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Primary education

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Original poster

When a child is bitten should teachers tell parents ?

36 replies

RosemaryandThyme · 04/06/2013 18:15

My Ds was bitten on the arm today by a girl in his class.

Both are age 6 (year 1).

It happend at last break. Ds told class teacher who got girl to apologise.

Round pink mark on his arm, no broken skin.

Teacher didn't mention it to me at colleting time.

Would you expect a teacher to mention this sort of thing or is it just run-of-the-mill stuff to be expected between children ?
Thank you

OP posts:
BeerTricksPotter · 04/06/2013 18:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wellthen · 04/06/2013 19:10

Mmmm yes and no. There's no particular reason to if it wasn't a fight, a bullying incident (as in same kid again and again) and there was no broken skin. But equally if the mark was still there at hometime then it would have been good to set your mind at rest that something was done.

Ultimately it has been dealt with by the school so no further action is needed. I would leave it unless something similar happens again.

xylem8 · 04/06/2013 19:14

what did your kid do to her?

zingally · 04/06/2013 19:22

(FYI - I teach Year 1) Hmm... Depends.

If no broken skin and a one-off incident, then no.

It also depends on the parent as well. For some parents it is just an easier life to tell some parents everything, as it defuses any problems that might come later, particularly as small children are not reliable sources all the time. Teachers can very quickly identify "problem parents", as well as "problem children". And they don't always go together.

That being said, I would check the bite mark at home time, and if anything was still visible, I would inform the parent.

tethersend · 04/06/2013 19:49

It absolutely should have been recorded and reported, no matter what kind of parent/child it is Shock

Original poster
RosemaryandThyme · 04/06/2013 19:49

Thanks I'm thinking Hmm.. Depends too.

It is a little bit of a pattern, Ds is bitten, kicked, or pinched by this girl approximately once a fortnight.

He does nothing to provoke it, between incidents with my Ds the girl does the same with several other children in the class.

School have given her a large round cushion to sit on which is designed to indicate her personal space, so I think they are very aware.

I'd be loathed to try and put my DS off of joining her in and attempting to play with her, he is one of the few children that really does like her, in his words "I really like her mum, shs'e fun,,, I just wish she wouldn't hurt me".

OP posts:
SwishSwoshSwoosh · 04/06/2013 20:04

You should discourage him from playing with her, not healthy to tolerate being hurt. Yes school should inform you.

cansu · 04/06/2013 20:10

I am guessing she has some SN from your description s I think your reaction should be guided by this.

tethersend · 04/06/2013 20:10

The school are under no obligation to inform you which child bit him, but it most certainly is required to record the incident(s) and report to parents.

After all, if he came to school with an unexplained bite mark on his arm, you would most certainly be getting a phonecall...

Original poster
RosemaryandThyme · 04/06/2013 20:13

Yes, it is getting like he should just tolerate being hurt, that would indeed be an unhealthy mindset to grow-up with.

Will prompt him to dodge out of playing with her, it's tricky as when these incidents happen it seems to be out the blue - he'll be playing with other children and she'll run over and punch him, or grab his arm and bite.

It's the same with other children she hurts, it's almost predicatbly unpredictable. Her mum is aware and very approachable - but she's also the Deputy Head !

OP posts:
Hummuschocolate · 04/06/2013 20:22

It should absolutely be recorded and reported to you, mostly for safeguarding reasons. No-one wants a situation where a child has an explained injury/mark.

anewyear · 04/06/2013 20:24

As a Childminder and Pre-School Practitioner I would have recorded it and advised both sets of parents.
IMO school should do this too!

noramum · 04/06/2013 20:29

I got a call from the head just after it had happened. She didn't mentioned the name but DD obviously did.

The head told me straight away how they would deal with the situation and the child in question wrote an apology..

He did it again, and again I got called straight away. I couldn't fault the school and I knew the child was already in the SEN register and the mum was more concerned and apologetic when we met the next day at a party.

The boy is lovely and normally very well behaved. It is one of DD's good friends but as he is behind in speech it sometimes happened when he gets frustrated. We explained to DD why he would do it and she loves playing with him. Most biters aren't bad children and we taught DD how to avoid getting into tricky situations with him.

Original poster
RosemaryandThyme · 04/06/2013 20:46

Interesting that it should be recorded and reported - would anyone know if I could find this in guidelines or reports somewhere on the web ?

Yes I do think there is a SEN issue - surely that would make it more rather than less serious ? given that normal disciplinary steps may not impact this girl ?

OP posts:
Wellthen · 04/06/2013 21:04

When people say 'should' they usually mean:

it is at our school
it is at my child's school
it should be in my opinion

quite a few teachers, including myself, have responded and given different responses. This alone shows you there is no book that says
Rule #56: Biting must be recorded in any circumstance.

Catbert4pm · 04/06/2013 21:07

Yes.

tethersend · 04/06/2013 21:20

Wellthen, I'm a teacher too.

The incidents need to be recorded and reported as much for the school and the perpetrator's sake as for the victim's.

The school should be recording this as evidence should they need to raise a statement request for or move to exclude the child; one of which will almost definitely happen if the behaviour continues.

Whilst there is no 'rule #56', there are rules surrounding safeguarding and the recording of incidents which cause injury to a child. I now work with children in care; if one of them was bitten at school and this was not reported to either the carer or the SW, there would be some serious questions asked. This applies equally to all children, whether in care or not.

Litigious parents who are wont to believe their child's account of how a teacher bit them when questioning an unreported bite mark would have a much stronger case if the bite had not been reported.

For a whole host of reasons, reporting an injury to a child is part of a school acting in loco parentis which, as you're aware, is a legal requirement.

mrz · 04/06/2013 21:27

Do you report every minor incident tethersend? I mean pushes and prods etc...

tethersend · 04/06/2013 21:28

Every injury to a child, yes- of course. Do you not?

TheOriginalNutcracker · 04/06/2013 21:34

I work in a nursery, and every bite is reported to both sets of parents, and recorded in the accident book.

CheckpointCharlie · 04/06/2013 21:35

Our school inform parents, both the child who has been bitten and the child who has bitten.

simpson · 04/06/2013 21:37

As a parent, I would not be expected to be informed unless there was broken skin.

When DS was in yr2 he was pushed (deliberately) by another child into the playground bench resulting in a scrape and bruise. I would not have been too bothered if nobody from the school had told me as long as it was dealt with but the KS1 leader called me and told me what had happened.

seeker · 04/06/2013 21:40

Why would you want to be told about a bite in particular?

mrz · 04/06/2013 21:48

Is there an injury?

I would record it and inform parents if there had been enough force to leave a mark

tethersend · 04/06/2013 21:54

Indeed- as a mark was left in this case, the school should have reported it.

If it had not left a mark but caused the child distress, I would still mention it to parents.