Children are inquisitive and curious and we often find that their curiosity get the better of them, leading them to have a tumble. However, when you entrust your child into the care of someone else i.e your child’s school you expect that a certain level of care to be carried out in order to protect their safety.
Schools and their employees have a strict duty of care to their pupils which must be adhered to at all times. We all appreciate that children sometimes injure themselves as a result of them being young and inquisitive. However, when a child is injured through neglect there may be a claim for compensation.
There are several ways in which children can sustain injuries in and around school, for example a trip or slip on a poorly maintained school footpath, defective school equipment both in the classroom and the sports hall and food poisoning to name just a few scenarios.
If your child suffers an injury whilst at school it is extremely important to get to the reason why your child sustained the injury. Ask your child what happened and get their version of events. Any accident that occurs at school should be correctly recorded in the schools accident book and a report completed by the school nurse. The nurse should record any treatment they carried out on your child and reasoning behind how your child sustained the injury.
Another aspect to consider is who was supervising your child at the time of the accident and has your child’s accident occurred as a result of poor or no supervision?
If your child sustained their injuries as a result of another child/pupil, it is important to find out if the injuries were sustained as a result of bullying. If this is the case the issue needs to be correctly addressed immediately in order to solve the issue and stop it spiralling out of control. If it is found that your child was injured by another pupil, why was this allowed to happen, where were the teachers or supervisors at this time? Also is the child that has caused the injury known to have behavioural problems?
The important thing to remember if your child is injured whilst at school is to remain calm in order to fully obtain all of the facts regarding the incident and to deal with the incident in the correct way. Make sure the accident is correctly recorded in the school accident book and that the teachers are aware of the accident, if they are not already. Keep a careful eye on your child and make sure that they receive the necessary medical treatment that they require.
