Child unwell at school and no one noticed

pmlindyloo

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!

As an ex primary teacher I absolutely agree with this, particularly the part about many very young children getting 'out of sorts' during hot weather and maybe a different routine because the teacher was assessing (and probably stressed - don't get me started on that )

Having said that, of course someone should have noticed.

But..... haven't we all made mistakes about our own children? Thought there was nothing wrong and there was!

Your daughter's teacher has a 'family of 27' so mistakes can be made.

I am always amazed that teachers are viewed as some kind of 'super human beings'. They aren't. Just the same as everyone else.

Also, try to see this from the other side of the coin. Mums always complained to me when I sent a child home that they were running around with nothing wrong with them in a matter of minutes. Sometimes you just can't win.

Yes, go in and have a word with the teacher - just remind her that you would like to be called when she complains of feeling unwell/could someone please take her temperature? because of the possibility of her 'fitting'. They can always telephone you and you can make the judgement of whether she should come home.

The teacher, TA and dinner lady will feel awful, I am sure, that this has happened but I do not think this warrants an 'all guns blazing approach.'

susancs

OP, I do sympathise with your concerns and like others have said would speak to your child's teacher. Rather than making a complaint, as you sound like a very nice, caring Mum, I think maybe you could approach your discussion with the teacher in that way. The adults mis-read the situation on this occassion and maybe you could just let the teacher know that your daughter had a high temperature when you picked up from school, which you realise she was unaware of. You could maybe then explain that your daughter's temperature goes up very quickly and she can have convulsions and as this is the case you would be grateful if they could call you if she complains of being ill, as she will need medication to bring down her temperature ASAP.

milliebear00001

I haven't read all the posts so apologies if I am simply repeating stuff, but as a primary teacher, I thought I'd add my two pennorth.

Generally, if a child presents as 'feeling ill', then I would do what I do with my own kids: look at them, feel their forehead, tell them to take off jumper, sit by window, have a drink of water etc etc. I would observe them for a bit, maybe get them to go out and get some fresh air at playtime/see if they can eat some lunch. A genuinely ill child will be fairly obvious unless they are an extremely accomplished actor (and I have had a few of those too). If it's close to the end of the day, I probably wouldn't bother calling home.

The OP's child may not have seemed that ill at school. My own children's temps fluctuate wildly when they're coming down with something. Perhaps she didn't seem that hot when she complained? Perhaps her temp only really shot up towards the end of the day?

I don't want a genuinely sick child in my classroom - I don't know any teacher who does. However, I find it hard to believe that there are any schools where all a child has to do to get us to call mum out to collect them, is make a complaint of feeling ill. If that were the case, we'd never have some children in! Teachers make a judgement call. We use our knowledge of the child and our instincts about illness. We don't always get it right I'm sure. A father once berated me for not calling him as soon as his son told me he 'felt sick'. I offered to do so from then on, everytime, and he backtracked pretty quickly!