Hi all...new to this. My daughter has started P1 here in Scotland and just started all day last week. She does have an auxiliary in the mornings - this had to be argued because the school "forgot" she was registered disabled and had informed me that if the school couldn't cope with her tripping up etc then she'd be excluded from school. This statement was soon altered!
She has been coming home from school with her knees bandaged up as she'd taken a fall in the playground. The school have a "buddy" system - an older child in the school looks after a few children at break etc. On Friday I received a call from school just after lunch to say she'd taken a fall and could I pick her up. I went down to school (all of a 3 minute drive) to find they were having a fire drill and my daughter being carried out in her teachers arms!!
School could not tell me what had happened but my daughter informed me that her buddy had helped her up a climbing frame and lost her grip......thus her falling to the ground.
I tool her to A&E and found she had a broken leg....a cast is on now for 4 weeks....I hope school will still accept her in with her cast as I don't want her to miss the early years letter forming etc.

Just wondered if anyone else has had a problem with supervision and would appreciate any comment on the matter raised.

Hi there

My son has just started year 1 and has full time 1-1 support all day at school. This includes break times and lunch time. He has a dinner lady designated to being with him or very near to him at all times...this is incuded in his statement, perhaps you could try for the same??

Wish you luck and I hope her leg is feeling better soon

Kate

hiya charlottes dad, i hope that charlotte is ok and isnt in too much pain with her leg..
i am quite shocked really that an older pupil is put in charge of your daughter when she does have some mobility issues, my daughter eve has a statment that has 1-1 support for the whole day and a dinner lady to look after at lunchtimes, i was wondering if your daughter could benefit from 1-1 care through the lunch hour as that is where she will need most supervision as she can obviously do ok for herself in the classroom its just at break times when she is un-supervised that she seems to have a problem...
maybe you can speak to the school, and ask if they can reccomend what you do from here and whether you contact the LEA for a bit of advice too, i would also ask the school if they will be ok with her coming back to school with her cast on if not ask them to send some of the jolly phonics things home for you to practice her word formations...
hope you can sort this out...
kate xxx

Thanks for that Kate...been to the school today and they told me they think she fell just under 2 foot....she still broke her leg tho!! They say they have 6 people in the large play area looking after the kids.....she now spends lunch in the classroom...I took in her Mclaren buggy today to help move her about....

Hi charlotte's dad (what is your name?)
i am also in scotland and my daughter done P1 last year,there was a staff member in the playground supervising all the time, i am shocked they expect a young child to look after your daughter,i would take this up with the head teacher and if you get no joy there contact the educational psychologist,it is totally unacceptable for a child with special needs to be left with no adult supervision in the playground.i would be absolutely furious if something like this happened to my daughter.do you have her IEP?does it say supervision on it?
good luck, hope you get some answers.
keep us posted.
evelynxoxo

Hi

my daughter is 5 and the playground has always been of concern to me as she does come home sometimes with raw knees.

The school did a risk assessment when she first started school to look at her movement around the classroom and the playground. She is also supposed to have someone designated to keep an eye on her at lunchtimes in the playground and also to make sure she can undo her lunchbox etc.

I would ask the school if they carried out a risk assessment on your daughter and its results. I think their insurers would need this! I would be very concerned that an older child is given so much responsibility under their buddy system as this puts a lot of pressure on the older child who probably has no appreciation of what your daughter can and can't do.

Dare i say it i would consider suing the schools' insurers as it might make the lea provide better care in the future as they have a duty of care to your child. Contact ipsea.co.uk for legal advice on this.

- That sounds a pretty dire situation, and apart from your poor daughter and her broken leg - how awful for the buddy who couldn't stop her falling! Personally I feel that is far too much responsibility for another child - it is one thing to have a "buddy" in the way of an older freind to show you the ropes at school etc but to actually be what amounts to a personal assistant/carer is a whole different ball game!

Sorry but do not know too much about the Scottish Record of Need system but in England a statement of special educational need should detail every need a child has which is outside the "normal" expected of a school age child. This should include not just educational classroom need but also the need for supervision and support at break and lunch time (if it is needed), any additional equipment and specialist input such as speech therpay, physio, occupational therapy etc. The school should also have had a moving and handling risk assessmwent done too specifically in relation to your daughters needs.

This might all sound like overkill and it is true that some mainstream school baulk at this and try to avoid having any disabled kids! (I would say then that they are not going to be a very good school for a disabled kids cos of attitude so look for another! - if possible) But if it is done properly (ie legally - many LEAs write illegally vague statmenmts and even then do not actually implement them...) it can and does work.

My 8 year old son has athetoid CP, no speech, uses power chair and walker plus standing frame, can't self feed etc etc but is doing well in our local junior school with full time support. He does have freedom to roam in his chair or walker at breaktimes but there is always and adult on the look out!

Hey Guys, thanks for the replies. I went straight into school yesterday (Tues) as Monday was a holiday here. The head was taken by surprise as he didn't even know she'd falled...let alone broken a leg. He did an immediate investigation and Charlotte was allowed into school...had to take her Mclaren buggy so they could transport her. She was apparently being guided by her buddy along a beam and the buddy lost grip na dwent to try to catch her....oops too late. She fell around 2 feet - enough to break bones especially when you're not too stable!
It just so happened that I'd emailed the area education officer and he arrived that same day at school. He has reported it to the HSE (health and safety) and school tell me that they are informed by the council (Aberdeenshire) that they should have 3 people on duty at lunch - along with the head they have 7! And not one saw anything! I do feel for the buddy - she is distraught but didn't really know about Charlotte's CP as it really isn't obvious. I did show the head the letter from Charlotte's paedritician saying that lunchtime care is recommended......to which he said if only they could afford it.
It was bad enough when she came home on the first day with bandages on her raw knees.....but the cast is worse! Luckily Charlotte is so used to having splints etc (following recent Botox) she just can't understand what all the fuss is about.....Mum is on holiday in Oz and isn't too chuffed!!

Paul

Sorry to labour the point but I would think very seriously about allowing either of my children to attend a school where a Head was not immediately made aware of a serious accident. Apart from anything else do they not have an accident book and a H&S procedure?
I hope you can get this resolved and I know what you mean about your daughter not actually being that bothered! My son usually doesn't see what all the fuss is about! - however he will when he's old enough to understand all the implications!

Hi Paul, my son is now in p7 in school with Scotland and similar to some of the other messages you have been receiving his disability isn't always immediatley obvious but he has supervision in the playground canteen etc. Reading your replies I'm afraid I have be really negative and say record of needs etc aside... the attitude of your school stinks and trust me when I say is not typical, I'd really suggest you take some time to visit some of the other schools in the area, there are so many fantastic headteachers out there who would be more than happy to put Charlottes needs first. Also, my heart goes out to the poor buddy, although it sounds more like a free babysitting service the school have in place rather than a buddy system!

hiya paul, glad charlotte back in school and shes doing ok, just wanted to flag up something that you said, has charlotte got a statment of educational needs?, its just that most schools cant afford extra care for pupils but the local education authority would have to listen to doctors reccomendations and provide supervised breaktimes for charlotte, i think you should contact the LEA and ask them about starting the statementing process, have the school got a senco (special educational needs co-ordinating officer) as they will have all the relevant info for you...
let us know how you get on
kate xxx

Hi Kate,

Yes Charlotte does have her statement....I know it was all changed up here recently. I have emailed the council regarding the issue so I'll wait for a reply...they break up next week for 2 weeks for the "tattie holidays" so hopefully that gives us a wee bit extra time.
She was back in hosp today as she's decided its great to bum shuffle again as she did until she walked at 3 years. It had gone soft at the ankle and heal....she's now got a lovely pink cast!!!

Cheers all....keep your comments coming