Has this school trip broke any regulations/laws?

[emma16]

I would appreciate some help here please, my 5 year old daughter went on a trip with 2 other classes from her school on Friday to a wood which I was initially concerned about as we go there ourselves on a Sunday etc for walks & have never seen any facilities there.
I raised my concerns with her teacher the week before they were due to go, to which she hardly knew anything of the trip & when i arrived at home time another teacher i know told me that she'd been there & there were facilities, and 'as if' they'd take 3 classes of kids somewhere where there wasnt!
I wasn't pretty hot about this trip seeing as they've waited until the middle of November to do it, and as any genuinely concerned parent, I was worried about how cold my daughter would be seeing as they were leaving just after 9am & not returning to school until 3.15pm.

Off she went anyway, but when my husband picked her up from the woods car park the first thing she said to him was 'im so thirst daddy & my head really hurts'. He brought her home & we found out that they had not taken their water bottle's with them & she'd had nothing to drink whatsoever all day, despite being active for 5 hours walking & doing activities.
We also found out that there were no toilets provided & her & 3 of her friends were taken by some assistant she doesn't know to wee behind a tree out in a public wood!!!
She also told us, when questioned by us, they never went in any buildings & were outside all day. They'd sat on little stools under a sheet to eat their pack lunchs.

Now some of you on here will think i'm over reacting no doubt & appreciate it if all you want to say is a snide comment about my over bearing parenting, but, in my opinion i feel they have done wrong.
I have made several enquiries with other people & as far as they know, there are no facilities whatsoever up at this wood, which my husband & I are going to visit this morning to find the country ranger & ask him himself.

If there aren't this means that no risk assessment could have been carried out, those teachers lied to my face after voicing my concerns, they let my daughter go without any fluids for over 5 hours despite being active & came home ill & with a headache, they let some stranger to her pull her pants down in a public wood to wee, and they gave them no form of shelter/heating for even a short period of time just to warm them up before going back out again.
Is any of this ok, does anyone with some knowledge actually know? From a parents point of view there's all sorts wrong with it. If there were facilities why did they choose not to use them?

[Pooka]

Our school teachers always take a flask with water in in case kids thirsty and don't have a drink with them. You should definitely ask the school for clarification on that point.

The outside pee - I'm sure the assistant wasnt looking! You weaken your argument when you talk about the assistant as a stranger. This isn't a stranger in the stranger danger sense. It wAs a crb checked employee of the school or parent helper (again, crb checked at our school). Not a random bloke off the street.

I expect there was somewhere inside for them to eat if it was raining or blowing a gale. But maybe they chose to eat outside to fully experience the camping/woods people vibe?

You're obviously concerned about aspects of the trip, so I'd definitely recommend you ask for clarification on the main points:

Risk assessment?
No drink
Peeing in woods (honestly, I would omit the stranger talk)

And wait and see whether the school can reassure you on those points.

[FannyFifer]

Honestly this level of anxiety/obsession over a school trip is not reasonable, it's really not.

[ICameOnTheJitney]

I thought the same Twirly OP had you considered that maybe DD needed a wee AFTER the group toilet visit and had to go behind a tree because the distance was too great?

[cazzybabs]

Maybe there is a toilet but they were too far from it at that point she needed a wee.

If you are worried raise issues with the school and ask to see the RA. I would be amazed in todays culture schools would not do a proper RA.

At my school we do one and it is looked at by at least 2 others if it is a trip to somewhere new.

[PacificDogwood]

i feel like i've been lied to

Like I said, I think you will not be happy if remaining with this school.
And I bet they are not enjoying having you around either.

And do you really thing a TA who takes your DD or any other child for a wee behind a tree is in the least bit interested in her genitalia?? Really?
Weird. And unhealthy.
They are children. They have bodies. Like the rest of us.

Good grief

[Pooka]

My dcs don't have a drink in their packed lunches. They hVe a wTer bottle in their classroom. They eat packed lunches in the dining room and can have water or milk from a central drinks table. So if I hadnt been forewarned I would not have provided them with a drink in their packed lunch.

I do as a matter of course now for school trips, but have dc in year 6 and year 3 so I know the form by now.

[ShowOfBloodyStumps]

Your second post is right. We are a helpful website. So if you tell us where these woods are, doubtless some of us will know them and can reassure you about local facilities.

[clam]

On the letter home about the trip, there should have been a sentence detailing that you should send your child with a packed lunch (including a drink), and to wrap them up warmly (which it seems you did).

You seem determined to be cross about this.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

I'm as to why on earth on an active day trip putting a drink in the lunch box didn't occur to you. What on earth would have been the problem of shock horror aged ended up with two drinks

Think you need to get the facts first.

One last question, why did you consent to the trip. If she gets cold so easily even wrapped up and you were aware that there were many other children there so focus couldn't be on just your child why consent?

[itscockyfoxagain]

No loos isn't nice but I actually doubt there were no facilities at all, in anycase I an sure we have all had a wee behind a tree.
My DS is now in year 3 every trip he has been on we have been asked to provide a packed lunch with a carton drink in a carrier bag. This was how it was 20 years ago and I was at school as well.
A few weeks ago I helped on a very similar trip with DS's class, it was cold there was torrential rain. The only children who were cold were those not dressed for the weather. Those in warm clothes with proper waterproof tops and bottoms over the top had a fantastic time.

[teacher123]

If you honestly think that the teachers are lying to you and haven't done appropriate risk assessments and you do not trust their TAs, then you should withdraw your child immediately from the school. Teachers ESPECIALLY of very young children are beyond careful with their planning and risk assessments for everything. I find it impossible to believe that a school would not have safeguarding in place for these eventualities. You need to make an appt with the head to outline your concerns. She/he will then reassure you and this should be enough. Either you trust the school or you don't.

[nulgirl]

This kind of overprotective parenting is the reason why organising any of school trip must be a nightmare. It sounds like a great outdoor experience for the kids and I can't believe anyone would want to see a risk assessment for kids peeing in the woods.

[mrz]

Did your daughter tell anyone her mummy hadn't put a drink in her lunch?

[ICameOnTheJitney]

Pooka but wouldn't you thing "They are not at school with a table of drinks...so things are different" and provided a drink!?

[Sparklingbrook]

This is very similar to a thread from last week.

[emma16]

The school policy is no drinks in pack lunches, they provide water jugs at the tables in school, as she had her water bottle as normal taken to school that day & there was nothing in the letter saying we need to provide a carton drink or whatever in their lunch box as they can't take all of the kids normal water bottle, i would have provided one obviously. I assumed as did every parent as no-one packed a drink in the lunch box's, that their water bottles were going with them.

[clam]

Sparkling I think it's the same one, although the mum herself posting, instead of the sister.

[IamInvisible]

I would have packed an extra drink if my DC had gone on a trip like that, tbh. Common sense tells me that them being outside all day, running about means that they would need more than they usually would in a stuffy classroom.

The 'stranger' who saw your DD's foo would be the same person who would change her at school if she had an accident. I bet you wouldn't be moaning then!

Its all such a non-issue really. I bet the rest of the kids had a lovely time and that their parents agree with them.

[mrz]

So there were 90 children in the woods without a drink between them!

[IamInvisible]

So you've asked the other 119 parents if they packed a drink then?

[IamInvisible]

Sorry 89 parents!

[clam]

I find to very hard to believe that any school nowadays would take out 90 children for the whole day, refusing them access to toilets or water to drink.
Do go in and talk to them, by all means, and ask for clarification, but I would stay off the "I was lied to" tack, if I were you.

[Sparklingbrook]

Oh right clam. I thought I was having deja vu.

[Pooka]

Icameonthejitny - thankfully I didn't have to because the letter with first school trip spelt it out quite clearly - packed lunch including sealable drink in a disposable bag.

I'm think it would have occurred to me to provide a drink if it hadn't been spelt out, but I can't say for certain. The fact that the teachers at our school carry a flask of drink to forest school suggests that there are parents who don't provide a drink in the packed lunch.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

You need a letter telling you to pack a drink? Seriously?