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Secondary education

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Original poster

Teen injured by classmate in lesson

119 replies

ImStillMe · 18/03/2022 18:18

If a classmate seriously injured a fellow student during a lesson , whilst the teacher went to get a resource, what process should the school follow after the incident?

OP posts:
YouCantTourniquetTheTaint · 19/03/2022 02:06

@thewineisout if hate to be a teacher at your school, are you this insufferable in RL? I bet you were the kid in class that would remind the teacher about homework if they hadn't set it yet.

WrongWayApricot · 19/03/2022 02:23

Do teachers that forget their worksheets give themselves a detention for not coming to the lesson prepared and taking up valuable learning time?

caringcarer · 19/03/2022 02:49

I taught in secondary schools for over 25 years and was always told if you need a resource you collect and take to lesson before it starts. Never leave class alone unless you wish to speak with one student at the door, whilst keeping other children in sight whole time. Even if a child is suddenly I'll taught to send a child with note to office, not to leave class and go yourself.

SD1978 · 19/03/2022 03:23

You're being too obtuse- no one can answer. Age of kids is probably more important. From age 10 I'd assume that a teacher could leave briefly to get a resource. Nature of the incident- what were they doing and we're they both mucking around. We're they 'attacked' was the nature of the alleged injuries obvious straight away. When was first aid required/ sought/ requested by injured party. There's not being outing and there's giving no reasonable info that anyone else could have an opinion on.

MinglingFlamingo · 19/03/2022 06:54

@Hercisback

Teachers can leave a class unless there is dangerous equipment out eg science lab or tech.

This needs more context to comment further.

This. However it is discouraged but sometimes it's unavoidable Also depends on the class. Are we talking about a 13 year old in year 8 or an 18 year old in year 13???
toomuchlaundry · 19/03/2022 07:43

Times have changed, I can remember being left on our own in classrooms when I was in Primary School in the 70s. Not saying it was right.

lljkk · 19/03/2022 11:27

Kids do stupid things... This is not news.

Not ideal to leave them un-supervised but not possible to provide perfect supervision. Heck, even when adults are hovering within arms reach accidents or malice can still happen.

I learned this when DS was a toddler & I was trying to supervise him 1-to-1 some other child spoke to me making me look away from DS. I turned around to find DS (arms reach from me) had pushed over a girl who reversed her truck onto his toys. I could not physically have done more to try to prevent my hot tempered kid from lashing out short of not bringing him near other children at all.

Flipflopssndsocks · 19/03/2022 11:31

Plenty of schools had children staying in classes and teachers moving round the school during the whole bubble situations. Not ideal but deemed unavoidable.

notapizzaeater · 19/03/2022 11:39

Why aren't you angry with the child that did this ? Do you supervise your teen every minute of the day ?

itrytomakemyway · 19/03/2022 11:53

Of course a teacher can leave a room of secondary age students if absolutely necessary. In my time I had to leave the classroom because

  • I had to go and be sick when pregnant
  • flooding during a period
  • needing a wee desperately due to a uti which was made far worse because I was stuck in a classroom for ages waiting to go to the loo
  • being need along the corridor to help to intervene in the poor behaviour in another class in my department

In my school you could alert someone if you needed another memebr of staff in the room. It was via email. It would sometimes take them up to 20 minutes to arrive. In none of the situations I have listed above could I have waited for 20 minutes.

Children are unsupervised all of the time in school. During lunchtimes and breaktimes I would think the ratio of staff to students was about 100:1 - impossible to have an eye on all of them. They are on buses unsupervised, in the toilets unsupervised. Even if a member of staff IS in the room incidents can and do happen.

itsgettingweird · 19/03/2022 11:56

My ds teacher stepped out of a lesson and another student pulled a knife on him.

Thereby followed a mass attempt at diminishing his feelings and a cover up, severe rage to my ds MH and him having to move schools.

An uninterested police force because it happened in school and a family ripped apart emotionally feeling a system didn't care about them as they were the victims.

So I would say ask for an investigation but unless you have the energy to fight multiple corrupt government systems don't expect ,ugh in the way of any recognition of the potential consequences and looking into policy to prevent it reoccurring.

user1471596980 · 19/03/2022 12:01

Realistically, over the last couple of years because schools across the country (not all but lots) adopted systems of bubbles where students stayed in area and teachers moved to them, thousands of students have had to wait for teachers in classrooms without supervision.

PegasusReturns · 19/03/2022 12:02

Op what’s your concern? Did your DC not receive appropriate medical attention at the time or are they now struggling to return to school?

You’re asking what should have happened but at what stage and in relation to what?

RussianSpy101 · 19/03/2022 12:04

Of course it’s acceptable. I presume you leave your teens home alone?

BoristalkedaboutBruno22 · 19/03/2022 12:15

If you are not going to say what happened no one can help here.

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 19/03/2022 12:21

What was the incident?

Ours are largely unsupervised at break/lunch/before school and mainly around school getting to lessons . 6th form
Common room never supervised really. Would I leave my secondary age class for a few
Min? 14 of my classes yes without a doubt 2 of them no way!

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 19/03/2022 12:22

I think if you actually want advice you will need to say what happened.

Change your name if you want but no one can help with that vague scenario

iklboo · 19/03/2022 12:24

We can't tell you what process should be followed if you won't say what happened.

NinaDefoe · 19/03/2022 12:33

It's not about blame, it is about doing better.

Fing hll.

OP. If you’re not going to give basic information what is the point.

*Was the injury severe? For example, broken bone?

*Was the injury moderate? Black eye or cut?

*Was the injury mild? Small bruise or scratch?

*Was the teacher absent for a long time-
Half the lesson, chatting to colleagues?

*Was the teacher away for a few minutes - e.g. retrieving something from the photocopier down the corridor?

*Was the teacher away for less than a minute - e.g. getting a glue stick out of the cupboard next door?

Was the class in the middle of a science or DT practical with machines or chemicals?

Did it happen in P.E.? Did they have the javelin sticks out? Or did the teacher nip in to get their stopwatch whilst the entire class were in the local area on cross country?

Or was the lesson a History lesson with everyone sat in rows?

Does the teacher often leave the class unattended?

Yes, teachers leave classrooms for short periods of time occasionally in secondary school. They don’t have an adult watching their every move at lunch or break either.

What do you want to happen OP?

NinaDefoe · 19/03/2022 12:36

Why aren't you angry with the child that did this ?

I also want to know this.

liveforsummer · 19/03/2022 12:37

Kids are often in the class before the teachers arrive in secondary- of course it's ok for kids to be alone for a short time at that age

Mistressiggi · 19/03/2022 12:56

@WrongWayApricot

Do teachers that forget their worksheets give themselves a detention for not coming to the lesson prepared and taking up valuable learning time?
I give myself a detention every night of the bloody week doing extra unpaid hours. HTH

Come to think of it, when I started teaching (and had the room next to the staff room) it was my job to go in five minutes before breaktime and turn the boiling water thingy on.

Mostly if I leave the room now it's for a chat in the corridor with one of your dc about their behaviour.

hedgehogger1 · 19/03/2022 15:17

I had a kid faint in the corridor right outside my room a few weeks ago. I left the class to nip and call for a first aider and to give some basic first aid and reassurance. Maybe I should have just ignored her...

NinaDefoe · 19/03/2022 19:53

Do teachers that forget their worksheets give themselves a detention for not coming to the lesson prepared and taking up valuable learning time?

No. I don’t even dish out a detention when worksheet/work-booklet number 199 mysteriously goes missing from little Alfie’s school bag, gets wet or is eaten by his pet dog.

A detention for my students is a detention for me so I just give them another copy.
If I haven’t got another copy I might (shock horror) leave the room for 30 seconds to photocopy one.

WrongWayApricot · 19/03/2022 21:58

Mostly if I leave the room now it's for a chat in the corridor with one of your dc about their behaviour.

My DC? I don't have DC in school. You say it as if I owe you something.

I just think it's a teensy hypocritical when in one post there's loads of teachers wailing about how important it is to never ever ever forget a pen. Such a lack of organisation, what will the children do in the real world where pens are never shared, how long it takes to hand out pens and keep a log of who has pens or how absolutely impossible it is to have pen pots now that children are 11 and not 10 anymore. But when a teacher leaving the room ended up with a child seriously injured the teachers think it's not at all their problem because what if they forgot a worksheet. It's weird.