Personal injury claim against DS

[chinup2011]

A school teacher has informed me that he is considering taking out a personal injury claim against my DS 16 who accidentally ran into him on the play ground. The teacher (male) says he has sustained a back injury from this, and claims my Ds actions were deliberate. He is not an aggressive lad and all the teachers were surprised that this happened. DS is ADAMANT that it was completely unintentional. Has anyone any advice? The teacher asked if I had insurance, what sort of insurance? I already have an anxious disposition and I am stressed beyond belief over this.
TIA

I would be at the Education Offices at the Council on Monday morning, OP. I'm amazed you've just taken this. He can't possibly get an apprenticeship if he's got that record - you need to make a formal complaint.

The fact is that the teacher was in the playground with a cup of hot coffee. That is against all health and safety rules.

He was scalded (though he seems to be focusing more on his back) when the cup was knocked - tbh my (teaching) managers would have said that was his problem as he was the one who brought the coffee outside.

He was knocked into by a pupil - this happens every day but yes, an apology was due and given.

He said it was deliberate - yet there is no history of your son doing this and he has a good reputation (apart from lateness, which is nothing to do with this.) No witness statements have been taken from pupils.

Your son has now been suspended just as he's about to take his exams. Why would anyone do this? It's bad for the school's reputation and it will damage your son's future.

So the Education Department has to work out whether the crime was actually committed, which they can only do by asking pupils for witness statements as well as pupils, and whether the punishment fits the crime.

I would say I'd lost all faith in the headteacher at this point.

Have you been given an official letter about the exclusion, and did it tell you that you have the right to ask the governors to review it? If so, I would suggest that you exercise that right, even though the governors don't have power to rescind the exclusion. I must say I'm sceptical that, at playtime, two separate teachers (I'm assuming that the third teacher is the one who was pushed?) just "happened" to be looking in that direction right at the moment the incident took place, and that needs to be explored. It is also wholly wrong that the head failed to take statements from children: they are not supposed to take any decision about exclusion unless and until they have investigated properly.

Don't bother with the council's Education Department - they will simply tell you that you need to go through the governors' review procedure; if you want to say anything about the coffee, that would be a matter for the school's complaints procedure.

Employers tend to be much more interested in qualifications than school records, so I would hope that this won't have too much effect on your child's future.

I suppose the teacher may be thinking that your household insurance cover might include some insurance against this type of liability, but it does seem to me wildly unlikely given that the incident happened at school and when the school (rather than you) were responsible for your son. It could be worth double checking, if only because if you can confirm there is not cover it could choke the teacher off.