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

[mrz]

madamearcati it is unlikely that a school hall (I would imagine indoor PE lessons take place in the hall?) will have a concrete floor.
katiestar the type of gymnastics that take place in school - bunnyhops - starjumps are very different from those that take place in a gymnastics club. I wouldn't have wanted my daughter doing "no handed" cartwheels on a balance beam without mats but I wouldn't expect them for bunnyhops.

[cornsilk]

I'm sorry that your daughter damaged her feet but it sounds like a perfectly normal PE lesson to me. I don't think the teacher did anything wrong.

[alwayslookingforanswers]

concrete floors inside a school??

[katiestar]

LOL Mrz.But the point I was trying to make was that warm ups which might include stuff like starjumps are always done on the mats rather than spreading out throughout the hall.i have a hard time believing that high impact repetitive exercise should be done on a 'solid' floor in bare feet - and the OPs daughter is proof of this !!However I would have thought a suspended wooden floor would be ok.
Hopefully someone with specialist knowledge will come along soon and be able to answer.

[katiestar]

I think by concrete floors she means floors laid on a concrete slab (as opposed to suspended by joists) rather than finished in concrete !

[mrz]

Does the OP actually say concrete floors? I just read hard floor?

[raphael7]

Thank you for comments. The star jumps bunny hops were done on a hard floor without any suspension. The point is that these where high impact and repetitive and should be done with adequate footwear. I am not blaming the teacher but the system which does not take adequate care of health and safety issues of children with developing soft bones if an acitivity is high impact it should be done either outside or with adequate footwear. She went to school healthy and left with long term issues and has been on pain medication for 7 months. She was in the schools care doing a lesson and should have been afforded the same health and saftey regulations and adult should have. An 8 year old child should not have chronic pain it was something that was unavoidable if the lesson was assessed appropriately

[cece]

I am sorry that your daughter is in pain but it does sound like the sort of PE lesson that happens up and down the country most school days. I would suspect she must have had some underlying condition prior to the lesson. I have been doing these sorts of exercises for many years with children and never heard of any of the children suffering an injury like this. It is standard practice to do Gym lessons barefooted for health adn safety reasons.

[clam]

Gymnastic lessons involving apparatus should be done barefoot. Allows the children to feel with their feet where they are going and judge potential to slip etc..
But this lesson doesn't sound as if it involved apparatus. Sounds a bit like it was a circuit-training type of activity, where they rotate round the room doing a succession on tasks for a timed limit. No reason why trainers should not be worn for that, although I can imagine many teachers not insisting.

[raphael7]

I dont think there would be any adult that would do cicuit training indoors barefoot on a hard floor. I understand doing balance, dance barefoot but not circuit training. The whole issue is that if this activity was done outside then dd2 would have had adequate protection and worn trainers.

[raphael7]

sorry forgot to say she does not have any underlining condition this has been checked as she had an mri but she now has damage to both growth plates.

[AitchTwoToTangOh]

so what, though, about the majority of the children? why were their feet not also damaged? there must have been some underlying weakness there, surely?

[Hando]

You cannot be serious?

OP, I am sorry your dd is having problems with her feet and experiencing pain, but how on Earth can the school be to blame.

I always did gymnastic in the school hall barefoot. My dd's school do p.e indoors in barefoot, much better for them then wearing trainers.

I see you dd wrote that her feet were hurting but how do you know the teacher went round and read 30 childrens entries between each mini activity.

You can not blame the school and I think it is very sad and reflective of public attitude that people automatically suggest legal action against the school!

She did a normal school activity and unfortunately hurt her feet. It's not nice, but nobody is to blame!

[AitchTwoToTangOh]

it must be so devastating, though, to think that your wee girl was writing down that her feet were hurting... i can see that. it's not her responsibility of course but didn't she say anything to the teacher during the lesson?

[raphael7]

Again how many adults would do circuit training barefoot. Why should schools not be accountable for health and safety issues. They are not above responsibility. To the point it did not effect the other children I am glad that they have not had to endure the endless physio my dd2 has to every day. There needs to be government policy laid down to ensure that the safety of children is taken into account when developing sport. I do not have an issue with the teacher I have an issue with the guidelines set out. It was irresponsible to do that activity barefoot it should have been with protection. 8 year olds have soft developing bones. DD2 was not doing movement, gymnastics, dance but circuit training which as I said above the other 5 classes did outside.

[hannahsaunt]

All PE in ds1's school in Australia was done barefoot (in fact, most of life was carried out bare foot) some of which was in the covered play area - concrete floor - and the rest on the oval which was compacted grass (such grass as there was in the dry season). Considered positively beneficial to do all exercise barefoot.

[raphael7]

how many 8 year olds would go up to their class teacher unfortunately the damage was done. She had no problems with her feet and after that session she has damaged her growth plate - one child is enough. It is devastating for her - half term what do we do - she cant join in with friends, cant go to the park - basically cant walk any distance -

[Feenie]

Which is terrible, and I really feel for your dd.

I hope most, if not all 8 year olds would tell I teach would tell me if they were hurt and in pain.

[Feenie]

Sorry, meant to say I hope that most, if not all, of the 8 year olds I teach would tell me.

[AitchTwoToTangOh]

i'd have thought most would too, tbh. but like i say, it's not your dd's responsibility here, but nor is it the teachers or even, i think, the government's. i think this is just one of them ones, a terrible awful tragedy that just doesn't happen very often.

[seeker]

Does her doctor relate her problems to one barefoot PE lesson? I am not an expert, but it does seem unlikely that a single lesson would cause such profound damage. As i said, what does the consultant say about it?

[claudialyman]

Very sorry OP. Ive been there. It is so distressing when a child gets injured in school. I'm sure the heads suggestion that she had a pre-existing condition did not help at all. (The head I assume does not have a medical background). Thats the last type of comment you needed and its no wonder it stayed in your head. I'm sure it made you feel even worse at the time.

When your child is the one who gets hurt in school all you want is for them to recognise how awful it is that your child is in such pain, especially if it could have been avioded, to change any practices they can that would reduce the odds of this hapening to another child and to show that are concerned about the child. Comments which downplay an injury or suggest the staff are more concerned with avoiding blame than addressing whats occured make you feel worse because they feel like a lack of concern for your child, and dismissive of what they (& you) are going through.

[AitchTwoToTangOh]

yes, but what if they're not so much avoiding blame as not to blame? were they breaking govt guidelines, for example? is this an injury that happens regularly?

[seeker]

I am not medically trained either - but I am struggling to believe that a few minutes of doing star jumps on a hard surface could possibly cause irreparable damage to am 8 year old's feet.

That's why I asked about the consultant's opinion.

[claudialyman]

OP perhaps over half=term you could make your house the hub for social activities. If arranged in advance and your daughter invites friends to do specific activities she can do there will be less chance of her missing out on being with her friends when they go to park etc.

Renting dvds, cooking, gosh it is hard to come up with stuff when you don't have a young daughter but i,m sure folks on here would have good ideas. Obviously the distraction would help a bit to take your daughters mind off the pain and with planning she would miss out on less.

Glad to hear your daughter doesnt have an underlying condition, that must be some relief.

I admire your perseverance in trying to ensure that this not happpen to another child. If an activity can be modified to reduce any risk of another child being injured you would expect it simply would be, without too much debate.