Teachers leave 5 year old stranded in tree

Well, it's official. The country's gone mad I've posted a couple of daft stories recently, but this one is hard to beat.

Here is a case of a little boy, aged 5, who climbed a tree on premises of his school. Teachers did not rescue him for health and safety reasons. Instead they went into the building to observe him so that none of their actions distracted him and resulting in him falling out of the tree.

He'd been up there for about half an hour when a female passer-by rescued him and took him back to the school.

Consequently, she was reported to the police for trespass.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

A boy of five was left stranded in a tree at school because of a bizarre health and safety policy - which banned teachers from helping him down.
The mischievous pupil climbed the 20ft tree at the end of morning break and refused to come down.
But instead of helping him, staff followed guidelines and retreated inside the school building to ‘observe from a distance’ so the child would not get ‘distracted and fall’.
The boy was only rescued when passer-by Kim Barrett, 38, noticed the child and helped him down herself.

But instead of being thanked for her actions by the headteacher of the Manor School in Melksham, Wiltshire, she was reported to the police for trespassing.
Miss Barrett, who lives in Melksham with her six-year-old daughter who attends a different school, said she is ‘surprised’ and ‘shocked’ by the school's policy.
She said: ‘I stopped to ask him if he was OK, and it became clear that he'd been there since the end of playtime, which had been around half an hour earlier.
‘I was immediately concerned. I walked over to the school with the boy and was met by the associate head.
‘He didn't appear at all concerned, and was actually very patronising, patting me on the arm and asking me “what do you expect me to do, exactly, dear?”
‘When I said I thought it was a serious incident, he then said his only concern was me trespassing.
‘I was initially surprised that no one appeared to have missed this boy, no one could have known where he was because they could not have seen him from the school, and I was shocked at the way I was dealt with.’
The incident occurred on the morning of March 1 as Miss Barrett was walking home past the side entrance of 213-pupil The Manor Church of England Primary School.
She claims that she walked around to the front of the school, onto the playing field and then helped the schoolboy down before taking him back to his class.
But the school alleges that she ‘approached the school in an inappropriate way’ and asked her to leave the premises after she got into a row with staff over the boy's welfare.
Later that evening a letter from headteacher Beverley Martin was posted through Miss Barrett’s door, explaining that the school had contacted police about the incident.
The next morning she was visited by a PCSO who told her she had committed a trespassing offence by helping the young schoolboy down from the tree.
Miss Barrett said: ‘I felt really angry because I felt I had saved the school and this boy from something that could have been far worse, and that instead of thanking me I was under investigation.
‘It was ridiculous. He was all on his own, there was no one near him and you couldn't see the school buildings from where he was.
‘Not only was he at least 6ft off the ground, but someone taller than me could easily have reached in from the pavement and plucked him off the branch.’
Headteacher Beverley Martin confirmed that the school's policy prevents staff going to the aid of children who have climbed trees.
She said: ‘The safety of our pupils is our priority and we would like to make it clear that this child was being observed at all times during this very short incident.
‘Like other schools whose premises include wooded areas, our policy when a child climbs a tree, is for staff to observe the situation from a distance so the child does not get distracted and fall.
‘We would strongly urge members of the public not to climb over a padlocked gate to approach children as their motives are not clear to staff.
‘To protect children, we cannot assume that people who enter the school grounds without permission have innocent intentions and must act accordingly.
‘If people are concerned about a child's welfare then they should go to the reception and alert a member of staff, who will be happy to help.
‘I am sure these expectations are the same in every school and are centred on children's wellbeing.’
A letter sent to Miss Barrett by Wiltshire Council added: ‘You may well have acted initially out of concern for the safety of the child but any such concerns should have been raised with a member of staff.
‘You subsequently behaved in a verbally aggressive manner to a member of staff.’

To be serious, what is the point of telling this woman that she should have reported this matter to a member of staff to deal with. They were all inside the building doing nothing to help.

They've accused her of being verbally aggressive. I don't know what she said, but I imagine many people would have had a few words to say about the way this little boy was left in a tree with no-one to assist him.

And no, it's not just in the Daily Mail. The Sun ran the story too:

www.thesun.co.uk...

[edit on 24-3-2010 by berenike]

reply to post by berenike


Flagged as it reminds me how ridiculous our schools are in the UK far too old fashioned in my opinion, it's almost like the old saying "nice guys (and gals) finish last. X

reply to post by berenike


LoL that poor lady, She did the right thing and it seems she had no ill intentions toward the child... Simply because she promptly handed the child over to authorities... What a queer world this is becoming.

Goodness how crazy!

I know when i was young if i had of got stuck up a tree my teacher would have shook it and made me fall out! lol
Then tell me off for being up there in the first place, (Gosh im feeling old being able to moan about such things)

Health and safety have gone absolutly bonkers in the UK, My Grandmother is wheelchair bound and had a fall, They had to send 3 ambulances to have the right amount of people to pick her up from the floor as they "per weight" needed 4 people...

What happened to just whipping them up! There was at least 2 strong men standing there + neighbours who where more than willing to assist, But alas! they where not even allowed,

She suffered a broken leg but my issue was she was on that floor for at least an hour!! where she could have been lifted within minutes and taken to hospital right away resulting in a heck of allot less pain.

Funny that they Expect me myself to lift and care for her at all other times alone...



[edit on 24-3-2010 by asala]

I read this article this morning. I cant believe its illegal too help a child who's in danger. I blame the no win no fee lawyers. who will sue anyone for the slightest thing. This is why we have over the top health and safety laws which cause more harm than good. Like that kid who drowned while two pcso's look on and did nothing. anyway good for her for showing some common sense.

reply to post by berenike


What a completely bizarre story!

I thought the fact they left him there, were observing from a window, and had a policy not to help him was absurd. Then the woman who saved him was charged with trespassing?

I don't know whether to , :shk:, or .

RIP, Common Sense.

Yup, it's official the nutters have taken over the nut house!

I would have done exactly the same thing this woman did in her position.

BTW OP, it's classed as bad form to post the entire article on here, you're only supposed to put a clip to show the gist and then post a link to the article for more info.

Just a little friendly advice mate.

P.S.
Did you really try to defend the Daily Mail by quoting the Sun as a source? I don't know which one is less reliable!

reply to post by asala


That is so strange what happened to your grandmother. Something similar happened over here when my grandmother was in the hospital. I was FURIOUS to think of my poor little grandmother being that way.

Basically, they dropped her while transferring her from bed to bed. She was laying crumpled on the floor while they were debating procedure on how to pick her up. She is a bastion of common sense in a crazy world and stoically asked, 'Can you dimwits get me a pillow to rest my head while you resort to your manuals on how to get me back up!'

:shk:

She told me about it once she had already been released but if I had been there when that happened, I would have gone ballistic.

Originally posted by nik1halo
n.

BTW OP, it's classed as bad form to post the entire article on here, you're only supposed to put a clip to show the gist and then post a link to the article for more info.

Just a little friendly advice mate.

I started to quote articles in full when I read a few posts from people saying that they had no time to follow links.

I thought it would help people who just 'poke their noses' in when they are at work, or school or the library.

And yes, I did defend the Daily Mail by using the Sun as a source

Originally posted by berenike
www.dailymail.co.uk...

The Manor Church of England Primary School.

Need I say any more?

someone give me the phone number to call to the people involved...all of them except the nice lady who rescued. there's a speech i have for them.! yezz, a little something i need to let them hear. but how do you spell inbred ingrates?

reply to post by GBP/JPY


I was having a little trouble spelling spineless and irresponsible

My hope is that sometime in the near future those teachers (jobsworths) responcible, and whoever made up those stupid rules themselfs end up stuck somewhere and need help, say on the edge of a cliff, a high rise flat during a fire ... or some other situation where THEY need rescuing, so that the rescuers can all just back away into a building and watch their terror from safely behind a window... just so they have a taste of their own medcine!

This proves my point of the collectivist society.

No, the boy has to be left there because something might happen to the collective.

I am amazed they did not call the Fire Dept to get the kid out of the tree.

I mean, REALLY, do you want to send your children to schools like this?

.................I cannot even fathom of the idiocy in our world anymore.

[edit on 3/24/2010 by endisnighe]

WTF is the matter with people over in the UK!?!?

I posted about 6 years ago about the approaching police state in the UK - the cameras, the laws about taking photos in public, the stupid wheelie-bin controversies etc and I was absolutely cooked and lambasted by people from the UK.

Lately it has been placing children on "Hate-crimes" lists for acting like children in the schoolyard. Yobs taunting a man to his death. Massive increases in street crime and NOW, a woman arrested for helping a child in distress!!!

Sadly, I don't see any public outrage - AT ALL! Americans were mocked, and continue to be, all around the world for our tea parties, people standing up for their rights in town hall meetings, the formation of our militias and the desire for the general public to arm themselves.

I posit that America is going to be the LAST place on the planet to fight for individual rights and freedom. It is apparent that the people of the UK have been assimilated into the collective and have done so willingly. In fact, this is evident throughout much of Europe save a few pockets of resistence like Iceland. Australia hasn't been far behind with their fairly recent surrender of gun rights and increased censorship. Most (formerly) first world countries have happily surrendered themselves to the New World Order with nary a fight nor whimper.

Back to the OP... I am hopeful that I am DEAD wrong in my assessment, but we shall see. Will the people of the UK step up to this woman's defense? Will the people of the UK finally say "ENOUGH!" and reel in Parliament and their local councils? My God, people, this is the beginning of an epic battle for your souls! Will you fight or will you simply continue to incrementally surrender yourselves to the collective???

reply to post by endisnighe


The teachers might even have called his parents so they could get him out of the tree, but it's not suggested in the article that they thought of that.

kozmo You're right and it's actually terrifying.


[edit on 24-3-2010 by berenike]

It's interesting how this played out:

Kid (who doesn't 'follow') Goes up a tree.

Teachers (who 'follow') Sit and just watch, because of these insane rules they *must* follow, no matter what

Woman (who also doesn't 'follow') rescues kid, gets in it deep by EVERYONE, without so much as one person coming to her defense (There- not on ATS).

Now- I have a couple questions. How did the UK end up in this state of 'social programming'? How can the majority follow rules like this, blindly, completely, and without question? How can someone, who has an ounce of obvious common sense be put thru this? What the hell is wrong with the rest of you, that you haven't revolted mightily before this point? It's pretty freaking obvious, that isn't 'health', OR 'safety'- It's social programming designed to keep the stupid from making any decisions- while outing those who can and will think for themselves- and punishing them for using their heads.

You think it's bad now, 2 generations from now, There wont be a single 'thinking' person left- Those that DO think, are going to be hunted down, I can bet you anything!

reply to post by wylekat


That is why I used references of "Assimilation" and "Collective" in my post above - this is the freaking Borg!!!

People are not being programmed, they are being de-programmed. De-programmed to have ZERO compassion for one another, de-programmed not to use their innate common sense. De-programmed to ensure that they are convinced that they have neither the intelligence or authority to think for themselves and do what is right. That is DE-PROGRAMMING because most human beings are born with an innate sense of community and it is being systematically wiped out!

reply to post by kozmo


You'll get no arguments from me.

Second line, it's filler, tho.

damn that was messed up! Teachers ARE supposed to be looking out the welfare being of kids when at school, dont ya think? How arrogent lifeless and lame that was, leaving him up thier. If i was the parents, ide be getting that kid moved to another school,and report the teachers to schoolboard, so theirs at least existing documentation of thier poor performance, incase they ever try to get another job at another school or somewhere...leave a profiled paper trail of ther epic failure.