An incident in which a pupil was injured during a break at school, when he was hit by a rock thrown by another pupil, resulted in the county council responsible being found negligent.
The case turned on a simple point – was it sufficient (as was the case in this instance) to have only one supervisor overseeing 150 children?
The Court of Appeal found the council negligent, especially as one of the prime purposes of having the children supervised was to prevent dangerous activities or stop them if they occurred.
A recent survey of local councils revealed that in the year 2008-2009 almost £3 million was paid out in compensation to children hurt in accidents at school. This figure represents an increase of £1 million on the previous year.
Parents have a legitimate expectation that the schools their children attend will be safe places and if the school fails to take reasonable precautions to ensure this is so, they have the right to hold the council (or other body responsible) liable.
01634 811118
Supervision Failure Costs Council
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.
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