsubstitution · 20/04/2013 11:40

are they supposed to stand still on the spot? Grin

ArabellaBeaumaris · 20/04/2013 13:05

My DD fractured her collarbone falling out of a low bed!

spanieleyes · 20/04/2013 13:34

My son rolled off the couch onto a cushion on the floor and broke his arm,he fell over in the playground and broke his knee, jumped on a bouncy castle and broke three toes! The point is accidents do happen, it is often hard to say whether bones are broken at this age ( I made him walk around town for half an hour with broken toes as I didn't realise!) and all a school can really do is say an accident happened, check it out ( unless it is clearly broken)

Jinty64 · 20/04/2013 13:35

I fell off my scooter and cut my leg. I made such a huge fuss about my leg it was ten days before my parents realised I had broken my arm!

It's not always easy to get the correct information from a small child and the TA did say he was taken inside and that he had stopped crying and seemed fine. Talk of suing the school doesn't bode we'll for you or your son's future relationship with them and is, quite frankly, ridiculous.

OutragedFromLeeds · 20/04/2013 13:42

What you need to do is calm down.

Children run around. Accidents happen. Collarbone fractures are common in little kids. It's also a fracture that is commonly missed, it's not as obvious as an arm/leg fracture (maybe because you move it less?).

Do you really want to send your child to a school that doesn't allow them to run around at playtime? Really?

Fenton · 20/04/2013 13:54

I can understand how upset you are, but really no-one is to blame for the fracture not being picked up immediately.

DS2 broke his collar bone when he was four, by swinging a bat and falling awkwardly. He came in crying but calmed down quite soon and carried on playing. Over the next few days he complained it still hurt a bit, it was only when I noticed he was avoiding lifting his arm when he was pulling on his clothes that I took him to the docs, who sent him for an xray.

So about a week after the injury I discovered my little boy had a broken collar bone - I cried when the doctor told me, I felt just dreadful that I hadn't known.

He'll have to take it easy for a bit - no trampoleneing or anything Wink - but he will mend fine - no need to go at it with the school.

cory · 20/04/2013 21:49

Personally, I would only sue the school in a situation where I myself, as a parent, would be willing to accept blame if it happened on my watch.

My dd gave herself concussion by walking sedately down our uncluttered hallway, tripping over her own feet and banging her head against the wall. Her friend broke her leg by falling off the bottom step of a carpeted staircase. There isn't enough cotton wool in the world to ensure no child ever gets injured.

And as other people have said, broken bones can be very hard to spot at this age.

FullOfChoc · 20/04/2013 22:04

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

AbbyR1973 · 20/04/2013 22:07

Fractures of the clavicle are typically caused by a fall on an outstretched hand or a fall onto a shoulder. It is a fairly common injury and could easily happen at home.
The only way of being certain this could never happen would be if your child never ran around, rode a bike,climbed anything. The injury is not the school's fault (unless it was caused by an unreasonably dangerous piece of equipment or trip hazard.)
I can understand you being cross with the school for not recognising this but it's not entirely uncommon for parents to take a while to pick up on these injuries as they are not necessarily as immediately obvious as say a fractured wrist. The swelling is not always immediate. A child with a fractured clavicle can typically still move the arm on the affected side but wouldn't be able to lift that arm in the air.
The teachers are not medical professionals. I imagine most members of the Public if confronted with a child that said they had hurt their face would look at their face not another part of their body.
I'm not sure how it would help to sue the school. Accidents happen and as a society we have got far too litigious. If the school has to pay out it would only deprive your child and all the children in the school of money that would be better spent on books and equipment. Schools' money comes taxes which we all pay for. If it came out of insurance it would push up insurance premiums which again means children lose out.

dangly131 · 20/04/2013 22:10

I think she maybe wants to sue because lots of money helps to heal fractures and mental scars and makes things all better again. If you get enough you can even make a cast out of it for your child to wear! The rest can be used to soften the surface of the playground to stop it happening again!

Startail · 20/04/2013 22:15

Another one with a DD who has broken both bones in her arm clean through and could not only wiggle her fingers, but got a nights sleep on one dose of Calpol.

KansasCityOctopus · 20/04/2013 22:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BackforGood · 20/04/2013 22:38

Friend's little boy (was 4, in his first term at school) broke his collarbone recently. He was running down his driveway at home, tripped and fell. It's called an accident. They happen when you have dc.
As people have said upthread, he fell, and was taken into first aid. The accident was mentioned to you. It was not obvious he had damaged his shoulder - if he'd hurt his face, that might be all he was focused on and he might not even have told the school.
However, any symapthy I had for you was lost when you asked if you should sue the school.
By the way, what has the school's last OFSTED rating got to do with anything ? Confused

lljkk · 21/04/2013 10:12

OP's child had playtime after 2:10pm? Confused Did she mean 12:10pm, maybe?

They can only go on the symptoms as they present and as they are informed about. If boy didn't mention his collar area, or if school sent home every child who complained of a sore body part with no other evidence, the school would be half-empty.

As an adult I broke my arm; took me nearly 2 hours to realise arm wasn't right and to go get diagnosed.

Collarbone is a hard one to diagnose. Plus with any break takes a while for adrenalin to subside & the swelling to come up fully.

Hope your lad feels better soon. DD is one of 2 girls to break their arms at school this year. Both were totally incapable of running about afterwards, pretty obvious it was a significant injury. Whereas sounds like OP's son presented with nothing more than being a bit shook up & mardy later on. No wonder they thought it was nothing worse than a bump.

Hulababy · 21/04/2013 10:15

Lots of schools have afternoon play times. At my school it's 2:15-2:30pm

landofsoapandglory · 21/04/2013 10:33

8 weeks ago DS2(16) had an accident playing rugby at school. He dislocated and fractured his shoulder, and has extensive soft tissue damage inside the joint. He had tests yesterday and there is a distinct possibility the nerve damage is permanent and at present the bones are moving together properly.

I haven't even considered suing the school. They were playing rugby by the rules, it was no one's fault. They are called accidents for a reason.

I can not understand the OP being so angry, TBH. Her DS told the staff he had hurt his face, he stopped crying and got on with the day. How were they to know he had hurt his collar bone? I think she needs to calm down. Kids do run around, bump into each other, fall over and get hurt. That's life, it's no one's fault.

Dadof2cheekygirls · 14/11/2018 12:21

Is the school providing enough supervision at playtime ? Are these people actually doing there job ?

A Similar thing has happened to my daughter all the people saying accidents happen fucking bollocks you set of fucking door mats make sure they are doing there jobs. (Prolly teachers) If my kids had friend over and play is getting out of hand I say right calm down now someone will get hurt.

headinhands · 14/11/2018 12:51

So you don't think kids should be able to run in the playground?

headinhands · 14/11/2018 18:05

My son broke his wrist due to a running stumble in our garden. Who should I sue?

Dadof2cheekygirls · 14/11/2018 20:28

Schools are responsible for your child’s safety while they’re at school or on a school trip.
Contact the school if you’re worried about your child’s health and safety. If you’re still concerned, tell the local council or the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
If the school is not providing proper supervision during playtime that’s a health and safety issue ! I completely understand how she feels you who don’t haven’t had a young child hurt badly at school.

Hersetta427 · 14/11/2018 20:38

People, you are responding to a 5 yr old thread - I think the kid is well and truly healed by now.

spanieleyes · 14/11/2018 20:38

I think the collar bone is probably healed by now, given it happened over 5 years ago!

Soomaa · 14/11/2018 20:40

The thread is five years old...Hmm
I'm sure the collarbone is fine now.

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