I need help. I’m utterly distraught and upset with my sons school, does anyone have any advice?

[mummytorands]

So I’ve been awake all night with keeping my 8 year old as comfortable as possible and yesterday’s events and I wanted to go to the school today and complain about how they handled things but I think I’m going to write to the chair of governors instead so I want to box clever.

So, I leave work yesterday (I work 10 minutes from the school by car) at 2:45 my children are usually let out at 3:10-3:20. School call at 2:50 telling me my son (8) has had a fall during playtime she explained he hurt his arm, elbow hip and knee. He was grazed seen by first aid but very upset and could I get him early of course I said yes I’ll be 5 minutes. Asked then as it’s unusual for him to be as upset as she was saying as he’s quite a tough cookie has he done any damage. No she said first aid moved his arm but seems ok but he’s very upset and think it’s best you came early and that she would get my daughter for me too (5). I pull up to school a TA is bringing them both out and it was quite evident to me we needed to get to hospital. I could clearly see my son was in pain, he was holding his arm, his wrist and hand were limp. I was given no accident form but didn’t think about that until later as my main concern was to get him medical attention. I called minor injuries they said they had a 3 hour wait and they wouldn’t be able to xray today so off to a&e I went which was heaving but we were dealt with pretty swiftly. Xray and he’s broken both radius and ulna and one of the fractures is going into the growth plate. I won’t know the full extent until we see the fracture clinic in 24 hours however we were sent home in a plaster cast and sling and I’ve kept him comfortable with calpol alternating nurofen. My plan is to go into school tomorrow asking for the accident book copy but I want to see it and not have it done and back dated. I will tell them he won’t be in for the next couple of days until I know more but I’m not disclosing the damage he’s done until I know for definite.

I am furious. He very clearly to me had broken his arm the moment I seen him. She played it down to me on the phone and his arm had been manipulated and it should not have been. They did not contact me fast enough and no accident from was given. Does anyone have advice? I want to complain because I’m just so unhappy about the handling and I don’t want it to happen again but I want the first aid training to be looked into also. My poor boy.

As a school member of staff, we have basic training. If that had happened to me then I might have said can you move it?! And if it was bad then call parents. Which is what has happened. You've collected straight away and got medical help which the school could not have done. What more do you want?

I'd want some more details before making a proper judgement and possibly before going in all guns blazing. As mum, first instinct is to be angry, and it's not always to be dismissed as "overprotective or overreacting." It may well be that it has been seriously mismanaged. But it could also be that it was managed appropriately, and you are (understandably) actually more upset that he has been hurt.

Firstly, how much time has passed between the accident happening and you being called?

Second, in what way do you say it was an obvious break? Was their an obvious misalignment? Was bone protruding through the skin?

When you say it was manipulated... how? As in, they put it into a sling? They asked if he could move it/fingers/wrist? Did they put ice pack/frozen peas on it?

What were the circumstances of the accident? Was it during pe, for example or whilst running around on the playground?

Did they call an ambulance, If it was "very obvious" that he needed to go to the hospital, These things are assessed, and if an ambulance is not deemed necessary they would be told as such (literally, "this is not a life threatening emergency and an emergency ambulance will not be sent, make your own way.") Did this happen, then they rang you? Was staff preparing to take him to a and e instead of an ambulance if they had been told no, or there was a long wait time for it?

With regards to accident forms (which will almost certainly have been done, even if they didn't give you a copy), If it had just happened, they may have been more concerned with dealing with him than filling out the paperwork as you would expect.) But has this been reported to RIDDOR?

Also, ask yourself, in that moment, what would you have done differently if he'd had the same accident/injury at home or at the park? How do you feel it should've been dealt with? If it was to happen again, what would you want doing differently?

I work for the ambulance service, so obviously, I have dealt with things like this ranging from minor to very, very serious, just for context. Also used to be deputy head teacher.

As many others have said you are clearly overreacting... largely, quite simply, because you're his mum.

Yes, so many in fact, that she hasn’t been back since yesterday. Probably six pages of people saying this didn’t make her feel much better and she went off to look after her child.

OP, I hope you and your child are OK.

When my child was injured at school and needed stitches, I was phoned at work to tell me to meet them at A&E dept, as obviously he needed immediate attention. That's what should have happened to minimise delay.

Sorry I agree
Accidents happen
First Aider at the school highly unlikely to think a primary school child would break the bones in their arm at playtime
The only thing I would personally do is to check whether the accident report agrees with what your son tells you....which I expect it probably will...ish.
Hope he gets better soon

Correct me if I am wrong, but the issue to me appears to be that the authorities at the school grossly underplayed the seriousness of the injury to the OP, making it sound like a typical slip/fall/grazing and maybe a bit of blood, rather than slip/fall snap my arm is broken in two places. There is a big difference between the outcomes of the two scenarios. If the OP can recognise the child was badly injured and needed medical treatment, surely the first aiders at the school should have as well, and told the OP over the phone her son may have had a serious injury, then it would not have been such a shock to the OP when she went to collect him. The OP's reaction is as a result of that shock.

This, very responsible reply.

Don't know what you base your judgement on here but you are totally and utterly wrong

My DS broke his finger and thumb in a pe lesson. He then played a whole game of rugby and went off to his next class. When he came home it was black. I asked why he hadn't told anyone. He said he had told the pe teacher, but was told it'll be fine, keep playing 🙄
I didn't mention it when he went back they could see it was broken. I think accidents happen and all the school can do is let you know if they have obviously hurt themselves and ask for you to pick them up early, which they did.

This is not directed at the post (Bobbie 12345) immediately before it but at the one saying they are surprised at comments on here as school has behaved badly.

@asrl78 as others have explained schools will probably give a slightly toned down explanation on the phone to keep parents calm before they get to school

No they are not doctors, so therefore should not have diagnosed him with "Arm is OK and not broken", and neither should they have moved it.

Overreaction. The school did exactly what they should have. Wow, schools certainly take the blame for all the ills of society. A school is not an A&E facility, and teachers have only basic first aid training.

If you think that's incompetent/unprofessional of the school, then how about this?-

Son, known chronic and brittle asthmatic, exH not allowed to accompany him on outdoor ed camp because he had "had his turn". Yeah, of course. Camp way in the wilderness, miles from a hospital. Told that there was a mother skilled in asthma management going on the 5-day camp, and DS didn't have a cold, his worst trigger. OK. He took his nebuliser, peak flow meter etc..., all bases covered. Except that the kids were not told where the teachers were sleeping, only "on duty" person was a British Gapper. Son had unexpected massive attack in the middle of the night, best friend heard him trying to turn on nebuliser before he passed out - other boys raced around trying to find someone. Gormless Gapper said not to disturb teachers, boys found the mother, who swung into action, called ambulance from 25 miles away, sat with him and refilled nebuliser, DS out cold. So close to dying, all due to the incompetence of the school. That is a very different matter from a first aider doing what was actually required.

Oh, that same school made him run cross-country despite his being wheezy, and telling the intellectually-challenged P.E. teacher. DS was puffing on his inhaler around the fields, and when he arrived last, teacher made him do two more circuits of the rugby field, whereupon he passed out and was rushed to hospital again, unconscious. I don't know how many times I had to tell them that he had a dangerously brittle condition, but they just didn't learn.

The school informed me that staff would be better trained in asthma management in future.

This is really really difficult. All first aiders should know that breaks, sprains and bruises display in the same way and there is no way to know the difference unless there is an x-ray to show it is broken. In that situation they should have followed the r.i.c.e. Protocol (rest, ice, compression, elevate). That’s a pretty tough thing to do when there is pain, so at the very least a cold compress should have been applied. Should they have manipulated it? Probably not BUT they don’t know what is wrong and sometimes it is important to look to see if there is any cuts or any other injuries that need treating.

i recently fell down a very small hole and hurt my foot/ankle. If the first aider had touched it like they want to, I probably would have punch them given the pain I was in. But they were doing what they thought best. They even said it wasn’t broken… there was a very big discussion in radiography as to whether it was or not and they have since (a week later) decided it wasn’t. The protocol for treating was the same so it didn’t matter in my case.

accident forms are completed after the event at a reasonable point. So you wouldn’t have been given a slip there and then and may not be given one at all. It is ideal to complete immediately after but sometimes that is not possible.

i would be concerned about how he received such significant injuries at school. I’d also want to know when break time was and what the timeline was to when they called you.

most schools would want a parent to collect a child and take them to hospital (bonkers in my opinion) and I’ve seen this even with a bad head bump. School cannot transport a child in a car and first aiders absolutely are not allowed. The next question is whether it is bad enough to warrant an ambulance. If not (and I suspect I. Their protocols it’s not), they would phone you to make the judgement as you have done.

im not sure there is a complaint in any of what you have said. I can see why you are cross, your child has been badly hurt whilst in the care of someone else, but I’m not sure what would would want out of a complaint be abuse I imagine they did what they could have.

Big hugs but I think you're overreacting. Sometimes children fall and cry then 5 minutes later it's all fine. I broke my arm twice at school and both times I felt sore but ok until the shock wore off and later it hurt more and more. I once broke my arm at home the night before I returned to school after the six weeks holidays and my mam didn't believe me that it hurt. It wasn't until I had swelling the next morning that she took me to the hospital. She still feels horrible about it now.

How was it manipulated? They said they moved it - it's quite common to ask a child if they can move something after they've hurt it.

This 100% I am so sorry about your son and it is quite possible the situation was mismanaged. Try and keep a level head to get all the info and then act where appropriate.

Hope your kid is ok. Reacting to your hurt child is not always "overreacting" and most of the respondents on here should be ignored completely

My ds school did the same, rang me to say he was being a drama queen, by hometime he was grey & nearly fainting from the pain, he had broken his wrist. I took great delight in ringing the day after to tell them he wouldn't be in & why.

There are two types of accident book. One charts medical care given to a child and the reason.

Scraped knees — Fell over in playground — cleaned, plaster on cut, sent back to class.

This should've been done. The fuller Accident Report will be filled in when and if they have an update saying that the injury was more serious.

Fractures are often missed even by nurses in A&E. And manipulation of joints is pretty common as part of the Assessment. I doubt anyone who dealt with him doesn't own a Paediatric First Aid Certificate or that someone who has one wasn't called immediately. It sounds like the school called you pretty quickly after the incident having made the decision your child literally couldn't wait half an hour.

I'm not sure why you feel they failed in their duty of care.

There's lots going on here. If I've read this right, your concerns arise from:

1. Risk, harm and suffering caused by First Aider's manipulation of the injury.
2. How seriously your child's injury was taken, considering the difference in how it was described to you vs reality on collection, exacerbated with how long he may have been in the situation.
3. What might have happened, had you been unable to leave work early to handle the situation.

Personally, I'd be disappointed and angry that a first aider manipulated a suspected injury. It's an absolute no-no that should be mentioned to the school.

For the rest, you need to have a chat to allow school to share the timeline so you can be reassured they had acted quickly, appropriately and had plan B in event you could not be reached. I'm sure they have a policy and would be happy to talk through this with you.

It seems to me that there was a delay in them calling you if he sustained the injury at playtime. If there was a delay, I’d say that was an issue you should def bring up. They also have a duty of candour to be honest about what happened

THIS

I’m so sorry your son has been so hurt but this is not uncommon in schools, teacher here. Oc an accident form should have been given but maybe in their distress, and we do get distressed when children are hurt, it wasn’t given to you. It will have been done. I’ve lay awake worrying about bumped heads etc. Please don’t think your school don’t care as they will do. I hope he gets better soon as it’s very upsetting for you all.

They rang at 2.50 when the end of school is 3.10-20. So what time was playtime? I'd want to know if there was a delay in recognising the extent of your DS's injury because it sounds as if the person who called was playing it down by referring to 'grazes'. I don't blame you for being upset and I think, in the circumstances, I'd want to know more details. Hope you feel a bit better tomorrow OP and your DS makes a speedy recovery.

looked this up and it was something like only 15% of primary school have an afternoon break in KS2 (which OP's DS is).

That figure won't take into account the fact that many primaries, in KS2, may not have an official playtime recorded but have a policy of allowing teachers to select their own 10 minute break time during the afternoon session. Every primary I know who don't have an official afternoon play have this system, especially in lower KS2.
That won't be recorded in any stats though.