Duty of care?

[Jenismurf]

My friend's 13 year old daughter went on a school trip to Spain. During the trip she became very ill with a migraine, and she was left in a restaurant, on her own, whilst the teachers and other students went off to do other activities. Is this the right thing to have done? I feel that they neglected her, and that at least one teacher should have returned her to the hotel and made sure she was safe. I, and my friend (the mother) are furious about this, but don't really know how to approach making a complaint. Any suggestions or help please? Thank you.

I agree- someone should have taken her back to the hotel so she could lie down. School trips are organised so that you have enough adults (in case someone needs to go to hospital etc).
Not sure I'd even be happy with a 13 year old left in a hotel unwell.

No they shouldn't have done this. Risk Assessments/Planning/ratio's etc should always be done so that they can rearrange so an adult can stay with an ill pupil. It might be OK to leave them at the hotel on their own if they had for example a sprained wrist meaning they couldn't take part and the hotel staff were happy with it and would provide assistance in an emergency (so generally a hotel that had loads of school trips staying) but for an illness I would expect a member of staff to stay.

God this is awful. Someone definitely should have stayed with her. Poor kid, she should have been taken somewhere to have a rest in the dark not left alone in a restaurant where she didn't know anyone. If it were my daughter I would absolutely take this up with the school.

Thanks for your replies. The school has been fairly useless in many other ways, so I think it should go higher. Would that be school board, local education authority or whom?

That's dreadful! As someone who suffers from migraines I know how debilitating they are. To leave a 13 year old who is suffering from a migraine alone in a foreign country is unforgivable!

I'd complain to the head first. If the response is unsatisfactory then I'd go higher.

It depends. it is all very well saying the ration of staff to students should leave a spare teacher for accompanying a sick child, but what if they already had a sick child being accompanied somewhere, or two sick children?

maybe she could be kept an eye on in the restaurant more easily than the hotel.

What would have happened at the hotel? Would she have gone into a room alone? How could she have been monitored then? No member of staff could have gone in.

I think it depends on the whole situation and the options available.

Certainly, her remaining in a public place seems to be sensible

I think a restaurant with a migraine is the worst place she could be. Poor kid. She should have been taken somewhere to have a rest in the dark.

With who? no teacher can monitor her in the dark, can they. She would have had to remain in public place, where ever that was.

Who is 'monitoring' her in a restaurant in a foreign country at the age of 13. The staff that the teachers couldn't possibly know? Perhaps some random customers? Perhaps a friend could have stayed with her at the very least but certainly if my daughter was ill on a school trip I would at the least expect her not to be abandoned

We would have taken her back to the hotel, helped her to her room and checked back on her regularly until the rest of her room returned. If that meant leaving a member of staff at the hotel whilst everyone else does something exciting, tough on the staff member.
Def not ok to abandon her in a restaurant 😳

helped her to her room

checked back on her regularly until the rest of her room returned

you just can't do these things, either would have been sackable

you just can't do these things, either would have been sackable

More bollocks from user!

Wow, really? A teacher would be sacked for walking a child to their bedroom door but not going in and then knocking on the door every 30 mins or so? But it's ok to literally abandon a sick child in a public area?

Of course they wouldn't be sacked. That's one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard in my many years of teaching. You clearly know nothing about the job. It's the course of action that would be expected of responsible staff on a school trip. I cannot conceive of any member of staff leaving a 13 year old alone in a restaurant, to be honest. What if she had vanished when they returned? It seems a bizarre thing to do.

More utter bollocks from user. I have done the above a few times ( not necessarily migranes), it is written into our trip plans.
I have not been sacked, on the contrary the parents appreciate our care, and as i say since it is written into the plans it is pre approved by the evc, the head and the governors.

Sorry Jeni just realised that you were asking for suggestions as to what further step to take. It really depends on what your friend has done so far - and I'm assuming school has now broken up for the holidays. It also depends on whether school is an Academy or part of the LEA as to who you should contact if you get no satisfactory response from the school.

My first suggestion for your friend would be to write to the Headteacher outlining the events, explaining what she was unhappy about and asking him to comment on the actions taken by staff. I would highlight the fact that a vulnerable and ill teenager appears to have been left without adult supervision and ask him how his staff were ensuring her safety at this point.

Hope that helps.

Thank you all for your messages and advice - BlessYourCottonSocks, this is probably the most logical course of action, so thank you for that.

I run a school trip every year with that age group. If we had a child with a migraine we would either send a teacher (and a friend of any of them volunteer for it) with her back to the hotel. Usually by taxi. Then the teacher would suit in their own room and text/ring the pupil to check on them regularly. We would expect pupils who have regular migraines to know what is normal for them, and I would hope they would have some sort of medication to help.

It is completely unacceptable to leave a pupil unattended and alone in a restaurant. I don't even let healthy pupils stay anywhere alone, they are always expected to be in groups of 3 minimum, or be with a teacher.

I would ask the head to check what happened and then ask why she was left there alone? We would always leave them with a member of staff if return to the hotel was not possible ( eg, two hour drive etc) and make em as comfortable as possible. Like awesome, ours would be minimum of. 3 per group or with staff.

It is likely that the Head would pick up an email over the holidays and get on to it, especially if it was felt safety had been compromised.

You need to raise this with the head teacher in writing as a complaint. The school would appear to have failed their duty of care and as such it is a safeguarding failure but you do need to give the school the opportunity to explain themselves.
You should ask them for their completed risk assessment of the trip and issues that could arise on the trip of which illness has to be one consideration. Many schools use a system called EVOLVE but there are others. Ask them for the risk assessment now as the quickness of the response will give you an indication of how serious they are treating this.
Not sure whether the school is a maintained school or an Academy but if it is a maintained school, the school normally has to get their risk assessment approved by an appropriately qualified person in the LA.
If the response of the school is not appropriate then you need to refer the complaint to the governing body as the first step but it might be worth phoning the LA and ask to speak to the person responsible for approving foreign school trips to at least register your concern.