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Primary education

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Injury at school

21 replies

ThatMauveZebra · 26/01/2025 20:38

My son who's in reception at school, got pushed at school in the playground and fell onto a hook and cut just above his eye. This happend at 13:45 and I wasn't aware of this until school pick up at 15:15 . They told me he had a small cut and it had stopped bleeding. His cut was in fact still pouring with blood. After I had cleaned it up at home I realised it was deep enough to need medical attention at the hospital where he had to have it glued and stitches.
Am I right to complain to the school about not being informed of this when it happend and him being left with an open wound from 13:45 till 15:15 when we could of gone to the hospital when it happend?

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Injury at school
OP posts:
voubledision · 26/01/2025 20:41

Absolutely complain, he should have received immediate first aid and you should have had a phone call to collect him. That looks like it could leave a nasty scar. I'd ask them what they are going to do to ensure this doesn't happen to another child, ie. Could the hook be removed. I'd also remind them that failing to seek medical attention for a child can be deemed neglect.

BoleynMemories13 · 27/01/2025 03:42

Oh absolutely you need to complain, poor chap. The cut is so obviously deep enough to have required medical attention. You definitely should have been informed earlier. I teach this age group and, if ever we're in doubt regarding the severity of an injury, we would always ring the parent and then it's their call whether to collect early to visit A&E. Better to be safe than sorry.

Added to that, any facial injury can be alarming for parents to see upon collection if they haven't been pre-warned. Even superficial ones. We would always ring to warn parents if their child is likely to have a black eye or has any sort of graze on their face, even if they are fine, just so parents know what to expect and don't get a nasty shock at home time.

I would put your complaint in writing (including the photo) and hand it personally to the headteacher, asking how they intend to address this error to ensure it doesn't happen again. At the very least it sounds like the hook needs removing, as the next child might not be so lucky. Bear in mind that the headteacher may not even be aware of the incident though, so don't go in all guns blazing. I would also speak to the teacher, to inform them of the actual severity of the injury and the fact it required stitches. Reiterate that you understand it was an accident and do not blame them for what happened, but that you are concerned you were not informed and your child was left that long with a deep, open wound, risking infection. As he's in Reception, he could have easily flicked sand or something into the wound once sent back off to play.

Hopefully you get a sincere apology and they will learn from this. I would be mortified to learn that a child required stitches on an injury we didn't even inform parents about until home time. They are only human, but they need to realise how serious this was to ensure it never happens again.

nzeire · 27/01/2025 03:48

How did they not call you! It’s a head injury!

Actuallysickofthis · 27/01/2025 03:57

I would make a complaint. They should of rang you straight away and told you to seek medical attention for him. I hope he's okay now?

A few months ago I picked up my DS from school at home time and he had a massive hole in his tongue! He had fallen over during playtime. I was absolutely horrified, I was so alarmed that when he showed me I very angrily asked the teacher why no one had contacted me about it. I am generally a calm person.

By the time I got home I had an email apologising from the safe guarding teacher

punimitsu · 27/01/2025 11:27

Absolutely complain. This is seriously bad. Look up your school’s formal complaint process and follow it to the letter. Don’t be angry, be rational and concerned. You should be looking for the school to undertake a formal review. They need to make the play area safer, understand whether he was taken to see the nurse/ first aider, whether the incident was recorded in the accident log, and the teacher(s) who failed to contact you need to be retrained on their responsibilities. Sounds like a lot of things are going wrong here. Don’t let it go until it’s been brought before governors (level 3 complaint or similar).

InTheRainOnATrain · 27/01/2025 11:35

Definitely complain because there’s quite a few things that have gone wrong here- the injury wasn’t correctly assessed by a first aider, they haven’t followed procedure for a head injury because they should have called you and quite possibly the play area wasn’t safe either if there is a hook somewhere at eye level. You don’t have to be angry and go in there shouting or anything but frankly it isn’t good enough and the school should make changes to ensure nothing like that happens again.

modernshmodern · 27/01/2025 11:57

Yes hand them their arse for this. It will scar worse for delay (although tbf a wait in a&e will do the same)

It's poor and they need to know so they can improve their risk assessment

pennydroppedtoday · 27/01/2025 12:00

Before seeing the picture and realising he needed glue and stitches I was thinking 'for gods sake another over dramatic mother on here' but hell no!

  1. it's an open wound
  2. it's bleeding
  3. needs to be seen at the hospital
  4. He's only young
  5. it's a head injury

100 percent complain. You should have been contacted immediately

Pigsinblankets13 · 27/01/2025 12:00

Yeah that's really shocking. I'd be fuming!

ThatMauveZebra · 27/01/2025 12:00

Thanks for the feedback and advice! All i got back from them on email was Thanks for letting us know and they wanted me to be assured that they have escalated this and recorded it on the reporting system as hospital treatment was required and the the 'hook" has been removed. No apology or explanation to why they hadn't phoned me or left him for so long with an open wound. Do you think I should arrange a meeting with the teacher or just take this further?

OP posts:
ThatMauveZebra · 27/01/2025 12:06

pennydroppedtoday · 27/01/2025 12:00

Before seeing the picture and realising he needed glue and stitches I was thinking 'for gods sake another over dramatic mother on here' but hell no!

  1. it's an open wound
  2. it's bleeding
  3. needs to be seen at the hospital
  4. He's only young
  5. it's a head injury

100 percent complain. You should have been contacted immediately

I'm not usually one to complain or be dramatic about things. Like if it had been a tiny cut that didn't need treating I'd of let it go but with it being deep and opening with swelling I was quite cross I wasn't informed by the school as I could of got it treated sooner. He also come out of school with blood pouring down his eye so for them to think he could stay for the rest of school time was abit shocking.

OP posts:
Wishboneswishes · 27/01/2025 12:07

Email the Headteacher to explain calmly your concerns and copy the chair of Governors. They are not correctly reporting or recording accidents so definitely a safeguarding concern. Perhaps staff need better training. Was there a first aider (qualified) who assessed him? Your poor little man. Hope he recovers quickly.

ThatMauveZebra · 27/01/2025 12:07

BoleynMemories13 · 27/01/2025 03:42

Oh absolutely you need to complain, poor chap. The cut is so obviously deep enough to have required medical attention. You definitely should have been informed earlier. I teach this age group and, if ever we're in doubt regarding the severity of an injury, we would always ring the parent and then it's their call whether to collect early to visit A&E. Better to be safe than sorry.

Added to that, any facial injury can be alarming for parents to see upon collection if they haven't been pre-warned. Even superficial ones. We would always ring to warn parents if their child is likely to have a black eye or has any sort of graze on their face, even if they are fine, just so parents know what to expect and don't get a nasty shock at home time.

I would put your complaint in writing (including the photo) and hand it personally to the headteacher, asking how they intend to address this error to ensure it doesn't happen again. At the very least it sounds like the hook needs removing, as the next child might not be so lucky. Bear in mind that the headteacher may not even be aware of the incident though, so don't go in all guns blazing. I would also speak to the teacher, to inform them of the actual severity of the injury and the fact it required stitches. Reiterate that you understand it was an accident and do not blame them for what happened, but that you are concerned you were not informed and your child was left that long with a deep, open wound, risking infection. As he's in Reception, he could have easily flicked sand or something into the wound once sent back off to play.

Hopefully you get a sincere apology and they will learn from this. I would be mortified to learn that a child required stitches on an injury we didn't even inform parents about until home time. They are only human, but they need to realise how serious this was to ensure it never happens again.

Thanks for the feedback and advice! All i got back from them on email was Thanks for letting us know and they wanted me to be assured that they have escalated this and recorded it on the reporting system as hospital treatment was required and the the 'hook" has been removed. No apology or explanation to why they hadn't phoned me or left him for so long with an open wound. Do you think I should arrange a meeting with the teacher or just take this further?

OP posts:
InTheRainOnATrain · 27/01/2025 12:18

So nothing about checking the playground for other hazards, nothing about the first aider who clearly needs retraining, nothing about the admin cock up that meant you didn’t receive a call because any head bump should always mean a call to parents even if the child is fine ?? That and no apology really isn’t good enough so absolutely I would take it further. And I think it needs to be taken up with the head as you’ve got multiple things that went wrong so it’s bigger than just the class teacher.

punimitsu · 27/01/2025 12:24

Good to hear is was escalated, but I think you should take this further - you want to be confident that your son, and other kids, are being cared for properly. Usually the first stage of the complaints process is speaking to the class teacher or sending an email - so you’ve done that. As you say, you’re quite rightly not satisfied with the response, so you should escalate the complaint: You’ll find the complaint process on the school website, if not, ask the school office for a copy. Use the language in there to formalise your complaint to the next level - it will probably be a letter to the Head or Chair of Governors. Feel free to DM me if you need any support

rainbowstardrops · 27/01/2025 13:25

At my infant school, we had to call the emergency contact for ANY head injury, even if there was no mark or anything and the child was absolutely fine. It's then up to the emergency contact (usually mum or dad) to decide if they want to come and have a look, or that they're happy for the child to stay in school.
I'd be asking the headteacher about their head injury policy.

ThatMauveZebra · 27/01/2025 13:29

punimitsu · 27/01/2025 12:24

Good to hear is was escalated, but I think you should take this further - you want to be confident that your son, and other kids, are being cared for properly. Usually the first stage of the complaints process is speaking to the class teacher or sending an email - so you’ve done that. As you say, you’re quite rightly not satisfied with the response, so you should escalate the complaint: You’ll find the complaint process on the school website, if not, ask the school office for a copy. Use the language in there to formalise your complaint to the next level - it will probably be a letter to the Head or Chair of Governors. Feel free to DM me if you need any support

Thank you so much!!

OP posts:
Hihosilver123 · 27/01/2025 18:44

i am a headteacher and I would say this absolutely needs to be addressed. I’d be horrified if this happened in my school. Their response is not good enough. I would request a meeting with the headteacher and ask what their policy is re managing accidents, and a head injury in particular. Explain that your child was left all afternoon with a significant cut and ask why you weren’t call. If it were me, I’d be apologising and following this up to check it never happens again.

Don’t email the Chair of Governors as governors aren’t involved in operational matters. However, if you feel that the matter hasn’t been dealt with effectively by the head, you can make a formal complaint. The school’s complaint’s policy should be on their website. Governors would then get involved as part of the complaints process.

Good luck. I hope you’re child is ok.

ThatMauveZebra · 27/01/2025 20:26

Hihosilver123 · 27/01/2025 18:44

i am a headteacher and I would say this absolutely needs to be addressed. I’d be horrified if this happened in my school. Their response is not good enough. I would request a meeting with the headteacher and ask what their policy is re managing accidents, and a head injury in particular. Explain that your child was left all afternoon with a significant cut and ask why you weren’t call. If it were me, I’d be apologising and following this up to check it never happens again.

Don’t email the Chair of Governors as governors aren’t involved in operational matters. However, if you feel that the matter hasn’t been dealt with effectively by the head, you can make a formal complaint. The school’s complaint’s policy should be on their website. Governors would then get involved as part of the complaints process.

Good luck. I hope you’re child is ok.

Thank you! This is helpful advice coming from a headteacher. They have arranged a meeting with his teacher tomorrow but do you think I should ask for the headteacher to be present too?

OP posts:
Isthisexpected · 27/01/2025 20:33

ThatMauveZebra · 27/01/2025 20:26

Thank you! This is helpful advice coming from a headteacher. They have arranged a meeting with his teacher tomorrow but do you think I should ask for the headteacher to be present too?

Yes. Ask for the head..

Hihosilver123 · 27/01/2025 20:53

Yes, it should be the headteacher. Remain calm and purposeful, and make it clear that you just want to understand why you weren’t called given the seriousness of the injury that required hospital treatment. You could also ask to see the accident form. You can’t go back in time and change what happened, but the school need to acknowledge that they should have done better, and learn from this incident so it doesn’t happen again.

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