John Murphy Is Four Years Old; He Has Been Attending The Childcare: Social Legal And Health Issues Assignment, TCD, Ireland

John Murphy is four years old; he has been attending the childcare setting in which you are employed for the past year. John’s mother Mary is 21 years old and lives with John’s father, Patrick Black. John is brought to the setting by his mother and collected by Patrick Black who cares for him until his mother gets home from work.

In the past you have noticed that John is often dirty and unwashed when he comes to the setting, his clothes are very dirty and often smell. You have spoken to his mother about this but she blamed him for not being able to stay clean. When there was an outbreak of head lice in the setting John’s mother was the last to administer treatment and she only did so when you threatened to remove John from the setting.

Recently a number of staff members have come to you and have voiced their concerns about John and his mother. The number of staff has told you that John is very withdrawn and is reluctant to join in with the other children, he can often be found staring into space. You have had to send for Mary on two separate occasions when John was too sick to stay in the setting; you feel he was too unwell to be brought in, in the first place. When you explained this to Mary she got defensive and was very annoyed.

The latest observation records for John show that there are concerns about his emotional, social, and language development. On a number of separate occasions in the past few months staff have noticed fresh bruises on John’s upper arms and across his back, when queried John says ‘daddy smacked me because I was bold.’ He began to cry and got very upset. When the bruises were pointed out to Mary (his mother) she said ‘he is always falling.’