My 6yo came home from school with a goose egg on his head, no note or call. WWYD?

[Meeko5]

Story is: he was running around with friends at recess and wasn't looking, turned just in time to slam his forehead into a metal pole of the swingset. Going to be a nasty bruise tomorrow, poor kid. Says his friend ran to get the teacher and she checked him over, but never was sent to the school nurse or was given any ice for the giant swollen lump. He says he didn't lose consciousness, but I question whether he would truly know if he did or not at his age. I'm a nurse, so of course I know the symptoms of concussion and have been keeping a close eye on him and he seems to be ok.

That said, would you expect notification from the school that there was an incident? I was shocked to hear the story from my son, and not have been called or at least a note home in his backpack. But, this is our first incident at school so I don't really have a basis for what to expect in this situation. I certainly don't expect to be notified of every little thing that happens, but a potential concussion scenario seems serious enough to warrant a call to parents, right? If you would contact the school - how do you go about handling it? A call? A note? go right to the teacher?

Thanks

 

[bushdianee]

At my school any head injury is cause for a call home. The nurse or office aide does a check of eyes, etc. before calling. But if the child isn't to the nurse... I always send a child to the office if I'm told they hit their head at recess or in P.E. especially if there is a bump or bruise.

 

[cjbcam]

I would expect a call home but am not surprised that they didn't. When my now 10 year old was in kindergarten her elbow got dislocated and broke and I never got a call. I knew the second I seen her that her arm was dislocated. The school was sure concerned after the fact when I called and was angry.
I would call and let the school know you are not impressed and if it happens again you would like a call

 

[Disneylover99]

He should have had ice and received a phone call home. I would definitely call the school or write a note.

 

[fly girl]

I'm stunned the teacher didn't send him to the nurse. Good grief my injury prone kid is sent frequently for nothing incidents as a precaution.

I think a call or note would've been warranted so you could monitor the situation. That's basic to me. And yet, he didn't go to the nurse.

Catch 22.

I would send an email to the teacher asking about what happened. Raise your legitimate concern for not being privy to a head injury. (make sure it was his teacher, ours rotate recess duty).

 

[Blueeyes101817]

Im surprised you did not get a call. I'm a Kindergarten teacher and I always send to the nurse...especially with a bump on the head! Glad he is okay though!

 

[tazdev3225]

When mu daughter was in kindergarten, years ago, she was tripped and fell face first into the blackboard. A friend was volunteering in the class that day and asked the teacher why I wasn't being notified. The teacher and principal both said it could wait an hour until dismissal when I picked her up. Thankfully the friend knew I worked at dismissal and insisted I be called. The teacher just said she had a bloody nose. I went right to the school to find my daughter vomiting in the rest room and the "bloody nose" was from a huge gash on the bridge of her nose. An ER visit, 4 stitches and diagnosis of concussion and broken nose several hours later had me ready to kill someone. The principal the next day told me I over reacted. She got over reaction when I flipped out.

I would at least ask the teacher what the circumstances were and why it didn't warrant at least a note in the schoolbag.

 

[MrsDuck]

I'm a high school teacher and I can't understand why the teacher didn't send him to the nurse - even if it was just to cover her own butt by having the accident documented and assessed by the nurse. Any head injury is concerning to me.

I'd email the teacher, ask what happened, and inquire about the notification policy at the school.

Hope your little guy's doing okay!

 

[RitaE]

I would want to know why the school nurse wasn't consulted. My son had a bump on the head a couple of years ago and they didn't even wait until I had been called before they were transporting to the hospital and it wasn't really anything, it barely even grew a bump. The ER scanned and observed for a couple of hours and then sent him home.

 

[msjprincess]

At my kids' schools any time they get hit in the head they are sent to the nurse and the nurse calls home.

 

[Meeko5]

Thanks for the responses - I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overreacting. My fear for not reporting it is that it happens to some other kid, who doesn't have a nurse at home to monitor. I would feel bad if something serious happened to another child and I could have potentially prevented it by not ignoring their lack of concern.

I'll send an email to his teacher just asking that any head injuries be reported to me and the nurse right away. I hate rocking the boat with a new teacher this early in the year, but not worth it in this case!

 

[loves to dive]

The joys of having little boys, frankly I would have been surprised had mine not come home with some sort of bump, bruise, black eye or cut. May be because he always had them but I never got a call, mind you I got plenty for other things but not injuries. It may depend on the school's policy, time or day or it might not have looked as bad at the time.

 

[cabanafrau]

Bonk to the noggin merits a call to the parent in my book, particularly as we learn more about the dangers of concussions. I'm far from requiring contact for every little papercut, but knocked in the head is important in my book.

 

[Tiffylv]

.

 

[DisneyOma]

Could it be that it took some time for the bump to appear? If it had just happened, the teacher might not have seen anything, and thought he hadn't really hit the pole all that hard?

 

[Meeko5]

Could it be that it took some time for the bump to appear? If it had just happened, the teacher might not have seen anything, and thought he hadn't really hit the pole all that hard?

That is definitely a possibility - and my kid has a terrible sense of time so I don't even understand which recess it happened at haha

I sent her an email nicely asking her to keep a close eye on him at school tomorrow since concussion symptoms can appear a day or two later. I have to give her the benefit of the doubt since from what he says, she didn't witness it happening so there's no way for her to know just how hard he hit it (Though by the time he got off the bus, you couldn't have missed that bump!).

 

[Disneylover99]

I noticed everyone is talking about school nurses. Is it common to have school nurses in the States? I teach in Toronto and I don't think there have been any school nurses employed by our Board since the mid 70's. We deal with all injuries ourselves.

 

[Mizzoufan]

Could it have happend on the bus?

 

[msjprincess]

I noticed everyone is talking about school nurses. Is it common to have school nurses in the States? I teach in Toronto and I don't think there have been any school nurses employed by our Board since the mid 70's. We deal with all injuries ourselves.

All of the public schools where I live have full time nurses.

 

[Meeko5]

I noticed everyone is talking about school nurses. Is it common to have school nurses in the States? I teach in Toronto and I don't think there have been any school nurses employed by our Board since the mid 70's. We deal with all injuries ourselves.

I dont know if there are set regulations, but our school (public) has a nurse that spends time between the 3 elementary schools. So she isn't even on site all the time.

ETA: Maybe why he didn't get sent to the nurse? This thought literally JUST dawned on me. Sheesh I'm tired.