Children Wetting Themselves at school!
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Great in theory but,I for example work a 1.5 hour bus ride away and would be absolutely disgusted if somebody who chooses to work in "a caring" profession left my child wet and humiliated for an hour and a half !!! In fact I'd go as far as saying I would consider it child abuse !!!!!!!!!!
I'm just saying I agree with the reasons why some school's seem to have this policy - it's a sorry state of affairs but they are trying to protect themselves and their staff and the children.
I guess if you work an 1.5 bus ride your child would have a long wait if anything happened at school - be it a wetting accident or were really poorly for some other reason unless you were able to find somebody who could get to them quicker.0 -
Its my understanding that there are no actual rules RE: changing kids only guidelines. Unfortunately these can make things as clear as mud, for example on one child protection course my supervisor (pre-school) was told that we weren't to wipe children's bottoms for them in any circumstance. Another said that to leave a child who is too young to efficiently wipe themselves dirty until home time could be classed as child abuse! We then have to write our own policy (which is not to offer but to help them only if they ask). And as for anything involving bodily fluids we have to wear gloves, but that's health and safety not child protection I think.
Both of my girls had a wet accident in their early days at school and both were changed, the teacher just had a little word when I picked them up. Personally I think the least fuss made the better for the child so I'd much rather kids be quickly popped into a pair of dry knickers and back to their activity than sat wet and waiting for however long, which seems like a punishment IMO.:heart2: Mumma to DD 13yrs, DD 11yrs & DS 3 yrs. :heart2:0 -
Teachers are there in lieu of parents and at a young age like this that may well involve some hygeine care. There's no way they can expect parents in this day and age to drop everything because a child has wet their pants - like nottslass I work miles away from home and would not be able to just drop everything and come in. Hurt themselves, yes. Wet pants? No. It's just common sense.
Yes in an ideal world - it's sad that they need to have these policies in schools.
I guess for anyone working a considerable distance away from where young children go to school then hopefully the school would be able to resolve the situation without calling parents in.
It's obviously not a blanket policy as it seems to vary from school to school0 -
Its my understanding that there are no actual rules RE: changing kids only guidelines. Unfortunately these can make things as clear as mud, for example on one child protection course my supervisor (pre-school) was told that we weren't to wipe children's bottoms for them in any circumstance. Another said that to leave a child who is too young to efficiently wipe themselves dirty until home time could be classed as child abuse! We then have to write our own policy (which is not to offer but to help them only if they ask). And as for anything involving bodily fluids we have to wear gloves, but that's health and safety not child protection I think.
Both of my girls had a wet accident in their early days at school and both were changed, the teacher just had a little word when I picked them up. Personally I think the least fuss made the better for the child so I'd much rather kids be quickly popped into a pair of dry knickers and back to their activity than sat wet and waiting for however long, which seems like a punishment IMO.
:rolleyes: I did wonder whether unclear guidelines could be a large part of the reason why school's policies differ so much.
I'm sure my friend would love to have had someone help her little lad out last year as even though she works nearby to the school it did get very depressing for them both for her to be going in daily to change his trousers0 -
galvanizersbaby wrote: »I'm just saying I agree with the reasons why some school's seem to have this policy - it's a sorry state of affairs but they are trying to protect themselves and their staff and the children.
I guess if you work an 1.5 bus ride your child would have a long wait if anything happened at school - be it a wetting accident or were really poorly for some other reason unless you were able to find somebody who could get to them quicker.
How do childminders, Nursery Nurses or teachers who work with special needs children manage then ? Dealing with this sort of incident is routine for them - I'm sure that every child minder or nursery would soon go out of business if they were to insist that the parents "just" nip back from work at nappy changing time.
If my child needed me in an emergency or was ill I'd obviously Jump in a Taxi to collect him and take the necessary time off work.- but if I had a child who was prone to "little accidents" I can't see myself keeping my job for very long if I said to my Boss "gotta go,I'll be back in,er about 3.5 hours" ( for the 3rd time in a week)0 -
If they're that worried, having 2 members of staff dealing with toilet issues might be a better solution.galvanizersbaby wrote: »I'm just saying I agree with the reasons why some school's seem to have this policy - it's a sorry state of affairs but they are trying to protect themselves and their staff and the children.
I guess if you work an 1.5 bus ride your child would have a long wait if anything happened at school - be it a wetting accident or were really poorly for some other reason unless you were able to find somebody who could get to them quicker.
Re long bus rides - that's just life. It's one thing to ask a parent to leave work when a child is ill or had an accident. It's another to expect them to do it every time they have a minor issue that a member of staff can and should deal with.May all your dots fall silently to the ground.0 -
How do childminders, Nursery Nurses or teachers who work with special needs children manage then ? Dealing with this sort of incident is routine for them - I'm sure that every child minder or nursery would soon go out of business if they were to insist that the parents "just" nip back from work at nappy changing time.
If my child needed me in an emergency or was ill I'd obviously Jump in a Taxi to collect him and take the necessary time off work.- but if I had a child who was prone to "little accidents" I can't see myself keeping my job for very long if I said to my Boss "gotta go,I'll be back in,er about 3.5 hours" ( for the 3rd time in a week)
I am pretty sure that the rules/guidelines for nurseries/childcare facilities are different to that of schools (obviously school is not childcare)
Re the special needs teacher - I have no idea - again I would imagine there are guidelines in place
My kids were at a private run nursery prior to starting school and obviously you are paying them to care for your child which includes nappy changing etc...
Re your last sentiment - I work close to where my children were at nursery and now very near to their school but I find that I have emergency child related call out's a lot (part and parcel of having 2 young children) - my employers are very understanding and let me make up the time spent away from the office at home but I know that I am lucky to be in this situation - I know other's struggle with the juggle of being a working parent0 -
galvanizersbaby wrote: »I am pretty sure that the rules/guidelines for nurseries/childcare facilities are different to that of schools (obviously school is not childcare)
Re the special needs teacher - I have no idea - again I would imagine there are guidelines in place
Teachers are in LOCO PARENTIS, which states that a person who has care of a child, eg a teacher may do what is reasonable under all circumstances for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child's welfare. In this context, "has care of" applies to situations such as dealing with emergencies, care within the school and on school trips.
Yes,I agree there should be guidelines in place -national ones that leave no doubt that the well being (mental and physical) should be a paramount importance - IMO this should include not leaving a child in a wet & distressed state !!!!
My kids were at a private run nursery prior to starting school and obviously you are paying them to care for your child which includes nappy changing etc...
Teachers and classroom assistants (who are usually trained nursery nurses) are also being paid to look after a child's welfare.
Re your last sentiment - I work close to where my children were at nursery and now very near to their school but I find that I have emergency child related call outs a lot (part and parcel of having 2 young children) - my employers are very understanding and let me make up the time spent away from the office at home but I know that I am lucky to be in this situation - I know other's struggle with the juggle of being a working parent
But even if I was at home it would still take me 15 / 20 Min's until I got to school (as it would the majority of parents) To leave 4 or 5 year old child who is wet and probably upset for even 5 Min's is horrible and probably a Health and safety issue for the people around them.Lil
Most parents are not fortunate enough to live or work within "shouting distance" of school - even a few 5 or ten Min's is too long to leave a small child in that state - would it be reasonable to also leave a child covered in vomit in such a state until the parents arrived ?0 -
Most parents are not fortunate enough to live or work within "shouting distance" of school - even a few 5 or ten Min's is too long to leave a small child in that state - would it be reasonable to also leave a child covered in vomit in such a state until the parents arrived ?[/QUOTE]
Not in my opinion, no - not sure whether a child being covered in vomit and cleaning up/changing a childs underpants would come under the same thing in these mysterious 'guidelines' tbh
Perhaps a teacher could shed some light?
I'm not a teacher (thankfully) or a TA or anyone that works with children so I have no idea why the different policies for different schools and I've not had reason with my own children to question it as the need hasn't arisen (yet)
I would hope that with a young child in a toilet incident a degree of common sense would prevail but I know from my friend whose son has the wetting probs in the case of the school my children attend she is called in to school to attend to him.
I am fortunate to be within short distance of the school and made sure of it (had the job long before the kids were born and made sure I got them in at the school near my workplace) - if I were to be unfortunate enough to lose my job and have to work elsewhere I would consider moving my children's school as I would not be happy to be a long distance from them - I am a single parent working fulltime and don't have anybody else who could collect in an emergency0 -
[/QUOTE][QUOTE=galvanizersbaby;24932363
I would hope that with a young child in a toilet incident a degree of common sense would prevail but I know from my friend whose son has the wetting probs in the case of the school my children attend she is called in to school to attend to him.
I am fortunate to be within short distance of the school and made sure of it (had the job long before the kids were born and made sure I got them in at the school near my workplace) - if I were to be unfortunate enough to lose my job and have to work elsewhere I would consider moving my children's school as I would not be happy to be a long distance from them - I am a single parent working fulltime and don't have anybody else who could collect in an emergency
Not every parent can be as lucky as you though! In London catchment areas are tiny, literally measured in metres from school to HOME address, so unless you work from home, the chances are that you will be at least half an hour's commute from school if not more.
As for calling parents in, I have a friend with a special needs child who is called in to school for such trivial issues as the child needing some lip balm for their lips, a clean tissue, etc. So schools don't necessarily apply common sense as to what is an emergency necessitating an adult to leave work.
As is often the case, I think nottslass is the voice of sanity on this thread. Interestingly there was one very similar over on the Discussion Time thread last week, which I stopped reading and posting on after a while, because I was so shocked by the number of posters who were OK about the idea of leaving a child in wet pants and trousers at school for prolonged periods of time.0
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