out of bounds

[2006hildy]

Adventure Playground Mainstream School
My DS DXd age 5 will not stay off it. It is out of bounds as it is not insured out of school hours yes that includes the 10 mins before and after school. It?s driving me mad not to mention wanting to do DS a mischief.
We have been asked to make a social story and laminate a picture so that he avoids this piece of equipment. It is totally safe otherwise children would not be able to play on it during school time. I don?t see it as my problem but theirs.
Why don?t they put a fence round it or insure it for a little longer.
I asked what the consequences would be if we did not keep him off it and I was told I would get a letter from the governors. I am prepared for a letter but it is causing me stress either way.
Am I out of order? I feel like, I am as I keep on being severely being told off.

This is a problem for school to deal with. They need to fence it off and have a padlocked gate.

We get the same polite messages about our play area too. Its very hard thing to deter excited toddlers from and so many mothers are struggling to prise kiddies off it. Ours could be fenced off too.

I wouldnt worry about a governors letter. It is just a letter after all :)

It is still the schools problem wether they write you a letter or not tbh x

Can he wait in reception for pick up?

Does he get a fair turn at lunchtimes? Could they let him have 10 mins before lunch if he's good as a reward. Am thinking it may be too crowded at playtimes for him to get a turn- meaning he stares longingly until it is "free".

We have had polite news letters about this at dd1 school. Guess what, no one cares and after school it's full of kids and parents. Dont worry about it, school are only concerned that they don't get sued ime

Polite letters too. It's very hard and would be impossible to keep DS2 off playground equi
pment. Just glad to hear it's not our school alone TBH

That's great you have all made me feel so much better.

Usually I have the stress of the school walk before and just don't more stress in my life.

I will try of course to keep him off (with picture crossed through and social story) because there will come a time when I will have to deal with a situation so it's all good practice.

I've also seen the light - if we get a letter it's just another piece of evidence as to why he needs a Statutory Assessment.

I will ask if he could go through reception to playground so that he doesn't have to see it. I will make sure he has a proper go on it when it is his day because he doesn't like crowded places as he is dxd ASD so it might be he feels he needs it on his own.

Thanks for all your comments keep them coming.

hildy - you keep an eye on your DS in case of any falls etc. Unfortunately, there are some parents at our school that use it as a substitute baby sitter and they are nowhere around to check that their kids are behaving appropriately.
It was in the last year that a London Borough near us had the death of a 5 year old on an adventure trail - during school hours I believe. Accidents can happen in a split second.
It would be a shame for equipment like this to be removed if a parent sued for an accident, because we all know that they would use a sledgehammer to crack a nut and remove it rather than fence it off.