Head guilty of Hand S breaches which led to pupil's death .

[LIZS]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/6925503.stm Can't help thinking that this is the thin end of the wedge as far as our children being given scope to play is concerned. Obviously the accident ahd very sad consequences but how does the financial penalty and a civil case by the parents help ? At what age is it acceptable to expect children to obey out of bounds rules without constant supervision. Does Ofsted apply in Wales ,and if so, if it was such an obviosu hazard why had it not previously been noted as an action point .

This preschool in the UK subscribes to the 1:8 ratio

www.kidzee.com/faqs.html

and this BBC news article says for children between ages of 3-5 there should be 2 teachers for every 20-26 adults

www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/childcare/available_nurseryschool.shtml

oops 20-26 children

that reminds me malory of when we were playing tennis at school. one girl lobbed the ball over the court fence, the teacher let her leave the courts to fetch it, she fell down a 100ft embankment and broke her cheek bone

ACCIDENT

yes I would Leati it a tragic accident it could so easily happen walking in the park one child takes your attention for a split second whilst the other jumps down the steps

So do you all think the school should take the gate down now? Is it a silly hysterical, unnecessary over-reaction to have the gate there?

Just thinking about the stuff we used to get up to in the neighbours' garden -and ours - as kids.

We had lots of accidents.

No one would have thought of suing, though.

no i think the gate is a good idea

to prosecute someone is an overreaction though

I do agree with you that it was a horrible, terrible accident. And I am sure that it was devastating for everyone involve, including the head teacher. I just believe that schools have an obligation to be extra careful with the safety of the children entrusted in thier care. From a parents perspective, money will never bring back thier child but if they can shed light on some defiencies in the system that they feel let thier child down, at least something can be gained.

I genuinly believe that there is a difference between an accident and a preventable accident.

Well, I assume if you came to pick up your three year old from nursery and found them completely alone and unsupervised, jumping down four brick steps onto concrete, you'd be thrilled.

i wouldn't be happy if my 3 year old was one of 59 being supervised by one adult. that's not adequate supervision as far as i am concerned. a short set of steps would be a magnet to him and 99% of the time he would be able to jump down the lot of theu successfully but it is something i would discourage him from doing if i saw it. with a ratio of 1-59 there was probably no chnace of that happening. i agree this could have happened anyway - but with better supervision maybe not

No Little Bella because , sadly, the precedent has been set. This school could well close as a result, depending on the financial implications of the sentence.

Reading about this previsouly the child had eben told not to paly there, now wheterh it is reasonable to expect a 3yr old to rmemebr and obey that i'm not sure. Ialso don;lt kwno the geography of the paly groudn as ot hwo it may have been possible to supervise it with oen teacher.

Our school had to put up enclosures for Nursery aged children play area as a result of Ofsted but once they get to Reception (so from 4) and above they play in a larger area with tarmac and grass bounded by woods and lake - they are told what is out of bounds and trusted to follow the rules (under supervision of 2 adults , one of whom is often the Gap student) and yes there are concrete steps within it and a climbing frame.

According to this, he was found by a 16 year old pupil, and the steps were known to be a hazard, and children had been told not to play on them, but the area was not fenced and the children not supervised. In my ds's school there is no access to any steps from the playground for younger children, and it is an old Victorian school full of steps.www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=470422&in_page_id=1770&I CO=NEWS&ICL=TOPART

My ds DOES go to school actually.

well Malory when ds goes to school he will be 5 so i will accept it then. my point is that at the moment is is 3 and that ratio is not acceptable at this point

Interesting , I wodner if the work experince boy was supervising outside too but could n't be officially counted ?

I find this quite shocking, it was an accident pure and simple.

You can tell your children time and again NOT to do something and still they do, Short of leashing them to a post this sort of thing will continue to happen everywhere but obviously with not such tragic results.

He was found lying sobbing on the ground by Iran Haq, a 16-yearold former pupil who was on work experience at the school.

Kian was taken by ambulance to Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor before being transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Doctors said he had bruising to the right side of his brain and a small amount of bleeding at the base of his skull.

Although initially conscious, Kian suffered a secondary swelling of the brain and fell into a coma.

I can only imagine that the child's' parents must be absolutely grief-striken and that they are pushing every possible opportunity to have someone to blame - because in that way that they can make some sense of the fact that they have lost their child over such a minor event. I think that coming to terms with death is easier if you can point the finger to something or someone.

I don't think it was 59 x 3 year olds.

It was 59 children ranging in age from 3 upwards.

As has been said it's a school and he was in kindergarten.

The BBc quote '10 other three and four-year-olds'