A Birmingham family has expressed anger after a four-year-old boy cut off chunks of his hair while attending a council-run holiday club, with staff reportedly failing to notice the incident until the child was collected.
Incident at Manningford Hall
On Monday, August 3, Patricia Gray arrived at Manningford Hall in Druids Heath to pick up her grandson from the Bring It On Brum programme, a Birmingham City Council initiative delivered in partnership with youth charity StreetGames. Instead of a happy reunion, she was met with what she described as a shock.
The child had attended the club for four days the previous week without any issues, but on this particular day, he had managed to get hold of scissors during a cut-and-paste workshop and cut his hair. According to the family, he was unsupervised at the time.
Family's Reaction
Speaking to BirminghamLive, Patricia Gray said: "My grandson was one of the last to come out and I thought he'd split his head open. I thought where is his hair? A staff member said that he had cut his hair all over the floor during a workshop, I was trying to process it. The woman was very dismissive and said 'my daughter did that when she was young too'. We were told that no one had seen him do it so he was clearly unsupervised."
The boy's mother, Sammy Thomas, aged 25, has decided not to send her son back to the programme. She confronted staff the following day and said their response was 'disgusting'.
"I was in shock at what happened to his head," she said. "I spoke to them this morning (August 4) and a staff member's attitude was disgusting. She was very defensive and said she had her back turned. She only apologised after I had spoken to her, she was defensive straight away. I was told by them that I wasn't contacted because there was only an hour left. If he cut his hand or poked his eye with them, would they have not contacted me because there was 'only an hour left'?"
Impact on Family
Thomas, who also has an eight-month-old baby, now faces difficulties with childcare arrangements. "I'm struggling for childcare now because I've got my son and an eight-month-old baby," she explained. "The manager was quite apologetic, but it's put me off sending him back. This isn't to slander or bash them, it's just to make parents aware and share my experience because it hasn't been very good. It's quite upsetting because he could have seriously been injured. You leave children in other people's cares and you expect them to be alright. He didn't leave the house Monday morning looking like that."
Council's Response
Birmingham City Council has acknowledged the incident and confirmed that an investigation has been carried out. A spokesperson said: "Birmingham City Council is aware of the incident that occurred on 3 August at Fit4Primary and has worked with our delivery partner StreetGames to investigate the matter in accordance with our established policies and procedures."
The spokesperson added: "We recognise that this incident will have been distressing for the family involved. Following a thorough review, our investigation found that appropriate supervision arrangements were in place at the time and that staffing levels met the required NSPCC guidance."
The council says it will use the learning from this incident to review and strengthen operational protocols. "We have carefully considered the concerns and feedback raised by the family. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we will use the learning from this incident to review and strengthen our operational protocols and communication processes where appropriate."
The safety of children remains a priority, the council stressed: "The safety and wellbeing of all children attending Bring It On Brum activities remain our highest priority. StreetGames are committed to working closely with providers to ensure activities continue to be delivered in a safe, supportive and well-managed environment."
