Child unwell at school and no one noticed

marisco_2

faerie~spangles wrote: »

In response:
Yes I am a mum and a grandmother.
Yes I have seen my child have fits.
Yes I have sent my kid to school healthy and picked them up later and they have been unwell with a raging temperature.
Yes I have watched my daughter go through the recuperation of operations and felt helpless.
Yes I have felt terrible guilt when picking them up from school as they were clearly unwell despite being ok when I dropped them off.
Yes I do know what 'duty of care' means.

So despite claiming all the above, you are unable to show any empathy or compassion to the OP. You dont feel the need to assuage the mums feelings. Interesting.

Your posts on this thread have made it very unpleasant to read.

System

Reminds me of a phone call i had from my sons mobile about 12 months ago. 'Mom, i'm ill' he moaned. The worst bit about it was that he was in lesson, hidden behing a stack of text books on his desk.

He wasnt keen on telling the teacher he was ill so i had to phone the school and i collected him. When he got back he got a telling off for using his phone in lessons.:D

I'll remind him of that phone call when he is older... probably tell his children too. :D

apesxx

I remember being in yr 5 at school and trying to tell my teacher about 5 times that I had a headache and didn't feel well. The teacher ignored me and sent me back to my seat and told me to be quiet. To bad 30 mins later I puked all over my desk and she had to clean it up she did apologise tho and my mum was swiftly called.
Haven't read all the replies OP but I think you are right to be annoyed and I would be asking her teachers why she was ignored, especially with her condition x teachers at DD's school are fab, most of the time they ring right away, there was just once when she became unwel 20 mins from end of school and they just looked after her til home time x

ruby-roo_2

dizziblonde wrote: »

Could also be what used to drive me consistently barmy when I had my last class - I'd send a child who I knew not to be a habitual malingerer and was looking green at the gils to the office to get someone to call home (no phone in class, no ability to leave the classroom, on yard duty at break so not possible for me to do it then) and depending on if the resident battleaxe (no good other word to describe this wretched woman who'd do anything to avoid work interfering with her ebay habit) was in the office or one of the more cooperative staff... child would get bounced straight back to me with a "Mrs X says I'm not ill enough to go home and just to sit quietly in the classroom"... and Mrs X would refuse to call home for the entire duration of the day.

And these were obviously ill, clearly in danger of upchuck children - but the witch wouldn't ring home because it would take 5 minutes effort from her.

Of course then the parents would come in cheesed off and wanting blood - and funnily she'd happily wave them alllll down to the classroom to shred the teacher who'd spent most of the morning trying to get the ill child sent home! Professionalism prevented us from sending the irate parent straight back up to the office - but boy oh boy did I winge about it to the head on numerous occasions but this woman was untouchable - for she was the only one who knew where the key to the stationery cupboard was hidden!

Assuming you are being serious, the contents of a stationery cupboard, are more important at the school where you teach than a childs health. The only reason why an incompetent and lazy member of office staff, who regularly ignored the needs of ill children, wasn't questioned about her professionalism.

Then schools wonder why more and more parents have absolutely no faith in them being able to care for their children properly.

faerie~spangles

Stephb1986 wrote: »

So what your saying is that if the child had a fit it still wouldn't be the teachers fault for not ringing her mum to come and collect her??

<snipped>

The little one DID NOT have a fit.

There's no (what if?) to be discussed.

dizziblonde

ruby-roo wrote: »

Assuming you are being serious, the contents of a stationery cupboard, are more important at the school where you teach than a childs health. The only reason why an incompetent and lazy member of office staff, who regularly ignored the needs of ill children, wasn't questioned about her professionalism.

Then schools wonder why more and more parents have absolutely no faith in them being able to care for their children properly.

Read the post CAREFULLY.

The school where I USED to teach. One reason I quit was the fact I simply couldn't be bothered to do this wretched woman's job any longer in terms of stuff that she'd offloaded onto teaching staff that shouldn't have been their job to do and her willingness to do crappy stuff that annoyed parents (like refusing to ring home) and then offloading the flack-taking onto the teaching staff as well.

But nope - let's just go off on a rant because someone's once admitted to being a teacher so they must deserve it mustn't they? Even if they no longer work at a school with crappy systems - still must be shouted at and moaned at - just purely for their existence.

grass_is_greener

faerie~spangles wrote: »

The little one DID NOT have a fit.

There's no (what if?) to be discussed.

Her fits are PREVENTABLE with good control of her temperature, the school is aware of this. When i picked her up, her temperature wasn't just high, it was very high. It doesn't go that high in the space of the 10 minutes it takes to get home and given that she didnt eat any lunch and was crying on coming out of school, it would indicate she was unwell there for a few hours. My daughter has been in hospital this year with fitting induced by pyrexia, so the school ARE aware that she is at risk.
She was ill at school and was either ignored or not noticed, neither of these I find particularly acceptable (especially when she says she told two teachers) and I will be speaking to the school today, if only to reiterate the importance of temperature control. I am not accusing them of anything but my daughters future health is my main concern. I hope she will grow out of this and the evidence indicates she probably will, but until that time, i would like the staff to be extra vigilant with her. I don't expect them to treat her, but I do hope they would contact me if they suspected she was ill. A simple check of her temperature is all they would need to do.

ruby-roo_2

dizziblonde wrote: »

Read the post CAREFULLY.

The school where I USED to teach. One reason I quit was the fact I simply couldn't be bothered to do this wretched woman's job any longer in terms of stuff that she'd offloaded onto teaching staff that shouldn't have been their job to do and her willingness to do crappy stuff that annoyed parents (like refusing to ring home) and then offloading the flack-taking onto the teaching staff as well.

But nope - let's just go off on a rant because someone's once admitted to being a teacher so they must deserve it mustn't they? Even if they no longer work at a school with crappy systems - still must be shouted at and moaned at - just purely for their existence.

Why the need to write the word carefully in capital letters as if shouting at me. Is that how you address things with the children you teach as well.

It is you who misread things not me. I was not having a dig at you at all. I actually respected what you were saying. It is the schools system where you used to work that I think was appalling. The fact that a teacher raised so many concerns with the head about a member of staff who shouldn't be in the job because they were so inept. Something I am sure you would agree with, no?

Yet you chose to wipe the floor with me and respond in a completely rude and unecessary manner. This is one of the many reasons why I do not have any respect whatsoever for the teaching proffession. If you can fly off the handle so quickly and get it so wrong with an adult what exactly are you like with children?

Having read your response to me I seriously hope you are not one of the teachers at my childrens school. I would not want someone like you teaching my children. I have doubts that you would be actually. My kids school has far higher standards than you could meet.

Take that however you like.

Ginger_Poodle

Is this not all taking a bit of a turn for the unnecessary?

OP - I feel for you. My daughter had a febrile convulsion and it was the worst day of my life (and I have had a few bad ones!). Once they have one they are statistically more likely to have them again so, like you, I am hyper concious of high temperatures.

If we are going for sweeping generalisations, I do have respect for the teaching profession and am hopeful that many/most want the best for the children they teach. And they are human beings too, and it is in our nature to care for each other (well, most of the time). In your position I would discuss my concerns, face to face if possible, with the main class teacher. And a combination of Calpol & Ibuprofen works a treat!

daisiegg

Goodness - this has all got a bit nasty!

I'm a secondary teacher so not too sure about how it works in a primary school, but if a child I'm teaching tells me they don't feel well, I ask what she wants to do - be it go to the toilet, get a drink, sit with her head on the desk, sit in the corridor where it's cooler, or go to the office and ask to get sent home. Whatever she says she needs - I let her do, with a bit of hug and sympathy (except not an actual hug! as we are not allowed to do that! but perhaps a pat on the shoulder and a sympathetic look...) Quite often they do get sent back to class as they are deemed not ill enough to go home - but that's not my decision to make, and I respect that they are telling me the truth about how they feel (even if they might not be - you can't treat a child like a liar with no evidence of it).

Anyway in the case of the OP, I'd say definitely speak to the teacher. As others have said, she'll probably feel terrible for not realising the child was so poorly. I can also sympathise with the teacher in that you probably do get a lot of whiny children in a primary classroom when it's almost the end of half term and it's hot and they're tired...so it might be hard to differentiate who is truly ill and who is just tired and hot and fed up. But she should definitely be told - in a non confrontational, non judgemental way! - what had really happened, so she knows to keep a closer eye on the OP's child in future. I'm sure if it's approached properly, there's no reason for her to feel negative at all towards the OP - in fact, as others have said, parents who deal with things in a calm and balanced way get a lot of respect from teachers!

OP, I hope your little girl is feeling much better today and that she is well enough to enjoy a lovely half term!