DD2 injury after barefoot pe very angry

[raphaelbutler]

hi my dd2 was doin a pe lesson which should have been done outside because it was high impact it was done inside - mayb raining. they did it barefoot on a hard floor without mats. they had to do various activities for a minute at a time and write down how they felt when she did bunny hops she wrote my feet are hurtin when she got to star jumps she wrote my feet are really achin. from that day 7months ago she has been in chronic pain in the balls of both feet. she had damaged her sesamoid bones and the growth plate in both foot. when i saw dd2 head she said mayb dd2 had a preexisting condition she has had an mri and they have said its an impact injury. she is unable to walk far and it has made our life completley different - it breaks my heart i feel the school is totally responsible. what mum would tell their dd to go outside and jump on the concrete for minutes at a time - any comments

Your poor DD.
I work in a school and children often do PE without shoes on if they have forgotten their trainers. But, I would like to think that if a child said it hurt, they would be allowed to stop.

Really sorry to hear your DD is still suffering so much now

I am not surprised you are angry.I would have thought the first thing would be to see a personal injury solicitor.Also have you put everything in writing to the school ?
You really do need legal advice ASAP
last week my DD was made to do gymnastics without a mat .In the warm ups they had to do sit ups without a mat.Many of the children told the teacher that a mat was needed but he ignored them (he was apparently working from internet printouts)She has had pain in her coxis (no idea how to spell it) ever since.

I disagree with the above posts, it sounds as though your DD was doing normal P.E activities in a normal way, in the same way as the rest of the class and she suffered some damage. Have the Doctors said it was specifically caused by her being bare foot?

Although she had noted down that it hurt, did she tell the teacher? The notes were probably for the whole activity and I doubt that the Teacher read each one until after the lesson had finished. How old is your DD?

I may be missing the point and apologies if I have, but it sounds to me as just one of those things TBH and although sad that your DD is suffering, but I just don't see any blame?

I think she bneeds to deal with it officially tombliboob, she doesn't know what the long term implications might be

'I am not surprised you are angry.I would have thought the first thing would be to see a personal injury solicitor.Also have you put everything in writing to the school ?
You really do need legal advice ASAP'

I think the first thing she needs to do is speak to the Doctor and ask what caused it TBH. The first thing should not be who is to blame

yes, by all means if the Doctor said the school were at fault for allowing children to jump and do bunny hops without mats and that is what caused the injury, then yes go to a lawyer. Especially a sit would have such wide implications for P>e lessons around the country and physical activity in young children in general.

Could be that the OPs daughter is like many of the ones I teach who haven't been taught how to jump and hop with knees properly flexed and bent.
It's very sad to watch Y5 who jump like toddlers with their entire body rigid, making the impact so much more forceful.
You can teach it in class, but the majority seem to be so much more inactive now that if you do a gym unit once a year, you have to reteach basic skills every time.
Must admit, I've never used mats for bunny hops.

afaik we never used mats for jumping about in gym when i was at school 25 years ago, can't say I recollect any of us suffering any injury

agree with tombliboobs, it does seem rather odd she is the only one suffering. perhaps a pre existing condition that could have flared at any time

do feel for her though, poor thing x

If the rest of the class were ok, is it possible it was an existing condition? It sounds awful, but unless she specifically said something after the first activity I don't see how the school can be held responsible - especially if it didn't affect anyone else.

Sorry your daughter is suffering but I don't know any schools who would use mats for bunny hops or star jumps. Children (and adults) with high arches are at higher risk of injury but usually as a result of repetitive movements such as daily dance exercise.

Sorry but I think the suggestion of making a personal accident claim is ludicrous - what kind of society are we living in?

Op - I'm sorry her feet hurt but I really hope you don't go down the blame culture route suggested.

Sadly, people often do look for someone to blame.
At DC's school, one parent tried to sue the school when her child fell off the climbing frame and broke their arm.
It didn't even make it to court thankfully.

Does she have flat feet? asking because sesamoiditis is more common in people with flat feet as it changes the positioning/alignment of the foot bones. The jumping may well have flares this condition up, but ifshe has samaged her growth plates( definitely the more serious of the two)I would be not so much worrying about blame but speaking to consultants on a regular basis to find out how they are going to treat and monitor it.

I'm sorry that your dd has injured her feet - have the doctors said how long it will take her to recover, by the way? Although I'm not a teacher, I don't think that any school would use gym mats for bunny hops and star jumps. So I don't think that the school has done anything wrong - I certainly wouldn't worry about my child doing PE in the same circumstances.

But, even if the school has done something wrong, how exactly would suing help? How would a large lump of the LEA's cash remove the pain in your dd's feet?

what exactly do you think that the teacher did wrong here?

Im sorry to hear your daughter is in pain.

But, children have always sustained injuries whilst doing PE, just the same as they sustain them in the playground, playing outside, riding a bike etc. Teachers should take reasonable steps to ensure that an activity is run correctly and appropriate equipment is available. They should also teach "bouncy landings" from foundation stage. But even afte having done all these things, some children will sustain some injuries during PE and there is nothing we can do to prevent these. I think its pathetic to start talking about making claims etc. Our country is already overrun by people trying to make claims and all it does is increase costs of insurance, or curtail activities that schools are willing to take on,

hi thank u 4 all your comments. I hv not once mentioned legal action in my message. My dd2 has seen a pediatric orthapedic surgeon and has had numerous xray and an mri scan. She is on long term pain medication and is unable to walk without pain. She is unable to do activities where she is on her feet. She injured herself when she was 8 - this is an age where bone is soft and developing .I am in touch with the pediatric orthapedic surgeon on a regular basis. This may effect her for the rest of her life. The activity was high impact and not suitable for indoor pe but should have been done outside as had been done for each of the other 4 classes of her year. It should be an issue to all schools and the LEA that activities are done in suitable environments. I am not looking for someone to blame my main concern is my dd2 health. Her whole life has changed and she is in chronic pain

So, the issue is that she was barefoot? The injury would not have happened if she'd been wearing trainers?
Not sure why they couldn't have worn trainers inside anyway.

Your poor DD

I just think it doesn't do anyone any good to try and blame others for what is essentially an accident. I don't know why having it inside made any more of a difference to outside TBH. Bunny hops and star jumps are just as suitable inside as out.

I hope your DD gets the help she needs and things improve for you both.

I suggested the legal stuff.the point is that you don't know what long term effect this could have on your DD's growing feet and therefore the responsible thing ,as a parent, you should do is make sure everything is properly documented in a way that will be admissable if (god forbid) there is any long term repurcussions for your DD.It is the same reason schools/employers have accident books. I DO think you need legal advice.Not to claim now.

it sounds awful, but who would you have to be angry about if she'd injured herself jumping up and down with bare feet on floorboards if she'd done it in her bedroom, or pal's bedroom? it sounds like it was a dreadful unforeseen effect of an activity that is perfectly normal, tbh. hence the reason why not all the children are affected. terrible for you, no doubt, and your daughter, but it might be better if you can move on from blaming the teacher because it's hard to see how she was negligent imo.

I don';t see why you think that the gym caused the sesamoid problems.
I have had sesamoid problems as an adult and it was caused because I have a pony style foot with a natural heel of 1.5 inches.

But floorboards and bedroom floors are suspended floors.They have some give in them -concrete doesn't.they are 2 very diffrent things

As a teacher in my training I was told to do gym lessons with barefeet and one instructor recommended doing them without mats as well. That included using apparatus.

Bunny hops are usually part of the gymnastics curriculum, which has to be done inside. And it is safer for children to use apparatus in bare feet.

My DDs both do gymnastics with specialist instructors.They do it barefoot on a leisure centre floor which is covered with some type of tiles.They do EVERYTHING on mats.Warm up exercises , run ups ,everything.