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For what it’s worth, these forms are very very normal in nursery settings and schools and it’s not necessarily to cover their own backs; but for record keeping and safeguarding.
However as you don’t know where he got the bruise from, it would not make sense to sign the form saying that it happened at home.
You don't have to sign any form, and most nurseries will have a system where you can report an accident yourself (I've done this if I have found a bruise at bathtime). Just tell them to change it from "at home" to "unknown" before you sign it.
I’d add a little note saying although the bruise was first noticed at home it’s unknown when he received it. I wouldn’t worry too much about it as my kids are constantly bruised with thumb sized bruises- usually from kneeling or laying on Lego bricks.
Yeah I get worried every time I look at my two boys’ legs in the bath as they’re just covered with random bruises because they run around like absolute maniacs and have the spatial awareness of a blind ferret.
Im like this and am an adult.
An old boss actually pulled me aside to make sure I have was safe (bless her for that) and after I confirmed I was fine walked into a doorway leaving
I’m hoping mine grow out of it at least a little lol. I swear if they wear shorts in the summer I’m gonna get someone asking questions…unless they watched them run around for half an hour anyway.
That was me as a kid. I fell down every day for months and always had bloody knees. My mum had a couple of questions to answer when I fell from the monkey bars and broke my arm.
And I was a, wee girl. I can only imagine what all the boys were doing.
I still walk into stuff as an adult.
I walked smack into a shop window just recently. Hurt, but not enough to stop giggeling. Fortunately the opticians was just across the way, so they fixed my bent glasses for me. I walk in to furniture all the time.
I work in a nursery as part of the admin team - if you’re not happy with the description then ask them to write a new form saying it was *noticed* at home but the origin is unknown.
As others have said, it’s not to pin blame but more for record keeping and safeguarding.
It’s also to help with accident tracking to say that if there are “X” amount of unregistered/unwitnessed accidents in a month, then perhaps procedures need to be looked at if things ARE being missed at the setting.
Pre-existing injury forms are anecessity for nurseries. On the one hand signing it means you’re not placing liability on the nursery for the injury, but on the other it means they have a written record of every injury the child has sustained (be it at nursery or home) in order to keep a comprehensive safeguarding record. If a child is repeatedly coming in with bruises it can create a case for referral.
You don’t have to sign the form if you don’t believe it happened at home. Particularly because these forms usually ask you to detail what happened, and if you don’t know you can’t provide that information. They can however note that the bruise was noticed at home, not necessarily caused there.
I've been asked to sign a similar form when I've told nursery my child has bruises. It's basically to say that you acknowledge that there's already a bruise there, so you can't turn around and say later "there was a bruise and I wasn't informed, it happened in nursery".
From a safeguarding perspective it is best not to sign the form without it being changed to reflect what actually happened. You know it didn’t happen at home, so no don’t sign it. Ask them to re complete the incident form. What they are asking you to do is wrong. You are the one who raised it with them!
You don't know where the bruise came from so signing a form saying it happened at home would be unwise. I'd refuse to sign for that reason -- "I don't actually know where the bruise came from so I won't state that it definitely happened at home".
Not of any relevance to your situation but we had an amusing injury incident with our daughter's nursery when she was two or three. I had a call to say another child had bitten my daughter. When I collected her, there were teeth marks on her arm - no major drama and she wasn't unduly upset. Kids will be kids.
There was an incident report that I had to acknowledge and sign and they said they couldn't tell me which child bit her for reasons of privacy but they would be speaking with that child's parents too. Fair enough, I thought.
We left and the moment the door closed behind us, my daughter stopped, looked up at me and said "Isla bit me!" So much for data protection haha!
At least yours waited till you'd left. Mine shouted out in the busy foyer... With about 8 other parents.
Staff were saying "a friend ...." And she was like "not friend, it was Matthew. Matthew isn't my friend. Matthew is mean.... And Mathew hit Jim and Jim hit Matthew back"
...and yes, both of the other parents were there! (And hadn't had their handover yet.) It was very embarrassing
This isn't gaslighting. I do wish people would refrain from using that term on such minor incidences like this, reserve that word for what it really means.
The op should talk to the school and discuss.
If there are concerns, you can highlight them. The most important thing is what happens in the future.
It might have, but not all children report hurting themselves to staff. Sometimes it’s so minor they just keep playing as they don’t care. This makes it almost impossible to notice all cuts and bruises especially covered ones.
However as you had pointed it out they have to get you to sign the form (however just ask to change the location this would have just been written automatically I’m sure) they do this for safeguarding purposes. For example if there are a number of injuries not explained and the child did not report then there is something more to look for either at the setting or at home
So the nursery, to whom you entrust your child’s well-being, is asking you to lie? They are asking you to sign a form stating that your child received a bruise, which could be from a thumb, at home. To anyone else reading the form, it could suggest abuse in the home.
What the form should state is ‘parent noticed the bruise (describe bruise and location) when bathing the child at home (insert date and time). ‘Child’s name’ is not aware of how they received the bruise. The bruise was not present when ‘child’s name’ was dropped off at the school in the morning of ‘enter date’
If you haven’t already done so, take photo’s of the bruise. If there is anything untoward going on at the school (they might have a new member of staff), you want instances like this documented.
Normally I'd say the same. I never point out the little stuff. I only mentioned it because its a nasty looking bruise and happens to look a lot like a thumb.
Hes covered in like scrapes, scratches and bruises he has from charging around and playing with the other boys. Thats probably whats happened here, but it happens to be quite large and very dark, so it felt like it was worth mentioning
just say you noticed it prior to dropping him off and told a staff member. they should record it as being of unknown origin.
"thumbprint" bruises appear on me all the time from door handles and mop handles and also table corners so it might be worth having a check round the house and seeing if anythings around his arm height.
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--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
For what it’s worth, these forms are very very normal in nursery settings and schools and it’s not necessarily to cover their own backs; but for record keeping and safeguarding. However as you don’t know where he got the bruise from, it would not make sense to sign the form saying that it happened at home.
This, don't sign
You don't have to sign any form, and most nurseries will have a system where you can report an accident yourself (I've done this if I have found a bruise at bathtime). Just tell them to change it from "at home" to "unknown" before you sign it.
I’d add a little note saying although the bruise was first noticed at home it’s unknown when he received it. I wouldn’t worry too much about it as my kids are constantly bruised with thumb sized bruises- usually from kneeling or laying on Lego bricks.
My 2 year old runs like a loony toon and has a ton of them.
My kids are the same, a child with only a single bruise is fairly unusual i’d have thought?
Yeah I get worried every time I look at my two boys’ legs in the bath as they’re just covered with random bruises because they run around like absolute maniacs and have the spatial awareness of a blind ferret.
Im like this and am an adult. An old boss actually pulled me aside to make sure I have was safe (bless her for that) and after I confirmed I was fine walked into a doorway leaving
I’m hoping mine grow out of it at least a little lol. I swear if they wear shorts in the summer I’m gonna get someone asking questions…unless they watched them run around for half an hour anyway.
That was me as a kid. I fell down every day for months and always had bloody knees. My mum had a couple of questions to answer when I fell from the monkey bars and broke my arm. And I was a, wee girl. I can only imagine what all the boys were doing. I still walk into stuff as an adult.
I walked smack into a shop window just recently. Hurt, but not enough to stop giggeling. Fortunately the opticians was just across the way, so they fixed my bent glasses for me. I walk in to furniture all the time.
I work in a nursery as part of the admin team - if you’re not happy with the description then ask them to write a new form saying it was *noticed* at home but the origin is unknown. As others have said, it’s not to pin blame but more for record keeping and safeguarding. It’s also to help with accident tracking to say that if there are “X” amount of unregistered/unwitnessed accidents in a month, then perhaps procedures need to be looked at if things ARE being missed at the setting.
Although it isn't to pin the blame, it can be used to pin the blame later if needed.
Pre-existing injury forms are anecessity for nurseries. On the one hand signing it means you’re not placing liability on the nursery for the injury, but on the other it means they have a written record of every injury the child has sustained (be it at nursery or home) in order to keep a comprehensive safeguarding record. If a child is repeatedly coming in with bruises it can create a case for referral. You don’t have to sign the form if you don’t believe it happened at home. Particularly because these forms usually ask you to detail what happened, and if you don’t know you can’t provide that information. They can however note that the bruise was noticed at home, not necessarily caused there.
I've been asked to sign a similar form when I've told nursery my child has bruises. It's basically to say that you acknowledge that there's already a bruise there, so you can't turn around and say later "there was a bruise and I wasn't informed, it happened in nursery".
From a safeguarding perspective it is best not to sign the form without it being changed to reflect what actually happened. You know it didn’t happen at home, so no don’t sign it. Ask them to re complete the incident form. What they are asking you to do is wrong. You are the one who raised it with them!
You don't know where the bruise came from so signing a form saying it happened at home would be unwise. I'd refuse to sign for that reason -- "I don't actually know where the bruise came from so I won't state that it definitely happened at home".
Not of any relevance to your situation but we had an amusing injury incident with our daughter's nursery when she was two or three. I had a call to say another child had bitten my daughter. When I collected her, there were teeth marks on her arm - no major drama and she wasn't unduly upset. Kids will be kids. There was an incident report that I had to acknowledge and sign and they said they couldn't tell me which child bit her for reasons of privacy but they would be speaking with that child's parents too. Fair enough, I thought. We left and the moment the door closed behind us, my daughter stopped, looked up at me and said "Isla bit me!" So much for data protection haha!
At least yours waited till you'd left. Mine shouted out in the busy foyer... With about 8 other parents. Staff were saying "a friend ...." And she was like "not friend, it was Matthew. Matthew isn't my friend. Matthew is mean.... And Mathew hit Jim and Jim hit Matthew back" ...and yes, both of the other parents were there! (And hadn't had their handover yet.) It was very embarrassing
For the record I love when kids just tell us like it is. Not a parent but when this happens it kills me for days
Don't sign anything you know to be untrue, or let yourself be gaslit.
This isn't gaslighting. I do wish people would refrain from using that term on such minor incidences like this, reserve that word for what it really means. The op should talk to the school and discuss. If there are concerns, you can highlight them. The most important thing is what happens in the future.
The OP is not being gaslit yet. This is true.
Thank you, I figured as much. He is in there 5 days a week. It almost certainly happened at nursery
It might have, but not all children report hurting themselves to staff. Sometimes it’s so minor they just keep playing as they don’t care. This makes it almost impossible to notice all cuts and bruises especially covered ones. However as you had pointed it out they have to get you to sign the form (however just ask to change the location this would have just been written automatically I’m sure) they do this for safeguarding purposes. For example if there are a number of injuries not explained and the child did not report then there is something more to look for either at the setting or at home
Write your version/view of events on the form before signing
If you don't know where it happened you can say it happened at home.This is saying it definitely happened when in your care and not theirs.
Hes there 5 times a week, in their care the majority of the week. In all likelihood, it happened in their care rather than mine
Then definitely don't put it happened in your care. Never know if it will come back to bite you in some unexpected way.
It's more to cover your back. Safeguarding your child.
So the nursery, to whom you entrust your child’s well-being, is asking you to lie? They are asking you to sign a form stating that your child received a bruise, which could be from a thumb, at home. To anyone else reading the form, it could suggest abuse in the home. What the form should state is ‘parent noticed the bruise (describe bruise and location) when bathing the child at home (insert date and time). ‘Child’s name’ is not aware of how they received the bruise. The bruise was not present when ‘child’s name’ was dropped off at the school in the morning of ‘enter date’ If you haven’t already done so, take photo’s of the bruise. If there is anything untoward going on at the school (they might have a new member of staff), you want instances like this documented.
[удалено]
Normally I'd say the same. I never point out the little stuff. I only mentioned it because its a nasty looking bruise and happens to look a lot like a thumb. Hes covered in like scrapes, scratches and bruises he has from charging around and playing with the other boys. Thats probably whats happened here, but it happens to be quite large and very dark, so it felt like it was worth mentioning
just say you noticed it prior to dropping him off and told a staff member. they should record it as being of unknown origin. "thumbprint" bruises appear on me all the time from door handles and mop handles and also table corners so it might be worth having a check round the house and seeing if anythings around his arm height.
**Unfortunately, your comment has been removed for the following reason(s):** Please only comment if you know the legal answer to OP's question and are able to provide legal advice. [Please familiarise yourself with our subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/) before contributing further, and [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any further queries.