My son has come home from school today with a bad injury to his big toe. Him and some other children were carrying tables and one fell on his foot, his nail is totally black and has lifted off on the side. It has been bleeding since he did it at 2pm, not really badly but when he walks on it it bleeds. He was seen by a first-aider at school who told him his nail would probably come off, I have to agree with them there. It is not broken as he has great movement in it and he says he is in no pain unless someone touches it. Now I know from teaching in the UK that if a child had an injury such as this the school would phone to let us know and they would probably be sent home. No-one contacted us, my son got the bus to my husbands school and told us about it then, surely the school should have let us know. :curse::curse:

I agree with you.
My daughters school ring me just about when mine has a headache.
She fell over on the football ground the other week and grazed her legs, they rang me, and suggested I collect her early as it was hurting her.

It's a character building experience.

its the australian so called "laid back" attitude ie dont give a stuff -she/he'll be right and all that. when my daughter was being bullied and they cut her hair off, the general feeling was to tell her to get over it

It'll probably scar. So he'll be the envy of the rest of the class. Don't wrap him in cotton wool.

Keel

As a teacher of ten years here in the UK I'd have to agree with you that it's pretty ridiculous that you were not contacted, especially as it seems it was the school's fault it happened (by asking him to carry a table?!). In our school we contact parents and if nothing else, allow them to make the decision as to whether they come to collect their child or not. That way, we're covering ourselves and placing the onus on the parent.

I agree that children should not be wrapped in cotton wool, but there are limits, and I'm afraid I'd be just as annoyed as you are, if not more so, with his school!

As the toe is black and the nail lifting I imagine your son was in great pain with it, who cannot remember hurting the toe, very painful so I am surprised they did not ring you.

My children are adults but if anything every happened at school they phoned us. My daughter fell out of a tree, probably cut them them all down these days way too dangerous, they phoned us and we had to take her to the docs. In fact got phoned a bit about her.

I'd partly say they should have rung you but on the other hand, where did the "call the parents" mentality come from? The H&S, big brother United Kingdom.

It's because people are afraid of being sued that there is this incessant need to tell the parents everything! Kids have accidents and it's not necessarily anyone's fault. So he was carrying a table... we used to rearrange the class rooms at the end of every year in preparation for the exams and we all loved being involved in that process. I personally don't see anything wrong with it. A little bit of involvement and physical work never hurt anyone. It's just unfortunate your son was injured.

Personally if it was my daughter who had injured her self such as a superficial graze or bumped her knee or squashed her toe, I wouldn't be upset it they didn't ring me. Assuming of course that she wasn't a toddler but a child who was old enough to deal with situations such as this.

If she had hurt herself more seriously that needed medical assistance then I would want them to ring me but otherwise if she is happy, as in grown up enough to just get on with things then why should people make a fuss of her?

When I was in school it was pretty much get on with it unless you were sick (poorly sick) and needed to go home.

All apart of life experiences in my view and kids need to learn to cope without you.

Is it not our own needs as a parent that require we be involved in everything no matter how minor?

Anyway, that's just my view. Sorry if you don't agree.

I am really sorry to hear that your child was bullied, but as a teacher and having worked in the the childcare and teaching profession in Australia for 10 years I find your comment quite offensive. Without fail I will ring a parent if a child in my care is hurt, as would most teachers. To be honest a lot of parents I have called have been cross with me to have been 'bothered' at work because of their child being ill or hurt. This could be why some teachers don't want to ring parents unless the injury is more serious.

Well put!

I do hope your son recovers soon though, bless him

What is puzzling, is that if it is the "Australian" mentality, as you say, how come many schools do ring when there are problems ?

One or two incidents that are totally wrong, do not, or should not, be used to tar an entire country.

Exactly!

I am sorry your daughter had this experience but it is not indicative of all australian schools. I had a bullying experience in Term 3 with my eldest and it was swiftly dealt with and it stopped.

Back to the OP, as a School Officer I would call a parent in this instance to inform them of the injury. It sounds like the injury was dealt with in an appropriate manner but a phone call to the parent should have been made.

That sucks, bullying is definitely a problem - as it is in the UK. There have been horrific stories about bullying from over there.

I am not basing my judgement on one or two incidents - I am basing them on my general experiences whilst living in Australia for 3 plus years.

Australia is generally thought of as a "laid back" place and Australians love to portray themselve as such. My experience is that this laid backness manifests itself as a "couldn't care less attitude" and I have found Australians to be generally less concerned for the welfare of others unless it is something that impacts directly upon them. This is my experience of living here which may be different to others experiences of living here - hence we will have different opinions. At the end of the day, only our own experiences can determine how we feel about a place.